Good morning MLS sickos,

We’re welcoming 24 new subscribers this week. Please give them a quick round of applause 👏 

Now on to the footy…

• 9️⃣ Match Week 9 Recap

• 💰️ MLS Loosens Spending

• 🇲🇽 Liga MX vs MLS

• ⚡️ MLS Speed Record

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Tweet of the Week

Match Week 9 Recap

Messi Delivers… Again

What more can we say? Messi always delivers. In front of the fourth biggest crowd in MLS history and the biggest in Sporting Kansas City history (72,610) he had a goal and assist to become the first player in MLS history to have 5 goals and 5 assists in their first 5 games to start a season. That’s what we call a f*ck ton of history. All in front of American Footballs finest 👇️ 

Miami put the midweek CCC defeat in the past and now get to focus solely on the MLS for a bit. Does that mean a run of form is coming? We shall see.

The leaky defense continues for Sporting KC.

Top Western Conference Teams Battle

The two top teams in the Western Conference battled it out in Vancouver on Saturday but the Galaxy attack was too much for the Whitecaps. Joseph Paintsil is proving to be the best offseason signing and a potential MVP candidate. The “Triple P” of Paintsill, Puig, and Pec is deadly. And no, I’m not forgetting Dejan Joveljic who’s tied for the league lead with 6 goals, I’m just not sure how to fit him into the acronym 😆 

Vancouver has been a pleasant surprise to start the year and look playoff bound for the second straight season.

Duncan McGuire Heroics

D.C United held a 2-1 lead in the 81st minute only to lose 3-2 with a Duncan McGuire stoppage time winner. They’ve had a lead in each of their last five games and have come away with only 5 points from those games. At least Benteke is in form with 6 goals on the year.

Does Duncan remind anyone else of a young Jordan Morris but maybe even better? 👀 He’s so fun to watch. He’s now tied with Daryl Dike for the 8th most goals in Orlando City history.

MLS Loosens Spending Rules

Last week in Los Angeles, Gianni Infantino became the first FIFA President to attend a MLS Board of Governors meeting. The meeting was held to discuss changes to roster rules and preparation for the 2025 Club World Cup and 2026 World Cup.

Infantino urged the league to “think big” and “be bold”. Fans have been urging the league to loosen their wallets and allow teams to spend money more freely. The league hears that and is starting with a few small but not insignificant changes this summer:

Change #1: The option of 3 DPs and 3 U-22s OR 2 DPs and 4 U-22s plus $2M in GAM

What it means: Teams can currently have 3 Senior DPs and one U-22 DP or 2 senior DPs and one U-22 DP (or a DP that can be bought down with TAM can have 3 U-22 DPs). Anyways, this means more roster spots for the elite talents and flexibility to spend on the top 6 players or spread out spending to the rest of the roster.

Change #2: Two buyouts per season

What it means: Roster-building mistakes don’t matter as much, a buyout will remove the player’s salary from the team’s salary budget.

Change #3: Max $3M converted from transfer fee to GAM

What it means: Any time a team sells a player they will now have $3M in GAM instead of $1.2. This allows teams to add more GAM (general allocation money) which can be used to reduce a non-DP salary or the cap hit from a DP.

MLS vs Liga MX

After Inter Miami were knocked out by Monterrey last week, MLS has one remaining hope in the Concacaf Champions Cup — The Columbus Crew.

It’s been a tough tournament for MLS. MLS teams have been outscored 33 to 12 against Liga MX squads for an abysmal record of 1W-4D-9L. The lone win came via penalties with the Crew beating Tigres.

It’s clear the elite clubs of Mexico are still ahead of MLS teams. Opta Power Ranking’s below show the Liga MX’s best, Club America, 94 spots ahead of MLS best, Columbus Crew, in World ranking.

The Sounders 2022 CCC run remains MLS’s only trophy in this tourney. Let’s hope the increased spending changes that in the future.

MLS Top Speed Record

A little under the radar but Rapids defender Moise Bobito hit 23.16 MPH in their game against Inter Miami the other week.

Here’s how this compares to other athletes:

• Top Premier League Speed: Kyle Walker 23.18 mph

• Top NFL Speed: DK Metcalf 22.2 mph

• To NBA Speed: Russel Westbrook 21.6 mph

• Top Speed Ever: Usain Bolt 27.8 mph

Goal of the Week

A beauty 😍 

Tweet of the Week

This tweet didn’t get the engagement it deserved 🤪 I know his job is to protect Messi at all costs but should his bodyguard be running onto the field mid-play? Watch it at this angle. Wild.

Also the fan who rushed the field to meet Messi filmed the whole thing.

Quick Hits

• Officials approved the plan to build NYCs first ever soccer-specific stadium (Link)

• Matchday 9 was the 3rd most attended matchday in MLS History (Link)

• Gio Reyna grabbed his first start and assist in the EPL (Link)

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See ya next week ✌️