Hey footy friends,

We have a quick favor to ask — last week our open rate was 45%, much lower than the 60% we typically get, so we unfortunately didn’t land in everyone’s primary inbox. Can you go back into your inbox and move last week’s newsletter into your main inbox if it didn’t land there? Thank you :)

• 1️⃣5️⃣ MLS Match Day 15

• 🇺🇸 USMNT Update

• 🟥 Atlanta United’s Big Win

• 🔢 Some Fun MLS Stats

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Meme of the Week

MLS Match Day 15

Charlotte FC ended their 5 game losing streak with a huge 3-2 win over Columbus. Days after making the Gold Cup roster, Patrick Agyemang scored a brace, with his second goal coming from a beautiful through ball from Wilfried Zaha. Charlotte happily ceded 63% of possession to the Crew and pounced on through balls in behind. It’s a massive win for Charlotte before they head into a 5 game road trip.

The Vancouver Whitecaps beat Real Salt Lake 3-2 on the road. The Caps went down 2-0 in the first four minutes of the game but were brought back by a Brian White brace. It’s White’s 15th goal of the season, making him the first player in club history to record 15+ goals in three consecutive seasons across all comps. Pedro Vite scored the winner in the 90th minute with a strike from outside the box.

Nashville beat Toronto 2-1 on Saturday courtesy of Sam Surridge’s brace (one, two). Nashville is now unbeaten in their last 6 and sit 5th in the Shield race. Oh, and they just got Walker Zimmerman back after missing 6 games with a concussion. Their +0.67 expected goal differential this season is second in MLS, only behind Vancouver. B.J. Callaghan is doing wonders in his second season.

San Diego FC beat the LA Galaxy 2-1 to keep them winless on the year. Chucky Lozano won it in the last minute of stoppage time with his header that came after an egregious mistake (watch below) from the Galaxy back line. The unfortunate story from this one was all the fan fights after the game. It’s the second time this has happened after San Diego has played an LA team. We’re all for intense rivalries, but MLS cannot let this continue to happen in its stadiums.

USMNT Update

Mauricio Pochettino released his 27-man pre-Gold Cup roster last week. They’ll face Turkey on June 7th and Switzerland on June 10th in friendlies before the tournament.

A plethora of MLS players who received the nod immediately proved why they deserved a spot. Diego Luna, Patrick Agyemang, Quinn Sullivan, Luca De la Torre, Miles Robinson, and Brian White(x2) all scored the day after receiving the call-up. In total, 16 MLS players are included.

Some of our players didn’t make the squad for various reasons. Yunus Musa withdrew himself for personal reasons. Josh Sargent not being on the roster was a surprise “football decision” from Poch. Most of the controversy is around Pulisic, however. He decided to withdraw his name because of how many matches he’s played over the last two seasons. While it’s disappointing that our best player is choosing not to play in a big tournament a year before the World Cup, it may be the best move for him to get rest when he can.

Rather than dwell on the missing names, here’s who we’re most excited to see at the Gold Cup.

Diego Luna: He has 8 goals and 1 assist in 14 games this season and is quietly sitting in 4th for goals scored in MLS. There is a real chance he is our starting #10 in this tournament.

Johnny Cardoso: If you haven’t watched Cardoso play, watch this clip of his game against Real Madrid. The guy is a baller, and someone who can dominate and control a midfield. He’s coming off a phenomenal season with Real Betis and is playing in the UEFA Conference League Final today against Chelsea.

Malik Tillman: He had 12 goals and 2 assists in 22 games at PSV this season, winning the Eredivisie Player of the Season. He was a major contributor during their title-winning stretch during the last 10 games, scoring 6 goals to help push them past Ajax to win the league.

Damion Downs: We’ve mentioned Damion before, but it’s time he finally got the call-up. He had 10 goals and 3 assists in 21 starts for FC Koln in the Bundesliga 2 this year and will be playing in the Bundesliga next year.

Atlanta United’s Big Win

For the first time in 57 days, the Five Stripes get three points to end their 8 game winless skid. The 4-2 home victory over FC Cincinnati was by far their biggest result of the season.

The four goals were as many as they had in their last seven games combined. Four different players contributed to the score sheet, none of whom were their expensive signings. Atlanta was outshot 29 to 12 and had only 37% of the possession, but they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after the 20th minute and sealed it late with a Jamal Thiare goal.

After last week’s 1-0 loss to Philadelphia, Ronny Deila called his team soft. And he wasn’t wrong. Besides the Galaxy, they’ve been the most disappointing team this season. They clearly listened to their skipper and responded with a complete performance.

Is this the turning point for them? I’m not confident enough to say that. They play Orlando at home tonight (Wednesday), then go on a 6-game road trip. There’s no rest in their schedule

FC Cincinnati fans were upset with the refs throughout the game, and they have good reason. In the 10th minute, Emmanuel Latte Lath looked to target FCC defender Nick Hagglund directly. The play resulted in Hagglund breaking two ribs and a collapsed lung. He was taken to a hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. No foul was given on the play. The refs have to be better than this.

Some Fun MLS Stats

Well, not all of these are fun depending on what club you’re a fan of.

0.73 - St. Louis City’s PPG through the first 15 games of the season, tied for 6th worst in league history for full-time managers with 15 or more games in charge. They’re now on an 11-game winless streak, and as I was writing this, they fired manager Olof Mellberg.

2-4 Weeks - The amount of time Yeimar Gomez is expected to be sidelined after sustaining a hamstring injury on Saturday. Not ideal for a team with the Club World Cup in just over two weeks.

15 - The LA Galaxy’s losing streak is now 15 games, the longest to start a season in history. They are very close to the single-season winless streak record of 16 and the all-time winless streak record of 18. The fall from glory has been precipitous.

6,182 - The number of hot dogs sold at DC United’s stadium in their home loss to the Red Bulls on Saturday, a new club record. They haven’t scored in four games, but at least they’re slinging glizzies.

$2M - The opening offer that Parma has reportedly made for Orlando City’s Alex Freeman. We wrote last week that the European offers would come soon, and here they are. English clubs have also expressed interest.

Goal of the Week

Certified banger.

Meme of the Week

I feel bad at this point.

Quick Hits

• Messi and Suarez are starting a new club in Uruguay’s 4th tier (Link)

• Carlos Vela announces his retirement from professional soccer (Link)

• Patrick Schulte will be out for up to 6 weeks with an oblique injury (Link)

• Antonee Robinson named to WhoScored’s Premier League Team of the Season (Link)

• Kevin De Bruyne set to forgo a move to MLS for Serie A champions Napoli (Link)

Thanks for reading. See you next week 😎 

Max & Mason