Morning everyone,

Max, here! I can’t be the only one struggling to get work done this month. Just an absurd amount of incredible soccer on. Life’s good. Let’s get to it…

• ⏯️ Match Day 21 & 22 Recap

• 🇺🇸 USA vs Bolivia Thoughts

• 💛 Aidan Morris’s Farewell

• 🏟️ 2024 Attendance Records

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Meme of the Week

Match Day 21 & 22 Recap

The New England Revolution have won 4 straight. Where did this come from?AND they beat Cincinnati on the road?! After starting 2W-10L-1D this team is crawling its way back to playoff contention. Up next is Caleb Porter’s first match against Columbus since he was fired from there in 2022.

The LA Galaxy have won 3 straight, including the last two against NYCFC and Real Salt Lake. Oh… and they did this without Riqui Puig. It’s Greg Vanney’s first three-game win streak since taking over as manager. This team is flashy, fun, and a real threat to win trophies.

Sporting KC are umm… how do I put this nicely—not a good soccer team. One win in their last 14 games and only 3 points clear of San Jose for the Wooden Spoon. It was reported that Peter Vermes job wasn’t in danger but if this continues that might change.

The Colorado Rapids are piling on goals with 9 in their 3-game win streak. Djordje Mihailovic had a hat-trick and another goal to get to 9g and 8a on the season — proving he’s worth the club record fee. Colorado is probably not a Supporter’s Shield contender but you won’t want to play them in the playoffs.

The Seattle Sounders were down 2-0 at home in the 78th minute to Dallas before coming back to win 3-2 in stoppage time. Jordan Morris had the equalizer and the winner for 6 goals in his last 7 games. They have 7 points in their last 3 games and are starting to climb out of the early-season funk.

Good Start for USMNT

The USMNT kicked off their Copa America campaign with a 2-0 win over Bolivia. They got the 3 points, that’s all that mattered. But we wanted more.

We could have easily scored 4 or 5 goals had things fallen our way. This Bolivia team is not good. They haven’t won a game that matters outside of Bolivia since 2015. They’re the #85 ranked team in the world. So you’d like to see us put a few more in the back of the net.

Not that you had any doubt but Christian Pulisic is our best player. And it might not be close. With his goal in the 3rd minute, he became the second youngest to hit 30 career goals after Landon Donovan. He added an assist to Folarin Balogun before half and it looked like the US was on its way to a total trouncing. But that never transpired.

As for Balogun, the goal redeemed what was an indecisive and otherwise poor showing. You can tell he’s still trying to get his feet under him with this squad. Scoring cures all woes for strikers so let’s hope there’s more from him.

Ignore his Fotmob rating because we thought Chris Richards was the worst player for the US. He had several unforced giveaways that led to Bolivian counterattacks. It’ll be interesting to see if Berhalter gives CCV or Mark McKenzie the start against Panama instead.

One defensive player who never ceases to impress is Jedi Robinson. When you think about left-backs worldwide, Jedi sits among the top 10. He dominates defensively and gets forward so well, creating chances every game. He was the only other player besides Pulisic to score above 8 in Fotmob player ratings.

Aidan Morris’s Goodbye

Crew fans gave Aidan Morris one final curtain call on Saturday. An emotional one before the homegrown boy is off to Middlesbrough in the 2nd division in England to make his Europe dreams come true.

As upsetting as it is to see top young players heading to Europe, you have to give it up for Morris. This is exactly what young Americans should be shooting for as they continue to develop. And for the Crew, developing young talent and selling them for big money ($4 million) is just good business. Here’s what Crew Coach Nancy had to say “We develop young players and help them to get better. After that, see what do we do with the future with them. But this is exactly the mentality that we want. This is exactly why the ownership group invested in this club. And this is the vision.”

Morris won 2 MLS Cups with the Crew and was consistently in the top 10 in passes in the final third, and defensive duels won.

MLS Attendance Records

MLS is on pace to break the attendance record for the second straight year. Butts in seats!! Important!

Attendance is up 13% compared to the same time last year with over 6.5M people attending MLS games. Here’s a few more records:

• 5 matches have had 60,000+

• 6 matches have had 50,000+

• 14 matches have had 40,000+

• 25 of 29 clubs are seeing positive year-over-year growth

• 9 teams averaging attendance at 100% of their stadium’s capacity

It’s not all because of Messi too—8 of the 11 teams that aren’t hosting Messi this season are experiencing growth too.

Goal of the Week

From mid-field 😱 

Meme of the Week

This is too good 😂 

Quick Hits

• Photo’s of Chicho Arango’s brutal head gash that required 20 stitches (Link)

• Austin FC sign Ukrainian center-back Oleksandr Svatok from Dnipro (Link)

• FC Cincinnati rumored to make $15M bid for Weston McKennie (Link)

• English side Brentford signed USYNT GK Julian Eyestone (Link)

• Colorado Rapids reject French side Lyon’s bid for Bombito (Link)

• Kei Kamara passes Landon Donovan as the second leading scorer in MLS history (Link)

• San Jose Earthquakes fire head coach Luchi Gonzalez (Link)

• Eagle Group closing in on $20M deal for Thiago Almada (Link)

That’s it, see you fools next week!