Morning everyone,

Sad week for us USMNT fans 😥. Let’s talk through it and catch you up on a bunch of MLS action. 1,314 words coming at ya!

• 5️⃣ MLS Match Day 5

• 🇺🇸 Another USMNT Failure

• ↕️ Pro/Rel Coming to USL

• 🟡 A Surging Nashville Squad

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Meme of the Week

MLS Match Day 5

There was an international break, but MLS carried on as usual last weekend. If you’re a real MLS nerd, check out this article on the impact of the international break on MLS play. Okay, now let’s get to the updates.

We need to start talking about Dean Smith as one of the best coaches in MLS. His Charlotte side just picked apart Bruce Arena’s San Jose counterpart 4-1. They’ve had 8 different goal-scorers this season and had an incredible team goal on Saturday. Pep Biel had 3 goal contributions and is now tied for first in MLS with 6 total. This team is rolling.

The Columbus Crew tied NYCFC 0-0. It was New York’s first shut out in their last 15 MLS games. As for the Crew, these are the games that would have ended in a 1-0 win with Cucho. They’ve scored just twice in their last four games. It’s time they go hunting for that striker.

The Chicago Fire have won 3 games in a row for the first time in 16 years, all three of which were road games. They beat Vancouver 3-1 to hand them their first loss of the year. Hugo Cuypers opened the scoring in the first minute with his 5th goal in the last four matches. Their 12 goals in the first five games are the most in club history. Gregg Berhalter has this team gelling early in his tenure.

Marco Pasalic had big shoes to fill, replacing Facundo Torres, but he’s done just that. His 4th goal of the season was one of the best we’ll see all year. Orlando City easily handled DC United 4-1, and now lead MLS in goals scored with 13. Luis Muriel has also been fantastic as a #9, opening the scoring on Saturday. Next up is a road game against the defending champs.

Another USMNT Failure

It pains me that I’m once again writing about an inexcusable and embarrassing early exit from a tournament we should have easily won. But for the 3rd straight time in a major tournament, Panama have sent the US home early. It’s as if the empty stadium before kickoff was an omen of what was to come.

It was a lackadaisical and unserious performance. We strolled into the game assuming we had it in the bag. We played down to their level, didn’t finish our chances, and got punished in the final minutes with lazy defending. But there’s more to it.

For starters, there was a complete lack of creativity in the midfield. Tanner Tessmann was ineffective, and Pochettino didn’t bring in Gio Reyna or Diego Luna (he later said he planned to introduce them in extra time). Per ESPN, the US had 811 touches, the 11th time they’ve had more than 800 in a game since September 2017. But they had an ‘expected goals’ of .68, making it the first time in that span that they’ve had over 800 touches but less than 1.00 expected goals. To put it bluntly, the US had no one creating chances.

Then there was the inability to finish the few chances we did have. Josh Sargent failed to transfer his elite club form over to the US and now has not scored for the USMNT in over 5 years. Patrick Agyemang came in for him and had a few bright spots but wasn’t able to finish his big chance. And lastly, Matt Turner could have had better positioning on the goal.

The third-place game was much of the same. Diego Luna and Patrick Agyemang were the only bright spots. They combined beautifully with Tim Weah to produce our only goal of the week.

After any big loss, fans look for someone to blame. For years, Gregg Berhalter was the easy scapegoat. But we can’t blame him any longer. The players have to look inward. They need to do some soul-searching. They didn’t show any fight, any grit, any desire to win. USMNT legends Landon Donovan and Taylor Twellman chimed in with their own displeasure. We can’t show up like this next summer when the rest of the world is here. It simply has to be better.

Pro/Rel Coming to the US!

Last week, the United Soccer League (USL) owners voted to become the first professional soccer league in American history to adopt promotion and relegation. The USL currently operates the USL Championship, the second division of US Pro soccer, and USL League One, the third division. Pro/Rel will commence in 2028 to coincide with their new first division they announced last month. So the new USL will look like this:

1. USL Division One (newly launched)

2. USL Championship (Division Two)

3. USL League One (Division Three)

They’ve yet to iron out the details on how many teams will be promoted/relegated and how many will play in the new first division. The adoption of the model used around the world is a sign that the USL is willing to experiment with new avenues of growth. Just last weekend, the Oakland Roots played their first game in the Coliseum and 26,575 came to watch. There’s little doubt that lower-level soccer will continue to thrive in the US.

Like us, you might be wondering what impact this has on MLS. Let’s hypothesize.

First, it’s highly doubtful MLS will ever adopt pro/rel for the simple fact that it makes no sense from an ownership perspective. With a closed-off league, the owner’s massive investments are relatively safe. They have no threat of dropping to a lower division and losing millions of revenue overnight. Don’t get me wrong, I love pro/rel, how can you not? And I think most Americans love it too, especially after seeing what Wrexham has done to scale up the English soccer pyramid so quickly. But at the end of the day it’s a decision made by the owners.

Will this new first division be a threat to MLS? Probably not. One MLS Chief Soccer Officer when asked this question, said, “Zero threat. No chance.” MLS is already miles ahead of USL in almost every conceivable metric. That’s just the reality of it. But I believe USL can still have a sustainable competitive professional league where fans get to engage with the romanticism of pro/rel and all its craziness.

A Surging Nashville Squad

It’s finally all clicking for BJ Callaghan’s Nashville SC. They’re off to their best start in club history through five games, in the skipper’s first full season in charge.

They disposed of Montreal 3-0 on Saturday after beating the previously unbeaten Philadelphia Union 3-1 last weekend. They won on Saturday while missing Andy Najar, Jacob Shaffelburg, and Matt Corcoran, showing this team has plenty of depth to continue playing this well.

Per Ben Wright, Nashville has already collected 28% of their point total and scored 21% of their goals from 2024. And we’re only 14% of the way through the season. But it’s not just the offense that’s humming. The defense has conceded only three times all season, ranking fourth best in MLS.

Next up is Cincinnati and Charlotte. Let’s see if this form continues against two of the best teams in the east.

Goal of the Week

My goodness.

Meme of the Week

Ugh.

Quick Hits

• Diego Kochen and Cavan Sullivan included in GOAL’s list of the World’s 50 best Wonderkids (Link)

• CF Montreal fire Head Coach Laurent Courtois (Link)

• Ecuadorian international Allen Obando joins Inter Miami on loan (Link)

• Folarin Balogun is back in training (Link)

That’s all. Hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading!

Max & Mason