Hey friends,

Welcome to the 36 new subscribers who’ve joined us since last week. It’s Max and Mason reporting for duty as always. Here’s what we’ve got kicking around today…

• ⏯️ Match Day 32 Recap

• ❓️ Comeback Kings or Choke Artists

• 🇺🇸 Who is Luca Koleosho?

• 🇺🇸 Americans in the Champions League

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Tweet of the Week

Match Day 32 Recap

El Trafico delivered. Hell is Real did not. And the GOAT is back. Let’s unpack it.

LA Galaxy 4 - 2 LAFC

This rivalry always delivers. Saturday’s rendition might have been the best since Zlatan’s 4 goal comeback in the inaugural El Trafico. Denis Bouanga opened things up in typical Bouanga fashion with a pacy goal and assist down the left flank to go up 2-0. Then LAFC collapsed in the second half. The Galaxy roared back with 4 goals to stay unbeaten at home this season and clinch a playoff spot.

LAFC have two games in hand and a 7 point deficit to their rivals in the West. Let’s hope these two meet again come playoff time.

Hell is Real

This one didn’t deliver like it usually does. Both teams played safe and were waiting for the other to make a mistake. The mistake never came and the stalemate ended in a 0-0 tie. Both teams ended up clinching a playoff spot and will continue to duke it out for second place in the east.

Houston’s Resurgence

The Houston Dynamo are hot. They cruised to a 4-1 win over Western Conference foe Real Salt Lake for their fourth win in their last six. Unfortunately Hector Herrera went down with a hamstring injury late in the first half and it looks like he’ll be sidelined for a bit.

Real Salt Lake have won just one of their last six and now Seattle and Vancouver are right on their tail in the crowded West.

Messi’s Return

Messi made his first appearance for Miami since June 1st and continued right where he left off; two goals and an assist to beat Philadelphia 3-1. I can’t even imagine what his numbers would be in a fully healthy season. The Shield race is now wrapped up and Miami are making a run at the Revolution’s 73 point single season record. If they win 4 out of their remaining 6 games they’ll beat the record. With Messi healthy it’s hard to not see that happening.

Comeback Kings or Choke Artists?

Here at Nutmeg we love digging into the data for you on this wild league. So we found these tweets by Tom Bogert interesting. Here are the teams you can consider comeback kings or choke artists:

What a weird season for D.C. United. They’ll comeback when they’re down but they’ll also drop points they should’ve won. Make it make sense!

This might be the stat that explains St. Louis City’s season the most. City is 5W-3L-6D this season when scoring first. Last season when they won the Western Conference they were 14-1-3 when scoring first.

Inter Miami have repeatedly given up early leads only to come back and score in bunches. Will that catch up to them playoff time when they’re playing the other elite squads in the East?

Poch’s Next Target?

Luca Koleosho is a 20-year-old winger who plays for Burnley in the English Championship (English 2nd division). We saw him play a few games last season in the English Premier League and man was he talented. He’s got 2 goals in 4 appearances so far this season including this banger below.

He grew up in the States, born to an Italian mother and a Nigerian father. Growing up Luca played for the Manhattan Kickers, a non-profit team in NYC before moving to the La Liga academy system at age 12 when his parents realized just how talented he was. He signed his first professional contract at age 17 with La Liga side Espanyol. He’s eligible to represent the U.S., Italy, Nigeria, or Canada. Over the past few years, he’s been called up by 3 of the 4(except Nigeria) but hasn’t stuck with one nation.

Now, with Pochettino named head coach of the USMNT, the U.S. has a real shot at swaying a player like this. Poch is a world-class coach who not only develops young talent but has the kind of reputation that can pull players away from other countries. His presence alone makes the U.S. a much more attractive option for players like Koleosho, especially with the 2026 World Cup on the horizon.

USMNT fans have yet another reason to tune in to the English Championship this season.

Americans in the Champions League

What’s better than Americans scoring in Champions League games? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Yesterday’s recap for you:

Juventus 3 - 1 PSV

This was the first Champions League match in history to feature five USMNT players. Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah (Juve) beat Ricardo Pepi, Richy Ledezma, and Malik Tillman (PSV). McKennie scored in the first half to give Juve a 2-0 lead. It’s the 4th different Champions League season he’s scored in, only Pulisic (6) has more for a USMNT player. Juve keeps writing McKennie off and McKennie continues to deliver when called upon.

AC Milan 1 - 3 Liverpool

Pulisic opened the scoring in the 3rd minute with his 9th career UCL goal, extending his record for a US player. It was his 30th goal contribution since joining Milan. Nobody has more goal contributions for a Serie A team in that time. He’s found his home and he’s thriving as one of the best wingers in the world. Unfortunately Milan are terrible at defending set pieces and quickly lost their lead.

Goal of the Week

BANGER.

Tweet of the Week

This tweet went viral with 1.3M views. American soccer culture is much bigger than this but damn that’s funny. Sorry, Spurs fans.

Quick Hits

• A list of the top 25 selling jerseys in MLS (Link)

• Billionaire Marcelo Claure acquires 10% stake in NYCFC (Link)

• San Diego FC officially announce Mikey Vargas as first head coach (Link)

• LAFC resign club legend Carlos Vela (Link)

Alright, that’s all folks. Let’s chat again next week.

Max & Mason