Stuff Happened

Lots of results but are they all blogworthy?

Never Too Late

Ignore the fact that the winning goal came in the 98th minute (stoppage time on top of stoppage time); the Union's 2-1 victory over Charlotte was a fair result.  I didn't see the whole match but in the highlights provided by MLS, Philly looked the better team.  Charlotte did have a slight possession advantage (54/46) but shots (20/8), shots on target (9/2) and most importantly xG (2.2/.7) favored the Union.  Recall this was a Union line-up that was missing key players to international duty.  

Bueno has made regular appearances so he wasn't a newbie.  He had a laser strike for the first goal.  Markus Adeniyi Anderson Adedeji (M.A. Anderson in the line up sheet) was making his MLS debut.  He celebrated in grand fashion with the winning goal, seen here as this week's YouTubeableMoment.

The chase pack all got wins too so the Union lead at the top remains four points.  Cool.

The Storm Before the Calm

The final friendly for the USMNT before the Gold Cup was an ugly 0-4 loss to Switzerland.  Multiple sets of fingerprints were found at the crime scene.

1) FIFA Club World Cup - Several key players were not released from their clubs due to that competition.

2) Vacation - Christian Pulisic controversially declared that he needed a break.  He got reamed for his decision but not sure it's fully deserved.  First of all, Landon Donovan is in no position to comment based on his 2013 sabbatical.  Second, I count 53 appearances for Pulisic between 8/17/24 and 5/24/25.  If he played in the Gold Cup, he'd get up to seven more games between June 14 and July 6.  He would then be scheduled to arrive at Milan's training camp on July 7 and then proceed to play another 45-50 matches before the World Cup starts. Isn't this possibly a smart idea to reduce the likelihood that he gets hurt or burned out before the 2026 World Cup?  But, but, aren't others at the same risk of overwork?  Looking at players on the Gold Cup roster who play in Europe, only Brenden Aaronson (51) and Johnny Cardoso (48) are even close to Pulisic's workload; the others all had 36 or fewer appearances.  It's not an issue for MLS players, who are simply getting some extra mid-season games and they will get a break in the late fall and winter.  Those on teams playing in the Club World Cup, well, we can't do much for them but just because FIFA is nuts doesn't mean we have to risk another player.

Pulisic didn't need to post pictures of his vacation the day after the Switzerland loss.  And the issue between coach and player can admittedly be touchy.  My point is just that Pulisic's decision has been characterized as totally selfish but given his workload it might be the right decision for the USMNT's chances at the 2026 World Cup.

3) Pochettino -  He rolled the dice with an inexperienced line-up and got a ton of crap for it.  Again, not sure it was warranted.  He had a compromised roster to start with.  Also, isn't the year before the World Cup the time to find out how deep the talent pool is?

4) The players - Certainly this was not the most talented roster and some players were overmatched.  On the other hand, there was a clear lack of intensity in this performance.  That used to be the hallmark of US teams - we might not be the most talented but nobody will outhustle us.

So there was much handwringing and finger pointing.  Not the best way to go into a tournament. 

The Gold Cup

Chris Richards scored the only goal against Saudi Arabia
and probably saved a goal with a sliding shot block (Getty images)

That has gone better for the USMNT.  They opened with an easy win over Trinidad & Tobago, then stumbled to a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia, the guest country for this edition of the Gold Cup.  The good news is that they are onto the knockout round, though that is truly a low bar for the US in the Gold Cup.  The bad news is that unless they up their game, this team will not make it to the semi-final, as they will have to beat either Costa Rica or Mexico to advance.   

Club World Cup

Maybe not as many mismatches as I expected but that may have just been the favorites taking it easy.  Through Matchday 1 of 3 we saw:

Bayern 10-0 over Auckland City

PSG 4-0 Atletico (on paper that was not a mismatch)

Juventus 5-0 over Al Ain

Man City had a tepid 2-0 win over Wydad AC and Chelsea didn't run wild over LAFC.  The Fluminense - Dortmund contest was an entertaining 0-0 draw.  Real Madrid can't have been pleased with 1-1 draw vs Al-Hilal.  Same for Inter, who drew 1-1 with Monterrey.  Inter Miami edged Porto 2-1 on a free kick by Messi in another decent watch.  Matchday 2 and 3 run through next Thursday, with the Round of 16 kicking off next Saturday.  I still think the competition got too big for its britches but will also concede there have been some fun matches.

Ange, We Hardly Knew Ye

Thomas Frank; Daniel Levy is now his cross to bear

Well, the ax finally fell and Ange Postecoglou is out and Thomas Frank is in at Spurs. On the one hand, Spurs did win the Europa Cup and earned a spot in next year's Champions League.  On they other hand, they finished 17th with just 38 points, a total which in many years would have seen them firmly in the relegation battle.  On the one hand, they did play a largely entertaining brand of football under Ange.  On the other hand, that style and the rigorous training required to play it, very likely was the reason they were plagued with injuries.  

Frank became manager at Brentford in the Championship during the 2018-19 season.  They just missed promotion in 19-20 but made it 20-21.  Since promotion, the Bees have finished 13th, 9th, 16th and 10th, generally regarded as overachievement for a small club.

Show Me the Way (apologies to Peter Frampton)

BFS Artistic Director Laura O sends along this oldie but goodie in which the fans a German football club desparately try to help their team find the net.

The Week Ahead

Well, we will definitely check out US Haiti and 7 pm on Sunday.  Probably look in on Mexico - Costa Rica at 10 pm the same night.  Panama - Jamaica, Tuesday at 7 pm, might be worth watching.

As for the Club World Cup, Flamengo - Chelsea on Friday at 2 pm might be good.  Benfica - Bayern Tuesday at 3 could be worthwhile.  Definitely plan to watch Juventus - Man City on Thursday at 3.

The Union don't have a match this weekend but play away at Chicago on Wednesday at 8:30.

Just enough stuff that I won't get rusty.