Shutdown But Not Shutout

This is one of those weird weeks when a bunch of stuff in the personal life and a bigger helping of work (that I myself created) conspired to make it nearly impossible to do a fully fleshed out newsletter.

But f**k it, let's see if I can throw something together that is worth your while.

Oh, do me a favor and shoot your elected representatives a note that this shutdown thing blows super hard. Thanks!

Let's dive into a sack full of soccer.

The Best Soccer Show happened on Wednesday night, which naturally led to some thoughts about the USMNT lineup/players we want to see make a mark against Ecuador. We also showered some praise the soon-to-be-retired Darlington Nagbe, a player who confounds because of the decisions he made to center his family rather than sporting success.

I'm a mature enough human being to appreciate the choices Nagbe made while at the same time being enough of an idiot soccer fan to wish he hadn't made them. At the risk of falling into the trap 0f lionizing a pretty good player just because he's in his swansong moment, I'm not sure American soccer had a better on-the-ball midfielder over the last 20 years than Nagbe.

Initially best known for bagging some jaw-dropping goals while in Portland at the start of his career, Nagbe evolved into the metronome of all metronomes in MLS Cup-winning midfields in Portland, Atlanta, and Columbus. He wasn't a creative maestro or defensive monster—he was simply the most unflappable, press-resistant, back-to-front connector Major League Soccer has ever seen. He suffered more fouls than any player in league history because he was impossible to take him off the ball. The only way to stop him was to foul him.

Morning Kickaround will have happened on Friday morning by the time you read this, but go check out our video to catch up. This week we covered the usual stew of topics we always do, including lower league drama, the move of the UFL into more soccer stadiums, and USL cresting the 2 million fan mark for the fourth year in a row.

We've got some very cool things in the works for MK, including what I think will be a first-of-it-kind series of features on how a new American soccer club goes from idea to competitive enterprise.

By the way, if YouTube isn't your jam or you just prefer that podcast life, Morning Kickaround is also available as a pod.

Mo and the boys hit Austin tonight to face Ecuador in a friendly less than 250 days from the kickoff of the USMNT's World Cup campaign.

Word is that Christian Pulisic didn't train on Thursday and it seems highly likely he misses the match (hopefully for precautionary reasons). The same goes for Alex Zendejas and Antonee Robinson.

Ouch. That sound you hear is some of the air coming out of this FIFA window for fans hoping to see the USA build on last month's win over Japan and juice excitement for next year's World Cup. I hear on a daily basis from a man who played in three of those things that nothing happening now will impact the tournament campaign, and while I want to woo-sah my way to agreeing with Wynalda, I'm a fan first.

Fans don't always think straight, particularly with the stakes being so high. Even if I could disconnect the current state of the team from the World Cup in my addled brain, it would be nice to see a full-strength American side beat an opponent of decent quality so I can imagine such a thing happening again (and again, and again) next summer.

Without Pulisic, Zendejas, and Robinson on the field, my enthusiasm is down a notch or three. But I'll still be fascinated what Pochettino does to replace Tyler Adams and how a reintegrated McKinnie works in whatever midfield the professor cooks up.

And if we can get good Malik Tillman, that would be just lovely.

My lineup, if I'm being asked:

No one knows how to feel about the success or failure of youth national teams, except the players and coaches involved directly with those youth national teams. JV championships are championships, but they don't bust out the big trophies when a team wins one.

But dammit, I like it when the junior varsity does well, even as I'm careful not to let it convince me that the future of the varsity will measure up. That's where I am with the USMNT U-20s, a team that booked its place in the quarterfinals of the U-20 World Cup in Chile on Thursday.

The Americans punched a ticket to the last eight with 3-0 win over Italy that was only slightly less impressive than the scoreline suggests. Added to the 3-0 group stage win over France last week, the win over Italy makes this one of the most impressive US runs in the tournament's history—and that's saying something since the US hasn't missed the quarterfinals in any of the last five tournaments.

There are plenty of positive things to take out of this performance, not the least of which is that when added to the run of quarterfinal appearances, it suggests we're producing regular, high-quality U-20 talent at a level very few countries can match.

It's a very different thing to turn a product or two of that conveyor belt into the kinds of transcendent players that can lead you to a World Cup title, but I'll take the wins where we can get them. We don't have a World Cup trophy of any kind on the men's side of the case, so we can't be too precious if the first is of the JV variety.

Whatever we can or can't say about the individual players in this group (Benjamin Cremaschi turning into a goal-scoring menace is a pleasant development), winning is the point of the game. I want to win. If the US U20s string together three more games like the ones they played against France and Italy, I'll celebrate like crazy.

Let's finish out this week with something that came up on the radio show on Thursday and is possibly the dumbest item ever to make the newsletter.

While discussing...shit, I can't remember actually...I brought up a particular pet peeve of mine: People going to games and wearing jerseys of teams that aren't playing.

I know this is judgy and gatekeepy and I can't get myself to care. Call me those things if you want, as long as you understand that showing up at a game rocking a third-party jersey is weirdo behavior and you should be shamed for it.

I'm willing accept that soccer fans, American soccer in particular, don't always follow the accepted norms when it comes to our beloved game. A lot of us didn't grow up steeped in the history of the sport and don't make easy connections between the seriousness of rooting for a team we choose or are chosen by and the things we do when we interact with the modern version of soccer as warped for American audiences.

I guess what I'm saying is that "soccer as fan culture" is cool until it tips over the line into the kind of thing you might see at comic book convention. I don't want to get sucked into a discussion about what makes sports fandom different from other types of fandom (we're all just nerds, after all), but I feel deep down in the depths of my soul that the competition between teams that happens on the fields of play dictates a certain type of responsibility on our parts.

It's really not that big of an ask. Pick a different shirt! I'm sure you have several in your closet. There's no rule that says you have to wear a jersey to a soccer game. That's a choice you make.

If you're wondering if there are exceptions, there are!

1. Minors, especially pre-high school age, can wear whatever they want. I'm not a monster. Kids can be kids.
2. ...

Okay, I lied. There's one. One-and-a-half if we make national team jerseys for players who are playing an exception, but I'm not sure we should. There's no club v. club conflict in that scenario, but you're still breaking the fundemental rule. Don't wear a jersey for a team not playing. It's clean and elegant guidance for the discerning soccer fan.

Okay, that's it. Rant over. Go forth, American soccer fans. Go forth and multiply.