The Most Broke

Hi! So I'm back. Apologies for the interruption in regular service here at Soccer Eagle—my trip and broadcast schedule in Albuquerque for last week's big Meow Wolf Night show for New Mexico United's annual collision of art and soccer prevented me from squeezing out the newsletter I was hoping to drop on you.

If you didn't watch the show live, check it out on YouTube and give us some feedback.

As for that cancelled newsletter...

The moment has past, but I had some thoughts on Mauricio Pochettino's attitude about the pressure he was getting after the USMNT's dismal performance against South Korea in New Jersey. When Poch snapped that "everyone should get behind the team" it was a siren call for a set of American soccer observers who take offense to the idea. American soccer coverage is generally pretty deferential to the USMNT boss, whoever it might be, and Pochettino's admonition rubbed a few the wrong way.

How could a guy who coached in Barcelona, London, and Paris be so bothered by a whisper of push back from what USMNT-interested American soccer media exists? Is he just that sensitive or is there something going on here?

The upshot of the newsletter I didn't finish (i.e., my read) was that Poch thinks of himself as doing American soccer a favor (a $6 million-a-year favor) by leading our national team into a World Cup. Here's an accomplished player and coach from one of the world's most renowned soccer cultures taking a sabbatical from club coaching when he doesn't have to who seems miffed we're not just dropping to our knees in grateful genuflection.

He wouldn't be the first foreign coach to patronize American soccer media and fans, and he probably won't be the last.

But enough of that. The FIFA break is over and we'll have plenty of time to talk about the United States men's national team brought to you by Allstate when Poch picks his team for October's games against Ecuador and Australia. Since Pochettino himself said that September was his last chance to see new faces before the serious prep for 2026 begins, the October roster should tell A TON about who he thinks can help the Yanks win games en la Copa Mundial.

As I was working this up, Doug McIntyre dropped an illuminating piece on the culture of Pochettino's USMNT that is a must-read for USMNT fans.

We should be careful not to overreact to some of the detail included, especially those involving McKennie and Pulisic, but it's not the most encouraging information to get nine months or so before Pochettino needs to have his team ready to play in the World Cup.

Oh, and how about this for a eyebrow-raiser:

Just drives home how important it is for Gio to stay on the field for Gladbach. He may not run much, but if he find ways to get on the ball and influence games, Pochettino won't be able to ignore him.

We talked about that article in depth on The Best Soccer Show this week.

If you want to hear more of me talking about the USMNT, I was on the weekend review episode of Scuffed with Vince and Belz...

Two MLS clubs made news this week with big decisions about their leadership.

The New England Revolution finally dumped Caleb Porter when it became clear that the playoffs aren't happening for the Revs this season. A day later, DC United canned Ally Mackay, the latest architect of a United roster that would be condemned if it was an actual building.

Insert the "Ah shit, here we go again" meme.

My memory for this kind of things sucks, but my best guess is that I wrote some version of "The Rest of MLS Is Leaving These Original Clubs Behind" for the first time around a decade ago. A decade! It's very possible (again, doodoo memory) that I've written on the same them multiple times since. New England and DCU, the two OG MLS outfits that just can't seem to get their shit together.

To be clear, I'm not letting a few other clubs off the hook. Colorado isn't lighting up the joint and the Fire still have plenty of work to do to be relevant in MLS again (Chicago isn't an MLS original, but they're close enough). If Chicago gets that new stadium built, watch out.

::waves dismissively at FC Dallas and San Jose::

But man, New England and United? Yes, DC got a stadium done. Audi Field is a massive improvement over RFK Stadium and the club's ownership should be applauded for getting that project through the labyrinth of red tape that comes with any big construction in the nation's capital. Building a stadium doesn't let you off the hook when it comes to winning games, though, and that part of owning an MLS franchise has proven too tough for the duo of Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan.

Dismissing Mackay means that United is on the hunt, yet again, for someone who can put together a winning team. There's already a new head coach in place with the arrival) of René Weiler. Doing this backward, United got a new on-field general before they hired the off-field decision-maker who will bring in the players. Because that makes sense.

Wait, I'm being told there's been a development in the United CSO search...

D.C. United lining up replacement for ousted GM Ally Mackay, per three sources: Erkut Sogut, sports lawyer who represented Mesut Özil, is top choice. Helped DCU recruit Coach René Weiler. Executive recruiter but never worked for a club. Other candidate: Toluca executive Santiago San Román.

— Steven Goff (@stevengoff.bsky.social) September 16, 2025 at 5:36 PM

Initially, D.C. United reached out to Sogut to assist with the club’s search for a new general manager, per source. Then DCU decided to offer him the job, despite no experience working for a club.

— Steven Goff (@stevengoff.bsky.social) September 16, 2025 at 9:09 PM

No official announcement yet about Sogut hiring. Expected sometime this week.

— Steven Goff (@stevengoff.bsky.social) September 17, 2025 at 5:22 PM

Are we still doing head desk?

How do we think that conversation went?

"Hi Erkut. Thanks so much for getting us connected to Rene! So...it turns out we just fired out general manager. Do you know of anyone who might be interested in running the soccer side of a Major League Soccer team?"

"Maybe I could do it?"

"Do you have any experience running a soccer club, recruiting players, or working within the byzantine rules of the MLS salary budget?"

"No, but I have written several novels about the dark underbelly of football representation."

"Perfect! You're hired."

Here's my biggest problem with this move, beyond the obvious that it seems extremely lazy to hire the guy you worked with to bring in a new coach as your new CSO: Agents come with conflicts of interest and passing off the running of your club to one indicates an unwillingness to invest time and money in scouting and recruiting. Hiring an agent as your CSO is a shortcut that lets you tap into his existing player network, but it's not a shortcut that necessarily gets you where you want to go faster.

Then again, Zoran Krneta has kinda worked out for Charlotte? So maybe this is actually a genius decision and I'm being unfair. Unfair to a club that hasn't made a good decision in almost a decade. Unfair to a club that is losing DC to the District's NWSL side because they've missed the playoffs for six years straight.

Here's United's ownership duo on local TV (on a station they're partnered with) trying to explain what the hell is going on with their club.

That's right. Kaplan said the club intends to have a "panoply" of designated players.

Let's forget for a second that most people have never heard the word "panoply" before...it doesn't even make sense in this context! Sure, "panoply" is defined as "an impressive and complete collection of something" but no one who uses "panoply" uses it to mean a collection of three things, as in the maximum number of DPs an MLS team can sign.

Owners going on local TV is almost universally a bad idea. No United fan who watches that segment is going to feel better about the team as it hits reboot, again.

Listen to my friends Greg Roche and Pablo Maurer spit hot fire about the DC United disaster. They know the club and the scene as well as anyone.

Up in New England, the Revolution's problems go well beyond the coach, though I think most of us were doubtful that Porter was the right guy when they hired him. Somehow the man who won two MLS Cup titles in two different places is thought of as more lucky than good. His difficult personality and thin skin are well known throughout the league.

Their even more well-known after Prost International dropped a heater of a piece quoting some of Porter's ex-players.

One player stated, “Out of all of my coaches, he’s the one that focused on the external the most. Mentioned articles at training, telling us not to listen to it but would mention it and make it bigger by doing so. He’s told me as well as other players to respond back to a social media post that was negative about him. It’s unreal. He focuses on the outside noise more than anyone.”

Oof.

Sporting Director Curt Onalfo still has his job for a moment. It'll be interesting to see if the Krafts trust him to hire the next head coach after the Porter experiment failed. Onalfo was put in a difficult situation with the Arena v. Williams fallout, so perhaps he deserves a pass here. Again, Porter did have two MLS Cup titles on his resume. There aren't too many of those guys around.

But the Revs aren't being left behind because the team on the field is a disappointed. In New England the biggest issue remains the lack of a proper soccer home for a team that goes back to the league's first year. For the club's entire existence going back 30 years, it has only played its home games in an NFL stadium that is a) too big b) has the wrong surface and c) is too far from Boston's thriving soccer communities.

Maybe the Revs will hire the right coach and get back to some winning ways. Maybe they'll even find a way to lift the MLS Cup that has eluded them on five different trips to the final. With a championship, it's even possible the club could rally the region and take big strides in awareness and popularity.

But until they get the damn stadium built, they'll mostly be a reminder of what MLS isn't anymore: a second-rate operation filling dates in stadium designed for the country's favorite football code. Because of the market they're in and the potential it holds, thinking about that reality never fails to bring me down.

So what's the latest on the proposed Revolution stadium in Everett, just to the northwest of Boston on the Mystic River? It's tied up in politics because Boston mayor Michelle Wu, who is running for reelection this year, has turned a battle with the Krafts into one of the key themes of her campaign. Or rather, the Krafts did that when Kraft scion Josh Kraft decided to run against Wu, a quixotic task in a city where an incumbent mayor hasn't lost an election in 75 years. The other Kraft brother is not involved with the soccer club (that's Jonathan Kraft) but Wu still aimed her political ire at him over the Everett stadium and some unanswered questions about the plans there.

Even though Josh Kraft is out of the mayoral race following a 49 point (!) preliminary election loss (Boston politics are weird, you guys), Wu isn't backing down on using the Kraft family as foils.

Welp. I almost got excited for a minute, until I remember that Rev stadium stories are the football and Boston politics are Lucy.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to tell a soccer friend about the newsletter.