Dagur Dan is a great name. Also reminds me of "O Brother Where Art Thou" - I wish Montreal had a player named Fop and the coach could decide whether he was a For or a Dagur Dan Man.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6910109/2025/12/22/mls-offseason-needs-every-club-2026/ For those of you that subscribe. Bogert article on team needs.
I can't agree more on the CB call for RSL. Been saying that for a year. They just gave Eneli a new 5 year deal. He isn't going anywhere unless another team really steps up. I would hate to see him go but if he doesn't want to play here then Frank Fritz it and bundle him up for a good deal with players you need.
Everyone over on the cRapids board seems to be wringing their hands about their rebrand, but The Athletic seems to think there might be a distant ray of hope on the horizon. “What the Colorado Rapids have done so far is interesting and should set them up for a boost. New head coach Matt Wells, the former Tottenham Hotspur assistant, will instil his new playing style, which will benefit club-record signing Paxten Aaronson. The additions of Trinidad & Tobago international winger Dante Sealy, Nigerian defensive midfielder Hamzat Ojediran and more are a solid start to winter business.”
I don't remember seeing this, but RSL will not be participating in the USOC in 2026. https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/2026-us-open-cup-which-mls-teams-will-compete
You can be in Leagues Cup or the US Open Cup, but not both. Since we nabbed that final slot in the Leagues Cup, that's it for us. EDIT: Well, wait a moment. Champions Cup teams are automatically out, then it says teams NOT in the Leagues Cup are in - it doesn't say the Leagues Cup teams are out. That wording seems purposeful and looking closer, some teams are in both (Orlando, NYCFC, Minnesota, Columbus, and Charlotte).
Correct, but there seemed to be some discussion that the USOC may not even happen this year. That was the first I saw that it was happening and MLS teams were still competing. I saw the link here: https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/2026...mportant-dates-on-the-north-american-calendar Also of note is that the Leagues Cup format doesn't seem to be changing from last (good thing, I think), but that's not official.
Last year they said that MLS teams will participate in no more than 2 of CCC, League’s Cup, and Open Cup. Seems like we just threw in the towel on Open Cup. Portland and Dallas aren’t in the Open Cup either. Teams in CCC: FC Cincinnati vs. O&M FC (Dominican Republic) LAFC vs. Real España (Honduras) Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Cartaginés (Costa Rica) Nashville SC vs. Atlético Ottawa (Canada) Philadelphia Union vs. Defence Force (Trinidad & Tobago) San Diego FC vs. Pumas UNAM (Mexico) LA Galaxy vs. Sporting San Miguelito (Panama) Seattle Sounders FC vs. winner of Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Cartaginés Inter Miami FC vs. winner of Nashville SC vs. Atlético Ottawa Leagues Cup: Austin FC Charlotte FC Chicago Fire FC FC Cincinnati Columbus Crew FC Dallas Inter Miami CF LAFC Minnesota United FC Nashville SC New York City FC Orlando City Philadelphia Union Portland Timbers Real Salt Lake San Diego FC Seattle Sounders FC Vancouver Whitecaps FC Open Cup Atlanta United Austin FC Charlotte FC Chicago Fire FC Colorado Rapids Columbus Crew D.C. United Houston Dynamo FC Minnesota United FC New England Revolution New York City FC Orlando City Red Bull New York San Jose Earthquakes St. Louis CITY SC Sporting Kansas City
There are 7 teams doing both USOC and Leagues Cup. It would be nice to know why RSL isn't among them, especially since they couldn't compete in USOC last year.
Yeah. Dallas and Portland are bailing on the US Open Cup too. There are 16 teams in League's Cup and Open Cup. I wonder if the format will only allow 16 MLS teams to skip all the qualifying rounds. I wonder if they had to ask 3 teams to either pass or be involved earlier?
I really wanna know if this was club selection or otherwise… cuz it’s the most blatant sign of this club not caring about development or winning possible
It’s also the easiest path to CCC, which RSL has bragged about repeatedly but never taken advantage of.
As someone who enjoys good players in the league for whichever team they might play for, I am totally bummed that Riqui Puig had to have surgery again and is out until 2027. The Galaxy were shaping up to be a fun team to watch in 2026.
Riqui is one of my favorite players not on RSL. Truly sad for him and the Galaxy. I would trade straight up for him if LA would take Diogo. I think we would get the same production from Riqui this season as we will get from Diogo so why not? lol
I know RSL has had a very lackluster offseason, but it could be worse. Check out what Loons fans are going through. https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/eric-ramsay-departs-minnesota-united-to-coach-west-bromwich-albion Coach and several key players from the Western Conference Semi Finalists are gone. I think they have more GAM than anyone though, we'll see if they can add the right pieces.
They were a good team that’s lost key players Were a bad team that lost key players I think we still take the cake
This was going to be my next point. You know who Minnesota isn’t mad they missed a chance in trying to hire from the league? Pablo
How much better could RSL be if we had someone in the FO willing and able to understand roster rules as well as Miami? Are RSL's struggles to properly fill out a starting 11 at all related to mismanagement or misunderstanding of roster rules? Or is it all due to financial constraints and poor evaluation of talent? https://footyanalyticmusings.substack.com/p/2026-off-season-preview-inter-miami
Kurt and Jason both have experience in Miami, not sure if it was with the current CSO. Kurt has worked with Garth, the best to ever do it. I'm willing to bet it's money limitations. There's almost no scouting network, limited salary and transfer fee outlay, etc. The Cowell acquisition is a step in the creative roster building direction. I want to see more moves like the De Paul loan, Monarchs buying players and the Chancalay trade by MIN just recently.