I don't think Dallas, in its history, has ever NOT released a player to the USMNT or USYNTs. They once released their entire central midfield to international duty at the same time (including Pomykal, Servania, and Cerrillo to the U20WC) leaving them barely able to field a squad. They asked the coach at the time about it and he said that the club takes the opportunity of international duty very seriously for its players. So I would bet my mortgage, your mortgage, everyone's mortgage that they would have released Logan Farrington. I personally think that Logan could have been this season's Duncan McGuire had he gotten the same amount of playing time. But they paid a lot for a DP #9, and that guy has been scoring a lot of goals now. [And yes, I'm sure they would have released Ferreira as an overage player too. Ferreira isn't healthy. I do kinda wonder if that would have been a consideration if he was.]
I am confident that a healthy Jesus Ferreira would be starting the opener in France. He’s got a better goal scoring record than the A team starter.
I definitely would have taken him as the overage 9 if available over Mihailovic. Also just brings you a different skill set at the 9 compares to McGuire.
The feed from Illarramendi and the finish from Farrington! 😯Dallas up 2-0. pic.twitter.com/IWocJdFiSm— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 14, 2024
What a run from Obed Vargas! 🌬️Jordan Morris strikes to put @SoundersFC on top. pic.twitter.com/Xpcj7RvFg9— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 14, 2024
Just not interested and doesn’t want to take the time away from his family. Berhalter did try and call him up multiple times early in his tenure and was rebuffed. I don’t know if he just had a bad experience under Klinsmann and Arena and that contributed to his lack of interest but would have been a nice player to have as part of the team over the last five years.
Dual-national currently playing for England youth. Another in the Buck category that might come back around to us. Christian McFarlane (‘07) 🇺🇸🏴 gets his first MLS start for NYCFC https://t.co/FpVoiRWV8R— American Ultras Talk (@ameriultrastalk) July 14, 2024
Its a weird thing. Dallas is dominant over the Galaxy historically at home. All-time record is 25-9-7. I'm not sure if Farrington will ever been good enough for the USMNT. But Dallas really got value for that draft pick. They traded up in the draft to nab him. They traded 250k in GAM and swapped draft picks with TFC. Pretty good deal. Luccin has Dallas trending in the right direction. I don't know if they'll make the playoffs, because they were in quite a hole. We'll see. They're inching upwards slowly in the standings.
I'd say the shock in the league at the moment is that Philly lost AGAIN. They're now rooted to the bottom of the East. Only San Jose is worse than the Union in all of MLS. But I guess Jim Curtin is safe? I didn't see this disastrous of a fall coming for the Union. They were trending down last season from the highs of SS contention, but I don't think any of us saw this coming. They're really low on talent right now. Their starting lineup is "meh" and their bench is very young. The league had to make up a rule last night so they could put CJ Olney on the bench. Some roster relief due to Olympic callups is what they said. But that speaks to the position they're in. You're not winning in MLS in 2024 if you're needing to call up kids from your MLSNP in order to field a roster. Olney is a good young player, who had a shot of making our U20 CONCACAF Championships team. Calling up @PhilaUnionII midfielder CJ Olney on a short-term loan agreement as an Olympic replacement player ahead of our match against Toronto FC.📝 https://t.co/MKHumXxmc0#DOOP | @primepoint pic.twitter.com/TvnpTt6rrj— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) July 13, 2024
One of the good things about not having relegation is when teams are out of it in all US major sports they can start playing and playing for next year. Philly is in need of a major refresh to add to all their young talent bubbling up. They will need to make some cuts and some very key acquisitions.
Philly's issue isn't the youth. It's Blake's injury, plus their veteran defenders getting old plus selling their best player and not yet replacing him. No one has ever suggested a team is going to win solely led by the youth of their academy. And no, Philly doesn't need to be the only standard bearing when Columbus has Morris, Schulte, Arfsten, JRR, and Zawadski playing (or having played) key roles.
On the other hand, TFC being competitive again is good for the league. Philly scores plenty of goals. But their defending has been horrific. That goal below isn't their 18 year old keeper's fault. He came out and tried to make himself big. Neither was the first one. After the game this was Curtin's quote: "We found ways to make mistakes and get punished for them... We have become very fragile." Just an awful pass from Elliott. It allows Toronto to take advantage and beat Rick at the near post.Can't make this up.#doop #MLS🎥: APPLE/MLS pic.twitter.com/1CENLe9Uq3— José Roberto Nuñez (@JoserNunez91) July 14, 2024
Don't forget Farsi. Arfsten has been a revelation this season. Nancy says he's the most technical player on the team.
Correction: the decision to make that pass was EXTREMELY POOR!!! Dude has been making passes like that his entire career with Philly at least 1-2 times EVERY game!!!! It's f'n maddening. He didn't even look up before making that pass!!!!!! Philly really just needs to revamp their centerbacks and they'll be fine. They score more than enough goals to be no worse than mid table currently. Yet, because of sh!t like in that video.... they are where they are.
Tip of the cap to former US international Steve Birnbaum, who retired today due to lingering injury issues with his hip and knee. Good guy and absolutely dominant in the air. Best of luck to him in the future.
SofaScore US-eligible Team of the Week(343) * = U23 Player of the Week: Ramirez White Campbell U23: Campbell Arfsten Farrington
Honorable Mention GK: Guzan(7.9)1st Stuver(7.6)MOTM Frei(7.6)MOTM Willis(7.5)1st Schulte(7.2)7th* MacMath(7.0)1st Smir(7.5)2nd Freese(7.3)4th Brady(7.0)4th* LB: Farfan(7.2)6th CB: Neal(7.0)2nd* RB: Rosenberry(7.2)2nd Lennon(7.1)2nd LM: Toye(7.5)4th O.Rernandez(7.0)3rd CM: Rodriguez(7.3)5th Williamson(7.3)6th Durkin(7.2)1st Edelman(7.2)3rd* Harkes(7.1)3rd Eneli(7.0)1st Cerillo(7.0)2nd Larraz(7.0)3rd* RM: Boyd(7.1)2nd Esmir(7.0)3rd* Harper(7.0)6th* FW: Morris(7.4)6th Bunbury(7.1)2nd Gutierrez(7.0)4th*
Campbell may be back to his though too late for the Olympics. Farrington continues to in the Duncan McGuire path. Arfsten will challenge for a depth role at leftback. It's nice to see that Memo Rodriquez has found a productive niche in Houston's midfield.
Campbell, Obed Vargas, Luna and Cowell all seem to have been energized by being left off the Olympic team.