Definitely. Glad Mascherano did the right thing. He seems like a puppet many times. Miami looked much better without Suarez obviously.
They're gonna have a hard time replacing him. If they're smart they hire someone with a similar philosophy.
Final four is set. Quakes didn’t play NYCFC in 2025, but played each of the other three teams evenly. A win and a loss against Vancouver and San Diego and a draw against Miami.
I'm so confused by this "out of position" thing. He's ostensibly playing left side attacking winger, but he drifts in to the center so much it looks like he's playing CF much of the time. But that (CF) was the position that he said was "out of position" for him, and he never or rarely played CF for us, yet insisted we played him "out of position". I'm beginning to think it's just a cover for "I didn't play well". Anyway, he was pretty useless tonight against a hideous Minnesota bunker. I think Chucky might have worked better in a game like this. And Pellegrino did a Quakes-Pellegrino thing and shanked a great chance.
Good riddance, Minnesota! That was a ridiculous bunker. 10 men behind the ball all game, good luck getting a shot off, and if you do, good luck getting it by Dayne St. Clair. It's a strategy that works, but man it sure kills games. And it especially works well against SD, who want you to press them, then attack into space after breaking. Minnesota just completely took that away from them. I wonder what the dust-up was between Varas and Ramsay. Varas: "You're killing the game. This isn't soccer."?
Coach gets cautioned for shoving other coach. That's probably the most exciting thing that happened all game, which otherwise practically put us all to sleep. And Quakes fans saw the Pellegrino we came to know only too well.
Yeah, I know Ramsay wound up shoving Varas and got a yellow for it, but I wonder what they were jawing about.
I've never understood coaches in MLS that play the ultra defensive scheme. No relegation and thankfully no one gets killed for losing. Basically all the teams are evenly matched by design. Even Miami, you take Messi out and they're no different than any other team. Minnesota wasn't playing against Barca or Man city. Why play so cowardly? It's a sport. It's supposed to be entertaining. I'd be pissed off if I was playing for or being a fan of Minnesota. Haven't followed the loons this season, did they play like this all year? It's anti fútbol for me.
They did play like that all year. I think Ramsay’s thinking is that it’s a way to be successful in MLS with a lower payroll. But you’re right, we’re not talking Burnly-Man City here. And I don’t think they’d be as successful if they didn’t have a really good GK. Matt Doyle has had kind of a running beef with Minnesota, first predicting they’d fall in the standings (they didn’t really) or otherwise that they’d ultimately fail (they did, barely but not until conference semis). That’s one thing I appreciate about Bruce. He has the team at least trying to play good soccer, and he’s said it explicitly - I want the team to play in a way that’s at least somewhat entertaining for the fans.
I didn't write that "we play good soccer under Bruce" I wrote that we're "at least trying to play good soccer". Critical difference. But we did end up 4th in the western conference in goals scored, FWIW. BTW, for a decent amount of time earlier in the season I think we were #1 in goals scored in the whole league. And we wound up 7th. Everyone talks about how our defense failed us down the stretch, and that's true but our attack also cooled considerably. Too bad we didn't have something like a creative Argentinian #10 who's now tearing up the Argentine Primera Division to spark our attack in the 2nd half of the season.
Subscribe to the soccer dispatch for an unbelievable amount of soccer minutiae During his $5 Black Friday sale -$5 for 1 year https://open.substack.com/pub/theso...ffer-nows-the-time-d51?r=lti5a&utm_medium=ios
If MJ recommends it, I'm on it. Worst case, I can use it to line the bird cage...except I don't have a bird.
Well, that's a wrap. San Diego is out. They had an amazing season but I never believed in them as a top team (starting forwards Corey Baird and Amahl Pellegrino?), and if they got by Vancouver they'd have been crushed by Miami. I think Vancouver actually has a chance against Miami. They were impressive tonight. They really should have had 5 or 6 goals tonight with all the chances they had. But Miami will be the favorite I'm sure. San Diego fans now gobsmacked to learn that life in MLS is not always rainbows and unicorns.
Tim Leiweke used to be a major, major figure in MLS business. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...edge-arena-developer-months-after-indictment/
Oklahoma City unveils design for soccer stadium by Paul KennedyDecember 3, 2025 Oklahoma City has unveiled the first design renderings for its new $121 million soccer stadium, planned just south of the Bricktown District. Construction on the 10,000-seat stadium is expected to begin this spring. The stadium is scheduled to open in January 2028. OKC for Soccer had targeted 2027 to launch a USL Championship team. With the stadium opening in mind, the team’s planned launch will be in 2028. The stadium plans incorporate views of the downtown skyline, a canopy covering most seating and amenities such as suites and a club section. The increased budget allows for a more ambitious design for the stadium, which will also host various events other than soccer.
Man oh man. Such corruption. Now Mr T is pardoning criminals before they are convicted. I guess that’s DOGE-level efficiency.
My congresswoman was preemptively pardoned by the prior president (or someone in his administration).