***Official 2025 MLS and North American Club Tournaments Thread***

[Hawkfan_08]

Week 1 in the books.

My Sounders start off with putting the ball into our own net to draw 2-2 on the last play of the game (93rd min) vs Charlotte.

Chicago is doing what Chicago does (sorry @Menace Sockeyes ) granted it was to the Crew. 4-2 Columbus.

Vancouver put a beat down on Portland 4-1 as did San Jose over Real Salt Lake, 4-0.

Messi got a last second assist to draw NYCFC 2-2 after getting a goal in the snow at SKC in the CCL to win 1-0.

San Diego takes down the champs, LA Galaxy 2-0 in their first game in history.

MLS being up to 30 teams is crazy to me...


Random question. For the CCL, why do MLS teams have to play each other in round 1? Mexican league teams didn't have to. It's not a US vs Canada thing either. I haven't really read up on the new format.

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

Atlanta at Charlotte just kicked off on FOX. Fun Southeastern derby match. Wilfred Zaha’s MLS debuted, and Latte’s second after an MLS record incoming transfer fee and two goals in his debut.

And yes, Chicago’s defense was terrible. But the attack looked great and big money Jonathan Bamba looks a great signing. I expect Gregg to shuffle the back line, and perhaps we see Omar Gonzalez make his debut for Chicago.

EDIT: The big signings are all coming through in their debuts:

 

[jaxhawk06]

It only took 3 minutes and the Chicago Fire are losing

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

It only took 3 minutes and the Chicago Fire are losing

Forgot to watch (gladly). One change at the back? WTF, Gregg?

BTW, I was watching Ospreys vs Glasgow Warriors in United Rugby Championship today, and Ospreys beat the defending champions on a game ending penalty kick from MOTM, Jacksonville-born Jack Walsh. Moved to Australia as a kid so he has a lighter Aussie accent, but hopefully USA Rugby can poach him.

 

[jaxhawk06]

Forgot to watch (gladly). One change at the back? WTF, Gregg?

BTW, I was watching Ospreys vs Glasgow Warriors in United Rugby Championship today, and Ospreys beat the defending champions on a game ending penalty kick from MOTM, Jacksonville-born Jack Walsh. Moved to Australia as a kid so he has a lighter Aussie accent, but hopefully USA Rugby can poach him.

The one change at the back was due to an injury in warm ups too

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

The one change at the back was due to an injury in warm ups too

Incredible. At least Cuypers is continuing his form! 2-1 with a Hugo brace as BWP predicted. The Bamba-Cuypers-Guti-Zinckernagel diamond is very promising. It’s not our offense that’s the issue though.

PS - Love Omari Glasgow coming on. Bringing the young, high energy guys on. Not so sure I’d take off Cuypers though.

 

[jaxhawk06]

The Chicago Fire drop 2 points in the most Chicago Fire way possible

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

The Chicago Fire drop 2 points in the most Chicago Fire way possible

That was insane yet predictable. Some God must hate the Fire. But perhaps packing it in for the last 20 wasn’t such a hot idea.

 

[jaxhawk06]

Chicago wins!

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

Chicago wins!

Credit to Gregg, he’s willing to change it up when it’s not working sooner rather than later. We look like we have our backline sorted out now: Gutmam, Ellliot, Rogers, Barroso. All but Gutman new Gregg signings.

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

Chicago wins!

Two in a row, and both on the road. Should’ve been 3-1 and a brace for Cuypers, but SeanJohn sold a foul when he knew he couldn’t get to the back post. We moving to cautious optimism?

Also, saw this live and was thinking how I would never be cheering for a goalscorer against my own club. In a Champions Cup game, no less…



(I eventually made it through the accent)…

 

[jaxhawk06]

Two in a row, and both on the road. Should’ve been 3-1 and a brace for Cuypers, but SeanJohn sold a foul when he knew he couldn’t get to the back post. We moving to cautious optimism?

Also, saw this live and was thinking how I would never be cheering for a goalscorer against my own club. In a Champions Cup game, no less…

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(I eventually made it through the accent)…

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I'm curious when the last time Chicago had 7 points in its first 4 games

Also, pretty fun game between SKC and Minnesota United. SKC was down 3-0 in the 2nd and scored 3 goals in 12 minutes to draw 3-3 in a game that had some snow

 

[BeepBeepInMyJeep]

USL announces their pro/rel initiative.

While the plan is light on details, what we know is that there will be three tiers and will start in 2028.

The USL Division 1 doesn’t exist and doesn’t have any clubs. So it’s yet unknown if existing and future expansion clubs may have something of a “classification” season or if they’re going to be building the starting Division 1 from scratch and they really have a lot of investors lined up to start in pole position (seems unlikely).

What’s also a very firm reality is that existing USL players are just marginally full time professionals and that most clubs aren’t making any money. I don’t see much of a short term pathway to actually competing with MLS. The short term play would be to siphon off MLS fans with a more dramatic season format. And seeing as this is the first time I’ve probably ever seen USL on the home page of ESPN, it could potentially work to building a groundswell.

However there’s a lot of foreign interests that may see a better path towards investing in the U.S. market where MLS is pretty much the walled off. I also foresee some potential hurdles. Right now, there’s very little in the way of overlapping markets. If USL looks to place more teams in MLS markets, there could be fireworks and legal problems. Or does USL really focus on the “smaller” markets and count on rabidity to win the day?

Let’s face it, a post-Messi MLS will probably have a bit of a reckoning. They have been fueling a lot of this build up via expansion fees and a single entity model. The league struggles with a lot of dead rubber, load management. MLS will still functionally be the top league in the U.S. for the next 10 years but there’s going to be a lot of debates about “cannibalism” for years to come.

 

[jaxhawk06]

This is definitely very intriguing. I think there's still a good amount of untapped markets for professional soccer in this country and there's a few current USL clubs that are doing relatively well. I'm hoping this will mean more investment in the USL. It will be interesting to see how MLS will react to this and maybe if they try and push through the August-Mat calendar

 

[jaxhawk06]

Also, the Des Moines Menace with a bunch of retired MLS All-Stars are playing Sporting KC II in the US Open Cup. Hopefully Des Moines wins and can host a home game

 

[BeepBeepInMyJeep]

This is definitely very intriguing. I think there's still a good amount of untapped markets for professional soccer in this country and there's a few current USL clubs that are doing relatively well. I'm hoping this will mean more investment in the USL. It will be interesting to see how MLS will react to this and maybe if they try and push through the August-Mat calendar

I definitely think it will but the question most importantly is if they’ll have TV suitors. And I think that’s a tough lift if you’re saying we don’t have teams in NY, Dallas and LA, we’ve got El Paso, Rhode Island and Monterrey. There’s certainly some clubs doing well and some terrific venues (and more coming! Like Detroit) but others who are playing on baseball infields.

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

Also, the Des Moines Menace with a bunch of retired MLS All-Stars are playing Sporting KC II in the US Open Cup. Hopefully Des Moines wins and can host a home game

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It’s a great solution to the problem of having their best college players unavailable since the USOC early rounds moved to earlier in the season. They just go the other way on the age scale and sign Feilhaber, Kljestan, Dax McCarty, and Bradley Wright-Phillips for cup roster deals. A dozen years ago and that’s an insane collection of talent. Up 2-1 late in KC on Sporting II.

 

[jaxhawk06]

I definitely think it will but the question most importantly is if they’ll have TV suitors. And I think that’s a tough lift if you’re saying we don’t have teams in NY, Dallas and LA, we’ve got El Paso, Rhode Island and Monterrey. There’s certainly some clubs doing well and some terrific venues (and more coming! Like Detroit) but others who are playing on baseball infields.

Weirdly, I don't think they be that big a of a competitor with MLS. The USL has a women's league that also has division 1 sanctioning, but I don't think they really compete with the NWSL. They probably won't have a huge massive TV deal like MLS on Apple, but I would think if there's a post World Cup boom, they could get something decent. I know that have games on CBS and ESPN now.

Hopefully when this starts in a few years, most of these teams get get out of their minor league stadiums...

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

Des Moines Menace are HOSTING their Round 2 game this Wednesday night, facing the winner of tonight’s Union Omaha vs Flatirons matchup:

 

[jaxhawk06]

Thanks to the A's moving out, the Oakland Roots are doing some good things

 

[Hawkfan_08]

Thanks to the A's moving out, the Oakland Roots are doing some good things

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That's pretty cool!

My Sounders are off to a butt start.

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

Messi vs Lloris, the last two World Cup winning captains, absolutely battling in the CONCACAF Champions Cup Quarterfinals 2nd leg. Messi clearly wants this one after getting eliminated by LAFC last year. He’s firing on all cylinders and has Lloris beat once. 1-1, 2-1 LAFC on aggregate. FS1 is the channel.

 

[jaxhawk06]

Messi vs Lloris, the last two World Cup winning captains, absolutely battling in the CONCACAF Champions Cup Quarterfinals 2nd leg. Messi clearly wants this one after getting eliminated by LAFC last year. He’s firing on all cylinders and has Lloris beat once. 1-1, 2-1 LAFC on aggregate. FS1 is the channel.

Only caught the last 15 minutes, but that was intense.

Wondering if Messi plays against Chicago on Sunday now or if they rest him

 

[hawkirugged17]

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

Only caught the last 15 minutes, but that was intense.

Wondering if Messi plays against Chicago on Sunday now or if they rest him

It would be hilarious if Chicago goes 0-3 on Messi appearances. Interestingly, the Vancouver-Miami CONCACAF Champions semifinal is the longest travel distance between any two MLS clubs.

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This one was classic Messi, and classic Messi fan roar when it hit the net:


And how about Vancouver storming back against Pumas to go from losing to winning the series in the 93rd minute, 2 minutes from elimination!

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

Chicago Fire in talks with De Bruyne? 👀…

MLS club makes first approach to beat David Beckham to Kevin De Bruyne transfer

Kevin De Bruyne has been approached by the Chicago Fire over a potential move to the MLS, with Gregg Berhalter's side the latest in the U.S. to be linked with the Belgian legend

www.themirror.com