Here’s what everyone’s talking about in American soccer right now…
Landon Donovan speaks about San Diego FC.
Eric Wynalda defends Cristian Roldan.
Former USMNT striker Juan Agudelo retires.
USL Championship President speaks about promotion and relegation.
Chris Richards is looking at Uruguay as revenge.
Time to unpack it all. Let’s dig in!
“The way it was handled was poor from the SDFC people.”
San Diego Loyal Co-Founder Landon Donovan Speaks About San Diego FC
Landon Donovan co-founded San Diego Loyal in 2019, and served as their executive VP and head coach. Unfortunately, Loyal folded in 2023 a few months after San Diego FC were founded. Donovan recently admitted that it was frustrating and the way it was handled was poor. He wishes Loyal were still around or San Diego FC would involve people that were with Loyal.
Our take on the situation: Donovan has the right to be frustrated. He helped build the soccer scene in San Diego with Loyal. Then MLS awarded the franchise to different people instead of letting Loyal move up to MLS. It’s hard to see something you built from the ground up disappear.
“Nobody pays anybody $1.4 million if they suck.”
Eric Wynalda Defends Cristian Roldan
Eric Wynalda sees a lot of criticism towards Cristian Roldan in the USMNT space, and he isn’t too happy about it. He explained that Roldan wouldn’t be earning $1.4 million a year if he sucks. He also praised Roldan’s performance against Australia and said locker rooms need a good human being like him.
Our take on the situation: Wynalda has a point. Roldan may not be a flashy player but he’s done well in MLS and has impressed Mauricio Pochettino. He’s done well in the last two camps and being a glue guy in the locker room can go a long way.
“My mother swears my first spoken word was ‘GOL!’ before any other.”
Former USMNT Striker Juan Agudelo Retires
Remember Juan Agudelo? He made his USMNT debut at 17 and scored. Then at 18, he scored against Argentina. He was viewed as the next big thing for the USMNT but failed to live his promise for various reasons. Now, at 32, he is saying goodbye to the game he loves so much.
Our take on the situation: Agudelo showed a lot of potential as teenager but because of injuries and some bad decision making, he didn’t end up becoming a USMNT star. Regardless, he had a good career and he can be proud of what he accomplished.
Can promotion and relegation work in American soccer?
USL Championship President Jeremy Alumbaugh on Promotion and Relegation
The USL will be implementing promotion and relegation soon, and Jeremy Alumbaugh is optimistic about it. He believes more eyeballs will be on the USL because of that. He also believes fans will still stick around even if their team gets relegated and because American love underdog stories, they will be rooting for smaller teams to get promoted and go on a good run.
Our take on the situation: It will be very exciting to see promotion and relegation coming to American soccer, and how American fans respond to it. There has always been a big debate on people about whether it can work or not, so we will finally be seeing it in action in just a couple of years from now.
“Revenge for Copa América? Has to be.”
Chris Richards is Looking at Game Against Uruguay as Revenge
The USMNT and Uruguay will be facing again soon. Chris Richards is still not happy about being knocked out from Copa América and sees this game as revenge. He admits he felt like they were done wrong because of the lack of offside goal for Uruguay’s winning goal.
Our take on the situation: The loss to Uruguay was huge. It made the USMNT become the first host country to get knocked out of the group stage in Copa América, and Gregg Berhalter lost his job afterwards. It seems like Richards and the team are still upset with the loss and refereeing, so we will see a competitive game between the two teams next month.
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