The situation has turned grim as the Bronx World Cup ferry has raised the black flag and is firing on both Manhattan and Queens World Cup ferries. The Brooklyn World Cup branded ferry is feared sunk, with all hands aboard lost. The Staten Island World Cup Ferry is safe at harbor.

I posted this without even checking X to see what the reaction was to the comments. Having gone there now… Goodness gracious. Those people need to take a break.

The way people are responding to Poch’s comments about the midfield is a reflection of how they view midfield as a player role, while Poch views it as an assortment of tasks that can be parted out as necessary. Hence why he sees Freeman and Robinson as providing cover if Adams needs rotation.

Gessime Yassine did not, in fact, stay at USL Dunkerque long. While he had an half-season with big ups and downs in Strasbourg, it was clearly enough for him to earn the call to the Atlas Lions. Excited to see him ball out at the World Cup.

Total miss, should have hired a laker scientist

Neville gone right at the break. Whoever gets hired to replace him has the opportunity to look pretty good when play resumes.

As part of the write up, I re-ran @paulharvey.theoutfield.nyc's pre-season analysis of who had it harder after the break — Fire third-hardest schedule adjustment post-World Cup. Full description about this in the 5 Things.

I wrote about how the Philadelphia Union, despite being dead in the water by all appearances, isn’t quite as done for as they appear. I take no pleasure in reporting this.

I wrote about how the Philadelphia Union, despite being dead in the water by all appearances, isn’t quite as done for as they appear. I take no pleasure in reporting this.

A chihuahua is a kind of dog

Along with Rydstrom's departure it looks like Issa Tall is in the back seat again.

I know it’s a little ridiculous but in my heart I think Pep is going to be the one coaching NYCFC at the start of the full 2027-28 season. He’s going to be the face that opens up the stadium (possibly with a couple of his former stars as well)

I thought we were doing red cards for that now

A much faster way to improve quality of games and time in play would be to change the rules so 0-0 draws result in no points for either team.

MLS says a stopped clock would “improve consistency and fan understanding.” For example, stopping play could help fans understand that Continental is the smart choice in tires

20-25M for a guy who isn't even good. How does this keep happening?!

Nico Estevez and the man who hired him are both out in Austin. Meanwhile, Phil Neville is still kicking with Portland Timbers. It felt inevitable that he wouldn't make it through 2026, but if he makes the break the back half of Portland's schedule is much easier.

Most soccer stats are focused on results, but at @futi.live we've been developing new ways to measure tactical context, like phases of play and team style metrics. For The Guardian, I showed off some of our Premier League data for the first time with one way every team's tactics stand out.

Lots of discussion about whether VAR is good for the game but that argument was already solved for me when the USA was eliminated in 2002 after Torsten Frings used his hand to stop a goal. Something inconceivable in 2026. Sorry, it’s not worth going back. VAR has made the game better.

How can you not love this kid?! Also - another one who makes an instant impact after dominating MLS Next Pro. That league is doing good work.

A draw feels like a fair result in the Hudson River Derby, after a first half that felt entirely one way. Malachi Jones definitely the NYCFC player of the match for how he changed the entire game.

NYC has fixed the Cowell problem for the most part. Bringing in Malachi Jones has meant that Cavallo can stay behind and play much more conservatively

If only NYCFC had an idea this approach was coming. Like, maybe, every other game Cowell has played in his entire life

Someone please tell this Apple TV guy how to pronounce “Jorge”, I’m dying here

NYCFC clearly skipping the midfield, 16 long balls and only 11 final third passes. It’s not working at all.

I see Jahkeele Marshall Rutty has still not recovered from being punched by Nick Cushing

You know, I’ve seen this claimed a few times but on the evidence I’m pretty sure it’s not the case and Yan Diomande went straight to DME from Ivory Coast. There’s no room in the story for a stop in Yulee, which is an absolute nowhere town in north Florida

Taylor Calheira starts, SKC is up two goals. Easy peasy.

I think this is the strangest I’ve ever seen the Eastern conference. Nothing makes sense

One of those tables looks familiar. We love a stats aware goalkeeper.

This is a pipe dream but the schedule change could make US Open Cup participation a real possibility. Would be good for both college soccer and the USOC

Rayan Cherki is struggling to adjust to the Premier League, at this rate could take him years to stop being fun

Having learned that the choices extremely weird (you have to pick 2 10s!), here's what I would turn in as a *functional* ballot: FWD Line: Bouanga - Cuypers - Messi 10: Evander 10 (but really CM): Valenzuela DM: De Paul Back line: Nohou - Ragen - M Agyemang - Ocampo This uses Net G+ as well

Interestingly enough the Philadelphia Union spiral coincides with another spiral - their II team has also gone from one of the dominant sides in MLS Next Pro to one of the worst. What that seems to indicate is that not only are things rough for the first team but there are no easy answers.

This chart in particular shows NYCFC’s propensity to condense space on the left side of the attack, while using Agustin Ojeda’s pace to exploit the space created on the opposite flank. Ojeda has been quietly excellent this season, finally breaking out after showing promise for two years

MLS Next Pro is a great opportunity for teams to do strange things like sign random Brazilian U22 CBs on loan with a first team option. From his YouTube highlights he looks like an excellent athlete, but there’s not much else to go on

Watching NYCFC is turning into an unpleasant experience. As the team struggles, Pascal Jansen is bringing them deeper into the mire with a control-first approach that we’ve seen tried and failed many times before in MLS.

Pascal Jansen is sitting Parks, Magno, and Reid, three of NYCFC's five best attacking players by npxG/96, in favor of a midfield and attack that doesn't work. @paulharvey.theoutfield.nyc on how NYCFC is choking away the easiest stretch of their season: www.theoutfield.nyc/p/control-fr...

Maybe this is sour grapes but I don’t think a tournament in which only a fraction of teams compete in, in which only a fraction of games are considered meaningful, is a reasonable metric for gauging league progress.

I see FIFA is running full speed into the invisible hand. I’m still interested in going to a game but considering it will likely mean hours of travel and a hotel, I’m going to wait and see how it plays out.

Lukewarm take but I don't think the season so far in MLS is enough to put Turner over Freese as USMNT #1, and I think many are ignoring that Turner is having a pretty poor season as a distributor while Freese is not. I'm not even touching the argument that "the old guys were so much better"

I watched multiple college games this year for free actually

I will never understand the fascination with mediocre players from the bottom half of the Championship. We've seen so many of these guys come in and be worse in MLS.

The only player to post a positive Goals Added above average for NYCFC today was Johnny Shore, who was at +0.02 over his 13 minutes. Keaton Parks was at +0.10 before debiting the -0.25 for the penalty. Most starters were at -0.17 or below

Legitimately one of the worst games I’ve ever seen NYCFC play, embarrassing from all corners but especially from Jansen

Been seeing some chatter about San Diego's poor defending this season, and so I took a quick look into it. They have the fourth worst xGA in MLS 2026 on Defensive Action Sequences, the biggest category. A closer look shows they give up the 2nd-most xG from opponent Loose Ball Recoveries. 1/

Fantastic new data viz app for MLS sickos here! www.soccerdatavizer.com/data

Weird to show a replay of the first NYCFC goal 30 minutes later but ok