Look at Toad. His edible is just starting to take hold and he needs to tell Frog that instead they should watch Big Trouble in Little China

First two stills here jump out as trouble for the Spirit in terms of communication and shape.

Saw this before on one of those 2009-10 Premier League Goals of the Month comps

A team made up of refugees from Afghanistan will play in the "FIFA Unites: Women's Series" tournament in October. Here's what to know.

just got a sneak peek at NYCFC’s under construction stadium, which is slated to open in 2027 a few takeaways: -they’re currently on schedule -stadium will be all electric, roof will be a solar farm -still deciding which grass to use, in part because MLS’ calendar change isn’t set yet

The #NWSL Take-Off is the only woso column this week that breaks down 3 games from the weekend and contains a haiku that is a meta usage of a Trinity Rodman quote that was offered to media at nearly 2am ET

Washington Spirit midfielder Croix Bethune breaks down how she gets open in transition, and the decisions she can make after getting the ball on the counter. Like/subscribe!

Unfortunately I'm 43 and have over the last 8 years come to the conclusion that there is no replacing it. There is no collective set of places for me that came make it up in the aggregate. There's asbestos involved, so blowing it up was a bad idea, but the slo-mo takedown weighs on me.

#NWSL Take-Off! 🛡️ The KC Current lifted the Shield, but teams may (finally) be closing in on how to pose them some trouble 🟣 Orlando takes a step forward, but remain winless in 9 🏇 Racing's broken press leads to Utah golazos All that plus a mid-week game haiku basically written by Trinity Rodman:

No one on campus really knew this was coming, and when it passed Hagerstown Hall it yanked dozens of window box fans out of windows.

Sources telling me that DC United has cut the entirety of its scouting department as the club continues its overhaul under new sporting director Erkut Sogut & head coach Rene Weiler. Assitant GM Caleb Shreve among those let go (that bit first reported by my guy @tombogert.bsky.social the other day.)

WOSO family, let's help out one of our own.

#NWSL Take-Off! 🛡️ The KC Current lifted the Shield, but teams may (finally) be closing in on how to pose them some trouble 🟣 Orlando takes a step forward, but remain winless in 9 🏇 Racing's broken press leads to Utah golazos All that plus a mid-week game haiku basically written by Trinity Rodman:

Shout out to @sammymewy.bsky.social & @beckysauerbrunn.bsky.social for taking some time on Good Vibes FC to call out the fact that Angel City owner Bob Iger is also head of Disney/brief Kimmel pre-empter Bob Iger. Easy thing to dodge, glad they tackled it.

I spoke to Becky Sauerbrunn, who is quite busy these days but is still taking on a new full-time gig

My official position on the big award for woso is, as it has been for a long time now: Ballon d'Or? More like the Bal-*lol*-n d'Or (morning trash radio sound effects go off)

Even brief exposure to D.C. United in 2025 can have strong effects

They're calling it "a Devil's Nap like no one's ever seen"

These odds were based on a starting XI without Chawinga and Debinha in it. Add them both in and the Current's Championship odds jump from 35% to 60%. #KCBABY | #NWSL

Savannah McCaskill ended this nightmare after 443 minutes. Here's hoping the Wave, who have more than enough talent to score goals, plural, in games proceed to do that sometimes

432 minutes and counting since the San Diego Wave scored a goal in a soccer game

Me, your resident NWSL history preservationist, trying to write about Kansas City's #NWSL Shield for the average person: Well yes it is the club's first major trophy BUT there's two-time NWSL champs FC Kansas City, Utah Royals 1.0, then KCC and NWSL SAYS they didn't "relocate" BUT... alright fine. 🤷

René Weiler says he feels DCU's 1st half was "very good" & were punished for "maybe the only mistake" he felt they made. "I think we are better than the team was before" the coaching change.

Very cool that the Current got to clinch at home, especially for the handful of folks who were at FCKC games at Swope Soccer Village. Incredible journey from there to this moment..

The Kansas City Current have clinched the Shield faster than any team in NWSL history.

The latest: long, inconclusive VAR check over whether Antley was fouled inside or outside the box. Zouhir, after about a full minute of Miami stalling, hits the dead ball into the wall, then tries to pass back and it's blocked by the ref, who doesn't stop play (contact was in the box this time).

A very funny thing might be happening in Ft. Lauderdale, as D.C. United has, I'd say deservedly, equalized against an Inter Miami featuring Lionel Messi.

Not sure where Apple came up with the DCU formation graphic shown pregame, but it's a thing they haven't done all year & are not doing now. It's a 4231 with players in roles we've seen under Weiler: Barraza; Antley, Bartlett, Rowles, Schnegg; Servania, Hopkins; Herrera, Pirani, Peglow; Benteke

Glad to have you home, Savannah 💜

sharing this devastating news from official channels elsewhere that Matt Beard has died suddenly at the age of 47. 🕯️

"As we talked through the candidates and what we really wanted... we realized they were an Erkut." "Maybe the smartest guy in football we've been around, and hardest-working." Yesterday I chatted with Erkut Sogut, DC United's... offbeat choice for CSO: www.mlssoccer.com/news/dc-unit...

This is not a slight on Ryan, who I rate quite highly, but this is really deceptive data. Of the 2024 top 10 US-eligible players in combined goals+assists, Ryan & Ashley Sanchez are the only players who haven't been pregnant (4), suffered a long-term injury (3), or left NWSL (1) in 2025.

Watching F1

oh my goodness gracious

Take-Off readers know that Orlando's problems of late go way past Banda's injury. It used to be so difficult to play into or through central areas against them, and now it really isn't.

80' Double change happening Anna Heilferty makes her Dash debut! 1-0

I wrote about the Kimmel situation

Here's @svertelney.bsky.social on D.C. United hiring an author, corporate headhunter, lawyer, and player agent to do an important job that is none of those things

As has been widely reported, D.C. United's new CSO is Dr. Erkut Sogut (email just hit the inbox). The press release mentions his soccer headhunter company, his "global football media and publishing" company, and his three novels.

Listen this is great but if Bueckers' Vomero 5s are for sale in men's sizes I'm gonna be spending $180 or so very soon.

Note the graph on the side of the first image. Tara McKeown has leveled up as a playmaking CB, as you can see from her leading all players with passes into the final third.

Adrián González says between travel & rest time, they "didn't really train" heading into this game, which for him might be an instance to learn from. Still, says the Spirit should be "proud" & praised the team for "playing good soccer."

Crowd reax are phenomenal

Spirit playing with a Santos-Bethune double pivot while in a wide-open, tied game on the Pacific coast. Seems safe to say Stainbrook (who was announced as questionable close to kickoff) was not actually fit to play.

Straus needing fresh legs at the 10 and having to go with Hodge (who belongs deeper) really speaks to how short the ACFC bench is these days. Hodge & Fuller both playing out of position, in part bc Vignola isn't available to play out of position at LW.

Croix Bethune might be able to dunk, what kind of hang time on that leap was that

These overloads aren't happening. IMO it's about 1/3 fullbacks not getting into the right places, & 2/3 the rest of the Spirit not looking their way when they do. Carle in particular has gotten into a few really good spots only for possession to turn away from her at the critical moment.

Angel City proving two teams can be wildly flexible position-wise. Tiernan peels left, and the central forward runs on the own goal end up coming from Gisele Thompson & Kennedy Fuller.

Shoutout to La Fortaleza, the Angel City supporters who just did a Free DC chant in the 51st minute just now