Category: MLS

Gerhard Struber out as Red Bulls head coach

It has been a tumultuous 2023 for the Red Bulls and the coach has now paid the price

Gerhard Struber is no longer head coach of the New York Red Bulls, with the club saying the two sides “have mutually agreed to part ways.”

Struber joined the Red Bulls in 2020 and led the club to the playoffs in 2021 and 2022. This season, however, the Red Bulls sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 1W-6D-4L record through 11 games.

Assistant Troy Lesesne has been named head coach through the end of the 2023 season.

“I enjoyed my time at the New York Red Bulls,” Struber said in a club release. “It was also clear for me that I wanted to return to Europe at the end of this season, at the latest. It was extremely difficult for me to live here, completely without my family. I informed the club early enough about my wishes and we came to the agreement to part ways.”

A difficult 2023 for Struber

Though the decision was framed as mutual, it’s clear that the pressure has been ramping up on Struber in recent months.

The Red Bulls’ on-field performances have been subpar, including a 1-0 defeat to Philadelphia on Saturday that took the club’s winless run to seven games.

But Struber’s position had been even more compromised by his handling of last month’s incident in which Red Bulls forward Dante Vanzeir used a racial slur in a game against the San Jose Earthquakes.

San Jose head coach Luchi Gonzalez urged Struber to take Vanzeir off the pitch after the incident, but the Red Bulls coach left the striker on.

Struber’s refusal to take Vanzeir off led many Red Bulls fans to call for him to be sacked, with large sections of the home crowd walking out of last month’s game against Houston in protest.

The coach would later admit that he had made a mistake in not removing the Belgian from the match.

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Josef Martinez very predictably scores in first game against Atlanta United

The thing Atlanta fans knew would happen, happened

If there’s one thing that’s been true in MLS in recent years, it’s that you don’t want to anger Josef Martínez.

The man who made an angry emoji a personal hallmark was facing Atlanta United, where he became an icon before moving to Inter Miami this winter after a drawn-out departure that included being suspended for flipping over a table full of food.

Any MLS observer would have predicted that Martínez would get some form of revenge on his old club, and that’s exactly what he did, scoring a brace in a 2-1 Miami victory.

The Venezuela striker wasn’t in Phil Neville’s starting 11, but needed just two minutes to make an impact in his first match against his old club. Seconds after he entered the match, new teammate David Ruiz was fouled by Machop Chol, setting Martínez up for a spot kick.

With his first touch after coming on, Martínez powered the penalty past Quentin Westberg, and did not hesitate to celebrate with Leo Campana and everyone else in black and pink.

Martínez wasn’t settling for just one goal, either. DeAndre Yedlin turned a poor touch into a positive, getting around Andrew Gutman before coolly slipping Martínez in behind the Atlanta defense. Slipping and sliding as he reached the ball, and with no angle to work with, the three-time MLS Best XI winner somehow glanced the ball past Westberg.

Not only was it a tremendous finish, and eventually the game-winner on the night, but it was also a milestone. Martínez scored 98 times for Atlanta, and saved goals 99 and 100 for the first time he faced them as an opponent.

That made him an MLS record holder, as no one has ever scored 100 goals in fewer games than Martínez’s 142.

It’s not clear exactly what Martínez’s future holds in Miami. He began the season as first-choice but hadn’t scored before Saturday, and over the past two games Campana, Corentin Jean, and Nicolás Stefanelli were preferred by Neville as starters.

However, when Miami next faces Atlanta, it feels like a solid bet that the Herons can count on him to strike again.

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Curtin disagrees with clubs blocking players from U-20 World Cup

“We’re not Spain, we’re not Germany, we’re not Argentina. We haven’t won a World Cup ever”

Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin has said he doesn’t agree with clubs preventing their players from going to the U-20 World Cup, which starts later this month.

Clubs across the world are facing tough decisions as the tournament draws near. The U-20 World Cup does not fall within a FIFA window, meaning clubs would potentially be losing players for multiple games should they allow them to play in the tournament.

Already, some potentially key American players have been ruled out by their clubs.

On Wednesday, Chicago Fire head coach Ezra Hendrickson said the club wouldn’t release midfielder Brian Gutiérrez and goalkeeper Chris Brady. The next day, Croatian club Hajduk Split said it wouldn’t be releasing midfielder Rokas Pukštas.

There was some good news too for the U.S. U-20s, as Atlanta United left back Caleb Wiley said he was cleared to play by his team.

Curtin delivered even more good news on Thursday, saying he would release any of his players who are called. That means the Union will likely be without Brandan Craig, Quinn Sullivan and Jack McGlynn for an extended period.

While confirming his players would be available, the Union head coach said he disagreed with clubs who aren’t allowing players to go to the World Cup.

“Sometimes we get in our own way and act like we’re Europe or South America,” Curtin told reporters.

“We’re not there yet. We’re not Spain, we’re not Germany, we’re not Argentina. We haven’t won a World Cup ever. Let’s try to win every competition at the youth level and show we have great players because we do.”

“Think about the kids too,” he continued. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that they may never get back again. To prevent them from playing in a U-20 World Cup? I’m sorry, I don’t agree with it.

“Maybe I’m in the minority there, but that’s what I believe in and that’s what our club believes in. Any of the guys that [U-20 head coach] Mikey Varas calls in, we will excitedly release them.”

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Ex-USMNT stars Brek Shea and Geoff Cameron announce retirement

The former USMNT and Stoke City teammates are starting a business together

Former U.S. men’s national team stars Brek Shea and Geoff Cameron have both announced their retirement after 15-year professional careers.

The duo made the announcement in an interview with ESPN, saying that they will be starting a new business together.

Shea, 33, began his career with FC Dallas before making the move to Stoke City, where he and Cameron were teammates for a short while. When his England move didn’t work out, Shea returned to MLS where he spent time with Orlando City, Vancouver, Atlanta and Inter Miami.

The left-sided player earned 34 caps for the USMNT, scoring the winning goal in the 2013 Gold Cup final.

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Cameron, 37, also joined MLS in 2008 after he was drafted by the Houston Dynamo. After impressing with Houston the defender moved to Stoke City, where he became a fixture for the Potters over six Premier League seasons with the club.

The defender would then spend three seasons in the Championship with QPR before finishing his career with FC Cincinnati in 2021 and 2022.

“We’ve kind of had a long journey, and our journey has gone on two different paths,” Cameron said of himself and Shea. “We’ve started near each other, and then ended up at Stoke with each other, and he ended up living with me and we have a really good friendship and relationship. We live close to each other now and we’re building something pretty unique.”

Cameron earned 55 caps for the USMNT, starting three of the team’s four games at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

“It was my dream as a kid, just like Brek’s, and playing soccer in the backyard and dreaming of representing your country and playing in the best league in the world,” Cameron said.

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Shinyashiki says he’s clear to play after no charges filed in alleged sexual assault

The forward was linked to a sexual assault case filed in March

Charlotte FC forward Andre Shinyashiki has said he fully cooperated with police and MLS in their investigations into an alleged sexual assault, and that he’s been cleared to play.

The Charlotte Ledger reported on Tuesday that it found a police report by searching with Shinyashiki’s name and date of birth, though the player’s name was not on the report itself due to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police policy.

The report, dated March 8, stated that a 23-year-old woman said she was sexually assaulted in the early hours of February 26.

The Athletic reported that a second Charlotte FC player, Nuno Santos, was also linked to the same police report by searching his name and date of birth.

Neither player has been charged with a crime. The case is listed as open but inactive, meaning police are no longer actively investigating the incident.

Following the report from The Charlotte Ledger, Shinyashiki released a statement on Twitter saying no charges have been filed and added that he would have no further comment.

Shinyashiki, 25, has been left off Charlotte FC’s matchday roster for four straight games since his most recent appearance on April 8.

The Brazilian-born striker was acquired in a midseason trade from the Colorado Rapids last season, and scored six goals in 21 appearances for Charlotte FC in 2022.

Nuno Santos, 24, was signed from Benfica in his native Portugal last year. The midfielder has made nine appearances for Charlotte FC and is currently on loan with Crown Legacy FC of MLS Next Pro.

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David Ochoa gets himself run out of another club

The 22-year-old has left Liga MX side Atlético San Luis in acrimonious fashion

Once again, David Ochoa is leaving a club in acrimonious fashion.

Liga MX side Atlético San Luis announced Tuesday that they had released the 22-year-old goalkeeper amid reports of indiscipline.

The club’s release seemed to confirm something had gone awry, saying: “As a club, our main objective is to transcend by respecting and putting institutional values first by promoting respect, professionalism, ethics and commitment of all our collaborators, as well as having a positive impact inside and outside the community.”

Ochoa made just one senior appearance for the club after signing in November 2022.

The goalkeeper seems to be making a habit of burning bridges, with his time at Real Salt Lake blighted by a tumultuous 2022 season.

Ochoa rose to prominence in 2021, becoming RSL’s starter and leading the club on a memorable run through the playoffs. But things quickly soured last year, as the goalkeeper lost his starting job and then was banished to the club’s reserves due to disciplinary issues.

“[Ochoa] was tardy a couple times, and just training habits weren’t up to par,” RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni told ESPN last year. “At that point, we had quite a few conversations about being a professional footballer. It’s not always about starting. It’s about understanding how to conduct yourself within a club. We have club rules, we have team rules, locker rules, and you have to abide by those, regardless of who you are, or what you did last year.”

Ochoa was traded to D.C. United at midseason. He would make nine appearances before leaving at the end of the season when his contract expired.

In 2021, Ochoa announced he was committing his international future to Mexico. The California-born goalkeeper had previously represented the U.S. and Mexico at various youth levels. Ochoa has received senior call-ups for both countries, but has yet to earn his first senior cap.

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Christian Benteke, bicycle fan, delivers unreal goal for D.C. United

Benteke’s bicycle kick stunner has to be seen to be believed

Bicycles are popular in the District of Columbia, and Christian Benteke just wanted to do his part.

The D.C. United striker scored what is surely an MLS goal of the season contender, producing a bicycle kick against Charlotte FC in United’s 3-0 win Saturday night.

In a tense game of relatively few genuine chances, United’s biggest name — who in 2023 has looked more accustomed to life in MLS than in 2022 — made sure the Black-and-Red picked up a fourth straight win in all competitions.

United held a 1-0 lead and hadn’t given Charlotte much of anything after a loose opening 25 minutes or so, but some wasted chances (none more glaring than Taxi Fountas sending a sitter wide in the 70th minute) left the game up for grabs.

However, on a recycled set piece, the longtime Belgium target man produced one of the best goals in Audi Field’s short history. It started with Andy Najar swinging the ball back into the box, picking out Derrick Williams.

The Irish center back’s attempt to float a header towards Benteke didn’t quite work out, as Harrison Afful got to the ball first, but the veteran’s header away ended up being an unintentionally perfect set for Benteke to spike the ball past Charlotte goalkeeper George Marks.

Speaking to reporters at Audi Field, Wayne Rooney immediately pointed out that he’s been on the wrong side of a Benteke bicycle kick, when he was playing for Manchester United back in 2015.

“It was a pretty cool goal,” Benteke told reporters with incredible understatement after the match. “I was just hoping to have a good contact with the ball and hit the target.”

Benteke kept the jokes rolling when asked if he gave any thought to letting the ball fall for Donovan Pines or Ted Ku-DiPietro, who were both lurking.

“There was no way! There was no way I was going to let them shoot,” laughed Benteke. “I knew I wanted to do, and thank God it went through somehow.”

Watch Benteke’s incredible bicycle kick goal

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Messi could be biggest athlete in US sports history, per MLS’s Garber

Garber on Messi: “We would love him in Major League Soccer”

Lionel Messi “can be bigger than any athlete of any sport that has ever played here in the United States,” but he has to actually play in the U.S. for it to happen.

That’s the perspective of MLS commissioner Don Garber, who spoke to the Associated Press Sports Editors on Tuesday. Garber hasn’t been shy about how much he wants Messi to come to MLS, and that is clearly still the case.

“I can tell you that we would love him in Major League Soccer,” Garber said in a response to a question from CBS Sports. “There isn’t a league that wouldn’t like to have Lionel Messi in their league.”

For Garber, the key for MLS is “to come up with a program for him that will allow him to establish a legacy that I think could be unprecedented globally, let alone unprecedented here in our country.”

“I think of him as someone who crosses so many barriers that he can be bigger than any athlete of any sport that has ever played here in the United States,” said Garber, immediately putting Messi in a class with superstars like Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Serena Williams, and Tiger Woods (not to mention putting pressure on MLS to get closer to the NFL and NBA in terms of national and international importance).

MLS ready to get creative for Messi

Garber was open with the fact that a hypothetical move to MLS would see Messi join Inter Miami, and that the league will almost certainly have to come up with new rules (or break existing ones) to make it happen.

“We will work very hard with Miami, who is the team that is hoping to be able to sign him,” said Garber. “We have been pretty effective at coming up with clever ways to sign players for our clubs in the right market.”

On that count, Garber isn’t just engaging in big talk. MLS invented new league rules to allow the LA Galaxy to sign David Beckham, ushering in the Designated Player era in 2007. Beckham’s contract included what turned out to be a massive discount on the expansion fee for Inter Miami, proving that time is something of a flat circle when it comes to MLS.

Clint Dempsey’s return to the league in 2013 involved MLS reportedly covering a $9 million transfer fee. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, meanwhile, signed a deal to play for the Galaxy at a discount in 2018.

A year later, Ibrahimovic would sign a new deal that paid far more, though that season eventually saw the Galaxy sanctioned by the league for violating salary budget rules by hiding payments and future agreements that would have made Carlos Pavón a DP that year as well. Miami — a club that has already been punished for breaking league rules on that front — would have to hold up their end of the deal within whatever new mechanisms MLS might come up with.

Garber conceded that nothing is done, and that MLS and Miami face a competitive market when it comes to courting Messi.

MLS had felt confident they could land Messi in the winter, but in December Messi was reportedly closing in on a contract extension at Paris Saint-Germain. Barcelona say they would love to bring Messi back to the Camp Nou, but given their financial mess they’re probably a long way from making it happen. Messi has also agreed to sponsorships in Saudi Arabia, a country with plenty of clubs that would like a star to rival Al Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

“There are a lot of dynamics that are going on there,” noted Garber. “He’s got a lot of things to think about in terms of where he wants to continue his career… It’s very real-time and I hope that we’re able to get in front of the discussion and hopefully bring something over the finish line.”

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FC Cincinnati strikes $10 million deal with Udinese for Brenner transfer

The Brazilian exploded for 18 goals and six assists in 2022

FC Cincinnati has agreed to a club-record deal to sell striker Brenner to Serie A side Udinese.

Brenner has signed a contract with the Italian club through 2028.

The Athletic reports Cincinnati will receive an initial fee of $10 million, plus performance-based add-ons as well as a percentage of any future sale.

Brenner, 23, will remain with Cincinnati until July, with the club saying his final game will be on July 1 against the New England Revolution at TQL Stadium.

“We’re extremely happy for Brenner that he’s able to make this move and play in one of the biggest leagues in Europe,” FC Cincinnati general manager Chris Albright said in a club statement.

“Our ultimate goal at FC Cincinnati is to win games for our incredible fans, and we understand that developing players is central to attracting the best talent. This is a significant transfer for our club and is a testament to everything our staff has done in the past year and a half. Our ownership will continue to give us the resources to compete and this transfer only adds to that commitment.”

Cincinnati signed Brenner in 2021 from São Paulo FC for a fee of $13 million, a significant investment for the franchise ahead of its third MLS season.

The Brazilian finished his first season in the league with eight goals and then exploded for 18 goals and six assists in 2022, getting himself on the radar of several teams in Europe.

With six games left, Udinese currently sits in ninth place in the Serie A table.

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Taty Castellanos, still technically an MLS player, rings Real Madrid up for four goals

Castellanos is the fifth player ever to score four in one game on Real Madrid

Taty Castellanos, who is playing for Girona on loan from NYCFC, offered the perfect advertisement for MLS on Wednesday.

Castellanos stunned none other than Real Madrid, scoring four goals as Girona beat the defending European champions 4-2.

That makes him just the fifth player ever to score four goals in one game on Real Madrid. It also means that he’s scored four goals in a league match against Real Madrid as often as he did against all MLS teams (he hit Real Salt Lake for four in a 6-0 win in April 2022).

With Girona’s first serious look of the game, Castellanos snapped a header past Andriy Lunin after Miguel Gutiérrez clipped a teasing ball in from the left.

The second was more difficult, as Castellanos has to fight off Éder Militão to turn the most hopeful of long balls into anything at all. But fight he did, and after gaining position on the Brazilian, Castellanos held his ground long enough to slot past Lunin for a brace.

Real struck back through Vinícius Jr. before halftime, but just moments into the second half, a wide-open Castellanos made it a hat trick. Yan Couto raided down the right side, and all Castellanos had to do was keep his shot on target after Militão and Dani Carvajal both seemed to think the other had the Argentine striker marked.

Castellanos continued to terrorize Militão and hit a stunning fourth in the 63rd minute. Girona’s short-corner routine seemed to freeze Real’s zonal marking, and Castellanos bought himself a yard or so off of Militão’s back shoulder to head yet another goal past Lunin.

Lucas Vázquez would notch a late consolation goal for los Blancos, but the damage was done. Castellanos’ future value will likely go up demonstrably from this one performance, and the Blanquivermells climbed into ninth place thanks to the unlikely win.

Then again, if you ask their manager Michel, maybe it’s not such a shock.

“The difference between Girona and Madrid is not 24 points, we have already shown it at the Bernabéu and today at Montilivi,” Michel said in a post-match press conference. He might have a point, as Girona took a 1-1 draw in Madrid back in October.

“It was a dream night,” Castellanos told Movistar after the match. “We played a great game against one of the best in the world.”

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