MLS

A daily World Cup show, the rebirth of print media & more | Thursday round-up

I've heard there's a surprise coming in the US World Cup roster, a mea culpa to Montréal and more

I'm really, really excited to be working with Susannah & Gass (and a rotating cast of other analysts) this summer covering the World Cup. We've partnered with Soccer.com and are going to do a daily recap/analysis show every morning:

Whether you’ve been watching soccer for decades or 2026 is your first tournament, we built this for you. We are thrilled to announce our partnership with @soccerdotcom.bsky.social as we launch our daily morning show, First Touch, as well as a dedicated USMNT show on @soccerwisehq.bsky.social

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— Kickback Soccer Media (@kickbacksoccer.bsky.social) May 14, 2026 at 4:16 PM

We'll have more information about the show in the weeks to come. Keep an eye out.

I highly, HIGHLY recommend Sounder at Heart's World Cup preview. They're doing their damnedest to bring back print media!

First, it's just really good (Seattle-specific) coverage. Second... I know I'll want a few pieces of memorabilia, or keepsakes from the tournament. And I'd rather that be stuff written/produced/created by not-FIFA.

There are folks out there like the SaH gang who are carving out little niches of independence. It's a good reminder that soccer still exists outside the hyper-capitalist, uber-corporate bubble, and that for as gross as FIFA and its cadre of grifter are, the games – and the people who love the sport – are what matters.

Good Reads:

Banger here from Joe on St. Louis City's rebirth under Cory Wray. City are quietly 5W-3L-4D in their past 12 across all competitions, by the way.
That includes a PK shootout win over the Dynamo to put St. Lou into the USOC semis (which aren't til September).
The New York Soccer Journal's got the blue side of the NYCFC's 1-0 loss at Columbus in the Open Cup quarters.
The great Mike Arace has thoughts on the coaching change in Columbus and what to expect from new interim boss Laurent Courtois, as well as a Q&A with CSO Issa Tall.
Atlanta got their asses beat at Orlando. Tata Martino said it was his fault.
It'd been nearly 30 years since the Rapids made the Open Cup semis. That streak is over following last night's 2-0 win over the Quakes.
Austin shitcanned Rodo Borrell – arguably the worst CSO of the 2020s – and head coach Nico Estévez. Phil West broke it down via an emergency podcast.
Pablo over at the Guardian has a scoop on MLS lobbying Ifab to explore stopping clock for pauses in play. Pablo will be on tonight's Brown Liquor Special at 9 pm... subscribe at the Max TAM or DP level if you want to watch us get tipsy and say shit we probably shouldn't!

Upgrade your plan!

• For my Sunday column, I opened with my thoughts on the Henrik Rydström era in Columbus, and then went around the league. I honestly think I'd have personally liked Rydström, but man did I not enjoy the way his team played soccer.

Ben Wright made a fantastic video showing how and where it went wrong on the field:

Under Henrik Rydström, the Crew abandoned essentially all of the creativity, fluidity, and bravery they played with under Wilfried Nancy. The experiment failed spectacularly. This roster has issues, but it's absolutely better than 13th in the East. Hopefully Laurent Courtois can bring them back.

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— Ben Wright (@benwright.bsky.social) May 19, 2026 at 3:29 PM

Seriously, it's must-watch.

• Tuesday's Power Rankings... honestly, I've probably got the Impact too low. They're 4W-2L-1D under Philippe Eullaffroy, and the underlyings say that's not accidental.

• On Wednesday I predicted the USMNT World Cup roster, and immediately heard from folks saying that there's at least one major surprise – as in, a guy I didn't even list as "just missing the cut" – coming.

Monday's Soccerwise!