Retirement Allocation Money, what I'd change if I was commissioner & more | Mailbag
How to be skeptical of xG models, what makes a good coach, plus who benefits most from the World Cup break
Let’s start with an announcement: Our next Brown Liquor Special will be next Thursday, May 21 at 9 pm ET. It’ll be me, Pablo Maurer of the Guardian and our buddy Dan Dickinson, who used to cover the Red Bulls for Gothamist and on various podcasts, but dropped out more than a decade ago. Clean break for Dan – he goes to something like one game every two years and has a real job like a grown-up (Pablo and I do not).
Just feels like the right balance on the eve of the World Cup, since Pablo and I will be gearing up for what will be something like seven straight weeks of wall-to-wall coverage, while Dan will be gearing up for daily margaritas and zero stress.
As usual, this will probably turn political (especially after the second pour), so if that’s not your thing don’t feel like you have to watch. And as always, this is for subscribers at Max TAM and DP levels. So if you do want to watch, upgrade that plan!
I’ll be sending out a link to Max TAM and DP subscribers for access to the live stream next week.
Ok, let’s mailbag:
I’m gonna start with a question from the Soccerwise Discord. First, Dave’s correct that this is a really good pod topic that we’ll hit during the break, and second, the way I see it there are three answers:
1. San Jose Earthquakes
I think you could make a pretty compelling argument that the Earthquakes’ record-setting start is the story of the season thus far, given both where they came from (10th in the West last year) and how they’re doing it (SuperDraft picks, cast-offs and academy products). Add in the spice of this almost certainly being Bruce Arena’s last ride and you’ve got a real stew going.
But this is also a team that’s probably three contributors short, which means they don’t have the requisite depth to weather injuries/schedule congestion in the way of Seattle or Vancouver, or even Nashville. And as Bruce kind of ran his guys into the ground this spring – I’m still shocked he played the first-choice XI in the US Open Cup – those injuries have hit hard.