Tuesday Freedom Kicks: Au revoir, Henry, I'll always remember that time Pontius stripped you at midfield and scored a beauty

Happy Tuesday, everyone. It's "please vote yes/yea/yay/yahoo on the D.C. United stadium deal" day.

So let's get going on these links.

D.C. Council set to remove tax breaks from soccer stadium deal, borrow $62 million - The Washington Post
Starting with stadium stuff. Can't get enough stadium stuff.

The winners of the best of MLS in 2014 voting - ESPN FC
Let's move on to something a little lighter. Ben Olsen is ESPN FC's Coach of the Year. Birnbaum is not their Rookie of the Year, because people are silly.

SBI MLS Coach of the Year: Oscar Pareja | Soccer By Ives
Benny's not SBI's Coach of the Year, though. Tsk tsk. More silliness.

Professional Referee Organization names Mark Geiger to officiate MLS Cup Final | MLSsoccer.com
Someone's going to get Geiger'd and it's going to be GREAT.

Thierry Henry announces he will not return to New York Red Bulls in 2015 | MLSsoccer.com
Oh yeah, so this happened. It's not a surprise, obviously, and while I had to dislike Henry on principle for being a Red Bull, he sure is (not was) a hell of a player. MLS will miss him. Now there are approximately one billion articles about Thierry Henry, but here's one on his relationship with the media, a reflection on his time in MLS, and some talk about the inevitable comparison with Beckham.

Of course, this is my favorite Henry-in-MLS moment:

Abby Wambach Named One of Three Finalists for 2014 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year - U.S. Soccer
Along with Germany's Nadine Kessler and Brazil's Marta.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer on Ballon d'Or final three - ESPN FC
Give me Manuel Neuer or get out.

Joachim Low, Carlo Ancelotti and Diego Simeone on shortlist for coach award - ESPN FC
Also, give me Jogi Loew or get out.

Jurgen Klinsmann’s development philosophy explained | The 91st Minute
Good read here, but I'm seriously judging the formatting of that second slide pictured. Just say no to unnecessary capitalization.

Landon Donovan's Other Legacy: Challenging the stigma of mental health | THE WORD | MLSsoccer.com
This isn't that new but I'm too lazy to go back and see if someone else already grabbed it for a Freedom Kicks. In any case, here it is in case you haven't seen it. Excellent stuff from Nick Firchau. Take the time to read this one.

Backheel – Major League Soccer x Craft Beer Jerseys
Loving that DC Brau one. I'd wear the crap out of that thing.

That's all from me. Feel free to use this space to pass the time until the stadium votes.