Sounders beat Whitecaps, MLS expansion, and more: Freedom Kicks for 11/3/2017

I’m not sure how it happens or what’s going on, but when we get chilly weather followed by a warmer, sunny day, my house gets swarmed by ladybugs. Today, I counted 50 before stopping yesterday afternoon, and there were 10 or so just inside the house. I basically live here now via the generosity of the ladybugs. Ladybugs may have written portions of this piece.

Let’s start with D.C. United news:

Zoltán Stieber called up to Hungarian national team | DCUnited.com
#Stibi will be facing Luxembourg and Costa Rica in the upcoming international window.

That’s Kofi Opare, Jared Jeffrey, Steve Clark, Lloyd Sam, Deshorn Brown, Sean Franklin, Chris Korb, Rob Vincent, and Russell Canouse all pursuing coaching licenses. Also, just a quick reminder that at least 5 United players have names where both their first and last names are first names.

Sounders vs. Whitecaps, recap: Clint Dempsey delivers | Sounder at Heart
Last night’s Seattle Sounders playoff win over the Vancouver Whitecaps wasn’t a good game, but it was an immense improvement over the dour nightmare that was the first leg. Clint Dempsey scored twice as Seattle managed to get through without Osvaldo Alonso and with Nicolas Lodeiro looking off his best form (though he did end up with 104 attempted passes).

The Whitecaps attempted 14 shots in 180 minutes, and it wasn’t because Seattle played lock-down, amazing defense. It was because Carl Robinson seemed content to play for set pieces or mistakes. It wasn’t even close to enough:

The sad thing is that Vancouver has the talent to attack at least some of the time. I’m not sure they entered this series with a plan beyond “don’t concede ever,” because even when they fell behind they just kept doing the same thing.

Ford Family Joins Detroit's MLS Expansion Bid; Lions Stadium New Preferred Home Site | Sports Illustrated
This headline sounds like the Detroit bid just got stronger, but as Brian Straus points out, going from a soccer-specific stadium to just playing at an NFL stadium has probably set this bid for MLS expansion back.

Jonathan Gonzalez is probably committed to the USMNT but it doesn’t matter until 2019 | Stars and Stripes FC
Good news: an 18 year old capable of starting for Monterrey, who lead Liga MX by 4 points late in the regular season, wants to play for the USMNT instead of Mexico. Bad news: the USMNT has no competitive internationals for a long, long time, so he could still end up filing a change.

Sasho Cirovski: We need to define an 'American Way' and end the divisiveness | Soccer America
Among other things, Sasho Cirovski (who has churned out more pros than anyone coaching soccer in the US) is unimpressed with the lack of intensity in Development Academy matches, and thinks players should be allowed to play for their high schools.

Simulated reality: How Football Manager developed one of MLS' foremost rules experts | FourFourTwo USA
MLS’s complexities make it the hardest game to fit into Football Manager, a game known for being super deep and complex as is.

Elijah Wood explains the rules of the game in a The Thing: Infection At Outpost 31 exclusive | AV Club
Major movie star Elijah Wood is in this video explaining how a board game based on a 35 year old movie works. I will share links about The Thing whenever possible. This is not an apology.

Check out John Carpenter's meticulous production designs for The Thing | AV Club
Whenever. Possible.

Finally, don’t be like Patrice Evra:

Wait, before I go, a friend of mine is helping to raise money for children’s hospitals in our region through Extra Life. If you have a few bucks you can donate, it would be a great help. 100% of donations go towards the cause.