Washington Spirit, Leagues Cup, and more: Freedom Kicks for 23 Sept. 2021

Good day to you all! It finally feels like fall, I have the windows open and the air conditioning off. This is my favorite season of the year, so let’s get into and enjoy!

To the soccer:

Women describe ‘old boys’ club’ culture at Washington Spirit as NWSL probes franchise

We start off with another bad news story for the Washington Spirit, as their executives and ownership continue to be horrendous. It is time for Steve Baldwin and Larry Best to exit the club and let Michele Kang start to rebuild the culture at the team.

MLS’ best and worst set-piece teams in 2021

It will not surprise you who is the best in the league and creating expected goals from set pieces.

We talk a lot about the new Leagues Cup format in the forthcoming episode of Filibuster, but with that, international soccer, the US Open Cup, CCL, and more, there’s becoming less and less time for players to actually rest and recover.

Three takeaways from the Seattle Sounders’ Leagues Cup Final heartbreak

Speaking of the Leagues Cup, the Sounders ran out to a lead, but Leon wore them down in the end and continued MLS’s dry spell against Liga MX teams.

“We can do special things”: New England clinch playoffs but eye far more from 2021 season

The first team to clinch their MLS Cup playoff spot is the New England Revolution, who are unfortunately playing really excellent soccer this year.

Some monuments deserve to stand the test of time.

That’s all I have today. What’s up?