Yo Gotti invests in D.C. United, Y. Michele Kang calls for Washington Spirit sale, & more: Freedom Kicks for 9/27/2021

It’s a Big News Avalanche today, with major D.C. United and Washington Spirit news all happening while I was doing day job work. Let’s get to it:

Hip-hop artist Yo Gotti among four new D.C. United investors | Washington Post
Yo Gotti headlines additional new investors joining United’s ownership group, including area fuel executive Joe Mamo, Adam Gerry, and Jake Silverstein. More investors = more money. Yo Gotti was in the building a couple of weeks ago, as I noted with this dreadful photo:

D.C. United Expand Ownership Group, Headlined by Multiplatinum Musician and Record Executive Yo Gotti | DCUnited.com
Quotes from Jason Levien, Steve Kaplan, and all the newcomers are here.

More new additions? Yup!

Washington Spirit’s female co-owner calls on controlling owner to sell amid turmoil | Washington Post
The latest chapter in the battle for control over the club has Y. Michele Kang — who was at the Spirit’s game Sunday — saying that Steve Baldwin should follow through on an agreement struck back in August to sell his portion of the team to her.

Here’s the text of the letter Kang sent to investors and fans:

This feels portentous. We’ll see if more news is coming this week, with word coming through over the weekend that the league’s investigation has concluded.

The Washington Spirit’s Season of Turmoil | Washington City Paper
More on what’s been going on, and how it’s impacted fans, with some folks talking about taking their money and giving it to the Mystics next year.

Julian Gressel made MLS’s team of the week, with Steven Birnbaum and Paul Arriola making the bench as well.

How’d they get there? Well, United thumped FC Cincinnati, and that ended up meaning this:

FC Cincinnati announce departure of Head Coach Jaap Stam | FCCincinnati.com
That’s two coaches this year to depart their clubs after a visit to Audi Field. Cincy has named Tyrone Marshall (notably, someone with 14 years in MLS as a player and five more as an assistant coach) the interim head coach.

MLS transfer analysis: Why player sales are slightly down this year | The Athletic
Interesting stuff in here about why the lower total players transferred abroad doesn’t necessarily mean the league got worse.

Bundesliga, Serie A & EPL clubs show interest as Ricardo Pepi nears transfer | 90 Min
Speaking of player transfers, Ricardo Pepi is apparently drawing the kind of interest you tend to draw if you’re the likely starting #9 for the USMNT at 18 years old.

‘Football pure’: Three days with Louis van Gaal at the smallest pro team in the Netherlands | The Athletic
I enjoyed this rather odd story about how Louis van Gaal ended up coaching one game at SC Telstar with a hockey coach and Telstar’s normal head coach as his assistants.

Well, it seems like I’m out of links, so I’ll stop writing words. Have a good one friends!