USMNT

Monday night’s playoff encounter between the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC saw the continuation of a narrative that’ll likely follow TFC for years to come: wherever the club goes, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore are not going to be given a warm reception. It began on October 22 with Toronto’s visit to Atlanta, TFC’s first road match since that unspeakable encounter between the United States and Trinidad & Tobago. It continued on Monday night at Red Bull Arena.

Thursday night’s MLS playoff action provided us with the perfect examples of an exhilarating 0-0 stalemate (Atlanta vs. Columbus earlier in the day) and an entirely forgettable one. The opening 90 minutes between the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City was highlighted by a relatively subdued BBVA Compass Stadium (the Astros might just be the talk of the town at the moment) booing Graham Zusi’s every touch. 

The man who will start the rebuilding process for U.S. Soccer is Dave Sarachan, who was named interim USMNT coach for the team’s final match of 2017, a November friendly against Portugal. That the press release from U.S. Soccer mentioned Sarachan exactly once in six paragraphs tells you all you need to know about the new coach. 

You could forgive Bill Hamid for electing to stay with DC United for the rest of his playing career — he’s got a pretty good thing going in the nation’s capital. Having risen through the ranks of the club’s youth system, Hamid established himself as the team’s No. 1 over the course of eight stellar seasons, including a 2014 campaign that saw him named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

Tim Weah is the son of a Ballon d’Or winner. Tim Weah is a Paris Saint-Germain player. Tim Weah is American. Tim Weah scored a hat trick on Monday. Tim Weah helped the U.S. into the U-17 World Cup quarterfinals. Tim Weah is, like, Weah good. 

A wonderful 4-0 victory over Panama back on October 6 sees the United States Men’s National Team climb to 27 in the latest FIFA World Rankings, leaving Ukraine, Turkey and Iran in their torrential wake. The U.S. could’ve made further strides with a win against Trinidad and Tobago, but the Soca Warriors used the shock 2-1 victory to their own advantage, climbing up 16 places to 83.

Sunil Gulati, president of U.S. Soccer, just oversaw the most catastrophic defeat in U.S. Men’s National Team history, with the coaches he hired failing to get the U.S. to the 2018 World Cup. But Gulati was defiant Friday, saying he would not resign and made no indication he would not seek reelection in February. 

Bruce Arena’s second stint in charge of the USMNT officially ended on Friday with the coach’s formal resignation from his position.