MLS The Daily Kickoff

By Anonymous (not verified), January 11, 2023
MLS Soccer

By Sam Jones
Good morning, y'all. Your pal Sam here. Let's soccer.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

SMALL-SIDED: MUTUAL AGREEMENTS, SHINY U22S, AND MORE THINGS SHAPING THE OFFSEASON

MLS Kickoff Story
1. Jara leaves FC DallasWe'll talk more about how Franco Jara is departing FC Dallas in a second, but for now let's focus on what the "mutual agreement" means for Dallas' roster heading into 2023.Dallas spent 2022 being one of the steadiest teams in the league. They were good and only good. Never bad, but never particularly great, save for one absolute beatdown of the Galaxy in LA. Heading into this season, it kind of felt like they were ramping up to… well, do pretty much exactly the same thing except without the safety blanket of having Matt Hedges at the back.Well, now they can go out and get a new Matt Hedges. If they want, anyway. It kind of seems like a DP center back might be the move here, even if they did just add Sebastien Ibeagha and new signing Amet Korça. They're already set in attack with Alan Velasco, Jesús Ferreira and Paul Arriola up top. Their midfield features Paxton Pomykal and Sebastian Lletget. And full back and goalkeeper seems set. Maybe they look to go with a DP midfielder though. They would be adding another roadblock to playing time for a couple of younger guys in Edwin Cerrillo and Brandon Servania, which would generally be a very un-FC Dallas thing to do and they'd be keeping Facundo Quignon on the bench, but none of those guys played 2000 minutes last year. It's hard to call them locked-in starters.Either way, whether they go with a DP in midfield or at center back or somewhere unexpected, it should almost certainly be an upgrade. And for a team that could really use some headroom when it comes to the space between their ceiling and floor, the right DP signing could go a long, long way here. Even if they need to wait until the summer to make it.2. It's not you, it's me… but also you.I don't have actual proof here, just vibes. That's generally like 99.9% of soccer tactics writing though, so I feel ok moving forward with this statement in this space: It feels like we're seeing an increase in "mutual agreements" leading to teams clearing out unwanted contracts without having to take a cap hit. Maybe it's just that I'm personally paying attention to it more, but Franco Jara's exit from Dallas has my ears perked up. It feels like we've had a recent string of relatively high profile players mutually agree to part ways.What makes that fascinating to me is that these players generally don't have to accept these terms. In most cases —sometimes external factors like family matters lead to these agreements — players could just crash on the bench for a year and get their money or demand a buyout and get their money. For me personally, that seems ideal. However, respectably, these guys want to be on the field. And if a team tells them they aren't in their plans, then I guess I understand them wanting to look elsewhere where playing time is available, even if it's for a pay cut.For teams, this is a straight-up Deus ex machina of a roster mechanic. There's no cap hit and their salary and roster spot come off the table. In an ideal world, a team would be able to trade or transfer these players, but there's generally a reason that the combination of production and salary has brought the situation to this point anyway. I don't know why it seems to be happening more often and, again, we could totally be talking through the lens of my own confirmation bias here, but it will be interesting to see if we continue to see these "mutual agreements" happen. Especially considering the nature of these situations where playing time is generally the tipping point makes the whole "mutual" part feel like a bit of a misnomer.3. Tiki-taka
  • MLS on Apple TV is starting to take on a clearer shape. If you're reading this newsletter of all newsletters, I figure you don't need me to hype that up for you. But it's still cool to see this thing take some of its first tangible steps towards existence. Now we just need to give The Daily Kickoff a show at like 4:30 a.m. ET that's just me struggling to come up with a string of Tom "Scoop Nano" Bogert nicknames on the spot.
  • No surprise here, but LAFC locked in general manager John Thorrington and chief business officer Larry Freedman in long-term. That front office has recently found a way to leverage their resources and location in a way that no one else has in MLS. Yeah, there's some truth to the idea that they're playing on easy mode. But they're doing it better than the rest of the group of select teams in that situation. Like, it's not even close right now.
  • Just want to point out that RSL have made a club-record signing and he'll be on a U22 deal. 20-year-old winger Carlos Andrés Gómez is coming to Utah for a reported $4 million fee. But since his salary will be less than the max budget charge, he'll be a U22 and only count $200k against the salary cap. It's a very similar move to the deal LAFC just made for Croatian winger Stipe Biuk. It will be interesting to see if similar moves continue to come through this year. Kind of seems like U22s are becoming more and more high-priced around the league.

AND OTHER THINGS

  • Austin FC acquire defender Lundkvist in trade with Houston Dynamo: Austin FC have acquired left back Adam Lundkvist in a trade with Houston Dynamo FC, the Western Conference rivals. To land the 28-year-old defender, Austin have sent $500,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) split across the next two seasons. The funds break down as $300k in GAM this year, then $200k in GAM next year.
  • FC Dallas sign center back Korça from Croatian first division: FC Dallas have signed center back Amet Korça from Croatian top-flight side HNK Gorica to a one-year contract with options for 2024 and 2025. The 22-year-old defender is an Arlington, Texas native who spent three-and-a-half seasons competing in Croatia's top two divisions, including three appearances with HNK Gorica since joining the club in July. He also made 65 appearances, scoring six goals, for second-division side NK Dubrava.
  • New England Revolution sign homegrown midfielder Panayotou: The New England Revolution have signed homegrown midfielder Jack Panayotou through the 2026 MLS season with an option for 2027. The 18-year-old US youth international turns pro after playing one season at Georgetown University, plus was named the 2022 Revolution Academy Player of the Year. Last summer, Panayotou was pivotal (tournament-high six goals) as New England won the 2022 MLS NEXT Cup national championship. He was also selected to the inaugural 2022 MLS NEXT All-Star Game presented by Allstate.
  • NYCFC add forward Segal via waivers: New York City FC have claimed forward Gabriel Segal off waivers. Segal arrives at NYCFC from FC Köln, suiting up for the German Bundesliga side after playing at Stanford University. Since the 21-year-old played at the collegiate level in the US, he had to be acquired off waivers in order to play for an MLS club. Segal, a former US youth international, had one assist in 12 matches for FC Köln's reserves. He tallied 14 goals and five assists in 54 games while at Stanford, plus won a Pac-12 championship.
  • Nashville SC, winger Bwana mutually part ways: Nashville SC and winger Handwalla Bwana have mutually agreed to part ways. Bwana was under contract for Nashville to start 2023, and most recently played on loan for Memphis 1901 in the USL Championship while falling down Nashville's depth chart. He played in four matches (one start) for Memphis and scored once in 132 total minutes.

THE READING RAINBOW

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