SoccerWise - Weekend Recap NWSL Championship Rematch & MLS Trades + Battle On Top Of The East

Episode Date: April 21, 2025

Big weekend on and off the field across North American soccer. First David recaps all the action from a wild NWSL weekend from Washington's walking wounded get a statement victory to Gotham & San Diego's offensive explosions. Then David gives his first thoughts on Steve Cherundolo stepping away from LAFC, San Jose's next two big trades, MLS after dark insanity, and the battle atop the Eastern Conference. 1:40 Spirit Overcome Orlando, Trinity Rodman Injury Plan & NWSL Weekend Recap11:00 Steve Cherundolo Announces Plan To Step Away From LAFC16:55 San Jose Trade For DeJuan Jones & Noel Buck Cashfer21:30 MLS Weekend Recap Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

Hey everybody, welcome back to Soccer Wise. David Goss with you here for your weekend recap. We've got a week of full shows coming up for you here at Soccer Wise. Tommy Scoops, Jordan Angeley back with me for all your coverage. The MLS transfer window is closing on Wednesday, hence the number of moves you have seen that have all been broken by. Our favorite, Tommy Scoops, who of course listened to our episode with Paul Tenorio last week that you should go and listen to. Paul was super fascinating talking about Kevin De Bruyne's future and

then we talked about the future of MLS, the lack of the schedule change in this most recent meeting, meetings from the Board of Governors and whether or not Major League Soccer is equipped right now to take advantage of the 2026 World Cup. Tommy listened to that one too. He was a little less excited about my comments about him, but Tom knows he's my number one. So he's going to be back live with us all week. We're going to break down all the trades, all the cashfers, Steve Truondalo leaving LAFC and so much more. So of course that'll be live Tuesday and Thursday. And then Jordan Angeley, who you heard on the call for the biggest games of this weekend, had the call on the Orlando Washington Spirit NWSL Championship rematch. Spirit and WSL Championship rematch. She will be back with me on Wednesday as we break everything down. So let's dig into our weekend recap and let's start with that game.

Washington coming in to this matchup against Orlando as the wounded warriors. Washington had 11 players on their injury list coming into this match. They ended up losing Ashley Hatch as well to an injury during this game to a concussion. So something to watch out for for her as well. We're hoping for the best for her. And yet Washington got a 1-0 victory in Orlando. It was all Orlando in the first half. They pushed the game and to their credit

They saw this Washington group. They said we can press them high. There is not the threat over the top There is no Kroy with noon. Of course, there is no Trinity Rodman Rose Kwasi starting on the bench So less danger in the attack Orlando pressed high they created chances It looked more like when whether it would not if they would score and yet somehow between Aubrey Kingsbury and Tara McKeown and Rebecca Bernal and Esme Morgan and some miracles, some cross bars and eventually some VAR, they were able to keep Orlando off the scoreboard in the first half. Hatch going out with the injury. So gift gift Monday, getting her first opportunity at the center forward position.

Monday ends up helping press Anna Morehouse into a mistake for the opening goal around the 60th minute of this game to take a 1-0 lead for the Washington Spirit. The goal a little bit outside the run of play. Morehouse trying to cut back across Monday, but credit to the Washington team for stepping their lines up, closing down the angles, creating the chaos that allows for the mistake from Morehouse that Monday's able to take advantage of. Orlando had an equalizer they thought laid on in the 82nd minute. It was an own goal

for Washington in which Kingsbury punched it off a teammate on a corner kick that went back into the goal for a 1-1 game after that VAR took a look sent the head referee and in the end Kiley Nadana was called for contact with Kingsbury so Nadana the player who was trying to shield the goalkeeper starts moving backwards as Kingsbury starts to backtrack to the far post trying to get in position to punch the ball away there is contact with Nadener and in the end it was called off I would not have given it off I thought the goal should have stand in I understand that the goalkeeper gets airspace to be able to

operate there I don't think think Nadena is doing a lot I don't think she's searching for the contact She's allowed to backtrack as well to try and get position under the ball And I think everything that Nadena did was legal But in the end the goal is called off Washington spare get the revenge when they do so as I said with a massive Injury issue they're able to get the first victory off Orlando of the season. They pulled to a tie in second place with this Orlando team.

I think for Orlando, a frustrating day, not one you're going to massively worry about. It has been not the norm, but a trend against a result like this. I think there were still high level performances in all of this as well. For Washington, of course, never straightforward. I mentioned the Ashley hatch injury something to monitor. We think Roy Bethune is about a week or two away, which is really good news for this Washington team Rose Kowasi making her return off the bench. But Trinity Rodman is the big story and it's been a big story now for about a month. Every week I feel like I come and do this recap show and it's new news around Trinity Rodman about injuries, some positive, some negative. She's already

said she never thinks she'll be the same player that she was at the Olympics, be able to play as free as she could. She is now stepping away from the team to go and work with some doctors on her back issue in England. So remember, Michelle Kang, the owner of the Washington Spirit, also a owner of a number of teams around the world. On top of that, she has been working with a number of medical institutions to try and do more research around injuries to women in sports. So you would assume that Michelle Kang, her contacts, what the, the environment that she has built is part of why Trini Rodman is going overseas to work on this.

It continues to be scary and sad for a player so young back injuries are such an unknown. Still, I've talked about it with Jordan Noemir's times on this show. It's something that for a lot of athletes you never fully get over. For Trinity Rodman, it seems like it's about managing it. And maybe the hope is that there is a medical fix here that allows her to get closer to normal or makes the management of this process different. Still seems odd to have seen her return with the US women's national team and add more games in stress to her body in a moment like this, but it's still early in the season and fingers crossed that Trini Rodman can go

get the help she needs and be able to come back and be the player that we all absolutely love to watch. For Washington, they kept contact still at the top of the table with Kansas City who got a 2-0 win over Houston at home. Ballerina Lola Bonta, second PK in two straight weeks. Incredible celebration as well at the end. So now Kansas City stands alone three points ahead of second place atop NWSL. Joining them in the top four in the league is Gotham.

An offensive explosion out at Angel City late on Friday night. Esther with two goals to help lead this for this team. Then Midge, Purse and Jesse came off the bench and continued the dominant performance. Purse looking so aggressive coming back from injury for this team. just say the volley off one image. Perce's setups to get a 4-0 lead for this team. But Esther was absolutely everywhere. We talked about her all week. What she can do dropping in as a 10, then pushing high and leading the line, being a finisher, being a creator. You saw so much of that for this Gotham team. Now I think the score line, a little bit of an outlier in the performance against Angel City. I thought Angel City was aggressive. I thought they were dangerous. I thought some of the goals for Gotham were against the run of play. The third

goal, one of the most absurd deflections I have ever seen. We're all basically trying to play a deep cross in from the left back position and it ends up taking a deflection going past the goalkeeper from about 35 yards out. Just the whole sequence is a weird sequence. So Gotham fully deserved the result. I think for Ancial City, not as worrying as that looks. No Elissa Thompson, something to note for this team that takes obviously a huge attacking piece out of their options.

It makes it a lot easier, I think, to defend them across the front three, even though I think Giselle Thompson stepped into the attack fairly well for this team. Two notes about this Gotham group. One, they play on Tuesday night against the Thorns. So coming up tomorrow night is an NWSL regular season game. We will then have our show live on Tuesday or Wednesday. So me and Jordan will react to that game as well as preview the rest of the weekend, which starts as normal on Friday night. The other CZ Kaiser, who joined the team in the middle of last year from Houston, has now mutually agreed to part ways with Gotham. She then on the same day, officially announced that she is joining

Utah Royals. All of this is updated in our depth charts that you can get access to if you subscribe to our Patreon, request access to our depth charts which are via Google Drive and we have all of the teams how we believe they play set up with all of our notes and everything there. Utah ends up getting their first win of the season so the monkey off the back for Utah they get the 1-0 win over Chicago at home. A big moment for this Utah team. That means now every team in NWSL has gotten a victory this year except North Carolina courage. They lost one zero at home. Yes, you heard that right at home against Bay FC this weekend continuing to look for their first victory of the year.

It's a North Carolina team that has only scored three goals across the five games so far this season. Last year they went nine, one and three at home. That was one loss at home. They've already lost two home games this season, so nothing going right right now for this North Carolina team. And the final note from the weekend San Diego blowing Louisville off the field well led by Delphine Cascareño. We talked about her the moment she stepped on the field in this league myself and Jordan huge fans of her game her creativity, her ability to break away with speed once she gets an opening, goal scoring and creativity. She is right now leading the league in goals plus assists, so all goal contributions across the board in NWSL. So another good weekend. We'll have your recap or you'll have all your coverage for it coming up on Wednesday. Now we move to the Major League

soccer side of things, which since our last show has had a lot of off field news before we get to the weekend recap. So for starters, Steve Turandolo has announced that he is stepping away from LAFC as their head coach at the end of this season. He said, quote, it's an honor to be the head coach of LAFC. After much reflection and discussion with my family, we made the decision at the end of this year We will return to Germany I love Los Angeles and LAFC

But this move is in the best interest of my family even as it will ultimately take us away from a team City organization and fan base that I am proud to represent This is a curveball there has been a lot of pressure at LAFC There has also been a lot of success at LAFC to make this announcement announcement in this way means this is not pushing Steve Turandolo out. This is not him getting ahead of the situation and stepping away before he gets fired. To say I'm leaving at the end of the year truly means that there is, whether it's family planning, life planning, or career planning, maybe Steve Turandolo, who reminder is a legend at Hanover 96, started his coaching career, ending up being a youth national team coach for the German FA.

So this is a person who has a ton of respect in Germany. I wouldn't be shocked if there are jobs lined up for him or opportunities lined up. But there are not head coaching roles that are going to stay open from now through the end of December. So this means Steve Turandolo making a life decision wants to move on from what he's doing right now or where he's living back to the country he lived the majority of his life at this point where his kids were born, where his wife is from. And so Steve Cheronzo stepping away from LAFC for a club in general, LAFC are in a fine place. John Thornton is the one who sets the tone at LAFC. For a club in general, LAFC are in a fine place. John Thornton is the one who sets the tone

at LAFC. He decides most of the player moves. He is the one who sets the style. He is the one who sets the sporting direction. It is why you want to have a sporting director like this. One, sporting directors get less pressure week to week because of results. So you're able to keep continuity. As well, you're able to move some parts underneath the sporting director and still maintain the direction of the club I don't know exactly where they will go with head coach there are a number of options at this point Steve Tarantolo was a little bit of a surprise when he took over after Bob Bradley they had hired him as Las Vegas lights coach but that was only his one year first time

as the head coach of a senior team. And that was of course, at the time, the reserve team for LAFC the way it was being operated. And so he had only really coached a two team for one year, took over as head coach one MLS cup in his first season. So when you look at this LAFC group, one Razov, Mark Dos Santos are obvious options. Both of them assistants right now for Steve Turundalo. Ante Razov connected to John Thornton the way many of these names will be connected through the Chicago fire days through Bob Bradley as well.

Mark Dos Santos has been an assistant at LAFC in two different stints, has of course been a head coach for the Vancouver Whitecaps, as well as across the lower divisions for the San Francisco Deltas, SKC2, a number of different teams where he's won and had success at the lower divisions, struggled a little bit more in MLS. Both of those will be obvious names, I think connected to this opportunity.

It would keep continuity, both of them capable of being a head coach. Jim Curtin is gonna get mentioned. He played with John Thornton at Chicago. He is also a Bob Bradley disciple. He is a clear option in all of this. If you think about what Jim Curtin wants, he turned down the option to interview for Atlanta. That is big spending big city teams. He has turned down it feels like opportunities to interview for smaller jobs that are more in the Northeast. Those are all the things we would connect

him with. LA is way different, LAFC is way different, but he wants to win. And he could not get over the line with Philadelphia Union. We had this debate in the Discord actually over the last four days, how good was the 2022 team for Philadelphia? Did they have enough depth to win if not? And we ended up talking about Paxton Aronson,

so young in his career coming off the bench in that game for Philadelphia Union. Chris Donovan in his career coming off the bench in that game for Philadelphia Union, Chris Donovan in his first year out of MLS Next Pro coming off the bench and on the flip side Christian Tayo and Gareth Bale came off the bench for LFC. That's been that difference. Does Jim Curtin want to take this opportunity to jump at this job and willing to move across country for that? I don't know, but he seems like a clear connection with his background with John Thornton. Another name that pops in my head here is Neil McGinnis, who was hired as technical director under John Thornton in this group. He comes from Columbus Crew. You have lost all of your finals to Wilfred Nance and the Columbus Crew. Is there an opening

for LAFC to make a run at Wilfred Nance? Would Nance ever move again inside of MLS? Would Columbus ever allow this? Is there any way it's even possible? I have no idea. The next question would be, is there anyone in Nance's background that you tap into to bring some style and some of the courage and some of the way that Nance sets up teams into your group, which would be another possibility. Am I sure what will happen?

No. Am I pulling stuff out of my ass right now? Absolutely. So we have no idea what will go on with this, but I want to throw in one more insane name, which is that Steve Toronto announcing he will step away at the end of the 2025 season. Jesse Marsh has a contract in Canada through the 2026 World Cup. So if you could find a way to bridge the gap through the first half of the season, maybe with an Ante Razoff or Mark Dos Santos as your head coach,

you could have Jesse Marsh take over post-World Cup as your head coach. I keep saying this, John Thornton played in Chicago under Bob Bradley, had Bob Bradley as his first ever head coach. I keep saying this, John Thornton played in Chicago under Bob Bradley, had Bob Bradley as his first ever head coach. Jesse Marsh was a teammate of John Thornton's at Chicago and of course is considered a Bob Bradley disciple. Not in the same style that they play on the field but in the way they function, the way they build cultures, the way they build teams. LAFC had a wild game on the field as well, but let me finish up all the breaking news which is pretty much out west and then we'll get into these wild west coast games that finished out Saturday and the top of the Eastern Conference.

The San Jose Earthquakes continue their remodeling, their remake as the New England Revolution of the West. They currently are in talks to try and acquire Avery, John, Andy Dorman, and Matt Reese. But in the meantime, they have traded for DeJuan Jones from Columbus and they have made a cash for for no buck from the New England Revolution. We still don't know the exact numbers on either of these trades. The DeJuan trade seems to be a for allocation money, gam tam, whatever it ends up being altogether, trade with the crew. And then of course, that Noel Buck cash for deal. Now the Noel Buck deal seems to now be in line similar to what we see with the Jack McGlynn. It seems to be an idea I think teams have of good young player with

a good future. And let's get them in a spot where they'll play more and fit. So going from a New England Revolution team that he has not played for pretty much under Kayla Porter to a San Jose team now under Bruce Arena where he broke through into Major League Soccer. And you assume there's some sell on fee kept by the revs. So the revs get money now, they get the ability to make more money later and send him to a place where he'll play more minutes and maybe fit this style a little bit more and then on the Dewan Jones side of things it became pretty clear pretty quickly when he arrived in Columbus there wasn't a specific spot

for him and I think Columbus made the right move last year which was talent they saw being available because of the changes in New England because of maybe his contract situation and what he wanted going forward and maybe New England worried that they wouldn't be able to keep a hold of him. So you pick up talent, you pick up talent on a deal you think is reasonable. And at worst case scenario, you flip that talent going forward. And it felt pretty obvious to me that Dwayne Jones was not going to break through as a lockdown everyday starter. It gave them the optionality this year to push Max Arveson into a more attacking role for a couple games where he's looked really, really good. But in general, I think to Juan Jones probably overpriced for them for the

role he was filling, but he still has value in Major League Soccer. And my guess would be that at a minimum Columbus is going to break even on these deals across the full year. They got deeper last year to try and make runs across multiple competitions, and then they end up getting off to Juan Jones at least at this break even if not making something. And so it's a smart deal for Columbus and it makes sense for the San Jose team. They're constantly trying to get better, trying to improve their quality, his ability to create down the left wing, whether it's out of a back four or out of a back three, which we have seen this San Jose team use both of,

he will be able to create the types of chances that a Joseph Martinez and a Chichuo Orongo are able to feast off of. And so I think to on Jones, huge improvement for that group. He's a player that could, your hope would be be around through his prime now at this point in his career, we had him on this show to close out 2024 and he said, you know, that could your hope would be be around through his prime now. At this point in his career, we had him on this show to close out 2024. And he said, you know, Europe's always open. But at this point, it feels like he is going to find his spot in MLS. And that is going

to be where he stays for his career. And I think San Jose makes a ton of sense for that spot. And for Noel Buck, he can come in and help solidify central midfield for San Jose. He can come in and continue to grow and become a better player getting minutes. And then your hope is that that future sale is still there on the cards for San Jose to make some money. And you assume the revs will make some money down the road from this. So this one makes a ton of sense. Reminder, May 17th, the New England Revolution play the San Jose Earthquakes for

the first time under Bruce Arena. It will be basically the Spider-Man meme in a soccer game. San Jose though not done with the moves so far to close out this window. They have also sent Oscar Verhoeven on loan to San Diego with an option to buy Verhoeven. USU 17 International has started at Youth World Cups. A huge prospect at the fullback position for San Jose. I like this move. I think that Verhoeven fits San Diego's style, that possession style, a little bit more than what he has to do in San Jose. He is not an overwhelming athlete. He is a high level technical soccer player at that right back right back position. So I think in San Diego, you will see more of his value. And again, as I said, sell on fee for San Jose might end up being if he plays well for San

Diego equal to or better than what they would have gotten if they tried to play him. He played poorly in San Jose and they ended up selling him or moving him on later on. And I think it's what's right by this player. And I think that is part of this fight for these teams is to continually prove to the next generation that you're going to do what's right by them to give them the best opportunity. All of these teams out on the West Coast were involved in what was an insane MLS after dark. LAFC got a stoppage time equalizer from a controversial penalty kick. Dennis Buonga finished it off to make it 3-3 on the road against Portland or as Phil Neville

would say it was Portland versus Pro as he came off the field into his post game press conference and said the ref was the star that game was about the ref. Ask about the referee. Go ask the referee. He didn't want to say anything else about this game. Besides that, Jonathan Rodriguez returned in this one for Portland. They have been now a six unbeaten streak, but of course they thought and felt they deserved a victory in this one.

Olivier Giroud scored his first goal of the season, oddly enough off a direct free kick, which is not where you'd expect to see Giroud pop up. Diego Luna picked up a controversial red card. a direct free kick which is not where you'd expect to see Giroud pop up. Diego Luna picked up a controversial red card, I will say the least, go watch it if you haven't yet in a home game against Toronto FC which led to TFC's first victory of the season, a 1-0 win on the road at RSL and then the night ended with an insane 5-3 sporting Kansas City win over San Jose. It was 3-2 at halftime. Then Arango gets a PK in stoppage time to try and rescue things for the San Jose team.

But sporting Kansas City, they pressed their lines higher. They took advantage of San Jose's mistakes. They showed their danger. Mano Garcia throwing his body around the field. It is started to feel like a resurgence for this SKC team and this the biggest result so far. All of that at the top of the Western Conference, Seattle a big victory at home over Nashville as well.

In the East, Charlotte our first in the Eastern Conference off a three zero win at home over the new darling San Diego. Our boy, Philippe Dewitch, who we had on interviewed on SoccerWise talking about his however moment from the microphone last year, had his second shot in this time. However out the door, but he went with the big but he ended up going to VAR to review a play in which Andres Reyes drag down Patrick Oshimon. He got called for a free kick on the edge of the box and a straight red card for dog. So in the end, Philip Dewitch changes the call to a penalty kick, which changes Andres

Reyes a straight red card to a yellow card, which was his second yellow card in a six minute span. Andres Reyes has come back on the field, get a yellow card and go back off the field. Patrick Augeman put the penalty kick away on top of Lea Labada's goal already. That made it a two zero lead. Charlotte ends up seeing it out 3-0.

They move to first place in the Eastern Conference alongside FC Cincinnati who got Matt Miazga back in the starting lineup alongside Miles Robinson for the first time this season. It was a bizarre game against Chicago. The opening goal, absurd. The referee, excuse me, Mauricio Pineda ends up falling over the referee.

I wouldn't say the referee tripped him because the referee did not move. Evander then goes the other way down the field in possession and scores on a deflected shot. Chaos all around. Hugo Kipers was locked in. Jonathan Bombo was locked in. This was a really fun game end to end. In the end, Cincinnati gets a three to win. Kevin Denke with the winner. Then

an homage to Aaron Bupenza, who we mentioned last week, passed away in a tragic accident. Former FC Cincinnati center forward Dennis Buanga from the same country as Aaron Bupenza also, celebrating his life with his goal celebration earlier in the, or later in the night. But FC Cincinnati moving to a tie for first place with Charlotte over Columbus and Inter Miami Columbus played in Cleveland to a chirpy and cheerful committed crowd of crew fans. Yes, Columbus crew played in Cleveland. There was too many seas, so I had to get all of them in. They moved their match against Inter Miami to be able to sell more tickets,

roughly 60,000 in the NFL stadium that the Columbus crew owners who also own the Cleveland Browns are of course the stewards of. As I have said, over and over again, I think this policy is absolutely absurd. Messy coming to town is a chance to show why your product is elite. You then provide a completely different product that has nothing to do with your game day experience that you will never invite these fans back to. But you make 800,000 more maybe on the day. Maybe not even that much. Not sure how much overall the gate ends up bringing in for a team to move the game in a way like this.

And you also put your team behind the eight ball. Wil Fernandes called this in a way home game. You were in a situation where you were playing for first place in the Eastern Conference and you gave up an advantage that you could have in playing in your home setup, your home locker rooms, having your players stay at home, having it be the field that they are most familiar with. It was a strong performance for Columbus. They could not get over the line and find the finish.

Ben Hockermaske ends up scoring an unbelievable goal off a unbelievable setup from Luis Sares and Weingart. Ben Hockermaske, I've said this over and over again, he is the Rundoyter. He is the American Tomas Mueller. He just finds way to score goals and get in the right spot. Columbus outplayed Miami in every offensive statistic and yet could not get over the line. So now at the top of the East, we've got Charlotte FC Cincinnati, Miami right behind because they've played one less game and then Columbus right behind them. To close out, did not do

a ton of coverage of the matches because I was there doing interviews, but GA Cup finished this weekend, my favorite time of the year. In the end, we had RSL beat the LA Galaxy in the U16 final. Hashimoto, who Kailin Carr talked about last week on this show, ended up, after having his stunning goal in the group stage, ended up scoring the opening goal to help RSL win the final over the LA Galaxy and then Orlando fueled by Gustavo Caraballo, who we have already seen make a difference this year in Major League Soccer, was able to lead his team with two goals in a victory over the Colorado Rapids in the U 18 final reminder, the change in age groups

now instead of 15s and 17s the pro player pathways in MLS next are 16s and 18s to align a little more cleanly with the age groups in high school and some other countries especially in Europe with the way they set up their teams. Awesome GACup overall if you haven't listened yet go back and listen to our show with Kaylin Carr last week really interesting interview about his thoughts on youth development, what he's seen in MLS so far, what he experienced at GACup. We also sat down with Chris Albright at the Generation Adidas Cup. That is its own special that went out on Friday about building FC Cincinnati, building up

their academy now as the new general manager. What he learned from Philadelphia, helping develop his cousins, kids in Quinn and Kevin Sullivan. Quinn Sullivan, a goal in an assist in another big win for Philadelphia, this time a dominant victory over Atlanta who are in a tailspin. Chris Albright said he thought Quinn Sullivan deserved a shot.

The US men's national team. He continues to look correct about that opinion as time goes along in Quinn Sullivan season continues to be strong. We also chatted with Axel Schuster, the CEO and sporting director of Vancouver Whitecaps. We talked about their sale to new ownership. We talked about the new stadium plan, what it means, why it came out when it did, what it could look like, what the schedule change could affect it, how they've built this group, Jesper Sorensen's success,

the talent they've brought in, Pedro Vite's future, Ryan Gould's injury status, and so much more. So go back and listen to those shows from last week. As I have said, we've got a couple big shows coming up this week as well, a ton to cover. Thank you all for listening, and we'll talk to you again very, very soon.