Good, Bad, and Ugly: Open Cup Victory, USSF Hires a General Manager, and more!

Welcome back, Mane Landers! It’s hard to believe it’s only been a little over a week since we’ve had a GBU column, but here we are. There’s actually been quite a bit that has happened in that time. Orlando City is on a losing streak in MLS, the Pride have been garnering points in every match, and there have been two, two Mane Land PawedCasts (here’s #1 and here’s #2). As such, I feel I’ve touched on plenty of this stuff, so let’s look at topics that haven’t been covered.

The Good

Orlando City defeated Miami United FC, 3-0 last night, and they did it with plenty of players that haven’t sniffed an MLS game this year. Though to be fair there were plenty that have played in MLS games, the team just has that many out on injury. But, this is the good section, so let’s focus on the win. No, Miami United FC wasn’t supposed to challenge Orlando City, but the NPSL side had made it this far, so it wasn’t to be taken lightly. However, the Lions were able to do exactly what they were supposed to do, and take care of the underdog that has shown plenty of guts in this Open Cup so far. Still, a win is a win, and Lions fans should simply enjoy it.

The Bad

Argentina was supposed to play a match against Israel in Jerusalem. However, they cancelled the match after threats to the lives of players and others if they participated in the match. Lionel Messi was particularly targeted. Palestinians were told to burn anything Messi related. This was a match that should have simply happened because two teams wanted to play. The beautiful game should be able to be above politics, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Instead, the U.S. moving the embassy to Jerusalem prompted the Palestinians to protest a soccer match, and threaten innocent people. The amount of bad in this situation is ridiculous. I’m of the mind that Argentina should have played the match, but I can’t blame them for deciding to keep the safety of their staff and players foremost. It’s just bad. The whole thing.

The Ugly

The U.S. Soccer Federation has hired former national team midfielder Earnie Stewart as the new general manager. This is one of the first steps towards rebuilding the USMNT after missing the World Cup. So why am I putting this in the “ugly” section? Well, let’s be fair, there’s going to be a whole lot of scrutiny, and a whole lot of griping over this decision. The reason why is that there’s a very, very broad description of what the job entails — everything from helping to hire the new USMNT coach, to style of play for the national teams, to youth programs, and on and on! I’d bet that if they come up with another thing needing to be done, it could also fall to Earnie to do so. As such, this earns the ugly position this week, because even though we’re happy that something has happened, it still feels a little haphazard, doesn’t it?

Well, that’s going to do it for this week. What do you think? Did I miss something big? Do you disagree vehemently with one of my choices? Let me know in the comments below.