The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Pereyra Contributes, the Pride Slide, and Miami’s Stadium Woes

The hunt for the playoffs is getting tougher with only seven matches to go, and the Lions need to do everything possible to get every point possible. It’s not going to be easy with Atlanta United FC coming to town and a trip to San Jose the following week (and then a visit from LAFC!). Let’s see what caught my attention this week.

The Good

The Mauricio Pereyra era has begun. We’ve only seen him for 45 minutes, but he still made an impact in the match against Minnesota United. When he came on, it allowed Nani to move out to the wing, where he is more comfortable and more effective. Even without having much time to get to know his new teammates he completed 79% of his passes. Of course, Pereyra will need to get 90-minute match fit and continue to develop chemistry with the other players. Once he does that, he’ll fill one of the positions of need going forward for the club. If we’re lucky, he’ll be the piece that gets the club to the playoffs.

The Bad

The Orlando Pride are bad. In fact, entering last night’s game in Chicago they were the worst team in the league with only 11 points and were coming off two straight home shutout losses. Add in the red cards, the international call-ups, and the injuries, and you easily have the worst season imaginable. I’m not sure where to place the blame since there’s been so many interruptions in Marc Skinner’s first year. Alex Morgan had only just made it back from injury, playing all of six minutes in her first start since before the World Cup, before going off for precautionary reasons after a rough collision last night.

Hopefully Morgan is OK and she’ll be able to score some goals like she did for the USWNT, but if there isn’t anyone to give her service that will be tough. The referees haven’t done the team any favors either, though that’s not surprising given that the team wears purple. I’m not sure what the answer is, but Skinner better have a plan, and it better be a good one.

The Ugly

I’m not sure anyone has ever said “poor David Beckham,” but I’m doing so now. Granted, I’m saying that immediately following a bout of laughter, because it’s just becoming ridiculous at this point. The site that Inter Miami FC chose for its stadium is an old dump for incinerator ash from the 1950s. The ground is positively toxic with high levels of arsenic and other dangerous substances. I’m no scientist, but that sounds not great. Now, Inter Miami will have to either spend a boatload cleaning up the site, or try to secure another location. Either option will take plenty of time and money. Poor David Beckham.

That will do it. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.