Minutes from the Committee Meeting

August 29, 2025 — Committee Meeting # 5

Review of the Previous Week’s Group Chat:

Kickback Committee producer Douglas Reyes-Ceron was concerned about the animosity generated by a New Haven Pizza take (Ed. Note: It’s mediocre, the fight rages on!).

Thanks for enjoying Kickback Minutes! This is Kickback’s weekly quick hits on all things soccer in the U.S. Our new World Cup newsletter, First Touch ‘26, will continue to be issued every Wednesday!

Agenda Items:

• “The MLS, in my assessment, is maybe more competitive than some leagues in Europe.” With those words, and a stunning roster selection, U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Mauricio Pochettino launched a thousand hot takes. Following a summer of charged discourse around the performance of the USMNT’s star players, Pochettino welcomes back Christian Pulisic but prioritizes domestic players and Gold Cup veterans. No Yunus Musah. No Joe Scally. No…Weston McKennie? Our Kickback Committee weighed in — at the very least, this is premium content. Now we’re just grabbing popcorn to watch how “Poch” trims down his roster over the coming months.
• Away from the national team, arguably the two players with the highest potential in the pool are primed for big moves following disappointing club seasons. Gio Reyna finally departed from Borussia Dortmund after four years plagued by injury and lack of playing time to join Bundesliga rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach, while Yunus Musah seems primed for a move from AC Milan, with 2023 Europa League champions and hipster favorites Atalanta favored to land the USMNT midfielder.
• It was a week of big highs, and disappointing lows, for the NWSL. What could’ve been an opportunity to celebrate Bay FC breaking the attendance record with 40K+ at San Francisco Giants’ Oracle Park, or the world record transfer of Lizbeth Ovalle, instead was marred by reports that the NWSL commissioner threatened KC Current to play through dangerous heat or face fines. Orlando City’s Haley Carter joined Soccerwise to discuss their Ovalle transfer and all the news…and when you’re done with that watch Ovalle’s goal from last year. It will be the best goal you ever watch, seriously, go do it now, we will wait here for you to watch it six-to-seven times before we continue.

Approvals:

Best Bluesky Post: Did you watch Ovalle’s goal? No?? Go back and do it.

OK, good. Now we can continue with this week’s best Bluesky post, courtesy of Doug S. If you’ve been following the Seattle Sounders, you’ve noticed they’ve stormed through MLS and Leagues Cup with a bunch of players promoted from their development platform. One, 18-year-old American midfielder Snyder Brunell, has had one helluva debut. It’s almost as if…

Matches To Watch This Weekend:

FC Cincinnati vs. Philadelphia Union, MLS (August 30th, 7:30 pm ET, Apple TV): In the biggest match in the race for first and the Supporter’s Shield in MLS this year. First place Philadelphia Union are coming off a 4-0 romp over Chicago Fire, but face their former assistant coach Pat Noonan and an FC Cincinnati attack reinforced by the re-addition of star striker Brenner. This may decide it all, folks. 

Orlando Pride vs. Gotham FC, NWSL (August 29th, 8:00 pm ET, Amazon Prime Video): Two sides fighting desperately to reclaim momentum, as Orlando Pride’s loss of their MVP Barbra Banda has been potentially stymied by the addition of Ovalle, while Gotham sit on the playoff line and need a big performance from their golden boot candidate Esther Gonzalez.

VFB Stuttgart vs. Mönchengladbach, Bundesliga (August 30th, 9:30 am ET, ESPN+): It’s Gio Reyna’s potential debut of ‘Gladbach, and we will be watching with baited breath to see whether the potential USMNT talisman shows some of the same dynamism that led many to think he could be the USMNT’s GOAT.

Colorado Springs Switchbacks vs. FC Tulsa, USL Championship (August 30th, 9:00 pm ET, Paramount+): Western Conference runaway leaders and story of the season FC Tulsa travel to face the 2024 champion Switchbacks, as Colorado Springs struggle to climb back into playoff position. 

One Knoxville SC vs. Spokane Velocity, USL League 1 (August 30th, 5:00 pm ET, ESPN+): It’s a contest of second versus third place in USL League 1. Following his Kickback Happy Hour debut, Kickback HAB Ian Fuller is out to prove the Kickback Bounce is real with a big victory.

Level Up:

Each week the Committee approves the leveling up of a player who simply has taken that leap with their game. This week, it’s San Diego FC’s Luca Bombino.

The 19-year-old LAFC homegrown player was a relative unknown outside youth national team circles prior to his loan to San Diego FC. Under Head Coach Mikey Varas, a former U.S. U-20 Head Coach, Bombino immediately won the starting left back position and quickly became one of the best in the role in the league. A dynamic attacker with defensive chops, Bombino has already generated significant European interest as he has excelled for the surprise Supporter Shield contestants in San Diego. A U.S. national team callup can’t be far behind.

Allocate your points wisely, Luca!

Vibes Power Ranking:

A new addition to the Kickback Minutes! Each week we will power rank the clubs, people, or whatever the hell we feel like for top five vibes in American soccer.

1. Calling it “The” MLS: For Pochettino to issue such a firm vote-of-confidence in MLS was a huge victory for MLS sickos. To simultaneously call it “THE” Major League Soccer? Well, make sure to check out all the action in the MLS this weekend!
2. Josh Sargent, Norwich City: Four games, four goals. A call-up and likely start with the USMNT. A transfer tag that is increasing by the day…is there a deadline deal to a big club in Sargent’s future?
3. Kansas City Current: They’re by far the best team in NWSL, and now they’ve got Melissa Etheridge playing in their kit!
4. Coaches’ Sons: Sebastian Berhalter and Jonathan Klinsmann on the same national team! Gio Reyna gets a big move (ok this cheats a bit, Reyna is more a sporting director)! Michael Bradley being honored by U.S. Soccer at their next match! It’s good to have connections.
5. Milan Iloski: The Philadelphia Union attacker scored 10 goals in less than 500 minutes in San Diego, and following a surprise move to Philly has hit the ground running, leading the Union in a 4-0 thrashing of Chicago Fire.

Susannah “Cup Should Always Be” Fuller’s Cocktail Recipe of the Week:

This week, a variation of the Oaxacan Negroni, inspired by nationally renowned Knoxville bar Brother Wolf!

1. 1 oz. mezcal.
2. 1 oz. sweet vermouth.
3. 1 oz. aperol.
4. 2 dashes orange bitters.
5. Stir cocktail.
6. Elevate with an orange peel.

Please prepare to specifications in advance of our weekly Happy Hour episodes.

Action Items:

Soccerwise: Tom and David recap the MLS transfer window St. Louis’s Sporting Director’s sacking, while Kacey White co-hosts the NWSL episode featuring Orlando City’s Haley Carter.

Kickback Committee: Susannah and David have the live reaction to the USMNT roster drop and have some really bad bets they’re going to parlay to make one single mega-bad-bet.

Pull up to the Kickback bar and join our Happy Hour, where Susannah Fuller and Claudia Pagan are joined by the debut of Kickback HAB Ian Fuller!

When you’ve done that, remind your local coach and chief sporting officer to please, Play the Kids.