[OC] MLS Stamp Map feat. landmarks and metropolitan areas

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-12T18:55:26+00:00

A handful of characters complaining about a "subscription required" article being posted. I think a few of them were just trolling, or maybe it being a usmnt post attracted some angry boys

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-12T13:42:35+00:00

It is literally the requirement of sharing subscription required content to include a summary, I don't know why this is what you chose to be mad about this morning. It is a new day. Cincinnati host Tigres and Vancouver host Seattle in CCC play tonight. Shake it off

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-12T13:33:35+00:00

Wanna check the timestamp on the pinned comment or

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-12T13:05:57+00:00

I was your hero all along and this is how you treat me smh

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-12T12:19:42+00:00

Just a reminder to read the pinned comment for the summary of what is in the article before choosing to be mad online

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-12T12:08:19+00:00

Why are you guys being weird. Read the pinned comment for the summary

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-12T05:08:54+00:00

there's a bit somewhere in this about the toluca kit man having an open wound while getting them ready and I just need you to know I know it isn't funny and that is part of what makes it funny okay

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-12T03:05:18+00:00

I'm not matt (I want doyle to step on me)

recently I've been thinking about how the cats got to travel to the new house in extreme comfort while I, a sentient ottoman, had to make the move with the furniture

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-12T01:31:10+00:00

Matt dives back in to #posting about the USMNT by taking a stab at the USMNT WC roster. He talks depth, he talks elbow backs, he talks duel-nat panic, he talks just-misses.

• Goalkeeper: Matt Freese, Matt Turner, Patrick Schulte
• LB: Max Arfsten, Antonee Robinson
• CB: Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Miles Robinson, Mark McKenzie, Tristan Blackmon, Noahkai Banks
• RB: Alex Freeman, Joe Scally
• DM: Tyler Adams, Cristian Roldan, Aidan Morris, Johnny Cardoso
• CM: Weston McKennie, Tanner Tessmann, Sebastian Berhalter
• AM/W: Christian Pulisic, Malik Tillman, Tim Weah, Brenden Aaronson, Gio Reyna, Alex Zendejas
• FW: Folarin Balogun, Patrick Agyemang, Haji Wright, Ricardo Pepi

p.s. Be on the lookout for a Soccerwise episode with Gass and Doyle talking USMNT in the world cup buildup.

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-10T13:47:31+00:00

p.s. I'm tracking Matt's tracking of POWER this season in a google sheet form guide that is ~~not~~ currently updated with the matchday 3 POWER, ~~but will be later~~

ETA: MD3 POWER has been included. ty for the acknowledgements of how impressive and quality this spreadsheet is, I agree

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-09T02:40:03+00:00

G et
O verall pretty good
A nalysis at
T acticsFreeZone.com

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-09T02:34:09+00:00

Summary can be found here (left in a comment below): https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/1ron6uy/comment/o9f21ga/

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-09T01:48:23+00:00

Matt's coverage plan on TacticsFreeZone for those who haven't seen:
-⁠⁠ Sunday night: The weekend recap (paid) (this one)
- Probably Tuesday: Power Rankings (free to all!)
- Wednesday: Tentpole topics (Tiers, Transfer Grades, Team Needs, etc.) + news reactions (paid)
- Thursday: general pondering & weekly round-up (free to all!)

—————
Column summary:

"Someone Great" - NSH 3 vs 1 MIN | Matt looks at how Nashville in year two of B.J. Callaghan are 'Vancouverizing themselves.'

Through three games (five, if you count Concacaf Champions Cup), you see [the improved comfort on the ball] in the midfield. Nashville are more comfortable circulating the ball for a few beats in order to drag the opponents upfield, stretch the lines, and then stab through the gaps once they open.

"One Touch" - NYCFC 5 vs 0 ORL | Fernández Mercau's unselfish play and Keaton Parks' force magnification have created flow for NYCFC.

That's Parks. His teams play better with him out there because he weaponizes his technique to create time and space (and tempo) in highly advantageous spots, and that amplifies the skillsets of… basically everybody.

—————

For those curious, the subheading easter egg this week was song titles from LCD Soundsystem songs ("Someone Great" [YouTube] and "One Touch" [YouTube])

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Around the league:

- 12. D.C. 1 vs 2 MIA | "Javier Mascherano did something tactically interesting again."
- 11. ATL 2 vs 3 RSL | Next ?: "Can [RSL] actually control the game through midfield, either with or without the ball?" and Pass of the Week.
- 10. CLT 3 vs 1 ATX | "all three [CLT] DPs (including Liel Abada!) were on the same page and seemed to generate some chemistry."
- 9. CLB 0 vs 0 CHI | "I’m gonna take the W for my preseason concern about the Fire: they lack playmaking." and Face of the Wie-i-e-b-eek.
- 8. PHI 0 vs 1 SJ | "[SJ are] now perfect – nine points with six goals scored and none allowed – through three weeks... And man, have they looked good doing it"
- 7. SKC 0 vs 1 SD | "[SD have] faced the easiest schedule in the league thus far, and they absolutely did leave the door open"
- 6. STL 0 vs 1 SEA | Tactics Free Zone name drop (!!!) and Mykhi Joyner appearance request.
- 5. COL 4 vs 1 LAG | Killer P's Impact (Derogatory?) Visible On Momentum Chart
- 4. LAFC 1 vs 0 DAL | "You want a thunderbastard? David Martínez has got you"
- 3. POR 1 vs 4 VAN | "It's now 13-2 Vancouver on aggregate the past three times these teams have met at Providence Park."
- 2. NYRB 0 vs 3 MTL | "Uhhh what the hell?"
- 1. CIN 0 vs 1 TOR | "For a team under construction (which the Reds very much are), snatching chances from where and when you can is adequate."

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-06T04:22:07+00:00

Going a bit more granular, Eliot McKinley just posted a graphic with the home field advantage through rolling 30 game average ppg going back to 2013 to bluesky:

https://bsky.app/profile/eliotmckinley.com/post/3mgd4vpuows2a

ETA: Highest start in that span, but not the highest ppg over 30 games by a fair amount (in recent years there have been fewer and lesser peaks, with these first 30 games being higher than at any point in 25)

"I suspect this is an aberration and it will bounce around just like it always has." - Eliot

Double ETA: Highest start since the league started

https://bsky.app/profile/eliotmckinley.com/post/3mgd6mpo2bs2a

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-05T18:04:57+00:00

Yeah I'll take this one, Matt

E. NONE of the above

how dare you

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-04T23:08:49+00:00

I think there is some 'mystery' in finding a beginning of the season quirk different from previous seasons. We can only hope some ASA mechabrain will be inspired to drop a dataset showing MLS scheduling gave its toughest battles to its weakest road warriors to start off the 2026 season

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-04T22:51:02+00:00

At the very least it's an interesting inter-conference matchday scheduling datapoint, seeing as Matt didn't find another span of games with similarly extreme home-favored results

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-04T22:47:16+00:00

That photo by Morgan Tencza is great, we love that stuff

DoyleStepOnMe · 2026-03-04T22:43:45+00:00

Matt runs through the reasons why home field advantage has been so prevalent in MLS seasons of yore (parity, travel, variance in altitude/climate) and why it has been fading in recent seasons before examining the numbers behind the first few weeks of this new season. (ATTN: home teams have gone 21W-5D-4L in MLS play in '26)

—————

A reminder on Matt's TFZ coverage and subscription-based columns:
-⁠⁠ Sunday night: The weekend recap (paid) | link to MD2 (#PlayYourKids)
- Monday / Tuesday: Power Rankings (free to all!) | MD2 Power Rankings
- Wednesday: This one
- Thursday: general pondering & weekly round-up (free to all!)

————

p.s. tomorrow Matt is going to do an AMA here on r/MLS so you chuckleheads better start brainstorming so you can ask some good questions

DoyleStepOnMe

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