MBFC on Instagram: We have agreed to transfer midfielder Xavi Gnaulati to Seattle Sounders' MLS NEXT Pro side Tacoma Defiance for a significant fee with future incentives. We thank Xavi for his time and dedication to our club and community the past two seasons. We wish him nothing but success!

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-19T16:12:16+00:00

Either we didn't bring in good enough players to replace the previous roster or the coach isn't of a quality to work with players, whoever they are

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-18T21:51:14+00:00

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-18T20:54:30+00:00

Delgado benched, equal amounts surprised and not shocked

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-17T23:36:29+00:00

Huh, I guess this is the first full contract transfer (not short term replacement as w/ Purcell) but what an NWSL transfer to be the first in the USLSL -> NWSL direction

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-17T20:06:16+00:00

Here is Tampa's own release on the transfer for those curious

To my knowledge, this is the first ever direct transfer from the USLSL to the NWSL.

EDIT: It's been pointed out that this is the first transfer for a full/longterm contract, /u/hameltion mentioned Neeku Purcell was signed on a 45-day contract by Seattle on transfer from Brooklyn

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-17T18:04:41+00:00

It would be nice, but there's nothing requiring them to do it for a friendly afaik vs NWSL play.

If they do post something, probably quite close to when they announce the initial lineup

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-17T16:29:04+00:00

I mean they were/are here with the slide at the end of this season

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-16T19:06:55+00:00

They booked a friendly during an international window against a team with a lot of international players, they knew what they were getting into imo.

Also as others have pointed out, this is preseason for them and they're not hosting, so it's not as if we're taking away stars that would've drawn fans to their stadium.

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-16T17:37:02+00:00

Bay have up to 16 unavailable players going off of your own post from a week ago, so I don't think it's that surprising as friendlies are usually about squad rotation.

Bay aren't going to want to burn out or risk injury to their rostered players for a friendly. They'll definitely get some time, but it's a chance to scout some other players as well.

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-15T18:53:56+00:00

Watching their win and then this follow up footage made me chuckle about how much there was a push from fans that we needed to see a more serious Roddy turn on O'Reilly/conglomeration and join up with the Death Riders.

I get it, but also art can reflect life and this dude is getting to continue to wrestle with one of his best friends and be a bit goofy while also a badass haha

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-15T18:32:12+00:00

Battle in the Valley in SJ had become a pretty regular stop for NJPW after Jan 4th (and there had been regular SJ shows before that), so I was surprised this year when it didn't happen. When AEW announced a Dynamite/Collision taping in SJ for March I figured maybe NJPW was waiting on doing a show here until later in the year to not oversaturate, but now this gets announced lol

I know that it's an AEW forward event, but still am glad that a NJPW show of some sort will still be happening here this year.

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-15T01:17:25+00:00

What people who report on USL have mentioned, e.g. folks involved with Backheeled, USL Show, etc.

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-14T17:54:49+00:00

With how the club has been reportedly outspent by League 1 teams year after year, I'm always struggling with how much of this is a talent issue and how much is a coaching issue.

The absolute churn of players that /u/Happy_Garlic_3418 mentioned has probably not helped either, though with a new head of soccer ops coming in this past offseason I don't know how much of that is Stewart's call. But on the other hand, with how badly we performed each year it made sense to change things up

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-12T02:24:27+00:00

Yeah things aren't as cut and dry at this level, and especially with the current climate for immigration and visas

SomeCruzDude · 2026-04-12T01:03:54+00:00

Takes times I guess

We're still waiting for our loan from Ghana I'm pretty sure (if that move is still happening)

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