American Soccer Weekly Rekrap: DuaneWayne, a baby at the Olympics, and a loss for Pro/Rel

It’s back. After a brief pause the Rekrap is here to stay until it briefly pauses again. There’s been some news that we haven’t gotten to here at SSFC with all the games going on. To catch up on some items over the past week, check out what’s been going on around the world of US Soccer this week.

A win, but unease around the USMNT heading to 2020

While the USMNT picked up a win, the most promising thing about the game may have been that the team tried out some new younger players. That is a good sign, but LA Times columnist Dylan Hernandez noted earlier this week that it borders on too little too late and is causing unease around the team’s rebuild.

No FC Cincy for Bobby Wood, but MLS might be a destination still

With the MLS season starting in a few weeks, teams are trying to round out their rosters. Several squads could use a solid striker and FC Cincinnati thought they had found their man in Bobby Wood. However, Wood turned the team’s $1 million offer for his services in light of the fact that if Hamburg is promoted, his contract with them would bump up to $3 million according to NBC. He told the outlet that he’s open to coming to MLS, but the price needs to be right. It’s quite the bargaining chip and one that MLS teams will need to keep in mind as the market for Wood has now been set by the striker.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one, an MLS team is having stadium woes

Nashville has been the site of several US Soccer matches over the years and that excitement has set the stage for the inaugural season of Nashville SC. Their entry to the league follows a familiar pattern with a guarantee of a soccer stadium being built and commitments from political officials to make it happen... which are then put in jeopardy for reasons to be determined. For now, the stadium in Nashville is stalled and until other construction projects go forward, construction will not begin.

Alex Morgan plans to be in the Olympics after having her baby

While she wasn’t on the qualifying roster, Alex Morgan was doing drills with her teammates during Olympic qualifying this week. Her commitment to the USWNT doesn’t stop there. Morgan told media outlets that she is planning on playing in the Tokyo Olympics after giving birth in April. As Sports Illustrated reported, she is also looking forward to bringing her family on the road as she continues her career. Also, she’s really, really good at soccer.

Duane learning from Wayne

Duane Holmes has been catching the eye and imagination of USMNT fans for sometime now. His effort is also showing on the pitch with some impressive performances for Derby County. The former Scunthorpe United player has stepped up his game with Derby this season. He credits Wayne Rooney for his improvement and better ability to get forward in the attack. Holmes is heating up at the right time as the US will play a pair of friendlies in Europe in March.

Pro/RelforUSA will not come from the Court of Arbitration for Sport

A legal battle between promotion and relegation proponents and Concacaf, FIFA, and US Soccer came to a close this week. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled against Dennis Crowley and Ricardo Silva who were seeking to force pro/rel in the USA. In the ruling, the court mentioned that since closed leagues were the norm in the US and that FIFA never intended the US and Australia to have promotion and relegation that they would not require it. For now, the decision closes a chapter on the pro/rel war. No word yet if any tweets were deleted in the wake of the news.

A new approach to training the USWNT youth teams

The USWNT is the best soccer team in the world, but at times that title has been questioned. Aside from the 2016 Olympics defeat, the youth teams have underwhelmed somewhat in recent World Cup appearances. In order to remedy that, WNT General Manager Kate Markgraf has the youth and senior teams training together. Kim McCauley of SBN has a deeper look at the goals of the new plan.