Portland ultimately was not able to take advantage of their home-field advantage and lost in penalties to a feisty New York City FC side with captain Sean Johnson making two huge saves and led by MLS 2021 Golden Boot winner Valentin Taty Castellanos on the scoring end, the boys from the Bronx claim Major League Soccer’s ultimate prize. NYCFC MLS Cup Champions is how the year ends, but of course what’s next for MLS and NYCFC?

Sean and Erik discuss the game, the standout performances, and if there are any leads for a new stadium for NYCFC. They also go through the highlights of Don Garber‘s “State of MLS” address which includes the upcoming MLS TV rights deal, MLS Next PRO, Las Vegas being team # 30, Don’s thoughts on the Biennial World Cup idea, and more.

Plus the NWSL keeps making big moves and now Alex Morgan literally joins the San Diego Wave, Jesse Marsch is out at RB Leipzig, Chris Armas is in as Manchester United assistant, and the final USMNT squad of 2021 prepares for a friendly against Bosnia & Herzegovina this week.

Of course, our Manchester United Moment is an interesting one as Ralf Rangnick’s first week is eventful with two wins and a draw that doesn’t really matter. Are there any positives to take from what’s happened so far? Should there be a lot of concern with Brentford and Brighton coming up? And is it Bruno or Ronaldo? Who’s the actual problem in the team?

You can listen to more Soccer 2 The Max Here!

Alex Morgan Joins the San Diego Wave (Literally!)

You can now watch episodes of Soccer 2 the MAX in Video format on the W2M Network Youtube Channel!

About Soccer 2 The MAX

A Podcast about the world’s game from an American perspective. Each episode includes headlines, topics, and discussions that can be about anything that happened that week in Soccer, Futbol, or Football. And there are also thoughts on the team’s Sean Garmer, Erik Watkins, and Rachael Kriger each support, games they watched that week, and more. There will also be special editions focusing on the United States Men’s and Women’s National Teams, and other European or American league matches from time to time as well.

Sean Garmer

Being born into a Latino family, Sean grew up around the game of futbol. No matter what you deem to call it, Mr. Garmer enjoys the sport. Sean played Defender growing up and then transitioned to Goalkeeper in high school. Due to the University of North Texas not having a men’s soccer team at the time, his playing career ended in 2005.

However, since then, he’s kept up with Soccer by watching his favorite teams and leagues, while also writing as well. Sean was paid to cover the 2010 World Cup and has also written about the beautiful game for several other outlets. He is a supporter of several teams all around the world, but his two major loves are FC Dallas and Manchester United.

Erik Watkins

While he was never really the best on the field, Erik’s always had a deep-rooted passion for the beautiful game. From discovering it in Maryland thanks to DC United to cheering on Manchester United since the days of Ruud van Nistelrooy. Not to mention, considering donning purple hair to cheer Orlando City SC today. From MLS to USL and NASL (Viva Armada!) to even dreaming of training and playing in the MASL, if it’s soccer, he’s usually watching it.

MAIN PHOTO:
Embed from Getty Images