Scott Webb

MLS is stupid. Matt Doyle keeps getting smarter. The Armchair Analyst moves to his living room

Friday column, on the relative brilliance of MLS after letting go of @mattdoyle.bsky.social, will post for paid subscribers of thedisrespected.com and hit inboxes early Friday a.m. Have a nice day. www.thedisrespected.com/p/d4ba5195-1...

you're my favorite sicko. Only reason I go to the MLS news site is for your armchair analysis. I miss you, Gass, & Wiebe on A-TV's various shows. Yeah, ex-players are exciting to hear from, but the way you guys see the game helps a schmo like me understand it and love it. I will subscribe!

a man in a brown jacket has a name tag on his chest that says ' a. j. ' ALT: a man in a brown jacket has a name tag on his chest that says ' a. j. '

I was going to say the same thing!

I'm Kat Abughazaleh and I approve this message.

Appreciate ownership letting Bruce Arena make a big splash like this, I can't remember in my post-restart quakes fandom life another signing like this, although getting Chicho and Josef was pretty ambitious. Hopefully TW helps the younger homegrowns and we finally have a good year.

Bummer. Does SJ have any DP's right now, after losing Espinoza and Chicho? Does Hernan Lopez still count? Chicho was good but so streaky, he'll go on golden boot pace for like 8 games then basically does cardio and maybe a little hold up play for the other 25 games.

I wish the Quakes Epicenter guys would get on BlueSky. Someone could revive Centerline... :/

This is awesome, I appreciate the ambition and risk taking. Ownership trying to sell a more successful club. Chicho only seems to score in the first half of the season, he seems to go on a golden boot winning pace for like 8-12 games and then is snake-bit, was like that at RSL and last season.

This seems pretty fair. Send it to @mattdoyle.bsky.social :)

He was so great in SJ but he was always the most solid of a mediocre team, and probably saw that Nashville makes the playoffs, won the US Open Cup, will be in the Champions league, etc - chance to finally play for a winning team. Be a nice change of pace. Maybe he didn't like playing with Chicho?

So sad to see him leave SJ. Good dude. Great player. Maybe he needed a change. Curious what Bruce Arena does now.

Do you think Bruce Arena is scared off of this type of recruit? Either SJE are really tight-lipped on leaking who they're targeting, or there's just nothing eye-popping that rises to a Tom Bogert post about it.

Twenty-Five Years Since Peace Corps: Reflections on Niger and What Endures While most Americans now sadly associate January 6th with the storming of the Capitol, for me it marks a different milestone: 25 years ago today, Andrea and I closed our Peace Corps service in Nige…

Most Americans now associate Jan 6th with tragedy at the Capitol. For me, it's a different kind of bittersweet anniversary: 25 yrs since closing Peace Corps service in Niger. I've written some reflections on what Niger gave me and what's become of it since: voxsouley.wordpress.com/2026/01/06/t...

At SJ, he was wicked fast and could really juke in 1-1's, but he just couldn't finish. I'm hoping MB, Forsberg, and Chupo-Moting can help him learn to finish scoring chances, if they do, he can MAYbe break back into the USMNT picture. I remember @mattdoyle.bsky.social loving "the pass" a while back

Super useful info, generally makes sense. Even if San Jose isn't in the same division as the other CA teams, they's still play each other once in the regular season. I wonder what effect this will have on CCC qualification and the US Open Cup, as well as MLS Next divisions.

The Art of Prepositioning How Treating Your Career Like the Proposal Process Could be the Secret to Success

My piece on career "prepositioning" just published on My Career Pivot. It's about why the best jobs come from relationships built long before the posting drops—borrowed from how #USAID partners prep for RFPs.
mypivot.substack.com/p/the-art-of...

Advising in the Pocket: Jazz Drumming and Career Coaching I’ve been advising graduate students and alumni for 10 years now, and I’m taking this opportunity to reflect as I slowly transition from my role with MIIS to a private coaching practice.   In my ad…

After 10 years advising grad students & alumni, I've landed on my coaching philosophy: be like a jazz drummer—stay in the pocket, adapt in the moment, make others sound better.
voxsouley.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/a...

What's your equivalent of "staying in the pocket" in your work? Do you like Jazz?

With Middlebury closing MIIS by May 2027, I have had time to process and put it all into context. Here's where I am - this is part one of two.

It's about innovation, community, and what it means when an institution gives you permission to think boldly.
voxsouley.wordpress.com/.../how-i-jo...

As soon as I heard Tata was returning to Atlanta I figured he'd get the band back together. Josef was good in SJ and seems like a great dude and teammate, but they needed someone who can press and defend as well as score goals. I would be shocked if he doesn't play for Atlanta next season.

How BD roles have changed in development in 2025 How BD roles have changed in development in 2025

Business development teams have had to pivot and embrace new structures and approaches.

Finding Your Path Forward: Career Resilience in Global Development’s New Reality Reflections after moderating a NASPAA panel on navigating careers post-USAID

"It's been traumatic," a panelist said about the #USAID collapse. Before we talk pivots, we need to acknowledge grief. I wrote about what 3 dev leaders taught me about finding your path forward when traditional careers disappear. voxsouley.wordpress.com/2025/11/03/f... #GlobalDevelopment

Western Conference: What we learned in Game 2 & what comes next | MLSSoccer.com The Round One Best-of-3 Series grind of the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs rolls on – for some teams.

I love they way @mattdoyle.bsky.social said Portland should play in Game 3 vs SDFC: how Neville will pull out "...anyone who’s playing with anything less than wild-eyed, end-of-days coded zealotry in general." That was a true LOL for me.
www.mlssoccer.com/news/western...

What Extreme Poverty Looks Like Ten percent of humanity struggles to live on under $2 a day. That, and the gap between the extremely poor and the more privileged, is important to see.

Nearly 10% of humanity (~800M people in 2025) struggles to live on less than $3 a day. It’s important for Americans to appreciate that reality — and the growing gap between the extremely poor & the extremely privileged — because, as USAID demonstrated, our nation has the power to change it.

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Thanks @mattdoyle.bsky.social for putting this one into your column! Glad it sparked a response! Thanks for all you do, you're the über sicko!

Tail of 2 for-sale teams - Vancouver & San Jose.... Vancouver hires new to MLS coach who delivers amazing success with modest roster turnover. San Jose hires legendary winningest of all time Bruce Arena who brings in half his NER favorites plus Chicho and Josef... actually I have no question. :)

San Jose! They need good defenders!

Deep dive: The unraveling of USAID Over the last six months, here’s how the world’s largest aid donor was torn apart.

This is painful to read but pretty thorough. Thanks to the great team @devex.com for all the important journalism you've done throughout this mess.
Deep dive: The unraveling of USAID www.devex.com/news/deep-di...

Was thinking about this - it's literally ALL 18 LigaMX teams, even the weakest ones, with basically MLS's top 18 teams, give or take. So MLS's better teams should take out the weaker LigaMX's teams. Some outliers for sure.

Why would they reject the bid? Do you think it was Nico's request? Hard to reject going to La Liga...

100% Minnesota is always a problem for the Quakes. Super frustrating-I was thinking that Fisher investing in Bruce Arena, Chicho, JM, etc is to spruce up the team to sell it. Maybe a shiny new DP & top 6 playoff position would make the team even more valuable in the short term. but what do I know...