Can We Forgive Jordan Morris for Being Jordan Morris?
We know who Jordan Morris is, and what he's becoming. Unfortunately, that's still not enough.
Hey there. Jordan Morris did this last night.
And I’m going to add in this tweet as well, because it’s good social and it also gives me a better header picture for this newsletter.
So, yeah. Jordan Morris went and did the thing last night. He was fast, he was opportunistic, he was ruthless in front of goal when it counted; he was everything that Seattle has come to expect Jordan Morris to be, with the requisite few extra layers of polish Morris seems to continually add on year after year. And wouldn’t you know it, the American Soccersphere wants more than that.
Obviously, none of these statements are on the same level. There’s a person who legitimately dislikes Jordan Morris as a player. There’s a person who was probably mostly engaging in banter, and then was upset that his team was losing. There’s someone who probably likes Jordan Morris, but wants to see more out of him. These are all common reactions to Jordan Morris, a person who inspires strong reactions, most likely due to his initial rise and obvious athletic prowess.
When Jordan Morris materialized from a Jurgen Klinsmann fever dream, his senior side torn to shreds by some kid playing for Stanford, and subsequently landed in the USMNT, there were big dreams there. Yes, the kid was raw as hell. But he could play. And we no longer live in an age where random NCAA players can simply walk into the National team like he did. His type of story wasn’t really supposed to be possible anymore. But there he was, scoring against Mexico.
The decisions Morris made are what really sealed his fate with large swathes of the USMNT fandom. The decision to not go to Germany, in particular, and rather stay in MLS. He stayed with his hometown club, the place where his Dad worked. That was soft. That was not how you were going to develop into a superstar. And, to be fair, those people were sort of correct. Jordan Morris didn’t really develop into a superstar. Still hasn’t, for my money. He’s a good player, a great player, in MLS. But I probably wouldn’t include him on a list of the league’s stars, at this very second, unless the number of people counted in the league’s stars were, like, counting all of the people from every generation of X-Men movies as all “important characters” and all of a sudden we’re talking about how Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut was a vital foil to Ellen Page’s Kitty Pryde. Jordan Morris is great. Any MLS team would be glad to have him. Still don’t think he’s necessarily a superstar.
The smaller, more insidious thing that gets people riled up, I think, is how Jordan Morris has improved over his tenure in MLS. It’s not always been big, monumental leaps in his play. In fact, it’s often been small things. The obvious growth in comfort as a winger. The development of his left foot. The way he anticipates plays in transition. Morris has slowly molded himself into a very useful professional, and a very useful USMNT player to boot. I think that grinds at people. Where could he be if he had gone to the Bundesliga four years ago instead of staying in MLS? How far could he have gone?
Morris is never going to be the player in the national team picture that makes everyone happy. He’s not going to ever have the goodwill of players like Tim Weah or Konrad de la Fuente. How could he? Those players were at PSG and Barcelona, those players were out at real clubs, challenging themselves, and all that jazz. I think at this point, however, we can forgive Jordan Morris for being Jordan Morris. And I think we can forgive ourselves for liking Jordan Morris, if we need to be forgiven for that, as well. He’s fun to watch, and he’s pulled off the trick of becoming more and more fun to watch as he’s entered his mid-20s, which is a magical performance few American prospects manage to pull off.
He’s going to be around the USMNT for the rest of his career. He’s going to be around the top of MLS for the rest of his career, probably. And if that still upsets you, maybe drink an herbal tea or something while our LEGO-man winger goes to work.
And One More Seattle Thing
Raul Ruidiaz, you madman.
To the Great Surprise of Absolutely No One
Lyon won the Champions League again, for the fifth time in a row. The competition has somewhat turned into that State Farm commercial with the fishing guy saying “ooooh you almost had it. You gotta be quicker than that!”
As far as I can tell, the last time Lyon lost a game was in 2018, against the North Carolina Courage. Do with that information what you will.
Some Are Calling Snavely “The Prophet of Soccah”
LOOK, when you’re right, you’re right.
And JJ Watt just happening to pop up on Twitter claiming he wants to buy the Utah Royals mere days after I told you all he was American Soccer’s Dad now? Needless to say, this newsletter is becoming a crystal ball for most future soccer happenings.
With that said, Gio Reyna scores ten Bundesliga goals this year.