The Players Field

The Washington Football Team released running back Derrius Guice on Friday night, less than two hours after he was arrested on domestic violence charges in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Washington wasted little time in releasing Guice, saying in a statement that it had learned of a domestic violence-related incident Thursday. The team alerted the NFL and met Friday with Guice to let him know he was excused from all team activities.
The team's statement then read: "This afternoon we learned that there were multiple charges filed against Derrius. Upon review of the nature of these charges and following internal discussions, we have decided to release Derrius immediately."
According to the Loudoun County Sheriff's office, the charges stemmed from three separate domestic violence-related incidents earlier this year -- on Feb. 14, March 13 and April 17 -- at Guice's home in Ashburn, Virginia. The incidents were first reported to the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland. The sheriff's office was made aware of the allegations on July 22. It investigated the incidents in coordination with the Montgomery County Police Department.

Guice, 23, was charged with one count of strangulation and three counts of assault and battery. He also was charged with one count of destruction of property. Guice turned himself in to the Loudoun Adult Detention Center late Friday afternoon. Guice later was released on a $10,000 uninsured bond.

In a statement made by his attorney, Guice refused to comment and denied the charges.

"The failure to fully investigate allegations of events, which allegedly took place months ago, is inexplicable," the statement read. "Derrius will defend these charges in court, where a full vetting of the allegations will take place, in contrast to actions by local law enforcement and the Washington Football Team that assumed the worst, directly contradicting every sense of fairness and due process."

Before the 2018 NFL draft, there were anonymous reports questioning Guice's character. Many who knew him, from high school to college coaches, said those fears were misplaced. Although some teams took him off the board, whether for injury or character concerns, Washington drafted the LSU product in the second round.

According to multiple sources Carolina had removed Guice from it's draft board prior to the 2018 draft over concerns about his knees and his character. Washington's staff is populated by multiple people who were with Carolina at the time including coach Ron Rivera, head athletic trainer Ryan Vermillion And director of pro scouting Eric Stokes.

During his two seasons with Washington, questions arose about his maturity level, according to numerous sources over this time. Most of those concerns, though, stemmed from his approach to various team situations such as medical treatment.

As a rookie, Guice was one of the camp standouts until he tore his left ACL in the first preseason game. Coaches valued his ability to help on all three downs because he could not only catch the ball but help in pass protection.
Guice opened the 2019 season as the starting running back, but he tore the meniscus in his right knee and missed eight games. He then tore his medial collateral ligament in a Dec. 8 loss at Green Bay and did not play again. He never touched the ball more than 10 times in a game, but he did average 5.83 yards on 42 carries.

This offseason, Washington made sure to add depth at running back. The team still has Adrian Peterson, but it also signed third-down back J.D. McKissic and Peyton Barber, an early-down back. Washington drafted Antonio Gibson, who will also align at wide receiver in certain formations. Bryce Love, whom the team drafted in the fourth round in 2019, was cleared to practice this summer and, if he's back to where he was at Stanford, would provide the same sort of pop the team had hoped to get from Guice.

Washington's NFL franchise came under fire last month when The Washington Post detailed sexual harassment allegations against five former employees. New coach Ron Rivera was tasked with improving the culture in Washington, making Guice's release a necessary move.

Portland Timbers fight back to defeat New York City FC

Reuters:

Diego Valeri and Andy Polo each scored after entering the match as substitutes, and the Portland Timbers overcame an early deficit to complete a 3-1 victory over New York City FC in the last MLS is Back Tournament quarterfinal near Orlando on Saturday night.

Sebastian Blanco also scored and had an assist for the Timbers, who have not conceded a non-penalty-kick goal in either of their games in the knockout phase.
Portland will face the Philadelphia Union in a semifinal on Wednesday night, after Philadelphia defeated Sporting Kansas City 3-1 on Thursday. The winner will advance to the Aug. 11 final against either Orlando or Minnesota.
Jesus Medina scored a first-half penalty kick to give NYCFC an early lead. New York exits the tournament having lost three of its five matches, after forcing Portland goalkeeper Steve Clark into just two saves.

Valeri entered at halftime and broke a 1-all tie 20 minutes later. He controlled a diagonal pass into the penalty area, played a quick square ball to Jaroslaw Niezgoda, ran onto Niezgoda's return pass and struck a first-time shot past Sean Johnson.

Polo required only a minute after his 75th-minute entrance to put the game out of reach. With several options to play a pass during an attack, Polo instead opted for a ferocious 25-yard curling shot from the left side that skimmed off a diving Johnson's fingertips on its way inside the far post.

Before halftime, New York led for 16 minutes until Blanco struck an opportunistic equalizer, when Maxime Chanot deflected Jose Villafana's low cross from the left. Blanco collected the half-clearance about 15 yards from goal, then curled a right-footed shot beyond Johnson's dive and inside the right post.

Medina opened the scoring in the 27th minute after drawing the penalty kick himself, when he went to the ground after tangling with Portland defender Larrys Mabiala.

Robert Sibiga ruled a foul and awarded the kick, and Medina stepped up and drove a left-footed shot to the left of Clark, who had guessed to his right.

Fafa Picaut: FC Dallas "could have made a very deep run, if not win" MLS is Back Tournament

July 28, 2020
2:31PM EDT
Dylan Butler
Contributor-
Back in Frisco with his teammates, Fafa Picault has watched the MLS is Back Tournament from home. He’s noticed dark horses like FC Cincinnati and the Vancouver Whitecaps reach the knockout stage and so-called favorites, like Atlanta United, surprisingly struggle.

The winger believes FC Dallas would have been one of the teams still competing in Orlando if given the chance.

“I think we definitely could have made a very deep run, if not win it,” Picault said in a video conference call with reporters before training Tuesday. “Knowing our group, and having been in the league for a few years, I definitely think we would have done very well.”

That chance obviously didn’t materialize. FC Dallas joined Nashville SC as the two MLS teams who left Orlando without playing a game because of several COVID-19 positive tests.

Picault said the situation bonded the team “in a weird way.” The players learned how they handled a difficult situation — a unique adversity. From there, it was a shift in mindset to preparing for whatever lies ahead.

"Obviously the first thing was getting healthy and that's the most important thing,” Picault said. “We can't play if we can't live comfortably. We're glad that everyone's ok and the next step now is to prepare for when we do go back to the pitch.”

The watching, and waiting, though hasn’t been easy. Training has been somewhat therapeutic, but it’s not the same as game days.

“At this point, everyday kind of feels the same, we’re not really looking toward the weekends as we want to. We’re watching games on TV all the time and seeing some of our friends playing other teams and get to compete against each other and it’s tough.”

Picault said the intensity has been ratcheted up in recent days. Watching the rest of the league compete hasn’t been easy, but Picault and his teammates are eager to start playing competitive games again.

"Everyone is showing more bite because we really, it's almost like a fix. We need that competitive fix and are starting to show that in training,” Picault said. “I think by the time games do start, we'll be ready for that."

Jonathan Mensah details what's behind Columbus Crew SC's resurgence in 2020
July 28, 2020
10:27AM EDT
Dylan Butler
Contributor-

Three wins from three games at the MLS is Back Tournament and top of the Supporter's Shield standings, Columbus Crew SC have an argument to be the best team in Major League Soccer right now, which is a far cry from a 2019 season that saw the team finish 10th in the Eastern Conference and miss the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.

It started with a 1-0-1 start back in March and they’ve picked up where they left off in Orlando. Crew SC are the only team to secure maximum points and not concede during the group stage and they did so with the best goal differential (+7) in their three contests.

So what's behind the resurgence for Columbus, which take on Minnesota United Tuesday (8 pm ET | ESPN, ESPN Deportes in US; TSN in Canada) in the Round of 16? Caleb Porter has understandably received a lot of the credit, but there’s also the new-look midfield led by the dynamic tandem of Darlington Nagbe and Lucas Zelarayan.

Zelarayan, who arrived from Tigres UANL in December, has three goals and two assists already, including goals in back-to-back Group E wins over FC Cincinnati and the New York Red Bulls.

Nagbe, who reunited with his former Portland Timbers boss in Porter, has completed 98 percent of his passes in Orlando and is also the only player in the tournament to attempt six or more dribbles past defenders and complete them all.
“They’re great players on the ball. Sometimes we see most of their qualities on the ball, but their movements off the ball is on another level,” Crew SC captain Jonathan Mensah said on Extratime presented by Continental. “To have these kind of players on your team, it kind of makes things look easier, but obviously we’re working all the time in training so we know when they move here, we play the ball here and they make our job so easy.”

While Zelarayan and Nagbe are two of the club’s biggest new additions, Mensah is part of the old guard. Now in his fourth year in Columbus, the standout center back noted the differences, and similarities, between some of the other Crew SC sides he’s played on since arriving ahead of the 2017 season.

“It feels different in terms of the game plan, the coaches obviously and some of the players,” Mensah said. “But the objective is the same — to be able to keep possession and do it in the opponent’s half, create chances and get some goals.”

While Mensah locks things down defensively, Gyasi Zardes has scored at a regular clip since arriving from the LA Galaxy before the 2018 season. The USMNT forward has 36 regular-season goals in 66 games for the Crew.

His strike rate on game day is clear, but Mensah said a big assist goes to their competitive nature at the training ground.

“I have to make sure I put him in my pocket,” Mensah said with a laugh. “If he can beat me, then I’m sure he can beat any defender in the league. I’m the best so I show him in training, if he can beat me, then he can beat anyone out there. I always kind of push him and he pushes me as well. It’s always good to have healthy competition in practice.”

MLS is Back Tournament FiveThirtyEight projections: Which team will win it all in Orlando?

July 28, 2020
5:21PM EDT
MLSsoccer staff-

The Round of 16 in the MLS is Back Tournament rolls on, with LAFC's stock continuing to rise as the preeminent favorites according to the tournament projections calculated by FiveThirtyEight.

The Black & Gold saw their projected odds of winning the tournament jump from 20% to 33% coming off their comprehensive 4-1 rout of the Seattle Sounders on Monday, as they continue to rack up goals at a torrid pace.

New York City FC's tournament may have gotten off to an inauspicious start, but the Cityzens have turned it around and come in at second on the list at 13% following their own dominant showing in a 3-1 Round of 16 triumph over Toronto FC. The Philadelphia Union are right behind at 12%, with Sporting Kansas City and the San Jose Earthquakes rounding out the top five at 10% each.

FiveThirtyEight Projections: Tournament winner (as of July 28, 1:02 am ET)
LAFC - 33%
NYCFC - 13%
Philadelphia Union - 12%
Sporting KC - 10%
San Jose Earthquakes - 10 %
Columbus Crew SC - 6%