The soccer news starts with the limits to tradition when it comes to pushing a club forward. Manchester United is the latest to come head-to-head with their own past. Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's choice to hold a training session at the club's old facility The Cliff was about linking back to better days at United. Fair enough in the big picture, but this is a club that has had a difficult time . . .
Brooks scores for Wolfsburg
The soccer news starts with John Brooks scoring a late equalizer in VfL Wolfsburg's 1-1 home draw with Eintracht. Jonathan de Guzman put Eintracht up in the 78th minute with Brooks equalizing in the 90th. Timmy Chandler was on the bench for Eintracht. "We had the better chances in the first-half but we lacked a bit of sharpness and tidiness in our play," Wolfsburg coach Bruno Labbadia said. "In . . .
Canada’s new league
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Apr 22, 2019) US Soccer Players – The Canadian MLS clubs are soon going to have some company playing in an entirely different league. Canada is finally getting a national pro league, which starts at the end of this month, with the aim of popularizing the game to a national audience as well as help develop players. It sounds a lot like when MLS launched back in . . .
What happened to the Eastern Conference favorites?
The soccer news starts without the regular caveat. Two months into the 2019 MLS season, and it's reasonable to go ahead and consider the table. There's no longer the too few games caveat, small sample size, or any other hedge that turns a rough start into a salvageable situation. Things might change, but right now the fair assessment is that the Eastern Conference isn't what most of us . . .
MLS Week 8: Toronto’s big comeback, LAFC’s big win
Week 8 of the 2019 MLS season started with Toronto's big comeback, winning 4-3 at home against Minnesota United. Toronto fell behind to a Darwin Quintero goal in the 17th minute. Alejandro Pozuelo equalized in the 28th and out Toronto ahead two minutes later. Minnesota answered back with an Angelo Rodriguez goal in the 57th. Quintero scored a 70th minute penalty to put United up 3-2. Jordan . . .
Goals for Wooten in the 2.Bundesliga
The roundup of USMNT players in Europe and Mexico starts in the 2.Bundesliga with another big game for Andrew Wooten. He scored both goals in Sandhausen's 2-2 draw at Joe Gyau's Duisburg. Wooten scored in the 28th minute and converted a penalty in the 62nd. Gyau subbed on in the 33rd, setting up Havard Nielsen's goal in the 71st. Duisburg's Kevin Wolze equalized from the penalty spot in the 88th . . .
Training compensation – solidarity payments: a change, but not a solution
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 19, 2019) US Soccer Players - Major League Soccer dropped two hefty pieces of news after its Board of Governors meeting in Los Angeles this week. The first was no great surprise, official confirmation that the league will expand further, to 30 teams, in the coming years. The second was a bit more dramatic. MLS said it will now collect as well as pay training . . .
A Whitecaps win amid bigger issues
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 19, 2019) US Soccer Players - Wednesday night in Vancouver was a big one. The Whitecaps, a team that hired a new head coach and turned over two-thirds of their roster this winter, won their first game of the season. The 1-0 victory over LAFC happened because of a smart defensive gameplan, the skillful work of Inbeom Hwang, and individual effort across the . . .
MLS makes announcements
Friday's soccer news starts with MLS announcing that they plan to expand the league to 30 teams. As these things go, expecting any league to cap their total number of teams when investor/operators are willing to pay their $200m expansion fee might be misguided. The pursuit of expansion fees may have been the cause of death for the original North American Soccer League, but from the MLS perspective . . .
USNSTPA statement for playing on sod at Nippert Stadium on June 9
The US National Soccer Team Players Association (USNSTPA) is opposed to playing any game on sod placed atop artificial surfaces. On April 2, 2019 the USNSTPA sent the following e-mail to US Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro. On April 8 we received a response from US Soccer's legal counsel that the game would go ahead as scheduled. In the view of the Players Association, this is just one . . .
