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 . . .
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 . . .
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 . . .
The latest twist to the Champions League story
The soccer news starts with another Champions League underdog. Though it's hard to describe any team making it this far in Europe that way, half the semifinal field is what we'll respectively call "unexpected." Spurs joins Ajax in the spoiler's semifinal after they knocked out Manchester City on away goals. With all the criticism Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola faced after falling behind . . .
The return of the LA Galaxy
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Apr 17, 2019) US Soccer Players - For two-plus seasons, the LA Galaxy has failed on all fronts. No playoffs. No runs at championships. No presence in the Southern California sports landscape. After its third makeover in as many offseasons, there seemed to be more questions than answers, the main question being, how long will it take the Galaxy to get back to its . . .
