By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Aug 10, 2018) US Soccer Players - MLS brought its summer transfer window to a close late Wednesday night, at midnight Central Time, to be precise. The cutoff time was due to the US Soccer Federation’s headquarters’ location in Chicago. A mild flurry of transfers and trades flew across the transom over the course of the window’s final days and hours. By my count, . . .
Steve McManaman on North American talent, playing abroad, and La Liga’s US push
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Aug 3, 2018) US Soccer Players - Sometimes outsiders can provide the most incisive perspectives. So when offered the chance to chat with Steve McManaman as he tours the United States in an ambassadorial role for La Liga, I sought out the retired English great’s views on a range of American soccer matters. The former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder is on . . .
MLS transfer market moves: A turning of the tide?
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 26, 2018) US Soccer Players - For most of its two decades of life, MLS had the perception of something of a cul-de-sac as it relates to the global game. It was a bit quiet and out of the way, not fully participating in the sport’s feverish world market of buying and selling, whether it be players, clubs, or other soccer commodities of value. A small group of . . .
Fans, stadiums, and questions for American soccer
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 19, 2018) US Soccer Players - It was a pleasant Saturday night by DC summer standards, with relatively mild temperatures and low humidity. The home team was debuting their pricey, richly-anticipated new stadium. The buzz around it compounded by a marquee global superstar, Wayne Rooney, making his first appearance in town. It was an occasion many of the area’s . . .
Jesse Marsch, Tyler Adams, and American soccer’s situation
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 13, 2018) US Soccer Players - This week brought a news item that might once have dominated the American soccer conversation for days at a time. Jesse Marsch leaving the New York Red Bulls to take up a new challenge as an assistant to Ralf Rangnick at RB Leipzig, RBNY’s Bundesliga sibling club. US coaches working abroad at high levels in the professional game . . .
Pondering lessons for the USMNT from Russia 2018
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 6, 2018) US Soccer Players - It can take days, even weeks, for the most educated observer to thoroughly sift through the lessons of 90 minutes of high-level soccer, much less the entirety of a World Cup. Watching the growing ranks of teams eliminated from Russia 2018, it's tempting to try to make sense of their experience. What's there to learn for the USMNT, . . .
As modern goalkeeping evolves, is the US keeping pace?
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 29, 2018) US Soccer Players - Even a week later, it’s still vivid, one of the most stunning moments of a World Cup with plenty of them. Argentina was already wobbling against Croatia in their Group D clash, still level at 0-0. That's when Willy Caballero received a back pass from teammate Gabriel Mercado in the second-half. Under pressure from Ante Rebic, . . .
US television coverage of World Cup raises old quandaries
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 22, 2018) US Soccer Players - With over a week of action now in the books, the 2018 World Cup is approaching its halfway point in terms of matches played. It’s not a bad time to take stock of the way broadcasters show the event on television in the United States. Most viewers’ reactions to coverage of a big occasion like this tend to revolve around the . . .
Victory for the United 2026 bid, but a new game awaits
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 14, 2018) US Soccer Players - Early Wednesday morning in the US, we learned that the United bid won the rights to the 2026 World Cup. It was a landslide win in the end for the US, Canada, and Mexico’s joint bid. Morocco ended up not being as much of a factor as some expected. Voters opting for neither of them turned out to not be a factor at all. Under new . . .
France friendly a reminder of what’s possible, and what’s failed, for US Soccer
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 8, 2018) US Soccer Players - In the final stop on the USMNT’s early-summer tour, Dave Sarachan’s youth movement is about to face its stiffest test to date. The young Yanks are in Lyon, France this week, preparing for a friendly vs Les Bleus on Saturday afternoon (3pm ET - ESPN). It’s a daunting opponent, one with legitimate aims of winning this summer’s World . . .
