By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 9, 2020) US Soccer Players - As promised, MLS is back. Despite an escalating COVID-19 outbreak across Florida, the loss of two participating teams to the virus, and logistical and organizational challenges, the league resumed its 2020 season a Disney's Wide World of Sports complex on Wednesday night as Orlando City edged Inter Miami 2-1. Barely 12 hours . . .
Why MLS, USL, and other leagues are taking such risks to get back on the field
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 2, 2020) US Soccer Players - Over the decades, MLS has lent itself to a lot of comparisons. A startup company. A legacy software program. Don Quixote tilting at windmills. The proverbial 800-pound gorilla, and so on. As the league plunges ahead with its MLS is Back tournament amid a steady stream of positive COVID-19 tests among the players on-site in . . .
5 questions for the MLS is Back tournament
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 26, 2020) US Soccer Players - Ready or not, MLS is Back, or at least on its way. In less than two weeks, the league resumes at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex on Orlando's outskirts. Though the central Florida region has become a flashpoint for the state's COVID-19 outbreak in the weeks since Major League Soccer announced the event, MLS is plowing . . .
IFAB, FIFA and Pandora’s Box
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 19, 2020) US Soccer Players - A quick litmus test. When you hear the phrase "rules changes" in the context of soccer, what's your first reaction? If your answer is suspicion, disgust, concern, or anything along those lines, you've generally got plenty of company in this sport, where tradition tends to hold sway. Soccer was one of the last major professional . . .
“MLSificiation” in Mexico? Liga MX wrestles with problems old and new
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 11, 2020) US Soccer Players - A history-rich topflight club with loyal fans and trophies in its cabinet is suddenly uprooted and relocated some 500 miles northwest to a coastal tourist enclave amid dubious financial circumstances. That threatens to set off a game of musical chairs among clubs and cities. Meanwhile, the practice of corporations owning and . . .
MLS’s new deal with its players union, and what it may truly cost
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 4, 2020) US Soccer Players - Labor negotiations are often bruising, even brutally so, though not always. Sometimes workers and bosses emerge from their bargaining talks like prizefighters after a bout, bloodied, exhausted, perhaps bitter. At other times it's more like students who've just done an all-nighter to complete a project, worn down but relieved to . . .
Observations from the Bundesliga’s return to play
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (May 28, 2020) US Soccer Players - The Bundesliga is back, with several matchdays now under its belt heading into this weekend's action. Germany's topflight appears to have adeptly managed the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, it's enjoying the lion's share of the global soccer spotlight. Things aren't entirely back to normal, however. The . . .
Gregg Berhalter’s USMNT at the 18-month mark
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (May 22, 2020) US Soccer Players - In early June, Gregg Berhalter's tenure in charge of the USMNT will pass the 18-month mark. In a world without COVID-19 and the disruptions it's unleashed, he and his team would be set to gather for a camp to prepare for the Concacaf Nations League semifinals and final. Those games were on the schedule for June 4 and 7 in . . .
Eyeing the tightrope: MLS looks for a way to play
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (May 15, 2020) US Soccer Players - Multiple reports this week outlined the near future for MLS. The proposal is to resume match play next month with all 26 teams in a quarantined setting in Orlando, Florida. So we now know more or less how Major League Soccer is hoping to get its 2020 season back underway after its coronavirus suspension. The plan to gather over . . .
USL tries its hand at improving American youth development with new league
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (May 8, 2020) US Soccer Players - This week the United Soccer League announced details of its USL Academy League, a new national youth competition more than a year in the making which will debut next spring. It's the next step in the league's slow build at the youth level. While its conception predates the closure of the US Soccer Development Academy, it's a . . .
