By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 25, 2020) US Soccer Players - It was the winter of 2017-18, and New York Red Bulls fans were abuzz. After slipping from 1st-place in the MLS Eastern Conference to 6th the previous season, their team seemed to need a jolt. A drumbeat of rumors and reports suggested that RBNY had found one in Argentina, setting the stage for a long-running transfer saga around . . .
American soccer at all levels still grappling with COVID-19
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 18, 2020) US Soccer Players - College soccer is finally getting underway from coast to coast this month. Many of the schools and conferences that pushed back their usual fall seasons to spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic are kicking off the truncated schedule that will lead up to the NCAA tournament in April and May. At least, that was the plan. This week . . .
What MLS is telling us in 2021
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 12, 2020) US Soccer Players - The 2021 MLS season is finally taking shape now that the league and its players union, the MLSPA, have ground through their third round of collective bargaining in 13 months. Instead of early March, this campaign will start on April 17. That's the latest opening day in the league's history and a drastic shift from the trend of . . .
What is the USMNT’s tactical identity for 2021?
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 4, 2020) US Soccer Players - In the lead-up to Sunday's friendly vs Trinidad & Tobago, the USMNT made no secret of one aspect of their ongoing tactical evolution. "I think what you're seeing this year, or will see a lot more this year, is our ability to high press and be really aggressive on the pressing front," center back Walker Zimmerman said last . . .
Preview: USMNT vs Trinidad and Tobago
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 29, 2020) US Soccer Players - Ten players will seek their USMNT debut on Sunday night as a packed 2021 formally begins with a friendly vs Trinidad and Tobago at Exploria Stadium in Orlando (7pm ET - FS1). It marks the conclusion of January camp and the first of this year’s many meetings with regional opponents. The Concacaf Nations League, Gold Cup, and World . . .
The unsettling prospect of MLS going dark
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 22, 2020) US Soccer Players - Whatever your thoughts about the value of the MLS SuperDraft, it does serve a time-honored function in the collective North American soccer consciousness. It’s the unofficial kickoff of the new season every January, a mid-winter reference point. In that regard, the 2021 rendition fell a bit flat as it unfolded virtually on . . .
The winding road back to the Olympics
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 15, 2020) US Soccer Players - After a year’s delay imposed by COVID-19, the details became official this week. The USMNT Under-23 squad travels to Guadalajara in late March for Concacaf Olympic qualifying, hopeful of plotting a course to the Summer Games for the first time since 2008. Coach Jason Kreis was already on site at Guadalajara at the same time . . .
The LA Galaxy calls on an alum to rescue them from the doldrums
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 7, 2020) US Soccer Players - Are the LA Galaxy still members of the MLS elite? This once would have been a ludicrous question given their league-leading five MLS Cup titles, well-heeled ownership in AEG, and glitzy identity to match their Southern California setting. Lately, however, a good deal of the Galaxy shine has rubbed off. The club that won three . . .
Beckerman, the end of an era and hopes of a brighter tomorrow
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 31, 2020) US Soccer Players - This month an iron man of American soccer called time on a great career. In doing so, Kyle Beckerman brought down the curtain on a momentous era for the game in his country as just about everyone on earth celebrates the end of a brutal 2020. Now 38, Beckerman is the only non-goalkeeper in MLS history to play 20 seasons. He . . .
After turbulent 2020, Black Players for Change look to turn tumult to triumph
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 24, 2020) US Soccer Players - From a deadly global pandemic and widespread economic suffering to political dysfunction and police killings, 2020 visited plenty of pain on MLS players, just like the rest of the world. One silver lining amid that woe was the founding of Black Players for Change. BPC officially launched on Juneteenth, a date rich with historic . . .
