By J Hutcherson (Jul 5, 2022) US Soccer Players - While Monday's holiday schedule extended the weekend, it remained a familiar story in Major League Soccer. The tables shifted, and it's worth asking if reasonable assumptions have already followed along with them. The league has spent its matchdays confounding basic ideas about form and separating some clubs from the rest. Although that might make . . .
Playing for the now in MLS
By J Hutcherson (Jun 28, 2022) US Soccer Players - In its expanded version, MLS had become a one-season league. The best teams can fade quickly. Surprises are bound to happen, becoming so common that it's almost a tactic. Each year, a low payroll team will look like an overachiever and potentially surprise even itself. That throws a willingness to spend into contrast. An MLS season may reward it, . . .
Five substitutes and a changing game
By J Hutcherson (Jun 14, 2022) US Soccer Players - On Monday, the International Football Association Board officially made five substitutes an option for any "top level competition," along with increasing the bench from 12 to 15 players. Neither of these moves were exactly surprising, but they underline issues for the contemporary game. In an era where players, officials, pundits, and fans are . . .
Celebrating the 2021-22 European club titles
By J Hutcherson (May 31, 2022) US Soccer Players - If there's a big picture takeaway from the 2021-22 season in European club soccer, it might be an overreaching awareness of change. UEFA debuted the new Europa Conference League and late in the season confirmed the Champions League revamp for 2024-25. What is now the upcoming season has to manage a November/December World Cup. A FIFPro survey has . . .
Another outsider story ends in the Champions League
By J Hutcherson (May 3, 2022) US Soccer Players - While I'm not sure any of us should be nodding along with the idea that we're watching the best club soccer has to offer in this edition of the UEFA Champions League knockout round, it's certainly interesting. Liverpool, needing to reorganize to advance past Villarreal, once again stressed the level of difficulty at the highest level of European . . .
DC United tries an early season coaching change
By J Hutcherson (Apr 20, 2022) US Soccer Players - While some of us might consider the four-game losing streak a regular part of an MLS season, DC United decided to view it differently. The club announced on Wednesday morning that Hernan Losada is no longer their coach, replaced with assistant coach Chad Ashton on an interim basis. Some reports have that interim basis lasting for the rest of the . . .
Four points in the Eastern Conference
By J Hutcherson (Apr 12, 2022) US Soccer Players - There's no magical moment over the course of an MLS season where we all agree that the numbers become real. The league of the four-game losing streak doesn't lend itself to the points suddenly counting early or even midway through the season. Bad teams stay within easier reach than they should of a playoff spot as Decision Day looms. While this is . . .
The Octagonal is changing Concacaf
By J Hutcherson (Mar 22, 2022) US Soccer Players - Canada has emerged as a new power in Concacaf in large part thanks to the revamped schedule. The pandemic adjustments required to get the games in presented an opportunity that was both unexpected and suddenly available. Figure out squad rotation and create home advantage, and the compressed schedule may reward that effort accordingly. It's . . .
Playing games in the Concacaf Champions League
By J Hutcherson (Mar 8, 2022) US Soccer Players - It wasn't all that long ago when treating the Concacaf Champions League like an undue burden was closer to the norm in Major League Soccer. Regardless of the format, some MLS club would respond like it was a chore. A couple of non-representative rosters later, and they could once again focus on the unrivaled importance of the MLS schedule. Not . . .
The 2021-22 Champions League round of 16 already sets a standard
By J Hutcherson (Feb 15, 2022) US Soccer Players - It's knockout round time in the Champions League, UEFA's better answer to crowning the top team in all of the world. Chelsea doesn't take the next step in defending its title until February 22, enough of a lead-in to find a place on the shelf for their new Club World Cup trophy and set their focus on Crystal Palace in the Premier League. . . .
