By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 23, 2017) US Soccer Players - Once again, Major League Soccer has manipulated its schedule to bring us a round of games thick with rivalries. The weekend has a sponsor. The league's marketing department is opening up the throttle in a bid for attention. While MLS is clearly the biggest professional soccer league in the country, it nevertheless struggles to . . .
Another end for the Strikers
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The lower divisions in the US Open Cup
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 16, 2017) US Soccer Players - The last time a team that wasn’t in Major League Soccer won the US Open Cup, MLS was only in its fourth season. Landon Donovan had yet to debut for the USMNT. Superstar-in-the-making Christian Pulisic was less than one year old. It was so long ago that in the whole of the country there were only two soccer-specific stadiums in . . .
The soccer game in Cincinnati
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 14, 2017) US Soccer Players - The life of a second division soccer team in the United States is mostly about pushing limits. It's working out what it means to be a second division soccer club in the United States. While it would be easy to make the argument that striving to break through limits in the lower divisions here is a function of the lack of promotion . . .
Another MLS Saturday in the middle of an international break
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 9, 2017) US Soccer Players - The USMNT is the midst of two crucial World Cup qualifiers, with a date at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City looming on Sunday following Thursday’s 2-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago. The five other teams left with a chance at qualifying from CONCACAF will be dealing with the same two-game set. Around the world, qualifiers are . . .
Bruce Arena and the previous USMNT coach
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 7, 2017) US Soccer Players - Bruce Arena is not Jurgen Klinsmann. If their considerably different builds, accents, and attitudes weren’t evidence enough, there’s the distinctly divergent ways the two men see American soccer and their respective custodianship of the United States Men’s National Team. That's somewhat in opposition to their general dispositions. . . .
An underdog story in the US Open Cup
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 2, 2017) US Soccer Players - Christos FC, the amateur adult league team from Baltimore, is quite the story in this year’s edition of the US Open Cup. The team is little more than a weekend pastime for its players, many of whom gave up on serious careers long ago and who very rarely train together. The club’s name comes from a liquor store that fronted the . . .
The immediate future of NYCFC
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (May 31, 2017) US Soccer Players - Forgive me if I’m still not sure what New York City Football Club is, exactly. Or rather, forgive me if I can’t pin down exactly what they’ll be. NYCFC is the shiny new plaything of one of the world’s richest people. At the same time, it's an American brand extension for an organization that is fundamentally challenging the way we . . .
Picking the 2017 soccer Hall of Famers
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (May 24, 2017) US Soccer Players - The 2017 list of player candidates for the National Soccer Hall of Fame hit email inboxes on Wednesday. Thirty-three names deep, the group is a fascinating mix of players who made a mark on the game in the United States via several different avenues. A few stand out as likely selections for the honor of enshrinement. Some are . . .
MLS looks for help in development
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (May 24, 2017) US Soccer Players - Major League Soccer faces a myriad of challenges if it is going to reach its self-stated goal of becoming one of the top leagues in the world anytime soon. Without thinking too hard, things like television ratings and national relevance stand out as problems that have no easy solutions but are crucial to any progress. Things . . .
