By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 22, 2021) US Soccer Players - It's that time of year. The leaves are turning, sweaters are emerging from storage, there's a nip in the air, you can't get away from pumpkin spice, and Adrian Heath is playing his favorite card. Following Minnesota United's 3-0 victory over the LA Galaxy on Saturday, the Loons coach went back to a theme he has visited year-in, . . .
The Philadelphia Union model is working
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 17, 2021) US Soccer Players - Unless you're a fan of an Eastern Conference rival, you might find yourself feeling bad for the Philadelphia Union. The Union won its first trophy in 2020, lifting a makeshift Supporters' Shield at Subaru Park last November before later receiving the actual Shield. The Union finished with the most points in MLS after a challenging . . .
Dark horses in the East and West
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 15, 2021) US Soccer Players - If we're being honest, MLS is a league full of dark horses. You know that old sports cliche, the one meant to describe an underrated team that everyone knows is competent, but no one is sure can win. The history of the phrase "dark horse" goes back to the early height of horse racing in Britain, when horse bettors knew little about . . .
Ricardo Pepi pushes forward
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 10, 2021) US Soccer Players - It was just yesterday that USMNT and FC Dallas striker Ricardo Pepi was a precocious talent emerging from the Texas border town of El Paso. Okay, so “yesterday” is a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. Pepi’s rise from local kid with potential to national team star happened so quickly that most of us just missed it. While some . . .
Ambition and expectation in the MLS playoff race
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 8, 2021) US Soccer Players - There's a point in every race when competitors off the lead pace have to make a move if they want a chance at victory. In some cases, kicking into high gear is part of the strategy. Giving it everything down the stretch can be a part of the game. It's not a direct comparison with how a playoff race tends to work. Still, every MLS . . .
LAFC without Rossi
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 3, 2021) US Soccer Players - This is an end for LAFC. An end of sorts, anyway. Half of the attacking duo that burned up Major League Soccer is gone. The club announced that Diego Rossi joined Fenerbahce of the Turkish SuperLig on loan ahead of the close of the summer transfer window. "It's an exciting day for LAFC, it's the fulfillment of a plan and vision . . .
The issues for Major League Soccer’s Texas trio
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 1, 2021) US Soccer Players - As tourism efforts like to remind us, "Everything is bigger in Texas." The phrase is likely rooted in the state's sheer size, but it applies to many areas of life for Texans. Nobody does it bigger than Texas, with "it" standing in for food, football, and much more. Soccer, however, probably doesn't belong on the list. At least . . .
NYCFC and New England in rivalry week
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Aug 27, 2021) US Soccer Players - Major League Soccer is so big that it needs two weekends to complete one iteration of its Rivalry Week promotion. That's double the matchdays for clashes between teams with or developing a dislike for each other. It's double the available bragging rights and double the atmosphere. As marketing exercises go, this one gives us . . .
The MLS player development model is working for the league
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Aug 20, 2021) US Soccer Players - Major League Soccer's evolution as a "selling league" in the parlance of the world soccer market is a net positive. For the first time in its history, MLS is fully engaging with the international market for players. Long little more than an occasional buyer of relatively cheap and/or over-the-hill talent, MLS is now a provider of . . .
Is Atlanta United ready to play?
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Aug 20, 2021) US Soccer Players - From the beginning, Atlanta United did things differently. When Major League Soccer's southern experiment launched in 2017, longtime observers of soccer and sports in the United States carried reasonable questions about the likelihood of United's success in the city. Since contraction prior to the 2002 season, there was no MLS team . . .
