By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 13, 2019) US Soccer Players - There's more than one way to break a record. There's the subtle way, nudging just past the previous mark, barely setting a new record at all. Then there's the big and loud way. Smashing the record by going so far past the old number that it makes the old mark laughable. Sporting Kansas City's signing of Alan Pulido this week for a . . .
Jesse Marsch’s level of respect
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 11, 2019) US Soccer Players - Jesse Marsch had a simple answer to whatever happened to his club at home against Liverpool in the Champions League. "This isn't about me. It is about the club, the city, the people here in Salzburg," Marsch said about the support he received there. That's what a coach should say. It's also likely Marsch believed it, with his . . .
Trying again at Orlando City
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 6, 2019) US Soccer Players - Orlando City Soccer Club is no one's idea of a marquee Major League Soccer franchise. The Lions have a passionate fan base and an international flavor that comes from Brazilian ownership. Still, they can't or won't compete with the nouveau riche of the league dollar-for-dollar in the chase for MLS championships. Winning is harder . . .
Inter Miami and Nashville SC focus on MLS experience
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 4, 2019) US Soccer Players - Expansion teams aren't all flashing lights and logo reveals. They're also, from the moment they gain entry to Major League Soccer, teams under construction. The materials used to build an expansion team vary from city to city. Resource levels differ. Ambition can take various forms. Sometimes MLS expansion franchises go for . . .
The MLS player acquisition mechanisms mark the path to 2020
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 27, 2019) US Soccer Players - Major League Soccer's player acquisition system is what marks the path to the start of the 2020 season. MLS is the world's foremost producer of player acquisition mechanisms. It's a function of the league's salary budget system and byzantine team roster rules. Almost everybody else follows a brutally simple process. Find the . . .
MLS, Liga MX, and the MLS All-Star Game
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 22, 2019) US Soccer Players - The MLS All-Star Game isn't so much an institution as it is a traveling circus. Though some version of the game has been around since 1996, very little about it has been constant. Major League Soccer has seen fit to mold the All-Star Game and its surrounding festivities into various forms to better serve the purposes of expanding . . .
Berhalter’s agenda after year one with the USMNT
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 20, 2019) US Soccer Players - The United States beat Cuba on Tuesday in the Nations League, bringing to a close its 2019 schedule. The scoreline was 4-0, though that number doesn't say much about the team or its performance. The conditions at Truman Bodden Sports Complex only amplified the disparity. It was one of those games that could be viewed both as a . . .
Cannon and Dest in the USMNT defense
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 15, 2019) US Soccer Players - The USMNT will face off against Canada on Friday night in an important match for both the current version of the team and the team that will push to qualify for the World Cup in 2022. As Gregg Berhalter reboots the national team in his role as head coach, a host of new names are making their way into the picture. Youth is both a . . .
Seattle is the MLS community club
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 13, 2019) US Soccer Players - Over in England, where the weather is wet and the soccer is pure, there exists the idea of the "community club". In a very general sense, the label applies to clubs that can count numerous locals among its administrative, coaching, and player ranks while also being responsive to the community it represents. Rather than the toy of a . . .
Seattle in 2016 set the tone for 2019
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 8, 2019) US Soccer Players - In 2016, the Seattle Sounders lifted the MLS Cup at BMO Field in Toronto following a tense, goalless affair against the home side. The hero on that day was goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who made several crucial saves to help his team to victory. That including a jaw-dropping stop that ascended to the top of the list of all-time great . . .
