By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 7, 2020) US Soccer Players - Nothing about Nashville's entry into Major League Soccer has been straightforward. Though MLS earned the benefit of the doubt with its expansion choices after a string of wildly successful new clubs, the choice of the Tennessee capital for the league's 26th team always seemed oddly taken. The city didn't have a massively popular . . .
New CBA consolidates MLSPA position as MLS’s engine, and conscience
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 7, 2020) US Soccer Players - The phrase "league of choice" has been a recurring favorite of Don Garber for at least half a decade. Few of the MLS commissioner's talking points have ever evoked more ambition along with easy jokes from skeptics. Global superiority has at times looked like a laughably distant proposition for a competition that fought for . . .
How to solve the Barcelona problem
Friday's soccer news starts with reports of discontent at FC Barcelona. After parting ways with the coach that got them everything but the Champions League, Barcelona regrouped around Quique Setien. Whatever good feelings existed, the La Liga table tells the story. Barcelona is now 2nd to Real Madrid, trailing their old rivals by two points after 22 games. Compounding Barca's issues, they exited . . .
Is the XFL an issue for MLS?
Thursday's soccer news starts with the return of the XFL this weekend. The renewed attempt to make professional football a success in the spring raises an old competition issue for MLS. It also raises an old question. Is North American soccer's topflight really in competition with other sports? Major League Soccer's season overlaps with all the other pro sports and college football and basketball . . .
The FC Dallas Olympic movement
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 5, 2020) US Soccer Players - No team had more players in the USMNT January camp than FC Dallas. Head coach Gregg Berhalter brought in a group of young players for two reasons. First was the standard audition for new talent. Second, to better prepare a group of U-23 players for the Concacaf Olympic qualifying tournament in March. Berhalter made a point of . . .
USMNT players advance in the 2019-20 FA Cup, DFB Pokal
Wednesday's soccer news starts with the FA Cup Fourth Round replay results for USMNT players. DeAndre Yedlin's Newcastle United won 3-2 at Oxford United. Sean Longstaff put Newcastle up in the 15th minute with Joelinton doubling the lead in the 30th. Oxford United pulled a goal back in the 84th and equalized four minutes into stoppage time. With the game in extra time, Allan Saint-Maximin scored . . .
Why would Manchester United change now?
By J Hutcherson (Feb 4, 2020) US Soccer Players - Sticking a sell-by date on the current version of Manchester United has become a preoccupation this season. It's not just that United is spending another season buried in the shadow of Manchester City. It's that City is not the best team in the Premier League. Combining those two things leads to the only reasonable conclusion. Change the manager . . .
Should the Premier League have parity?
Tuesday's soccer news starts with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola choosing to raise the Premier League parity question directed at his club when they were the ones piling on the points at the top of the table. Former Premier League chairman Richard Scudamore raised that issue when City finished with 100 points, 19 ahead of Manchester United. Guardiola's reasoning is his own, but it does ask . . .
The Chicago and Atlanta MLS expansion models
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Feb 3, 2020) US Soccer Players – A new Major League Soccer season starts in four weeks. With preseason in full swing, coaches are testing new tactics as teams buy and sell players. For Nashville SC and Inter Miami, it's their MLS debuts. Expansion teams have typically had a tough go at it in North American sports. In MLS, the gold standard remains the Chicago . . .
FIFA and the future of the soccer calendar
Monday's soccer news starts with the soccer calendar. FIFA controls the international dates, but it's not a unilateral imposition on club soccer. The single match dates went away a few years ago in part due to pressure from the clubs. That's normally Europe, not wanting multiple breaks in their season. There's continued pressure to further streamline the calendar, even in the era of FIFA expansion . . .
