The soccer news starts with a new acronym for another group of clubs lobbying for their voices to count at the highest level. This time, it's a collection of eight clubs representing the confederations in discussions with FIFA about the revamped Club World Cup. The World Football Clubs Association had their introductory meeting with FIFA on Friday, in theory giving a way for clubs to voice their . . .
The rest of the Concacaf Nations League
With USMNT fans focused on League A, Group A, the soccer news looks at the rest of the groups as the Nations League concludes this month. League A is the only one that advances teams to the semifinals. The other leagues are strictly about promotion and relegation. We start by keeping it in League A with Panama vs Mexico later tonight in Group B. Mexico scored all the goals in their 3-1 home win . . .
Revamping in Chicago and Montreal
The soccer news starts with a coach leaving in Chicago and a surprise hire in Montreal. The Fire announced that MLS classing "parted ways" with coach Veljko Paunovic. The situation for the rest of the coaching staff and trainers is up to the next coach, though the Fire has "discontinued" their services for now. Chicago is in a partial revamp, moving from Bridgeview to Soldier Field and losing . . .
Inter Miami in Fort Lauderdale
The soccer news starts with a familiar MLS story. The league expands to Miami and ends up playing in Fort Lauderdale. Stop us if you've heard this one before, but the old Fusion scenario is now playing out again with David Beckham's Inter Miami. We already knew that the team would start life in a rebuilt version of the Fusion's old home Lockhart Stadium. Now, the team is talking about their . . .
Liverpool, Chelsea, and the Cities
The soccer news starts with the Premier League table. The big result over the weekend was Liverpool beating Manchester City 3-1 at home, extending Liverpool's lead to eight points over… not Manchester City. It's Leicester City in 2nd-place tied on points with 3rd-place Chelsea at 26. Manchester City is a point behind at 25. There's now an eight-point gap between City in 4th and 5th and 6th-place . . .
Garber’s state of the league and the arrival of MLS
The soccer news starts with Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber doing his job during his annual state of the league press conference. Garber told anyone interested in listening that MLS isn't "a league on the rise, but a league that's arrived." Mixing that with his favored "league of choice" description for where he wants MLS to be, it's a message that doesn't cost the league much of . . .
Weather counts for the Cup
The soccer news starts with Sunday's MLS Cup final (3pm ET - ABC). Home field advantage would be a bigger deal had Seattle not gotten it with a road win at Banc of California Stadium and Toronto hadn't won at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. That took out the two biggest home field advantages in MLS, suggesting that a capacity crowd at CenturyLink is nice but not a huge issue for either team. Whatever . . .
Ramos with the Dynamo
The soccer news starts with the new coach in Houston. Tam Ramos left his role as US Soccer's youth technical director to take the job with the Dynamo. It's an interesting transition for a coach with plenty of experience with the youth national teams. After retiring in 2002 as a member of the MetroStars, Ramos was involved with youth soccer in New Jersey before taking the USMNT U-20s job. He has . . .
Another big result for Chelsea
The soccer news starts with USMNT player Christian Pulisic once again playing a role in an unlikely draw for Chelsea in the Champions League. Chelsea drew 4-4 with Ajax at Stamford Bridge, with Pulisic setting up the penalty that leveled the score at 1-1. From there, a game that had already taken an odd turn took several more with Chelsea eventually finding an equalizer and another point in the . . .
The timing problem in MLS
The soccer news starts with NYCFC's exit from the 2019 MLS playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion was one and done, losing 2-1 to Toronto at CitiField on October 23. That already seems like a long time ago, but timing was part of the problem for NYCFC. Winning the Eastern Conference meant bypassing the opening round of the playoffs. NYCFC didn't play from Decision Day on October 6 to the . . .
