By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Jan 9, 2019) US Soccer Players - The city of Los Angeles is the home of smog. A blanket of unsightly gray air drapes over LA and its surrounding metropolitan area. Getting rid of it is not likely to happen soon or easily. However, around Carson, some 12 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, the poor-quality air has given way. Specifically around Dignity Health Sports . . .
Osvaldo Alonso moves on
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON DC (Jan 9, 2019) US Soccer Players - Osvaldo Alonso is out-of-contract after 10 years manning the midfield for the Seattle Sounders. The likelihood is very high that the Cuban will move on this winter, departing Seattle and landing in another MLS lineup for the 2019 season. To lean on a well-worn cliche, it’s truly the end of an era. The mechanics of the Sounders . . .
Playing through the winter break
Though it might not last for much longer, English soccer's insistence on not taking a winter break will be one of those things we miss when it's gone. The Premier League and the lower divisions not only play through, they load up on games around the holidays. Even if the weather isn't accommodating, the games continue. There's no stop-start to the season, resetting in January when the transfer . . .
Timothy Weah at Celtic
The soccer news starts with the official announcement that USMNT forward Timothy Weah will join Celtic on loan for the rest of the Scottish Premier League season. Celtic is currently in 1st-place in the SPL table, tied on points with Rangers with a game in hand. Weah leaves PSG after spending the first-half of the season trying to break into PSG's group of elite forwards. PSG rewarded his effort . . .
Seniors in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Jan 7, 2019) US Soccer Players – The curtain on the 2019 MLS season unofficially opens this Friday with the SuperDraft. Although an influx of younger players continue to stream into the league without entering the draft, the MLS SuperDraft remains a major source of talent for Major League Soccer. Despite being secondary to the academy system, many college . . .
Atlas wins Clausura opener
The soccer news starts with USMNT players in Europe and Mexico. The 2019 Liga MX Clausura opened with Omar Gonzalez's Atlas winning 2-1 at Queretaro. Falling behind in the 40th minute, Jesus Isijara equalized in the 42nd. Osvaldo Martinez scored in the 50th minute. Michael Orozco's Lobos BUAP shutout Santos Laguna 2-0 at home. Leonardo Ramos scored in the 57th minute with Yago Cesar equalizing in . . .
Five USMNT questions in 2019
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 4, 2019) US Soccer Players - January is here and the blank slate of a new year, a new cycle, and a new era awaits the USMNT. Gregg Berhalter is about to convene his first training camp as head coach. The first match of 2019 kicks off in under a month. There’s a Gold Cup trophy to defend come summer. A new competition, the Concacaf Nations League, starts in . . .
Toronto and Columbus make front office moves
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON DC (Jan 4, 2019) US Soccer Players - The nature of an “organization” means that success or failure is a function of a cooperative effort. It takes a small army to do anything moderately complicated, like, say, win a championship, meaning that no one person should get all of the credit when a team does just that. If we attempted to fairly divide the credit for the rise . . .
Liga MX returns
The 2019 Liga MX Clausura has a favorite, but teams repeating in Mexico isn't the norm. Club America will try it this Spring but without USMNT player Joe Corona. With his loan deal up at the end of America's championship season, Corona is back with Club Tijuana. It's an interesting situation for the midfielder, rejoining a club that had issues during the Apertura. Improving on their 15th-place . . .
Pulisic’s move
Thursday's soccer news starts with Christian Pulisic's eventual move to Chelsea. Borussia Dortmund announced that they've transferred Pulisic for over $70m dollars to the Premier League club, but Pulisic will stay with them on loan through the end of the Bundesliga season. That's a major caveat for a deal of this size, giving pundits and fans plenty of time to pick apart the move. "It was always . . .
