By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 24, 2019) US Soccer Players - As April moves quickly towards May and temperatures begin to climb, the time has come to check on the status of those Major League Soccer coaches who haven’t had the best starts to 2019. The league gets tougher for coaches by the year, commensurate with rising budgets and more demanding fans not to mention bosses. That said, “job . . .
Barco and Browne in a changing MLS
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 17, 2019) US Soccer Players - Ezequiel Barco arrived in Atlanta in early 2018 with massive expectations in tow. A drawn-out chase for the Argentine teenager by Atlanta United only intensified the pressure for him to perform. Fans in Atlanta used the #BarcoWatch hashtag to chart the progress of the transfer, feeding into the idea that he would light MLS on fire . . .
MLS contenders already looking for turnarounds in 2019
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 3, 2019) US Soccer Players - Before the 2019 Major League Soccer season began, a list that started with Atlanta United, New York Red Bulls, NYCFC, and Portland Timbers could have been an easy preseason power ranking of the top four teams in the league. Atlanta United entered the campaign as the defending league champion. The Red Bulls won the Supporters' . . .
Atlanta United’s point
The soccer news starts with the obvious issue for Atlanta United. So far in 2019, it's not working. Atlanta split the points at home with Philadelphia in a 1-1 draw that required a comeback. This isn't the Atlanta we knew from 2018, adding pressure to a transition that was never likely to be easy. “I feel like we were finding some problems to really find our free man," Atlanta coach Frank de Boer . . .
Liga MX goes three for three in the Champions League quarterfinals
The soccer news starts with the polite way of saying that another MLS team lost to a Liga MX club in the 2019 Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals. Atlanta United took the second-leg against Monterrey 1-0 at home, losing 3-1 on aggregate. Atlanta is the third MLS team to lose to Liga MX, with all three of the Mexican teams in the quarterfinals advancing. Josef Martinez scored the game's only . . .
Pressure on Portland and Atlanta
The soccer news starts with Portland's lopsided loss at LAFC and a disappointing draw for Atlanta United at home against FC Cincinnati. Both of last season's finalists already face questions about their approach. The only answer for that is winning games, but that's not getting any easier in MLS. For Portland, giving up four goals is an MLS cliche, but it doesn't takeaway from expectations . . .
MLS and Liga MX parity waits on Champions League results
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 8, 2019) US Soccer Players - Major League Soccer’s list of annual failures in the Concacaf Champions League looks almost certain to get another entry in 2019 after the second-legs of the quarterfinal round next week. That’s because every MLS team still remaining in the competition lost the quarterfinal first-leg. With one exception, the chances of turning . . .
MLS goes 0 for 4 in Champions League quarterfinal first-legs
The news for MLS in the 2019 Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals didn't get any better. Two more losses means every MLS team has a tough assignment in next week's second legs. Sporting Kansas City and Atlanta United join the New York Red Bulls and Houston Dynamo in the loss column. After shutting out Toluca over two legs in the last round, Sporting KC fell behind 2-1 at Independiente in the . . .
The MLS scenario in the Champions League
The soccer news starts with a reminder about the bracket for the knockout round of the 2019 Concacaf Champions League. MLS is the only league that can potentially take all of the semifinal slots. Given the history of the CCL, that might be an unlikely scenario but it's possible and worth considering. Sporting Kansas City showed in the last round that it's certainly possible for an MLS team to . . .
Moving on from week 1 in MLS
The soccer news starts with expectations in MLS. For FC Cincinnati, a quick start in their opening game led to an unnecessary reminder of the degree of difficulty. Expansion is tough. So is defending a title, something Atlanta went through at DC United. Neither of these extremes is news, necessarily. MLS isn't the type of league that regularly rewards the safe assumption. Maybe you'd like to . . .
