By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 24, 2021) US Soccer Players - The 2021 season arrives for Major League Soccer behind a vanguard of uncertainty as formidable as any in recent memory. 2020 wreaked havoc on preconceived notions and reasonable expectations while laying waste to rosters throughout a stop-start campaign. It’s impossible to know what might have happened in the absence of the . . .
NYCFC and Houston playing under the radar
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 4, 2020) US Soccer Players - A question about the 2020 MLS season: Does this season have a radar? As in, under it? We often talk about teams that don't get much media attention but are slowly building towards becoming a contender as under the radar. The abnormal nature of this year makes it tough to know if such a radar even exists. Pulling forward what we . . .
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 . . .
Will more MLS coaches lose their jobs in 2019?
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Aug 14, 2019) US Soccer Players - The MLS coaching merry-go-round doesn't stop. Not even long enough to write a story about the state of the MLS coaching merry-go-round. Between the conception of this piece and its execution, the Houston Dynamo announced that they had "parted ways" with head coach Wilmer Cabrera. Cabrera is the fifth MLS head coach to lose his . . .
Disappointment in the Champions League qualifiers
The soccer news starts with Scottish Premier League champions Celtic failing to advance in Champions League qualifying. Celtic lost 4-3 at home to CFR Cluj and 5-4 on aggregate in the third round of qualifying. They led 3-2 from a 76th-minute goal. Cluj equalized from the penalty spot in the 80th and scored seven minutes into stoppage time. Unfortunately for the rest of the Scottish Premier . . .
DaMarcus Beasley’s last season
The soccer news starts with DaMarcus Beasley announcing that 2019 will be his last season in pro soccer. Beasley turns 37 on Friday and has been playing professionally since 1999 when he joined MLS as a member of the LA Galaxy. Traded to Chicago the following season, he quickly became a key component of one of the best teams in MLS and the USMNT. By 2004 he was in Europe with stops at PSV, . . .
Red Bulls and Dynamo out of the Concacaf Champions League
The soccer news starts with the New York Red Bulls and the Houston Dynamo exiting the 2019 Concacaf Champions League at the quarterfinal stage. There would be no remarkable comebacks for either of the MLS teams against Liga MX opponents, though the Red Bulls started strong at Santos Laguna. New York trailed 2-0 going into the deciding leg at Estadio Corona, scoring two pqucik goals to make the . . .
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 . . .
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 . . .
Houston advances, Toronto out of CCL
The soccer news starts with Houston becoming the first MLS team to advance and Toronto FC the first MLS team to exit the 2019 Concacaf Champions League. The Dynamo came back at home in the second-leg against Guastotoya to win 2-1, 3-1 on aggregate in the round of 16. Guastatoya scored in the 72nd minute to level the series. Mauro Manotas responded with goals in the 77th and 85th to send Houston to . . .
