By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 7, 2021) US Soccer Players - Perhaps no season in MLS history provided a ruder introduction to the league for new coaches than 2020. A typical preseason led directly into two games before a two-month layoff with no games and effectively no training. The return to play, first in Orlando at MLS Is Back, then in a truncated regular season that featured few fans . . .
Chris Henderson and Inter Miami’s quick revamp
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 5, 2021) US Soccer Players - Unless you're paying very close attention, it's easy to be confused about the division of responsibilities in MLS front offices. Every team has a head coach, but the way clubs label the people in charge of building rosters, overseeing academies, and engaging with the insanely complicated MLS budget rules runs a gamut. Because a . . .
Inter Miami opts for an interesting offseason
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 8, 2021) US Soccer Players - Whatever else we can say about Inter Miami, the brand new MLS club isn’t boring. Considering the market the team represents, maybe that’s exactly as it should be. Let’s review the last month for Inter Miami. Following Inter’s ouster from the playoffs at the hands of fellow expansion club Nashville SC in November, the postmortem on . . .
Higuain’s Inter Miami debut
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 30, 2020) US Soccer Players - That's not the way Gonzalo Higuain wanted it to go. Inter Miami's new big-name signing made his MLS debut on Sunday, starting in a downpour for Inter as they took on one of the Eastern Conference's best teams. Higuain made his presence felt early against the Philadelphia Union, acrobatically throwing himself over for an overhead . . .
MLS is Back triggers the transfer market with a twist
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 3, 2020) US Soccer Players - Major League Soccer's pandemic shutdown rendered the league's primary transfer window effectively useless. While sports around the globe sat idle and no clear plan for a return-to-play existed, MLS clubs lacked the impetus and the information to sign new players. Even if they could bring in new talent with travel restrictions and . . .
MLS is Back but do the Florida teams have an advantage?
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 19, 2020) US Soccer Players - Barring a last-minute change of plans, Orlando will be the nexus of men's professional soccer in the United States next month. For six weeks from July 8 until August 11 when Major League Soccer holds its "MLS Is Back" tournament at the Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The league's compromise solution for . . .
Inter Miami and Chicago wait for their home debuts
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 13, 2020) US Soccer Players - This week Major League Soccer made the decision to suspend its 2020 season for at least a month due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Other sports leagues at home and abroad have made similar moves to help slow the spread of the pandemic, and it's a no-brainer given the high stakes. For MLS in particular, though, it's a potentially . . .
David Beckham and Chicharito Hernandez in MLS
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 6, 2020) US Soccer Players - Twelve years on from David Beckham's arrival as Major League Soccer's first Designated Player back in 2007, it's easy to forget just how crazy his initial days in America really were. Beckham was then, as he is now, recognized around the world as a superstar not just for his abilities on the field, but for his image and marketing . . .
MLS embraces the transfer saga
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 14, 2020) US Soccer Players - Major League Soccer is a young league with younger ambition. While the rest of the world spent the last three decades engaged in the wild, sometimes sordid, and often thrilling business of high profile player transfers, MLS focused on simply making itself viable. You'd be fine with one hand to count the number of noteworthy MLS . . .
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 . . .
