By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 3, 2023) US Soccer Players - Absences loomed large in the story of Major League Soccer in 2022. More than a few teams dealt with missing big names last season, a list that's long enough that it's not worth using the limited space available here to run it down. Just know that Sporting Kansas City, the Seattle Sounders, Atlanta United, and others can claim to be . . .
Gutman, Herrera, and Williamson put the work in during the 2022 MLS season
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 21, 2022) US Soccer Players - When MLS teams look back on their seasons after the 34-game grind that pushed everyone to their physical and mental limits, they'll undoubtedly point to a few key moments as crucial to their finish. Comeback wins always get a little extra love. Late goals to salvage points will seem bigger if the playoffs beckon and bittersweet if . . .
Mastroeni’s version of Real Salt Lake continues to surprise
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (June 8, 2022) US Soccer Players - Most successful MLS teams have an identity. It could be a particular way of playing, or a physical edge that gives them an advantage. Maybe it's a leg up that comes from a bigger budget or a super productive academy. Real Salt Lake is known for developing talented players but doesn't get the current day academy accolades of the . . .
Six games in for six MLS teams
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 5, 2022) US Soccer Players - For a while there, it was easy to judge Major League Soccer teams against one another. With an even number of clubs this season thanks to the addition of Charlotte, the league's weekend schedules had balance. Twenty-eight teams playing fourteen games in a given week means the season creeps along at an equitable clip. When everyone . . .
Underestimating Real Salt Lake is a bad idea
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Mar 23, 2022) US Soccer Players - The American soccer public does not learn. Entering the 2022 MLS season, several clubs were in the conversation as Western Conference contenders. That included the usual suspects: perennial favorites Seattle Sounders, Bounce-back candidates LAFC and the LA Galaxy, MLS Cup runners-up Portland Timbers, and new Western Conference . . .
The top of the Western Conference after four weeks
Monday's soccer news starts with the top of the Western Conference with three teams undefeated. LAFC and Real Salt Lake both have 10 points with LAFC ahead on a tiebreaker. 3rd-place Minnesota is on eight points, trading a win for a loss. That none of them are on a dozen points might resonate more if it wasn't the same situation at the top of the Eastern Conference. MLS remains a week-by-week . . .
Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders renew MLS’s most nuanced “rivalry”
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 3, 2022) US Soccer Players - "Rivalry." You don't have to be an MLS obsessive to know how heavily the word gets used around the league, to the point of inflicting fatigue on even the most dedicated fans. What started as an attempt to cultivate additional meaning in a young entity with shallow roots eventually became a central pillar to how MLS promotes and . . .
Mastroeni drops the interim title at Real Salt Lake
Tuesday's soccer news starts with USMNT alum Pablo Mastroeni getting the coaching job at Real Salt Lake. Mastroeni moved from assistant to interim head coach on August 27, leading the club into the playoffs as the 7th-seed. Real Salt Lake began an unlikely run, knocking out the 2nd-seed Seattle Sounders and 3rd-seed Sporting Kansas City on the way to the Western Conference finals. “I am excited . . .
Playing past distractions, RSL stays in contention
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Sep 8, 2021) US Soccer Players - Typically, the on-the-field play suffers when things are chaotic for Major League Soccer teams off the field. Distractions are real. Teams tend to find it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand while keeping an eye on off-the-field issues. Eventually, it becomes too much. All that, though, simply makes Real Salt Lake's 2021 . . .
Real Salt Lake was the club making moves at the MLS transfer deadline
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 4, 2021) US Soccer Players - Major League Soccer's primary transfer window closed on Tuesday night. It hardly made a noise when it did. The end of the first period for signings and trades across the league did deliver a few "at the deadline" moves, but most of the big business happened months ago. While we might be waiting on the European transfer window to . . .
