By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON DC (Nov 9, 2018) US Soccer Players - MLS announced the New York Red Bulls’ Aaron Long as 2018 Defender of the Year on Wednesday. The 26-year old centerback beat out three-time Defender of the Year Chad Marshall to the award, garnering an impressive 33.33% of the media vote in his second full MLS campaign. The players around him in the Red Bulls defense certainly . . .
Romain Gall and the latest USMNT roster
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 8, 2018) US Soccer Players - Sometimes resumes and backstories prove to be Rorschach tests for readers. One observer might look at a long list of previous employers and wide-ranging destinations and see instability, perhaps challenges settling in. Others eye the same bullet points and see ambition, drive, enterprise or a useful restlessness. This often takes . . .
Year one for LAFC
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Nov 7, 2018) US Soccer Players - Normally, a season in which a team loses its regular-season finale and a knockout-round match within a span of five days would be a failure. In most instances, that would certainly classify as one. Especially since the regular season finale was for the conference title and a playoff top seed. 2018 is far from a failure for LAFC even . . .
Halftime in the MLS conference semifinals
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON DC (Nov 7, 2018) US Soccer Players - Halftime of the conference semifinals in Major League Soccer’s 2018 playoff season means taking stock of a number of areas on the way to the deciding second-legs. Since no first-leg delivered a multi-goal win for any team, there’s plenty of drama packed into every matchup on the board. That doesn’t mean that a few of the final eight . . .
Super League fatigue
By J Hutcherson (Nov 6, 2018) US Soccer Players -It's hard to get worked up about the latest potential for the elite European clubs breaking away and forming their own super league. The super league story has been dragging along for so many years now it borders on cliche. There could be a super league. It might even make more sense for there to be a super league. There probably won't be, at least . . .
Soccer History: Baltimore Blast
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Nov 5, 2018) US Soccer Players – The original North American Soccer League's demise following the 1984 season ushered in a dark period in American pro soccer. There were, however, a few bright lights. The popularity of the indoor game, considered an abomination by some, kept the professional version of the sport alive. It was the place where American players could . . .
MLS gets it wrong with half of the knockout round
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON DC (Nov 2, 2018) US Soccer Players - The 2018 MLS playoffs didn’t exactly begin with a bang. That’s not a comment on the two games that took place on a Wednesday Halloween night roughly 72 hours after the events of Decision Day, but an observation about the excitement around them. NYCFC knocked off the Union 3-1 at Yankee Stadium. Portland sprung the rare road upset in . . .
MLS Power Rankings: The contenders come in hot
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Nov 1, 2018) US Soccer Players - It’s finally playoff time, when MLS games carry an extraordinary amount of weight compared to the regular season. While teams have a vast amount of leeway during the regular season, now the margin of error is nonexistent. It's the stretch run that turns teams into playoff threats. The top three teams in this month’s power rankings . . .
Toronto FC’s arduous 2018
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 1, 2018) US Soccer Players - Michael Bradley had just played his second game in as many days, his third game in seven. After playing a substitute’s role in the USMNT’s 1-1 draw with Peru in Connecticut on Tuesday night, he’d caught a plane south and met up with his Toronto FC teammates for a Wednesday MLS visit to DC United at Audi Field on October 17. He . . .
The Galaxy’s demise
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Oct 31, 2018) US Soccer Players - In early September, the LA Galaxy was well on its way to another disastrous season. The club had just limped away from Rio Tinto Stadium, victims of a 6-2 thrashing at the hands of Real Salt Lake, a result that extended its winless skid to six games. The early-summer turnaround appeared gone, and the team seemed to have hit rock . . .
