By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON DC (Jan 18, 2019) US Soccer Players - The new year always arrives with new possibilities. Whatever the arbitrary nature of the calendar, society tunes to the start of January and the sense of promise it conveys. It’s easy to imagine things getting better when a fresh 12 months stretch out ahead of you. Even without a raft of resolutions, it’s a start of optimism. Every . . .
DC United faces expectations in 2019
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON DC (Jan 16, 2019) US Soccer Players - As encores go, 2019 figures to be a difficult one for DC United. The club didn’t lift the MLS Cup in 2018, but expectations will rise dramatically in the new year. United’s late-season run to the MLS Cup playoffs and the energy that it inspired in the newly opened Audi Field are tough acts to follow. This is a period of transition . . .
David Wagner, Huddersfield Town, and the next level
By J Hutcherson (Jan 15, 2019) US Soccer Players - David Wagner's time as manager of Huddersfield Town ended on Tuesday and with it the American coach working at the highest level of the club game. Wagner isn't a product of the American soccer coaching model, far from it. He put his time in as a player and coach in Germany, part of the successful Borussia Dortmund system under now-Liverpool . . .
Soccer Tactics: Sticking with the 4-4-2
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The Philly way: The Philadelphia Union plant their flag
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 11, 2019) US Soccer Players - A famous movie maker once opined that 80 percent of life is just showing up. Sometimes the most striking way to make a statement, however, is not showing up at all. That’s what the Philadelphia Union did this week. It’s no secret that the MLS SuperDraft has steadily drifted towards the periphery of Major League Soccer’s player . . .
Indy Eleven and MLS expansion
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON DC (Jan 11, 2019) US Soccer Players - The list of leading candidates for the next MLS expansion franchise might need another adjustment. On Thursday, USL club Indy Eleven relaunched stadium talk in that city with an audacious plan that includes a 20,000-seat soccer venue. The proposed $550 project will include business and residential components in addition to the . . .
Things change again in Carson
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Jan 9, 2019) US Soccer Players - The city of Los Angeles is the home of smog. A blanket of unsightly gray air drapes over LA and its surrounding metropolitan area. Getting rid of it is not likely to happen soon or easily. However, around Carson, some 12 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, the poor-quality air has given way. Specifically around Dignity Health Sports . . .
Osvaldo Alonso moves on
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON DC (Jan 9, 2019) US Soccer Players - Osvaldo Alonso is out-of-contract after 10 years manning the midfield for the Seattle Sounders. The likelihood is very high that the Cuban will move on this winter, departing Seattle and landing in another MLS lineup for the 2019 season. To lean on a well-worn cliche, it’s truly the end of an era. The mechanics of the Sounders . . .
Seniors in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Jan 7, 2019) US Soccer Players – The curtain on the 2019 MLS season unofficially opens this Friday with the SuperDraft. Although an influx of younger players continue to stream into the league without entering the draft, the MLS SuperDraft remains a major source of talent for Major League Soccer. Despite being secondary to the academy system, many college . . .
Five USMNT questions in 2019
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 4, 2019) US Soccer Players - January is here and the blank slate of a new year, a new cycle, and a new era awaits the USMNT. Gregg Berhalter is about to convene his first training camp as head coach. The first match of 2019 kicks off in under a month. There’s a Gold Cup trophy to defend come summer. A new competition, the Concacaf Nations League, starts in . . .
