"I want the players to feel well, to feel beautiful, to feel like they are playing in front of the whole world, to be daring and to feel that they are here because they deserve it and to show how good we are. It's the best match to show it."

-Pep Guardiola, manager, FC Barcelona, 26 May 2009
Power versus romance, as Phil Ball so elegantly put it. Click to continue reading...

Schellas Hyndman, you've got problems.
Reading up on Saturday's DC United vs FC Dallas match, I was struck by gut-wrenching dread at the most terrifying words in the modern MLS language:
"...level with the LA Galaxy..."
If you are 'level' with the Galaxy in any form, fashion, criteria or standings, it's time to reconsider everything. Click to continue reading...

No creo.
Oh my! Real Madrid staged a stunning late comeback against Getafe at the Bernabeu, re-igniting Spanish journos' desperate hopes for a photo finish at the tail end of the 08/09 Liga Primera. Real trail league leaders FC Barcelona by six points with six matches to go.
But the ink splashed on Real's 3-2 win hadn't yet dried when Barca proceeded to demolish third-placed Sevilla 4-0 at the Camp Nou:
Thank you for the clip, and your name, RafaNoMeJodas. Click to continue reading...

* with a nod and HT to the Light of Saba...
We're back, s*ckas. !Y ahora en el twitter, tambien! In the words of The Special One, "Do it."
True story: So the other day I'm pondering the general abundance of negative vibes swirling around DC United fans, media, observers, etc. Click to continue reading...

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.potomacsoccerwire.com/blogs/cip/uploaded_images/Olsen-card-799962.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://www.potomacsoccerwire.com/blogs/cip/uploaded_images/Olsen-card-799945. Click to continue reading...

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.potomacsoccerwire.com/blogs/cip/uploaded_images/Moreno-762532.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 275px; height: 235px;" src="http://www.potomacsoccerwire.com/blogs/cip/uploaded_images/Moreno-762530. Click to continue reading...

a href="http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20090319content_id=227996vkey=news_mlsfext=.jsp"span style="font-style:italic;"span style="font-weight:bold;"Sounders FC 3 - 0 NY Red Bulls/span/span/abr /br /Big up Seatown! br /br /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www. Click to continue reading...

Congrats to Vancouver, a href="http://vancouvermls2011.com/"Major League Soccer's newest hometown/a. The remodeling plans (especially the soccer-specific configuration) for their future home ground, BC Place, are jaw-dropping -- a href="http://www.bcplacestadium.com/index.shtml"go check 'em out ASAP/a. Click to continue reading...

Ok, so MLS Barca Miami is out.
St. Louis seems to have everything a good expansion city needs, but The Don still wants to see more dough.
Portland's bid depends on a hefty dose of government support at an awkward time for such things and their leading backer is having, um, issues of his own. Click to continue reading...

Houston, you have a problem.
With Dwayne DeRosario gone back to Ontario and Sounders Sasquatch Nate Jaqua returning to his Pac Northwest roots, who is going to score goals for The Orange? I would normally respond "Brian Ching, of course" but he made a hash out of the few scoring chances that came his way in the CONCACAF Champions League series against Atlante, and beyond him, you're basically looking to kids for your scoring. Click to continue reading...

As renowned motivational speaker/infamous charlatan (depending on your perspective) Zig Ziglar might say, tomorrow is today when it comes to the soccer on offer this week.
While most MLS clubs are counting down the days until First Kick 2009, one proud bunch of Yanks are about to dive back into CONCACAF Champions League, as the fledgling tourney resumes with Houston Dynamo and Montreal Impact representing gringo interests. Click to continue reading...

Yes, I was there yesterday, spending several hours of my President's Day watching the DC United brass and Prince George's County muckety-mucks grip and grin, visions of dead presidents dancing in their heads...with the rest of us wondering if it's really, actually, truly going to happen this time. Click to continue reading...

Quick Friday morning post before I pedal south to RFK to catch the first media glimpse of La Vuelta del Christian...(When it comes to star playmakers and other old flames, some say 'you can't go back'...guess DC United will find out soon enough)...
All coaches and parents -- especially those whose kids have spent any time in Super Y-League -- please read this and share your thoughts, whether it's in the PSW forums or in the comments section of this blog. Click to continue reading...

First of all...consider the following as a musical accompaniment to this post.
A sweaty, mustachioed, medium-waved JB (or GFOS, if you prefer) near his career's peak seems like an appropriate soundtrack to the soccer thoughts that have been percolating for me lately...
The Big Payback
Marcelo Gallardo is gone, gone, gone. Click to continue reading...

"I write about MLS because I need to convince myself that futbol is always beautiful, no matter where it's from or even if it's called soccer. I write about MLS because it's challenging, because I decided to do it one day and I hate not following through, because I hate criticizing and destroying. I like to build instead. Click to continue reading...