Mike Marsh, Barry Venison, Rigobert Song, Abel Xavier, Harry Kewell, Milan Baros ve Graeme Souness. Hepsinin ortak özelliği futbolcu ya da antrenör olarak Galatasaray'da görev yapmaları değil sadece. İlginç olan ortak noktaları kırmızı formalarını Sami Yen'e gelmeden önce Anfield Road'da da giymiş olmaları. Click to continue reading...

Após a discussão bastante mediatizada do chamado "Caso Paula", houve um jogador, Carlos Secretário, que ficou bastante afectado por essa questão. Na selecção, ou mesmo no seu clube, sempre que tocava na bola, alguns adeptos assobiavam-no. Estávamos em 1999 e íamos receber a Hungria, no Estádio da Luz, necessitando de vencer por 3-o para nos qualificarmos para o Euro 2000. Click to continue reading...

The last time Don Garber sounded so satisfied in an interview, it was when the nation's sports commissioners were hauled before Congress to mealymouth about steroids. Garber told anyone who would listen how clean MLS was. (This was before Abel Xavier was signed, and before Conway and Parke were caught. Click to continue reading...

FIFA's Under-20 World Cup starts on September 24th from Egypt, the third time the tournament's been held on African soil.
Can one of the African countries involved make their way into the final?
Today, friend and football expert Tom Legg dissects the African team's prospects. Click to continue reading...

Galaxy 3 Dallas 6

Jeff Cunningham and FC Dallas were flying Saturday at Home Depot Center. (AP Photos).

An aberration? Or something we should have seen coming given the Galaxy's 11 ties and eight one goal victories? The Galaxy have spent the season operating on a knife edge and on Saturday that facade collapsed spectacularly.

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Si haci como lo leen, para el agrado de Adrian Mutu, Abel Xavier y muchos mas parece que hay una barra en La Paz, Bolivia llamada Route 36 donde un mesero te sirve cocaina con toda normalidad, como si fueran papas fritas. Desafortunadamente no pude encontrar el articulo en castellano. Buuu!
-theoriginalwinger- Click to continue reading...

On the 9th April 2002, a particularly catastrophic tactical decision by Gerard Houllier robbed Liverpool FC of the chance to participate in what would undoubtedly have been the game of the century.
On the night in question, Liverpool faced Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League quarter-final second leg. Click to continue reading...

Some news to read as you wonder if this is the first time a streaking pitch invader has been nutmegged. (Not to mention how the players can just keep playing): (Spotted on 101 Great Goals) Born Again: How the deep-lying midfielder position is reviving careers (SoccerLens) Sometimes the only way to respond to MLS refereeing is [. Click to continue reading...

Il Tupilo Nero was Ruud Gullit's Nickname While Playing For AC Milan
In our last installment we looked at the arrival of a controversial figure, the former Portuguese international Abel Xavier. Now in our fifth and final excerpt from Grant Wahl's excellent book "The Beckham Experiment" we look at Xavier or "X"'s exit from the Californian club. Click to continue reading...

Grant Wahl's The Beckham Experiment is an incredible behind the scenes look at Beckham - the brand, MLS - the struggling US soccer league - and is a tale of footie adventure in the US recounted through Wahl's amazing unprecedented access to players, coaches, staff, and handlers.
Wahl is in the locker rooms, on the field, in the hotel room lobbies, at dinners, at parties- you name it - but his work is more than just an inside look at Beckham's brief stay in the US. Click to continue reading...

As the the world witness the return of Brand Beckham to MLS and Circus to the LA Galaxy in the 2009 "Summer of Scorn" tour.
In our fourth but non-sequential installment of excerpts this week from Grant Wahl's well done book "The Beckham Experiment" we continue to find funny or juicy outtakes by looking at Portuguese defender, the ever colorful Abel Xavier's introduction to the Galaxy. Click to continue reading...

Galaxy games on the Fourth of July are one of Southern California's newest Independence Day traditions (if that makes any sort of sense) and I have been to virtually all of them since the first game in 1996, a 1-0 loss to the New England Revolution before almost 63,000 at the Rose Bowl.

Games in Pasadena used to be something of an endurance test for fans.

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STARTERS
Add me to your Twitter feed: dunord
dN
I am pretty excited, because in the mail yesterday I got my copy of the brand new album by Sunn O))). It is called Monoliths And Dimensions. Their level of sub sonic heaviness may just sooth my wounded soul right now, like a white hot salve. Click to continue reading...

"I can dream, can't I?" [Man City fan, spotted over @ Dirty Tackle]
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Who Ate All the Pies, a Premier League blog I edited for a couple of years in UK, is back in business, I'm delighted to say. So please check it out, bookmark it etc. - it's more puerile than the stuff I do for BigSoccer. Click to continue reading...

"Hey remember me?"
Could the famed Portuguese defender shocking hair styles be headed back to MLS to play for the Red and White side of LA?
As weird as that sounds, maybe.
According to Dentro Del Rebano the official CD Chivas USA blog he is training with the team:
"Abel Xavier, a Portuguese defender of who was with the LA Galaxy last season, joined preseason camp on Monday". Click to continue reading...

Yesterday we asked you to tell us which footballers these horrible horrible hairstyles belonged to. Sadly, no one got all ten correct - though several people came very very close. Answers below... Hair#1 Taribo West Hair#2 Arjen Robben Hair#3 Marouane Chamakh Hair#4 Jason Lee Read the cautionary tale of Jason Lee's hair here Hair#5 Freddie Ljungberg Hair#6 Abel Xavier Hair#7 Sir Bobby Charlton Hair#8 Rio Ferdinand Hair#9 Djibril Cissé Hair#10 Jermain Defoe Click to continue reading...

So, the transfer deadline (August 31) has passed and the football market is now closed. Closed? Not quite. Indeed, while transfers from one club to another will have to wait until January to resume, teams may still sign players as free agents (and that until March 31, 2009). So, inspired from this Top 11 Serie A [. Click to continue reading...

TRADER MO HAS STRUCK AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!

Every year, you can always expect certain things to happen in the MLS

1. There is an Older European player who, underestimated the level of play in the MLS.

This year, we have had a number of examples to add to the growing list of euro washouts.

Click to continue reading...

What can we say other than we called it.
While it didn't go down as part of an epic 3-way trade involving Brian McBride, our sources were right in that El Pescado still ended up with a new northern pond.
Read more about that here.
We hope he likes the water temperature there. Click to continue reading...

Los Angeles Galaxy owner Phil Anschutz has apparently seen enough and is threatening to make extreme changes within the organization if the club does not get back on track right away.
Anschutz, often referred to as the Godfather of Major League Soccer, reportedly sent AEG right-hand-man Tim Leiweke to the club's locker room before last weekend's game to communicate his frustration with the club's lack of recent success. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Maybe it was fitting that Ryan Cochrane, a player Alexi Lalas helped draft with the original San Jose Earthquakes four years ago, scored San Jose's game-winning goal on Sunday. Better yet, maybe it was more fitting to see Frank Yallop celebrate a victory over the manager he was dumped for, a manager whose job is in jeopardy.

Click to continue reading...

This is one of these games that could represent turning points in the season - for both teams.

Will Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas have a job come Tuesday?

The final score was 3-2 Earthquakes, with the winner coming from Ryan Cochrane in the 89th minute.

While the timing of the goal must have felt like a knife in the gut to the now 6-8-5 Galaxy, the winner was no more than San Jose deserved.

Click to continue reading...

Apologies, busy with a big project and not much time to blog.

A few things to pass along:

*Pacific Palisades-based W-League team Pali Blues defeated reigning champion Washington Freedom 2-0 earlier tonight earning a berth in Saturday's final against FC Indiana. Game reports here.

Click to continue reading...

I'm going to mix things up with this one. Simplicity and quick thoughts from this weekend.

San Jose Earthquakes 1 New York Red Bulls 1: Francisco Lima and Darren Huckerby are continuing to prove they are making easy work in transiting to MLS. However Huckerby's thirteenth minute goal has to bail out San Jose after Eric Denton's unique own goal four minute in.

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Condolences to those of you, who, like me, just gave up two hours of a lovely summer afternoon to watch FC Dallas massacre the Galaxy 4-0.

Two goals inside 90 seconds just after 15 minutes sealed the result, but it could have been 6-0 (or more). The Galaxy ended the game with just two shots on goal (Dallas had 14).

Click to continue reading...

This week's show is now up as a podcast. You can listen to the show from here, via the On Demand player, or you can subscribe to the show via iTunes.

Plenty to talk about on this week's show.
* I give my thoughts on this week's five questions of the week.

* I breakdown a weekend of draws in MLS.

Click to continue reading...

I'll admit, I laughed off the Eto'o to Uzbekistan link -- probably like many of you.
But the Barca striker seems crazy enough. And he was over there getting all chummy with PFC Kuruvchi.
Thanks to The Spoiler for the picture compilation.

• Are Mexicans starting to respect the MLS?

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Aufweidersen, Adieu. Adios. Since I've been out golfing today, I hadn't read about Abel Xavier's farewell tour of spite on Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit in particular and the Galaxy in general.
Here's a sampling of it.
Though it amuses me that Xavier is clearly venting, and to more than one press outlet, I'm not really surprised. Click to continue reading...

Soccer writer Scott Wolf expanded on his earlier post on this blog about the possibility of the Galaxy signing Nolberto Solano (but frankly, I like saying Nobby) with a story today in the newspaper.

I've always admired Peuervian Solano, a player with panache and verve, but let's hope if the Galaxy do sign him they have more success than they did with Portuguese Abel Xavier (so inept he was dumped even with a guaranteed contract) and Nigerian Celestine Babayaro (last seen trying out with EPL team Portsmouth) who was cut before the season even began.

Click to continue reading...

In an extensive interview, Abel Xavier shared his views on his time with the Los Angeles Galaxy with Goal.com's Kyle McCarthy. Click to continue reading...

Galaxy beat writer Scott Wolf gave a few tidbits of today's story in blog posts Friday and here we learn just how happy Coach Ruud Gullit is to punt Abel Xavier. So are we, Ruud, so are we.

A massive crowd is expected in New York for David Beckham, sorry, today's game (3:30 p.m. live on Fox Soccer Channel).

Click to continue reading...

Galaxy central defender Abel Xavier did not mince words on the club that waived him today:

``There's a shift-the-wind philosophy (here). Many players feel the same way but because they are not secure in their contract, they are afraid to say what they think.''

Click to continue reading...

The Galaxy waived defender Abel Xavier today, which is not surprising since he and Coach Ruud Gullit had a poor relationship.
``We don't have any kind of relationship, unfortunately,'' Xavier said. ``I don't accept any coach who thinks I pretend to be injured.''
Gullit questioned whether Xavier was actually injured last week when he sat out the game against Chivas USA.

Click to continue reading...

The Galaxy add Eddie and say farewell to Abel. From the press release:
LA Galaxy defender Eduardo Dominguez has officially been added to the club's roster ahead of this weekend's game against the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium. The 29-year old Argentine center back agreed to terms with the club last week and has been training with the rest of his teammates all week in preparation for Saturday's game. Click to continue reading...

The one day most of the MLSR writers and editors decide to take an early weekend all hell breaks lose in the MLS transfer news and rumors area. So forgive us for being late with the lateness. We seriously deserve the Gasface. Ok you know what time it is! Enough with the 90s rap clichés.
This will serve as a master round up of todays transfer/trade news and rumors. Click to continue reading...