Toronto FC is off to an 0-8 start to the Major League Soccer season, and rather than seeing anybody lose their job, the club's response to that awful start has been to change some people's job titles.

TFC announced on Monday that assistant coach Bob de Klerk has been moved to a role as Technical Manager, while former TFC player and recent Toronto FC Junior Academy coach Jim Brennan takes over as the team's lead assistant.

Two of the newest MLS franchises are extending the league's presence in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the Portland Timbers and Montreal Impact have been approved to have teams entered into the Development Academy, giving MLS 17 teams in the 80-team academy system.

Unemployed people from the Wirral brushed up on their football coaching skills thanks to a ground-breaking project involving Liverpool FC.
The club teamed up with North Birkenhead Development Trust, BroBro Consulting, Diamond Soccer and Wirral Metropolitan College for the Social Academy program.

I said "TFC" not "BSC"!Everyone felt warm and fuzzy after Saturday night's "loss" to Vancouver Whitecaps at The Mickey Mouse Cup. Except maybe the Whitecaps. Yes they got a trophy but it was on the back of barely beating a team of teens, trialists and Nick Soolsma. Hard to lift a trophy proudly when you just traded shirts with a 15-year old.

Dynamo announced today the signing of 19-year-old goalkeeper Erich Marscheider. He's been training with the club during the preseason and cleared waivers, allowed the team to sign the young keeper. Marscheider is listed at 6'2", 185lbs. and was born in Austria to American parents.

From what I can find about him, he's a rated fairly well and adds to the impressive group of young goalkeepers the Dynamo already have signed or are part of the team's academy program.

Richmond Kicker Press Release:
RICHMOND, VA – (Monday, February 20, 2012) – The Richmond Kickers are pleased to announce their U.S. Soccer Development Academy will be a cost-free program for the 2012-13 season. The historic milestone in Virginia youth soccer development is reached through the support of partnerships with The Computer Solution Company, Proseal America, Inc, and multiple donors, allowing dedicated and talented players to reach the highest level of youth soccer, playing, training and traveling free of charge.

The Portland Timbers announced an expanded pre-season with four more matches while they are training in California, including facing an old rival from the USL/USSF days for the first time since they both are part of MLS. The Timbers are also optimistic to be using their new training facility later this year, while selected members of the Timbers academy program show promise participating in a tournament in Arizona.

STARTERS
Its the worst case scenario for Omar Gonzalez - Torn MCL. Yesterday he was introduced at Nurnberg, went out to train with the team in hopes of earning a contract and promptly blew out the ACL in his left knee. (In German)
dN
Arsenal has announced that they have signed Thierry Henry for a short term loan through an unspecified date in February.

So here's some news for you guys! And I apologize that it's coming just a bit later than my usual punctual self. Today has been quite hectic for some of my other writing duties... and we'll just leave it at that.

In any case, Adam Smith the 2010-2011 season goalkeeping coach has gotten a bit of a promotion after being moved over to a Director position with the Timbers Academy.

Arie w/Brad Friedel at SpursMcLean Youth Soccer player Arie Ammann has been selected to play in the U.S. Soccer 2011 Development Academy Winter Showcase and Nike International Friendlies . The Academy Winter Showcase is for the top players in the Academy Program and an opportunity for the national coaching staff to watch the players closer.

Commissioner Don Garber gave his annual State of the League address via teleconference Thursday afternoon. Several of his comments are receiving media attention, like an imbalanced schedule and potential changes to the playoff format for 2012. Such alterations can easily be modified, though, year-to-year, if and as fans and critics voice their disapproval.

Soccer America reports that Liverpool has signed 17-year-old midfielder Marc Pelosi, who represented the USA at the 2011 Under-17 World Cup in Mexico, to its academy program.
Pelosi, who played for De Anza Force in the Bay Area, had a verbal commitment to attend UCLA. He got around the work permit requirements because he holds a German passport.

U.S. Soccer, in conjunction with NIKE and the U.S. Soccer Foundation, has selected 151 participants for the 2011-12 Development Academy Scholarship program. The awards provide need-based aid to full-time players participating in the Development Academy program.
Of 78 clubs in the Academy, 50 have participants in the Scholarship Program's fourth year.

The head coach for the Rapids All-Time Team is Gary Smith.
How Joined: Hired as a liaison for the Arsenal Academy.
Years In Colorado: 2008 through present
There have been 6 total head coaches in Colorado's history, but there were only two under consideration for this spot, Glenn 'Mooch' Myernick and Gary Smith.

The Seattle Sounders relative easy access to Clark County, Washington talents (Nick Paludichuk, Mikhail Doholis) will shortly be coming to an end as the Portland Timbers will be selecting their U-16 and U-18 players come spring 2012. While some criticized that the Sounders took over a top level Academy program to springboard their launch, the Timbers are even more aggressive taking over the whole of the Oregon Olympic Development Program (though still have catchment limits on HGP signings).

Since 2007, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy has strived to impact the Men's National Team – never has the program's influence been more felt than the four-day camp leading into Wednesday's match against rival Mexico. The Academy is represented both on the field, with two former players participating in the camp, and on the sidelines, where Klinsmann's staff has a wealth of experience at the elite youth level.

Since 2007, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy has strived to impact the Men's National Team – never has the program's influence been more felt than the four-day camp leading into Wednesday's match against rival Mexico. The Academy is represented both on the field, with two former players participating in the camp, and on the sidelines, where Klinsmann's staff has a wealth of experience at the elite youth level.

All around the globe, soccer clubs are nearing the end of their pre-season and looking towards the 2011-2012 campaign. Trinidad's 1st division club, T&T Highlanders FC is no different. We profiled them earlier this year in an installment of the Eat Soccer News Page. This is the first year for the T&T Highlanders, and we caught up with their owner, James Baird to find out more about their 3 ingredients for success this season.

Bill Hamid's journey through the U.S. Soccer ranks has been well documented, and has now culminated in a call up to the Men's National Team ahead of the Aug. 10 match against Mexico. The match will be played at the Linc in Phildelphia – just 150 miles from his hometown of Annandale, Va.

Though it is technically the offseason for Development Academy clubs, that doesn't mean things aren't moving and shaking in the world of elite youth soccer. Here are just a few of the stories from the past week:
Goal.com has a look at the U.S. Soccer scouting program, which continues to grow under Director of Scouting Tony Lepore – Goal.

July finds the state of the States to be disarray, confusion, and pessimism. The crushing senior squad loss to a revitalized Mexico in the Gold Cup final and the struggles of the youth national teams have led to a call for heads and an overhaul of the system. But is that overhaul already taking place courtesy of the Development Academy program?

July finds the state of the States to be disarray, confusion, and pessimism. The crushing senior squad loss to a revitalized Mexico in the Gold Cup final and the struggles of the youth national teams have led to a call for heads and an overhaul of the system. But is that overhaul already taking place courtesy of the Development Academy program?

The 2011 Missouri State Cup will be held June 11 16, 2011 in St. Louis, MO at the SLYSA and Sportport complexes. The Missouri State Cup is the first leg of the US Youth National Championship Series. All age groups (Under 13 up to Under 19) will participate June 11th 16th. The 2012 Girls State Cup will be played in the Fall later this year as MYSA separates the tournaments by gender.

U.S. Soccer has announced a new team ready to enter the Development Academy for the 2011-12 season and will welcome Georgia United into the Southeast Division. You can read the press release here. We've got more from the new club's executive director, Dave Smith, about bringing the four separate clubs together.

Frank McParland has saluted the contribution of Pep Segura and Steve Cooper for their role in revamping the reserve team set-up.
The duo took temporary charge of team affairs following the departure of John McMahon in early March and the Academy Supremo has been pleased with how they have handled a difficult situation.

Pep Segura admits he will once again be forced to shuffle his pack as Liverpool Reserves prepare to host Bolton at the Academy this afternoon.
The combination of U18s fixtures and first-team injuries means the second-string boss has yet to field an unchanged line-up since taking temporary charge last month.

Yea we know - that was a bit of a stretch.
Anyway ... Goal.com talked with Sounders FC Academy defender Deandre Yedlin about his experience with the U.S. U-18 MNT and his National Letter of Intent with reigning NCAA champion Akron.
Yedlin is in his first year with the Sounders, and recently returned from a trip to Phoenix with the U-18 MNT.

• It's easy to forget that the Sounders Academy is in its first season. Goal.com takes a look at the keys to its early success – Goal.com
• FCDallas.com checked in with FC Dallas Juniors alum Moises Hernandez as he goes through his first preseason with the first team – FCDallas.com
• MLSsoccer.

Below is an outstanding article by Bela Dziengeliewski about the challenges that the US Soccer Development Academy is presenting to their participants, which limits their opportunities to be recruited by college soccer programs.

SANDY, Ut Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA announced Tuesday that RSL Assistant Coach Robin Fraser has departed the 2009 MLS Cup champions after three-and-a-half seasons on the Utah club's sideline to take over the head coaching duties at the Southern California side, effective immediately. The recently turned 44-year-old Fraser becomes the sixth coach [.