The Philadelphia Union have announced that they have agreed to a mutual contract termination
with forward Jorge Perlaza. Perlaza joined the Union this season in a trade which sent MLS
Superdraft first overall pick Danny Mwanga to Portland. This move should come as a surprise to no
one. Perlaza had not played or been available as a sub for the last ten Union games.
No team is as reliably almost-but-not-quite great as the Chicago Fire. After their MLS Cup
winning expansion season in 1998 they made the playoffs in 10 of the next 11 seasons, but never won
it again - a stretch that included 2 finals losses and a grueling 5-year run from 2005 to 2009 of
losing in the conference finals 4 times.
The Columbus Crew spent half the season struggling to generate goals as their defense and
goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum kept the team afloat, but times have changed in Columbus thanks to the
team's newest attacking acquisitions.
Costa Rican striker Jairo Arrieta and Argentine midfielder Federico Higuain scored two goals
apiece, including two Higuain set piece strikes and Arrieta's game-winner to erase an early
two-goal deficit and lift the Crew to a 4-3 victory against the New England Revolution at Crew
Stadium on Saturday night.
A couple months ago, you might have circled a Columbus Crew match on your schedule as one that you
might want to avoid. Jairo Arrieta and Federico Higuain should make you think otherwise. Each of
these two recent acquisitions for ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.
The summer MLS transfer window has been marked by some serious acquisitions, with Designated
Players like Houston's Oscar Boniek Garcia, Vancouver's Barry Robson and Kenny Miller, Montreal's
Marco Di Vaio, New England's Jerry Bengtson, Chicago's Sherjill MacDonald and New York's Tim Cahill
among the new crop of stars joining the league.
The mysteries of a front office in MLS are always intriguing. For the past few years, it has
appeared that the New England Revolution's FO has received mostly negative feedback from its
supporters. Poor player acquisitions, poor advertisement of the product, poor hiring of coaches and
poor interactions with fans had led to a bad team and a disenfranchised fan base.
Fire forward Dominic Oduro is one player the Revolution defense will have to keep tabs on come
Saturday. (Photo: Chris Aduama/aduama.com)
(Editor's note: Prior to each Revolution match, New England Soccer Today will invite a
reporter who covers the Revolution's upcoming opponent to provide greater insight on what to expect
on gameday.
In 2011, the Union had scored only 5 goals in the first seven games but their record was
4–2–1 instead of 2–4–1 as it is now. The defensive solidity that marked 2011 was unexpected
and proved decisive for the first half of the season as the Union struggled to find consistent
goalscoring.
Saer Sene (left) and Jose Moreno may give the Revolution a formidable one-two punch up top this
season. (Photo of Sene: Joshua Pearson. Photo of Moreno: Chris Aduama/aduama.com)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. For the first time this season, the Revolution finally featured what could be
considered a legitimate first-choice striking tandem on Saturday.
So this year's Emirates transfer saga is finally over, as RVP will put pen to paper on a four
year deal for arch rivals Manchester United. Gooners fans have been on an emotional rollercoaster
with this story all summer long, with many Arsenal fans stating their former golden boy "wasn't
that good" and the classic "he's injury prone".
Here's Sir Alex Ferguson welcoming his latest acquisitions to the flock earlier this afternoon;
Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell, bought in from Borussia Dortmund and Crewe Alexandra respectively,
and welcomed to Old Trafford with a personalised tablecloth each.
David Gill has told Manchester United fans to expect an "interesting time" this summer ahead of
the transfer window opening.
"The work goes on all year round but obviously intensifies as we come to the end of the
season in terms of players," Gill said. "There's various contracts we've got to do, we'll
look at some acquisitions and there will be some players who will leave.
Behind the Axe looks at the news surrounding the Portland Timbers from the past few days. Since
their last match against FC Dallas at home, the team has altered its roster despite fan comments.
The Timbers are hoping their new acquisitions plus extra time off is enough for them to secure
their first road win of the 2012 season, either in Toronto on August 15 or New York on August 19.
We all knew it was going to happen since this morning, but the 2:30 press conference made it
official: the Portland Timbers have fired John Spencer, the team's first coach of the MLS era.
Gavin Wilkinson will serve as interim coach until the end of the season. Club owner Merritt Paulson
and General Manager, Technical Director and Interim Head Coach Gavin Wilkinson made the
announcement jointly at Jeld Wen Field today.
Today we say good bye to another polarizing figure in the Portland Timbers' MLS history, striker
Jorge Perlaza.
Signed on March 7, 2011, Jorge Perlaza was the first of many Colombian acquisitions for General
Manager Gavin Wilkinson. His previous campaign with Deportes Tolima gave Timbers fans hope that
they'd have a goal scoring machine on the pitch, having scored 15 goals in 31 matches.
Borussia Dortmund star Jakub Blaszczykowski has snubbed rumoured interest from Liverpool, by
agreeing a new four-year deal with the Bundesliga champions.
In a statement on Dortmund's official website, it was announced that the Polish international put
pen to paper over a new long-term deal, effectively ending any such chances Liverpool had of luring
him to Anfield.
Arsenal are struggling to make room for new signings by BA Arsenal and Arsene Wenger have done
great work in the transfer market this summer. Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud are great
acquisitions and Gooners are even looking forward to next season with confidence. What worries me
is that we have not managed to offload [.
If we retain the precious third spot after next weekend, will we, as fans, really be
celebrating?
I don't mean celebrating as if we won a cup, or the league. But will we really feel satisfaction
or accomplishment? I know, that with about eight weeks left, looking at the run in for ourselves,
Spurs, Newcastle and Chelsea, it was exciting.
If we retain the precious third spot after next weekend, will we, as fans, really be
celebrating?
I don't mean celebrating as if we won a cup, or the league. But will we really feel satisfaction
or accomplishment? I know, that with about eight weeks left, looking at the run in for ourselves,
Spurs, Newcastle and Chelsea, it was exciting.
It didn't take long for Sebastian Le Toux to make an impact for the New York Red Bulls. His game
tying strike, and a steady performance from goalkeeper Bill Gaudette guided New York through brutal
heat en route to a 2-2 tie against the visiting Seattle Sounders.
MLS front-office personnel, get out your checkbooks. Silly season has arrived.
The MLS summer transfer window opens today, with teams able to bolster their rosters in hopes of
making a postseason push in the coming months. The New York Red Bulls, for one, have already
suggested that they are closing in on a major DP signing to assist their attack, while the Columbus
Crew are also reportedly on the DP hunt.
The Brotherly Game talked with Martin Shatzer of Black and Red United, SB Nation's D.C. United
site, ahead of tonight's Philadelphia Union-D.C. United game at PPL Park. For more on the game, and
United, head over to Black and Red United. The Brotherly Game: Last year it was a ridiculous run by Dwayne De Rosario that helped to
make D.
Poor Romelu Lukaku.  He's improved in training, he's done okay in matches. He's even eaten
fewer hamburgers. What more can a man do?!
Just goes to show though, doesn't it? Teams can spend a lot of money on players then never use
them. Chelsea can cover this sort of thing, but arguably, Fulham can't.
Poor Romelu Lukaku.  He's improved in training, he's done okay in matches. He's even eaten
fewer hamburgers. What more can a man do?!
Just goes to show though, doesn't it? Teams can spend a lot of money on players then never use
them. Chelsea can cover this sort of thing, but arguably, Fulham can't.
Liverpool have identified Celtic's chief scout John Park as a leading candidate to replace Damien
Comolli as director of football, it has been claimed.
Comolli was relieved of his duties last Thursday following a number of failed signings, and with
the Reds faltering in the Premier League.
The Frenchman was responsible for bringing the likes of Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing to Anfield
for exorbitant fees, and paid the price for the failings of the pitch of his numerous expensive
acquisitions.
We'll continue previewing the upcoming Fantasy Premier League season this week looking at potential
acquisitions and of course culminating with our standard "Gameweek Preview" at the end of the week,
and when we do we will constantly update ... Continue reading →
Although we play Toronto FC tonight I thought this would be a good time to look over the current
roster we have after the transfer window has closed. We added some pieces and we certainly have
some new looks to the team. This got me thinking about some of the possibilities that we may see in
the immediate future.
Michael James Williamson has turned out to be a stellar buy for Newcastle one of the best
acquisitions over the last three years, and the center-back cost just £1M from Portsmouth. Mike
Williamson first time in Europe next season Since signing on at Newcastle in January of 2010,
Mike Williamson has been a regular starter, apart form the first half [.
As a native of Uruguay, South America is a place that FC Dallas technical director Fernando Clavijo
knows quite well. In fact, the ex-Rapids head coach recently returned from there on a trip to scout
possible future acquisitions for FCD. He had plenty to say about his trip back to his home
continent, but the most interesting tidbit might be the following.
New kits are coming thick and fast, and while most are going with the standard 'cute boy in a
clean shirt' approach, Leeds United are enticing their fans with something a little different.
Tell us, Kickettes: do you even buy replica shirts?
Colorado has just announced that they've signed midfielder Harrison Henao on loan from Once Caldas
of Colombia. No terms were released but reports in Colombia say its until December and almost all
MLS loans include an option to buy. Henao is a 25 year old player who's been a pro since 2006.
Early indications are that he's a defensive midfielder, which may not be a positive sign for
Pablo's recovery.
