Before the season, there wasn't much about Major League Soccer I felt sure of. I wasn't sure how my favorite team, DC United, was going to respond given all of its offseason acquisitions and the makeup of the attack.
I had a thought that San Jose might continue to develop into a decent little team.

If there is one team that is secretly thriving in a summer of high-profile transfers, it is Birmingham City. As mentioned by my fellow Premiership Talk writer, Brian Lofrumento, the newly promoted outfit is reportedly pursuing former Arsenal captain Patrick Viera, which is in addition to a handful of other acquisitions made recently.

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Fulham has had its share of Americans pass through the ranks in recent years, with many enjoying very successful stints.

As reported earlier by MLS Talk correspondent Kartik Krishnaiyer, Miami FC have signed U-20 start Gale Agbossoumonde.
The native of Benin was a fundamental stalwart in the US defense during the qualifiers in Mexico that were cut short due to the swine flu breakout. Agbossoumonde signed with the USL side and what made it final was the win by the Puerto Rico Islanders against Toronto FC.

It's turning into Burnley week here. The newly promoted EPL club made some nice acquisitions to their squad yesterday, bringing in Fletcher and Mears.
But the good PR stops there. When I found out that Burnley would be making the 6,000 mile trip to California next month for a pre-season tour of the US and a few friendlies right in my backyard, I got very excited.

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Right in the middle of a playoff run, a fully fit squad is vital for D.C. United to prevent a second consecutive absence from the playoffs.

PR ISLANDERS FC - PRESS RELEASE

April 2, 2009

Bayamon, PR

The Puerto Rico Islanders announced today that they have come to an agreement with midfielder Domenic Mediate (pending league approval) and goalkeeper Chris McClellan for the 2009 season. Forward Fabrice Noël will return to the Islanders for 2009 as well.

So now that we've already reviewed and analyzed DC United's acquisitions and departures since the close of the 2008 season, let's take a look at the trades. Basically just one big one, and a couple players swapped for late-round draft picks.
1. The biggest offseason move was DC United trading Ivan Guerrero, Colorado's own designated player slot, and a 2010 2nd round draft pick to the Rapids for Christian Gomez and goalkeeper Mike Graczyk.

Real Madrid officially announced the addition of Esteban Granero for the next four seasons after the player has played with Getafe in the last two, fulfilling a fundamental role.
Granero thus becomes the seventh player to incorporate to Madrid this season after the millionaire acquisitions of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, Benzema, Albiol, Negredo and Garay.

One of the more quiet acquisitions that MLSE made this summer was a controlling stake in the football specialty channel GolTV. The purchase may be the first step towards making a TFC TV channel but of course that means MLSE will need to create a full line-up of programming. As with any network, not all of the shows can be big hits - such as.

Wenger set to splash some cash..surely not!

The Rumour

ARSENAL want Roma's Mirko Vucinic to replace Emmanuel Adebayor.

Talks are under way for £17million rated Vucinic, following the £25m sale of Adebayor to Manchester City.

The Montenegro star, 25, has insisted he is happy in Rome, despite also being linked with Manchester United and Tottenham.

With a new job just around the corner, Zenit St Petersburg boss Dick Advocaat has now got no qualms about letting his feelings be known.
Having just completed the signing of Torino star Alessandro Rosina on Friday, everyone was happy it appears apart from coach Advocaat.
Advocaat was apparently fuming that he actually didn't sanction the move for the Italian and does not believe the Italian is a good addition to the squad.

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The New York Red Bulls' nightmare season is apparently going to lead to some people losing their jobs, but not as quickly as some might have imagined.

The 2009-10 La Liga season is nearly upon us and we here at Mad About Fútbol will breakdown the chances and player movement of all 20 teams in Spain's 1st division for the 2009-10 season. This time we will breakdown Getafe Club de Fútbol, the Madrid side known as Azulones
LAST SEASON (2008-09):
Getafe barely stayed up in the 1st division last year.

Isn't it amazing how long it takes Fifa to put put five words together and then act upon them. Football's transfer system is flawed and everybody knows it, so why is it only now that constructive action is being taken?

The biggest problem faced by the current system is the widespread tapping-up of players and the lack of either a deterrent or preventative measures.

A decision that could be said to be an interesting one. The Sports Business Journal is reporting that the league owners have decided to move this year's MLS Cup in Seattle to prime-time TV on November 22nd. The switch also sees the game go from network TV to cable TV for the first time.

The owners are hoping the later start time will enhance the stadium atmosphere which should translate into a better TV viewing experience.

Hey everybody, I have had an insanely busy last couple of days so unfortunately I wasn't able to write a full entry for this morning. However, I didn't want to leave the site blank for you guys so I thought I'd share a short -- yet loaded -- question with you all.

You can check out the poll after the jump.

PR ISLANDERS FC - PRESS RELEASE

February 18, 2009

Bayamon, PR. The Puerto Rico Islanders announce that Jamaicans Nicholas Addlery and Sean Fraser along with Uruguayan Martin Nuñez have come to terms with the club for the 2009 season, pending league's approval.

Addlery, a former Jamaican international and US Permanent Resident, comes from the USL defending Champions Vancouver Whitecaps where he scored 4 goals and 1 assist in 27 games in the 2008 season.

After the unfortunate collapse of our USL brother Impact in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, the Puerto Rico Islanders find themselves surrounded by three Mexican teams in the semifinals. Yes... USL men (not MLS) will be playing with the big boys from now on.

The Islanders will face Mexico City's Cruz Azul in the semifinals, and shall the Puerto Ricans succeed and bury the Blue Hare, then the Boricuas will face the winner of the Atlante FC and Santos Laguna semifinal match, in the tournament's final.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has suggested that it is more difficult for his team to win the Premier League than rivals Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United because they can't match their spending power.
The Spanish tactician believes that even if the Reds do not win the title this season, they have demonstrated that they have a squad capable of doing so by mounting a serious challenge during the 2008-09 campaign.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was hoping that one of his favourite players, Xabi Alonso, would also be one of his easier transfer acquisitions this summer, but the player's current bosses at Liverpool appear to have other ideas.
The deep-lying playmaker was on the verge of leaving Anfield this time last year as his manager, Rafael Benitez, had hoped to cash in on his departure to fund a move for Gareth Barry.

Liverpool have confirmed that Glen Johnson has joined them today from Portsmouth, in a deal reportedly worth £18.5 million, though there has apparently been some negotiation around the fee due to Pompey still owing the Merseysiders money from the deal that took Peter Crouch to the South Coast.

Well, sort of "the big leagues". What I am getting at with the preceding comment is that one of the fascinating things about world soccer is the behind the scenes work that a professional soccer team's manager and front-office has to do throughout the year to keep a viable team together. Case in point: Yura Movsisyan's move to Randers FC of Denmark.

Morning everyone. A couple of things have been happening in the world of Arsenal in the past few days so I figured I'd keep everyone up to date.
First of all, it's only 8 days until the first preseason match! We'll get to see that annual match vs Barnet, which while not an overly competitive match usually, it is the return of football each year and that is something to be celebrated.

Inter boss is not satisfied with the transfer window; Moratti said to him no to ask for excuses and the Portuguese is looking up north, where fiercely reinforced Juventus are set to get back what they rightfully deserve. Mourinho is avoiding press in Los Angeles, where the team is on preparations but knowing him, the Portuguese won't be quiet for much longer.

Probably not. If anything, the team is moving backwards--as hard as that may be to believe. Its newest acquisitions--Leo Krupnik, Bouna Kondoul and Ernst Obster--do absolutely nothing to address the team's various shortcomings. Its coach remains unwilling to budge on tactical or lineup strategies and continues to make decisions that boggle the mind.

This man is heading out of the New York Red Bulls!
From the Red Bull New York Front Office, the team announced today that it has waived midfielder Khano Smith.
Smith, 28, has played in eight games this season for New York, starting in six. He was signed by the Red Bulls during the off-season on February 12 from Seattle Sounders FC in exchange for allocation money.

The odds on FC Dallas sneaking into the MLS playoffs got longer today with the news that they have agreed to sell Kenny Cooper to Bundesliga team TSV 1860 Munich. As per MLS policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Cooper, 24, has spent three seasons with FC Dallas, racking up an impressive 40 goals in 90 appearances, which is good for the team's all-time top spot.

Liverpool never planned on selling Xabi Alonso, but in the end the Reds couldn't fight off Real Madrid.

One of the lengthier transfer sagas of the summer concluded on Tuesday with Liverpool agreeing to sell the Spanish international to Real Madrid for £30 million ($50.76 million).

by TRAVIS CLARK

In a competition that is becoming somewhat of a nightmare for D.C. United, they couldn't get their 2009 CONCACAF Champions League campaign off to a good start. Two late goals from Jerry Palacios and Marios Berrios were the difference as United's poor road record continued this year.

With Barcelona, Valencia, Real Madrid and Bilbao all atop the standings it appears that someone needs to step up and separate themselves from the pack. Unfortunately, it's too early to tell who that will be.

I spent an entire previous column lamenting how the major acquisitions for Real Madrid might derail their entire club: Well, right now they're making me look good.

One of the common themes from press conferences and interviews with Mark Hughes this season has been his satisfaction with the current make up of the squad. This time he is praising the application and attitude to the training sessions:

City's boss also admitted that not every player in the squad he inherited last year was able to rise to the challenge of his demanding regime - but there is no dissent in the camp today.

Today Ian Ladyman at the Daily Mail wrote an interesting article analyzing the major acquisitions at Manchester City under Mark Hughes and whether his £243million investment was worth it.

PR ISLANDERS FC - PRESS RELEASE

April 2, 2009

Bayamon, PR

The Puerto Rico Islanders announced today that they have come to an agreement with midfielder Domenic Mediate (pending league approval) and goalkeeper Chris McClellan for the 2009 season. Forward Fabrice Noël will return to the Islanders for 2009 as well.

Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck has admitted that the club would like to buy players using the funds from sold players. He told the club's official website,

"I think I could maybe discuss transfers generally. We are expecting some players to leave this summer, I don't know whether it is three, four or five, and several players to come in.

High demand dictates decision to make more tickets available With the lower seating bowl being virtually sold out, D.C. United have announced that seats in the FedExField upper bowl to the match against Real Madrid C.F. are now available for sale. The match will be played August 9 at 3 p.m. ET and will feature United facing recently announced acquisitions Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year and 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year, respectively.

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Fulham has had its share of Americans pass through the ranks in recent years, with many enjoying very successful stints.

Good morning, be gentle with me, I am *boilking* somewhat. They say never mix wine and beer, right? Who knew they meant over the course of a night and not just in the same glass?

Anyway, plenty going on this morning. The main news from yesterday was the fact that Robin van Persie has signed a new long-term contract with the club.

Sir Alex is making Carlos Tevez's return to Old Trafford as a City player very challenging. This old master of mind games is psyching out the upstart team with their riches and new shiny acquisitions. The Daily Mail has an interview with plenty of digs at Tevez and City.

The Argentinian player is not worth £25m in his estimation.

With July upon us it's finally time to get back into action again following the month-long Allsvenskan break. July 1st marks the official end of the silly summer. The transfer window opens in Sweden as well as the rest of Europe and Allsvenskan starts back up just a few days later. Transfer speculations are sure to continue with even more fervor as vacations end and European clubs look over their assets and needs.