spotted at Major League Soccer

In a great move for the New York Red Bulls they have signed their final Designated Player, Rafa Marquez. The Mexican defender is a legend at Barcelona where he played with the other high profile Red Bulls signing Thierry Henry. The Red Bulls have made the most of their 3 designated player allocations providing their club with two proven strikers up front in Juan Pablo Angel and Thierry Henry while still getting a veteran player in the back that can still easily play at MLS standards.

Ever wonder who the best players not playing in the World Cup are? Have you had questions about just how much MLS allocations are worth? Have you spent time thinking about whether Canada will ever be a CONCACAF power?

These are just some of the questions and topics covered in this latest installment of Your January Questions Answered.

Coming out of MLS Superdraft, the Red Bulls held the #1 allocation slot, meaning that the club would have first dubs on any returning USMNT players. The Red Bulls' position atop the allocation heap was the result of a deal that Peter Nowak and the Philadelphia Union made on the eve of the draft to send its #1 allocation slot to DC United in return for Fred, DC's #7 pick in the first round of the draft and a substantial amount of allocation money (believed to be more than $200,000).

Ever wonder who the best players not playing in the World Cup are? Have you had questions about just how much MLS allocations are worth? Have you spent time thinking about whether Canada will ever be a CONCACAF power?

These are just some of the questions and topics covered in this latest installment of Your January Questions Answered.

Southend Borough Council REALLY want you to take notice of the forthcoming census. They sent Longpier.com and other media organisations a press release about the once-in-a-decade survey earlier this week. But the actual forms won't be sent out to residents of the borough for another ELEVEN months.

We are on the road tonight, so we thought we would quickly touch on the recently released mid-summer salary numbers. The salary list offers insight into the status of MLS earnings. Highlights include the new DP salaries, including $300k for the Sounder's Fernandez and around $500k for N'Kufo and Boscovic.

By Chris Wright

Manchester City have cut Manchester United's ticket allocation for the next upcoming derby on November 10th, as punishment for United fans failing to comply with various safety standards during last season's corresponding fixture at Eastlands.

Every once and a while, our business coverage dovetails with more traditional coverage of MLS. Today is one of those days. Commissioner Garber gave his annual State of League address and highlighted some important business changes. We thought we would address some of these here.

The address started with the Commissioner noting the importance of the league presenting a new champion in 2010.