Breaking this weekend was the surprising news that 2010 MLS MVP candidate Edson Buddle was poised to make his long-discussed move overseas. What made it surprising was that the move was not to Birmingham City, which is where he had long been rumored to go, but to FC Ingolstadt, a Bundesliga 2 club that is currently in danger of being relegated to the third German soccer division.

After Manchester United's 4-0 victory over the MLS All-Stars last night at Red Bull Arena, Alex Labidou of Goal.com was able to speak with Anders Lindegaard and Ji-Sung Park about what's needed for MLS, and specifically American soccer, to continue to grow.
Year after year, Manchester United continues to show that there is a huge disparity between the world's best and Major League Soccer.

It behooves any country with serious aspirations on the world soccer scene to entrust the development of its young players to the pros. To the country's professional clubs, that is. Like in most endeavors, privatization tends to lead to more efficiency, and Major League Soccer's nascent academies are slowly but very concertedly wresting youth soccer away from the traditional avenues.

FC Tampa Bay is a professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida, USA. Founded in 2008, the team currently plays in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. FC Tampa Bay is the first professional soccer team from the Tampa-St. Petersburg area since the folding of MLS' Tampa Bay [.

By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Oct 24, 2011) US Soccer Players – When it comes to national television ratings, American soccer fans already know that Major League Soccer lags far behind this country's established sports leagues. MLS has long talked about a broader footprint, but even with 19 teams next season there are areas of the USA and Canada where the League has no presence.

The MLS is certainly unique among major U.S. sports - it is the only draft in which a team passes on a player because he needs to establish residency. But such is the reason why MLS fans love the MLS - it is unique in both the world of soccer and the American sports world. And the draft is another unique aspect; it is an event dedicated to the selection of what are essentially late blooming players who went to college, an oddity in Europe but an essential part of the American soccer landscape.

AP

View full size photo »

The news of Eric Cantona's hiring by the New York Cosmos to become their new Director of Soccer has sent a ripple through the soccer world and has the famous old North American Soccer League team name in the news again.

The main topic of the week so far was the decision by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) to pull its provisional Division 2 sanctioning of the North American Soccer League (NASL).
What bothers me is that for years the USSF sat there and watched the United Soccer Leagues (USL) do anything they wanted to soccer in this country from division 2 down.

The New York Cosmos don't need Major League Soccer. But MLS needs the Cosmos.
The Cosmos flexed their muscles in recent weeks with the announcement of Eric Cantona and Cobi Jones joining the organization. The subsequent media blitz across the big apple further showed how the Cosmos brand still has allure even after 30 years since they last played in the old North American Soccer League.

American soccer fans are in for a treat this summer's as some of Europe's biggest clubs make their way stateside for summer tours. One of those clubs that is sure... Read more »

Time for some quick hits on business stories circulating the world of American soccer scene. We'll start with USWNT goalie Hope Solo, who has reportedly inked a mult-year deal with Gatorade to join their stable of spokesman/atheletes. According to the Sports Business Journal, the deal is estimated to fall in the low six-figure (per year) range.

Adding to the mysterious aura surrounding the make-believe soccer club, the New York Cosmos named Manchester United "Player of the Century" Eric Cantona their "Director of Soccer" today.
From the Cosmos' press release:

"I am very honored to join the legendary club New York Cosmos.

Photo Credit: JayDeMeritStory.comTonight the Free Beer Movement, in conjunction with the Austin chapter of the American Outlaws, will screening "Rise and Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story" at Draft Pick American Grill (1620 E. Riverside Dr) at 8:00pm. Free popcorn, food/drink specials, and drawings for door prizes are all on-deck!

Mark Zeigler writes of the change agent that is Jurgen Klinsmann.
There are a few things you need to understand about Juergen Klinsmann and U.S. Soccer, which officially hired him Friday to replace Bob Bradley as men's national coach.
First, the American soccer establishment is a largely an old boys network who sit on each other's boards and in each other's luxury boxes.

This is the America we dream of.
By Kirsten Schlewitz / Senior West Coast Beer and Aston Villa Correspondent
The 16th season of Major League Soccer kicks off tonight and like a fine wine it has aged gracefully. Or, more similarly, like a teenager thrashing about, some times its a hit.

By Neil W. Blackmon Nearly one year after a British announcer's call on a Californian's defining moment in a game played on a far away continent catapulted American soccer into coffee break and living room fodder and inspired a country, fate intervened. Fate intervened in the 89th minute and delivered the American soccer diehards, the [.

We all must find ways to entertain ourselves in the offseason. Some turn to other sports, pick up crochet, or run a footy academy in Iceland. Other's such as the ever entertaining Stuart Holden, turn to American soccer to fill their time. While working on his rehab in America, Stu took sometime to support his home league and attended the Philadelphia Union-Sporting Kansas City match.

Abby Wambach's dramatic stoppage-time header, Hope Solo's amazing reflexes, and an incredible 10-women team effort saw the United States Women's National Team triumph over the anti-soccer tactics of Brazil and capture the nation's interest.
Unfortunately, no matter how many heroic these women perform there will be one thing that they can't triumph over.

Hey look, its another generation of youth captivated by a women's team. I'm sure that won't pay dividends for the future of American soccer...The word "destiny" got thrown around pretty casually in the run up to this Women's World Cup Final. Granted it was by a lot of media types looking to make Sunday's match as hyperbolic as possible; most American soccer fans held back only hoping for the best while fearing the worst (hey it's in our nature).

As U.S. Soccer's Youth Technical Director, Claudio Reyna believes a key to improving American player development is convincing more youth clubs to strive for a style of play conducive to nurturing talent. The 78-club U.S. Soccer Development Academy, which kicked off its fifth season this month, is a integral part of the national team program's quest to improve American soccer.

Founded in 2006 by Tom Dunmore, Pitch Invasion remains the cream of the crop of independent football writing on the internet. It has been packed to the brim with quality for five years, which is precisely why a "Very Best of Pitch Invasion" book was compiled by Mr. Dunmore. As an Englishman from Brighton who moved to Chicago to get his PhD at the University of Chicago, Tom has since taken to MLS and even became the chairman of Section 8, the supporters group of the Chicago Fire.

Photo: Courtesy of Philadelphia Union and Donald Montague

On Saturday night, despite the loud presence of a Sons of Ben contingent, the Union finished the domestic leg of their preseason on a down note with a 1–0 loss to Orlando City SC. For Orlando—of the USL Pro League, the third division in the American soccer pyramid—it was both their first match and first win since the club was announced in October of 2010.

We continue to expand our coverage of American soccer culture with our series "Better Know a Supporters Group," just like Steven Colbert's "Better Know a District" from "The Colbert Report".
Our goal: to feature each of the MLS teams' supporters groups. We've sent e-mails to each and every SG in Major League Soccer and soon you'll be able to check all what each is all about and what awesomeness they have to contribute to our growing American soccer world.

A friend of P2010 forwarded us an article a while back a Q&A with his former youth coach, which you can (and should) read here.

You may not know Tom Howe I didn't before I read that article but you really should. For many years he coached at the famed St.

I begin with a warning and an observation. First, I do not want to dwell on American soccer troll topics. This post is not meant to gauge the "effectiveness" of the college soccer system in producing elite players as compared to European youth academies. Rather, I want to focus on the intangible. I also want to grapple with a topic that has long ached at my soul: does our consumption of top-level European soccer foster child labor exploitation in Africa and elsewhere?

This is how is should look.At Saturday's shambolic U.S. National Team game the goal was the fill the stadium with red.
Nike had earlier debut their red national team strip and helped outfit the American's unofficial supporters group, the American Outlaws, with a cool Shepard Fairey designed "Indivisble" collaboration to add to the already red 2011 AO members shirt.

-Ben McCormick Let's fix American soccer. Right here, right now. By the end of this post, you will know exactly how the USMNT will get to where it should be: firmly above Mexico, challenging the world powers consistently. It's a long post, but I swear, by the end you'll know exactly how to fix it.

-Ben McCormick Let's fix American soccer. Right here, right now. By the end of this post, you will know exactly how the USMNT will get to where it should be: firmly above Mexico, challenging the world powers consistently. It's a long post, but I swear, by the end you'll know exactly how to fix it.

Since the founding of Major League Soccer in 1993, American soccer has faced an uphill battle against a public that really does not embrace the sport. Facing the already established and popular sports: NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA, and car racing (mainly NASCAR), it's been a tough sell.

Yesterday we discussed some of the great success enjoyed in year two of the revamped MLSSoccer.com. Page views are up and the site has become a hub for soccer news seeking web surfers. Today, the site launched a great project chronicling North American Soccer. Check here for a link.

We thought it worth taking a look at how far the site has come.

Watching Major League Soccer highlights last night one might think hockey season broke out. Sporting KC's Kei Kamara mixing it up against Matt Pickens and the Colorado Rapids was the nightcap, but the undercard in the early evening proved to be the most compelling.
The American soccer world is buzzing about the post-game handbags between New York Red Bulls Rafael Marquez and LA Galaxy's Juninho.

The news (and now confirmation) that NBC Sports has hired Seattle Sounders match commentator Arlo White as its lead man for MLS coverage is a loss for the Sounders and their fans but a much bigger boost to the state of American soccer commentary. White came over from the BBC but not without some familiarity with American sport as he had commentated a Super Bowl a few years before.

From The Americano

Mid-July 2011.

What is the significance of this date?

That's when training camps for the 2011-12 NFL season would open. For the first time since 1987 however, the National Football League may experience a work stoppage due to the expiration of their Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL Players Association.

According to some report from US media, it looks like American soccer player Freddy Adu
will be loaned to Second division team from Black see region, Caykur Rizespor.
The city of Rize where Turkish Prime MInester Recep Tayyip Erdogan is from...
Anyway, According to his agent Freddy will play for Caykur Rizespor.

Photos by courtesy of Bursaspor.org
WHAT A DAY FOR BURSA AND BURSASPOR FANS AND FOR THE AMERICANS WHO FOLLOW ALTIDORE ON INTERNET AND TWITTER!
IT WAS LIKE, WHO WHERE AND WHEN......BREATH TAKEN!
FINALY, ALTIDORE AND HIS MANAGER, DECIDED, IN THE LAST MINUTE.

While much of the world will focus their beady, little eyes on the European Champions League (and we can't blame them), MLS fans and fans in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Honduras all have horses in CONCACAF's version of the Champions League.
American soccer has a chance to make a big mark on the regional stage.

Photo by Rich Schultz/ISIphotos.com

By JOHN BOSCHINI

CARY, N.C. - Over the last few years, Tim Howard has had no shortage of memorable moments in a United States jersey. His performance in the 2-0 upset of Spain in the 2009 Confederation Cup, a kick in the ribs courtesy of Emile Heskey during the World Cup in Rustenburg last June, and, nine days later, the throw that initiated perhaps the most famous moment in American soccer history spring quickly to mind.

With Opta now getting advanced statistics for MLS, things are hopeful, but relatively inactive at this time. Sure, we get an occasional tweet from they or MLS_Analyst with stats. Many of these though are trivia, not analysis, and certainly not predictive.

Certainly this may be due to the nature of twitter.

Good news, everyone! The past sixteen years of hard work has been worth something after all. No, but really, Sir Alex Ferguson says that Manchester United are "finding it increasingly more exciting" every time they come across the pond, especially since MLS "is now developing into a very competitive league".

Back in 2008 I interviewed Michael Lewis (@RSLTribune) and James Edward (@DesNewsReal) about RSL, MLS, and what it was like to cover them. With all the changes in the world of RSL, I wanted to reprise that interview. Michael was kind enough to join me again. This time around, he's joined by Jeremy Horton (@RSL_Jeremy) who writes for Goal.