US manager Jurgen Klinsmann describes his relationship with assistant Martin Vasquez with Jeff Carlisle of ESPN.com-
One area where Klinsmann has moved quickly is in naming Martin Vasquez as his No. 1 assistant coach. The U.S. manager had previously indicated that he would audition guest assistants whenever the team got together as a means of filling out the spots on his staff.

*The MLS trade deadline is 2 p.m. tomorrow, so clubs looking at adding to their roster for the final run-in to the season (we're looking at you Chivas USA) had better pull the trigger quick.

From the MLS press release:

All player signings, trades, and transactions must be completed as of 5:00 p.

Their Words When we built this roster one of the first things we kept in mind was depth. DC United assistant coach Chad Ashton. Other Sources FIFA technology testing moving too slow for MLS - from The Sporting News's Brian Straus: The Galaxy's euphoria became frustration in an instant. Five quiet milestones about to be reached - from MLSsoccer.

Jose Mourinho prepares his side for a home tie Ajax on Wednesday night following a debate amongst Real Madrid's general assembly about the Portuguese manager. Some of the members were unhappy with the outspoken coach, and felt he has damaged the reputation of the club since his arrival.
Despite the heated debate, club president Florentino Perez did defend the 48-year old who moved to the Bernabeu in May 2010 from Italian side Inter Milan.

Their Words I'm worn out and I didn't actually have to play. But it was a great effort, a great team effort, which is what we're about. Colorado assistant coach Steve Guppy. video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player Other Sources Freddy Adu may get chance to face D.C. United, his former team - from The Washington Post's Steven Goff: "It's a little bit sore, but that's expected.

The player we thought we had, and would have liked to have, was Andre-Pierre Gignac. Gignac is a bit of an enigma: he scored 24 goals in Ligue 1 a couple of seasons back, which is hugely impressive in one of the most defensive leagues in Europe. The problem is he's never been near to that figure before or since (although his goals-to-games ratio has always been quite good).

Jurgen Klinsmann is often described as an "ideas man," someone who is eager to instill his own unique vision on the soccer field.
The Orange County, Calif., resident sat down with local media members on Monday and further outlined his visions for the US national team.
Whether it was discussing the development an "open-minded and risk-taking" identity or simply opening select training sessions to the public—as the team will do on Wednesday—Klinsmann touched on a number of his chief goals for his tenure.

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated comments on U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann naming Martín Vásquez as his No. 2, as well as his strengths and weaknesses-
Let me start off by saying it's rare to hear so much talk about an assistant coach for the U.S. national team. Quick, can you name the No.

When it was discovered today that Bobby Rhine passed unexpectedly of a heart attack, it hit the greater MLS community fairly hard. Rhine had played 10 years with Dallas and just recently entered the broadcasting field as a rapidly rising star. Fans in Dallas are holding a memorial this evening. His family is asking for donations made in his name to the FC Dallas foundation.

With frustrations mounting around the Revolution fan nation over the team's forgettable season, many fingers (including our own) have been pointing to Steve Nicol. While just about any Revs fan will give due credit to Stevie's years with the team, especially the Revs' MLS Cup Final years of 2005-2007, sometimes a change is the best solution.

Each year the Virginia Youth Soccer Association (VYSA) selects special individuals for awards that are presented at the annual convention. It is time for those of you who have special people in your clubs, on your teams, and in general have done exceptional things for soccer in the past year to be nominated and recognized for their service.

This morning the Illinoss Piasa a professional club playing in the PASL-Pro league announced their coaching staff via their Facebook team page (currently the official team website says "Website Coming Soon"):
'We are proud to announce the coaching staff for 2011-2012. Joe Reiniger and Justin McMillian wil be co-head coaches, with Elvir Kafedzic as their assistant coach!

By CALEB SONNELAND

Having been out of managerial action since late February, Claudio Ranieri has found work yet again — in Milan, Italy.

Last year's Serie A runner-up Inter Milan has decided to give the Italian journeyman a shot with the Nerazzurri after the club parted ways with Gian Piero Gasperini yesterday.

This weekend I had the privilege of speaking at the New England Symposium on Statistics in Sports. It is a much more technical conference than the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference so I felt a bit like a duck out of water given my background in computer science and not hardcore statistical methods (and these guys were hardcore!

Colorado faces Isidro Metapan tonight in El Salavador at 8pm MDT. The game is delayed until 10:30pm on FOX Soccer Channel but can be watched live on the CONCACAF Champions League site. The supporters groups are gathering at the British Bulldog for this one, presumably to watch the live stream on big screens.

Six matches into the season, and the discussion about where things stand from a Liverpool perspective, both individually and collectively, is well underway. Noel's given us a couple of great pieces already, first looking at Andy Carroll on Monday and Charlie Adam today. While both have a titular (not like that, pervs) focus on specific individuals, both have also created excellent conversation about these individuals' impact on the team as a whole, which, given the changes in the side, is an interesting and, in some cases, divisive topic.

The Colorado Rapids looked like a team raising the white flag and giving up on the CONCACAF Champions League when they fielded a reserve team in a must-win game against Salvadoran side Isidro Metapan.

At least that was the initial impression. The Rapids reserves had other plans.

Arsenal assistant coach Pat Rice believes Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is capable of breaking into the England team this season after the former Southampton youngster impressed on his Champions League debut against Olympiakos last night.

Oxlade-Chamberlain completed his switch from the Championship side to Arsenal this summer and more than held his own against the Greek Champions, finding the net to become the youngest ever Englishman to score in Europen football's leading club competition.