There's a new show available at the American Soccer Show website, or if you prefer, download it here. There's draw talk, strike talk, and USL/NASL meeting talk. DOWNLOAD the show SUBSCRIBE in...

Jose Romero drops what I consider to be a bomb in regards to the MLS CBA negotiations; citing an unnamed source, he says the league wants a five-year agreement. I hope that's a negotiable point for...

While Major League Soccer and the MLS Players Union continue trying to hammer out a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement behind closed doors, several of the league's stars have taken to the media as a way to get their viewpoints across to the public. The latest MLS player to speak out about the ongoing negotiations and the possibility of a strike is Seattle Sounders FC goalkeeper and former US international Kasey Keller, who expressed his feelings at length yesterday on his own blog - Kasey's Last Line.

With all the news about the CBA out there these days (ok, a few stories Romero, Denz) I thought that a key point would be the key areas where the Players and League disagree. Some of these may have compromises, some will not. There will be points where one side or the other will get their way.
The main issues where the Players and League disagree are the following -

- Guaranteed Contracts
- Free Agency
- Club Autonomy
- Salary Floor
- Developmental Players

The secondary issues that are not necessarily CBA related (ht to denz again)

- Salary Cap
- Designated Player Slots
- Allocation

This isn't necessarily going to be another series of stories, but I think that the topics might build on each other.

We've known for several weeks months that the next round of expansion in Major League Soccer would start with Montreal. The league has taken another step closer to getting to that point today as MLS commissioner Don Garber has traveled to Montreal to meet with Joey Saputo and some local government officials.

Sure, I may be sounding like a broken record, but let's look at a few stories that are out there right now, and then think about why MLS is not able to take advantage of the situation.

Landon Donovan is likely to loan out to Everton. That's great news, but for many US players things are actually kind of ugly over there in Europe.

Don Garber and the league need to resolve the CBA quickly. (Getty Images)

Let's face it folks, 2009 is just a couple weeks from finishing here. With that means 2010 and all its glory but even more important is the month ahead for MLS fans. Not only is it the SuperDraft month, a transfer window opening up, some international friendlies but the end of the current CBA.

MLS Daily has a post up on comments made by Kasey Keller on his personal blog regarding the MLS CBA negotiations. Keller's tone isn't to cheery, and he described the sides as far apart on an...

Disclaimer: This is not set in stone, nor is this in any way an official schedule/time line. These are simply my observations based on the events surrounding similar collective bargaining agreement situations in sports.
Seeing as I am The Black Cloud, it seems only right that I do my best to describe just what will happen should the current collective bargaining agreement between MLS and the MLSPU expire on January 31st, 2010.

The MLS Players Union wants FIFA to rule on Major League Soccer contracts, and address what they see as a failure to comply with international rules. They've enlisted the help of the powerful...

Ben Knight wrote this back in September when the grass at BMO process was reaching a crescendo, and I just haven't commented on it until now. Anyway, enjoy the tale of the wooden boy who dreamed to be real, also known as Toronto FC.

Just as Pinocchio dreamed of becoming a real boy, Toronto has dreamed of being a real soccer city.

I think negotiations for the new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) for the MLS Players Union so far can be summed up like this: Union: We want better contracts. Owners: No. Union: Please? Owners: No. Union: Pretty please? Owners: No. Union: Fine. We'll go get our big brother FIFPro. Owners: Fine.

During the week leading up to MLS Cup in Seattle, Don Garber lamented any talk of a strike by the players union as "irresponsible" and "detrimental to the process". His tone was forceful and his...

On January 21st, pending a CBA agreement, the primary transfer window will open for Major League Soccer. As usual I will start to track those players that would be available on a Free. While the Designated Players get all the attention, there have been several free transfers and loans that have really helped the league step forward.

Back in August, I wrote a post on how big the end of 2009 could for American soccer. At the time, I focused on the MLS CBA negotiations, possible MLS expansion, and the World Cup draw; little did I...

The holiday season is in full force here as we have (gasp!) nine days until Christmas! Yikes. Anyways it seems like a perfect time to sit back and look at what each team and the league in general should be putting on their Christmas shopping lists this year.

Now I will admit some of this is purely for fun while the rest may be serious wishes that people out there probably want for their teams.

Donovan gets a new deal and a loan to Everton.

We knew going into the day that the LA Galaxy would be making some sort of "major" announcement regarding Landon Donovan. It was pretty easy to guess that Donovan was in the works to get a loan deal to EPL side Everton.

Well that deal was announced today along with Donovan signing a four-year extension with the club.

Creepy Jose Romero with a followup to yesterday's post (which I discussed here):

Some things to ponder:
-MLS, according to an unnamed source, wants a five-year deal for the next CBA.

That is intriguing.

-For all intents and purposes, it appears the Sounders FC ownership has tried to be fair with the players but is keeping its distance from the negotiations.

Rumors of a Second DP Renewed

Steve Davis (who also writes at Daily Soccer Fix) has a hint that there are owners pushing for a Second DP slot, but that there is a first goal of getting the empty slots filled first. Yes, Seattle is one of those teams.

Part of the reason many teams don't use their DP is because you get one shot, and getting that shot wrong bears a high cost.

As fans, particularly the type that actively hope for soccer to take the next step (even if we're not sure what that next step might be) in the United States, it's easy to get overexcited about...

At the beginning of September, Chris Rolfe announced that he would be leaving the Fire in January to join Danish club Aalborg BK. Rolfe, who tried to negotiate an extension with the Fire for two years before signing with Aalborg, said his decision to leave MLS was motivated by a few things - one of which was money.

There's been some discussion lately on adding a second or even a third Designated Player in Major League Soccer. The big debate is over whether or not the league really needs to move in that direction of adding a couple more high priced players when only a select number of clubs even use the DP slot to begin with.

The 24-year-old former University of Maryland product really has some outstanding quotes but what really peaked our interest was his quote on the CBA.

"The main points of the negotiations revolve around MLS players deserving the same rights under FIFA that all other players in the world have.