After the World Cup he says he's done.

"I cannot play when I am 50."

I thought he would. Though he's only 33, and I've been under the impression that he's been in his 40s for a while now.
Oh well, to the links:

• Scotland fires head coach. [FourFourTwo]
  
• Neville wants an elite pool of refs.

Click to continue reading...

Garber gave an earlier and less formal state of the league address than he has in years past in a teleconference with reporters today.

Garber announced the MLS Best XI during the call, which includes one player apiece from the Galaxy and Chivas USA:

goalkeeper - Zach Thornton
defenders - Chad Marshall, William Conde, Geoff Cameron
midfielders - Dwayne DeRosario, Landon Donovan, Stuart Holden, Shalrie Joseph, Freddie Ljungberg
forwards - Conor Casey, Jeff Cunningham

Other major talking points included:
*A reiteration MLS is looking to become a 20-team league.

Click to continue reading...

Major League Soccer conducted the annual State of the League on Monday, this time by conference call. Garber defended the current playoff structure. "We felt like we got it right this year," Garber said. Calling the games 'exciting,' Garber pointed to attendance as proof that this year's playoff structure worked. Click to continue reading...

I've written that Garber keeps his ideological cards close to his chest, but in fining DCU Prez Kevin Payne $5000 today for calling a spade a spade—that the onfield product in MLS is not good enough and won't draw in more fans until it is—means that the guy isn't hearing what needs to be heard.
This is really not good, especially in light of the fact Payne didn't even mention bringing better players with more money, everyone's favourite MLS bugbear. Click to continue reading...

Orlando, FL The 2009 Major League Soccer Racial and Gender Report Card resulted in continued outstanding results for MLS regarding racial hiring practices and another significant improvement in gender hiring practices.

MLS earned a third consecutive solid A (92) for racial hiring after getting A's in the categories of MLS League Office, players, head coaches, team president/CEO and team professional administration.

Click to continue reading...

Orlando, FL The 2009 Major League Soccer Racial and Gender Report Card resulted in continued outstanding results for MLS regarding racial hiring practices and another significant improvement in gender hiring practices.

MLS earned a third consecutive solid A (92) for racial hiring after getting A's in the categories of MLS League Office, players, head coaches, team president/CEO and team professional administration.

Click to continue reading...

Looks like this guy is doing his best Dr. Emmett Brown impersonation.
You know, the wacky scientist in Back to the Future.
Ahhhh, now you're seeing it.
To the links:

• Rangers win the Old Firm bout 2-1. [Telegraph]
  
• Garber backs Kroenke to buy Arsenal.

Click to continue reading...

Postmatch coming. Feel free to leave comments here

Related posts:

1. US-El Salvador 1997 Highlights of the US trip to San Salvador during the...
2. Blatter, Garber out of touch with American sports fans FIFA President Blatter's statement a couple weeks back regarding.

Click to continue reading...

Dan Loney weighs in with what I figured out long ago. I can boil his post down to a single sentence.

MLS has found a way to make money from people who hate MLS.

And that's pretty much the point of Soccer United Marketing's existence. Quite honestly, it's the answer to keeping MLS afloat and prosperous in the long term. Click to continue reading...

Brian Lewis over on the New York Post's Blog gave us a nugget of information regarding FC Barcelona's interest in perhaps purchasing a 2nd team in New York:

I don't claim to have Deep Throat in my Five, or get flown to Salzburg to go over the books of the Austrian overlords.

Click to continue reading...

Commissioner Garber at the Philly Union Presser.
It wasn't quite a State of the League address, but it was a story on SI.com from Soccer America's Ridge Mahoney about all things MLS with The Don. Read and enjoy all three pages. Click to continue reading...

Let's start off with a crazy one:

• Landon Donovan and Sao Paulo?
  
• The big news is Real's successful move for Xabi Alonso.
  
• Lescott has asked for a City move.
  
• Arsenal closer to Salomon Kalou.
  
• Another American signs with Everton.
  
• Boca says hands off Riquelme.

Click to continue reading...

The man on the left loves MLS and wants to spread that feeling as one of many things he told me in the videos below at halftime of the FC Barcelona vs LA Galaxy match:
"the opposite of love is not hate; it is indifference...and we have people that now care about what goes on on our field. Click to continue reading...

Now, most of my readers might know that I am a fan of the Montreal Impact joining MLS, if not, you are now. The third Canadian club just makes sense. Montreal is a large market, with a built in fanbase and it creates two more drivable derbies. Garber even seems to indicate that they [...] Click to continue reading...

No one likes us, we do care.
My recent trip to England revealed a few interesting tidbits of info, c/o of some seasoned overseas football writers with whom I had a nice stout-soaked chat. Perhaps the most interesting was the revelation that it is near impossible to watch a full, live, 90 minute MLS match in the UK. Click to continue reading...

When David Beckham signed with the LA Galaxy in 2007, I wrote the following:

Even if Beckham's price is half the figure mentioned above, the league will recoup its investment. Beckham will put fannies in the seats and bring domestic and international exposure to MLS. This will attract even more sponsors at higher rates.

Click to continue reading...

According to articles from the Sports Business Journal and Dynamoplanet.com, the candidate list to become the 19th or 20th team in MLS is down to five. They are Atlanta, Montreal, The Carolinas, Florida (likely Miami), and St. Louis.Â
From SBJ:
Garber later added that CBA discussions had only recently begun with the MLS Players Union and would last until the end of the year, when the current CBA expires. Click to continue reading...

It appears that, incredibly, despite the Twitter campaign demanding that Commissioner Garber fix the officiating issues or else, there are still some problems.
Put another way, Houston got royally hosed:
YouTube - MLS Seattle's MAGIC Montero evens the score YouTube - MLS Seattle's MAGIC Montero evens the score
Sepp Blatter is absolutely dead set against the use of goal line technology. Click to continue reading...

Ok so people say that MLS really cares about the US Open Cup right?! Well I was told that the Crew took a bus ride to Rochester this past week to face the Rhinos in the match. To me that's pretty low. Hey Garber you say you care about this league but obviously you don't! Plus you promised improvement in the Referees as well Garber and still haven't seen change.

Click to continue reading...

FIFA President Blatter's statement a couple weeks back regarding MLS and its schedule was way out of touch with the reality of the American sporting landscape. Blatter said it was imperative for MLS to get on an August to May schedule in order to compete with other leagues for the best players.

Click to continue reading...

REAL SALT LAKE VS. TORONTO FC
Rio Tinto Stadium - Saturday 9:30PM EST
TV: Rogers Sportnet / RADIO: The Fan590
Toronto move into a new stage of the season that sees them spending far too much time on the road for any supporters' liking. That's some top level scheduling Mr. Click to continue reading...

Â

Welcome to the latest installment of Your Questions Answered. There is a good range of questions in this batch, with topics ranging from Jonathan Spector's U.S. national team prospects to my ranking of all the stadiums in MLS.

Surprisingly, there were no John O'Brien, MLS promotion/relegation or Red Bulls stadium questions.

Click to continue reading...

Some amateur blogger spouts off about MLS refs here. He drops a lot of names and uses a lot of ten dollar words to make you think he knows what he's talking about, but if he's so damn good, where's his podcast?
Allow me to nutshell it for you:
Quote: Will you crybabies stop e-mailing me about the damn refs already? Click to continue reading...

STARTERS
Add me to your Twitter feed: dunord
dN
I am pretty excited, because in the mail yesterday I got my copy of the brand new album by Sunn O))). It is called Monoliths And Dimensions. Their level of sub sonic heaviness may just sooth my wounded soul right now, like a white hot salve. Click to continue reading...

In an conference with mainstream media, as reported by Jack Bell at the NY Times the MLS Commissioner had this to say:

"Fans want to see stars. They want more games on TV and they want an increased quality of play," he said Thursday in a meeting with editors and reporters from the Associated Press Sports Editors conference.

Click to continue reading...

Yesterday, the MLS Board of Governors met. If history holds true to form, we'll likely hear very little about what was discussed but perhaps we'll hear the decisions they made (if any) trickle out into the news in the days ahead.
Just who are the MLS Board of Governors?
They meet several times a year. Click to continue reading...

Chelsea's CL win over Liverpool - wonderful entertainment, or two drunks stumble-fighting in the street?
First of all, thank you all for your patience while I got settled in at my new job this month. Sorry that the blog posting slowed down, but let me assure we've got more good stuff coming in April both on the blog and the podcast. Click to continue reading...

Major League Soccer Philadelphia 2010 has named Thomas Veit as President of Keystone Sports and Entertainment, the ownership group of MLS Philadelphia 2010. Veit is an accomplished sports and entertainment veteran and will oversee all business matters relating to the new Philadelphia Major League Soccer team and the under-construction stadium in Chester, Pa.

Click to continue reading...

I am having another bout of allergies (man, getting old sucks), so my brother in blog Chris C went down to Red Bull Arena to take in the sights and sounds of the Topping Off Ceremony.

And what is a "Topping Off Ceremony?"

Wikipedia, do your work:

In building construction, topping out, or topping off, is a ceremony held when the last beam is placed at the top of a building.

Click to continue reading...

This report in the Seattle Press Intelligencer on MLS expansion confirms a few things that have been rumored for awhile. Perhaps the most poignant is the rumor that MLS is keen on a 2nd club in the New York metro area due to the potential it has to spark a rivalry with Red Bull NY. Click to continue reading...

The 2007 season was one of the most significant for MLS ever. David Beckham signed with the Gals (but didn't play much) and his popularity increased the league's average attendance per game by a whopping 1,000 fans. Commissioner Garber was finally delivering on his promise of growth to a league that had toiled in near obscurity for over a decade. Click to continue reading...

I see that Garber and the gang over at MLS are finally going act on the continued shambles that is the MLS schedule as it relates to international competition, both club and country. I don't really like the idea of the split schedule, though I see its merits, especially with the Gold and Confederations Cup [. Click to continue reading...

Before we get started, it's worth noting that Deputy MLS Commissioner Ivan Gazidis announced on the commissioner's blog on the league Web site Friday that the issue of scheduling will belatedly be reviewed.

About time. And why couldn't Garber blog about that himself? He's in Cuba for the U.

Click to continue reading...

The awesome picture is courtesy of Adam over at TiAS, who also has a great post of the Summer of Soccer program in NYC.
Tons of great photos and a video. What are you waiting for?

• Edu and crew can't breathe in Beijing. [MauriceEdu.com]
  
• Is Tottenham still shopping?

Click to continue reading...

*MLS Grand Poobah Don "Don't Call Me Cheetah" Garber* told reporters at halftime of the All Star... Click to continue reading...