The Major League Soccer offseason is well and truly upon us, as players have ceased to be strictly permanent objects and have fallen into a Schrodinger-esque quantum state, only existing in a particular place when observed (and elsewise existing in all places at all times). Such is life under MLS roster rules.
George John has experienced his fair share of setbacks in the past year. But if the FC Dallas
centerback's spirits have been dampened, he isn't showing it.
Last summer, a deal that would have sent John to English side Blackburn Rovers FC fell
through.
There has been a lot of talk about Merritt Paulson and affecting the team. People have compared
him to Paul Allen and other more hands-on owners. I don't think the comparison to Paul Allen is
apt, as there are a lot of differences between Paul and MP -- I would say MP is the Mark Cuban of
MLS.
Mark Cuban, as many of us know, is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA.
Its been quiet in Commerce City this post-season, especially compared to this time last year. Today we got a bit of news about off-season training though. Andre Akpan, Tony, Cascio, Chris Klute, and Martin Rivero will spend 10 days starting next week in Derby, England training with Derby County FC. Derby currently sits 12th in the Championship (2nd level), 1 point behind Blackburn Rovers), and is the former employer of Rapids President Tim Hinchey.
Today the Rapids traded an international roster spot in 2014 for Montreal Impact defender Tyson
Wahl. Wahl was drafted by Kansas City in 2006taken in Seattle's expansion draft in 2009, then
traded to Montreal in this past offseason for allocation money. He's played in 82 games between his
3 prior teams, including 11 games for Montreal this season.
Under former head coach Peter Nowak, and Sporting Director Diego Gutierrez, Colombia was a
source of talent for a Philadelphia Union team that needed an influx of it during an offseason. Now
Colombia has become a place of departure for exiting Union players.
First it was Faryd Mondragon returning to Deportivo Cali, the team he began his professional
soccer career with, and today it was Jorge Perlaza, heading to Millonarios after his rather
forgetful time with the Union.
Two teams on the outside of the playoff race looking in have swapped goalkeepers in an unusual
mid-season deal.
The Montreal Impact sent goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts to the Portland Timbers for Troy Perkins in
a straight-up trade that sees both veteran goalkeepers get a change of scenery.
On the road tonight...so here is a post from the vault featuring Timbers' VP of Marketing Cory
Dolich. We completed this chat just weeks before thei Timbers kicked off their inaugural campaign
in MLS.
Over the last couple of years, we have conducted interviews with a number of marketing
professionals throughout MLS.
The Portland Timbers relieved John Spencer of his coaching duties effective immediately, as
announced on July 8 by Timbers owner Merritt Paulson. Technical Director Gavin Wilkinson will
assume the coach role on an interim basis with another assistant being brought on to aid in
scouting and help Wilkinson and the three current assistant.
The Portland Timbers have fired head coach John Spencer, owner Merritt Paulson announced during
a Monday press conference. Current GM Gavin Wilkinson will take over the head coaching duties, but
Paulson made it clear that it would be in the interim only. Paulson said a permanent replacement
will likely be announced during the offseason and that the team has identified 10 possible
candidates so far.
John Spencer has been given the pink slip. (Getty Images)
The coaching hot seat list is clearing out. First it was Aron Winter, then Peter Nowak, and now
it is John Spencer's turn at getting the pink slip.
Current General Manager Gavin Wilkinson, who coached the Timbers during their USL days, will
reportedly serve as interim coach and the team will search for a permanent replacement during the
offseason.
Similar to La Liga and Premier League, Bundesliga sees itself going into 2012 with two prime
contenders, and then what looks like a strong competition for third place. For the top German
league, last year's top two finishers will go into this season expecting to end that way again this
year.
It is still a mystery how they faltered and lost the title in the very last minute last season.
The Red Devils are vowed to fight back. Have they armed up enough this offseason to pull themselves
closer to Manchester City?
Notable new signing: Shinji Kagawa is not arriving at Old Trafford only for the
Asian market.
It is still a mystery how they faltered and lost the title in the very last minute last
season. The Red Devils are vowed to fight back. Have they armed up enough this offseason to pull
themselves closer to Manchester City?
Notable new signing:
Shinji Kagawa is not arriving at Old Trafford only for the Asian market.
As I touched upon in an article on Saturday, Freddy Adu has not lived up to his role as a
playmaking winger enough this year. A few games, specifically his pre-second yellow card play
against the New York Red Bulls, have shown that he has the mindset and ability to properly adjust
to the role he thrust himself into this offseason, but Adu has disappointed routinely out of a high
spot in the Philadelphia Union's offense.
New York Red Bulls fans may be days away from seeing the team's latest Designated Player, Tim
Cahill, in action.
Though he won't be used against the Montreal Impact on Saturday, the former Everton star will
likely be debuting much in the same manner like his New York DP predecessor Thierry Henry did just
two years ago; in a friendly against Tottenham.
Terrence Boyd moved Bundesligas in the offseason, leaving Germany's Borussia Dortmund for Austria's
Rapid Vienna. Familiar to most MLS fans as the home of the other Red Bulls, Salzburg, it's a league
that doesn't get a lot of coverage in the US. A strong showing from Boyd could change that, and his
opportunity comes with the league's biggest club.
Freddy Adu has had problems this season with consistency. He has had those same problems his
entire professional soccer career.
However, consistency is not his biggest issue at the moment. It is, instead, the fact that he's
occupying a vital and important position on the Philadelphia Union without much influence.
It appears the Shalrie Joseph Era in New England has reached its  conclusion.
According to agent Ron Waxman, the Revolution have traded Shalrie Joseph to Chivas USA on
Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not immediately disseminated.
On Wednesday morning, Waxman tweeted, ".@cdchivasusa acquires DP
@ShalrieJoseph21 from @NERevolution.
The MLS summer transfer window is a fickle thing. It's the best time for most clubs to bring in
high-priced and/or high-caliber foreign talent because most other leagues are in their offseason,
leaving clubs free to shop around talent without disrupting a squad in mid-season. MLS clubs,
obviously, tend not to be so finicky about such concepts as "team chemistry" and "being prepared at
the start of the season so you don't need to bring in emergency reinforcements in July.
How about that (win/loss) against Caledonia, eh? That game was so (great/terrible). Yes, I wrote
this before the game Thursday, but that doesn't make these links any less relevant. I hope.
Week 21 of 90 Plus is up, as is Kick TV's version.
The most stunning news of the week was that of the exchange between Chivas and New England, sending
Sharlie Joseph to Southern California.
Days after adding centerback Thiago Silva, the club has finalized the purchase of mercurial
striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic from the Rossoneri, according to Italian publication Gazzetta Dello
Sport.
Current PSG sporting director and former AC Milan player and coach Leonardo told the outlet that
the signing, which has been in the works for the last week, is complete.
Liverpool may not be competing in the UEFA Champions League next season, but that's not stopping
the Reds from emerging as a reported suitor for U.S. national team star Clint Dempsey.
Multiple reports from England claim that Liverpool is set for a transfer capture of Dempsey in
the £7.
As the calendar turns to 2013, we look at how some of the Portland Timbers players have spent their offseason break before training camp for the current season opens in Portland on January 21.
The first I saw of this rumor was reading The Daily Wiz, which linked to an article from The Mirror
in the UK. Needless to say I took it with a large grain of salt, even though it does make some
sense. Wigan has in the past brought in other Hondurans, like Wilson Palacios and currently has
Maynor Figueroa in their squad as well.
Was Mr Gignac resorting to new opponent-eating lows during the Ligue 1 offseason that we're just
concerning ourselves with now? Did he take a bite out of Yoann Gourcuff who surely tastes like a
delicious cheesecake type dessert when no one was looking? Kickettes, what in the hell has happened
to the Marseille [.
Roberto Mancini has vented his frustration once again with the Manchester City board over their
failure to sign any new players this summer.
Champions City are the only club among the Premier League title contenders to not add to their
squad, and ahead of Sunday's Community Shield showdown with Chelsea, Mancini went on the attack
again over City's lack of activity in the transfer market, pinning the blame firmly on City's
football administrator Brian Marwood:
"Sorry, but for this you should talk to Brian Marwood.
We're only a few days into the London Olympics and the Games have already served as an
all-consuming distraction for a large portion of the planet. One group that has not been distracted
from their primary focus, even while attending Olympic football matches, is that of Blackburn fans
(and their chickens) who really, really want the club's manager, Steve Kean, and ownership group,
Venky's, as far away from their club as humanly possible.
It seems to some Arsenal supporters that the club is stuck in some sort of time warp and the year
is still 2005. Or perhaps it's more similar to the Hollywood film "Groundhog Day" where the same
thing keeps happening day after day. But with the Gunners it's the same thing year after year. They
fail to win any silverware, but consistently finish in the top four and make the Champions League,
where they ultimately get knocked out at various stages of the tournament.
Preseason for the 2012 Apertura is in full swing and we are just two weeks from opening weekend.
Last week we talked about the resurrection of the Copa Mexico, the name change to Liga MX, who is
spending big bucks in the offseason, and we previewed six teams.
In this week's installment of Ordinary Orange Fan talks Mexican we'll take a look at my top
three preseason picks to contend for the Apertura title, throw out a wild card pick, and look at
the teams most likely headed for relegation to the Liga de Acenso (second division).
