There seems to be for the first time a serious debate on introducing salary cap restrictions a
la NFL into the Premiership. This comes on the heels of a strengthened TV deal that would generate
£3bn to be shared by all 20 clubs towards player transfers and wages.
The bottom line is that increasing and out of control wage demands have eaten into that pie
leaving clubs with less to spend.
Dortmund are champions. Kaiserlautern are relegated. Both just awaiting official confirmation.
But still plenty to play for in between the top and bottom.
A good bench is a sign of continuity.
Bayern Munich's ambitions to beat Mainz at any cost with a make-shift squad was greatly diminished
by Dortmund's win over Schalke earlier.
Ever since he was spotted alongside David Beckham at an LA Galaxy match a few weeks ago at The
Home Depot Center, rumors have swirled that Chelsea and England star Frank Lampard was heading toÂ
Major League Soccer.
After the match against PSG Â in New York last night, Lampard was asked whether the rumors of a
move to Los Angeles were true.
Early this morning I wrote a "recap" of last night's debacle in Michigan on the way back to
Chicago. Due to technological failure on my end, I wasn't able to post it right away. So join me
after the jump to relive the emotional horror that was last night.
What the hell happened? I just witnessed the biggest f*****g disgrace in my tenure as a Fire
fan.
The last full week of February is upon us and the MLS season is just three weeks away. Here
are some business stories from the weekend to get your Monday off to a great start. In San Jose,
plans to build a $60 million stadium for the Earthquakes is continuing to creep forward.Â
According to this article from the Mercury News, the stadium plan is set for a final vote on
Wednesday night by the local Planning Commission.
... the Prem has become just a vacation home for MLS veterans after another paycheck.Just kidding.
But seriously, my how times have changed for American soccer. If anybody back home still holds any
sort of inferiority complex about our domestic league, just go ahead and leave it out. The kid is
alright if a big English club in and aiming to return to the Champions League can feel like turning
to
Happy Friday to you. A few things on the mind this morning.
First up is a reaction to Brad Friedel's comments on Landon Donovan taking the easy road by staying
in MLS. What a ridiculous thing to say. Friedel is an accomplished player, one who is certainly
deserving of respect. But for him to criticize Donovan so publicly was extremely out of line.
What is it about playing soccer in New York that makes good players want to go on vacation? What
is it about the most visible MLS franchise that makes heralded, respected athletes put their
reputations at risk by shifting into early retirement mode while still collecting a hefty paycheck?
And being so damn obvious about it?
I don't know about you but there is nothing I enjoy more then cashing my paycheck and heading
straight to a dive bar drinking beer and plunking twenties into the slot machine hoping that I will
be uber-rich. Once the clock hits two-thirty, I head quickly to Plaid, beg the clerk to sell me a
six pack of tall boys, grab a handful of slim-jims and buy all the Oregon Lottery scratch-its I can
afford.
A few things are on my mind this Wednesday morning. It would seem that the rippling effects of last
year's CCL is paying dividends for the league this year. As are several other league changes. Enjoy
the rest of your week! CONCACAF Champion's League: Major League Soccer is being represented extremely well in the
region tournament.
In what we hope will be a reoccuring section of the site, Ned Hardwood has submitted the first
guest column on the site. He writes an article breaking down his thoughts on MLS's use of
Designated Players and the DP rule. While "MLS Reserves" does not always agree or disagree with the
thoughts of our guest columnists, we do encourage healthy debate and conversations on this
topic.
Guts. Glory. Gentleman. "It can't all by Mai Tais and Yahtzee." -- Cameron Poe, "Con Air."Â Do
people still buy and watch DVDs anymore? Honest question. About a decade ago, maybe because I was
just getting out of college, I'd spend a decent amount of my new bi-weekly paycheck -- the fuck is
FICA?
There are a lot of things I love about The Beautiful Game. One thing in particular I find great
is how short the off-season is. Soccer goes on for ten months which is so gratifying considering,
in contrast, the extended breaks of all American sports. However, two months is still plenty of
time and nothing takes it up quite like the transfer market.
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Niko Kranjcar has completed his proposed move to Dynamo Kiev,
ending a frustrating three-year spell at the North London club.
The Spurs finished a promising campaign on a low note when Chelsea's Champions League triumph
allowed the Blues to use Tottenham's fourth-place ticket as an entry to next year's competition as
defending champions.
Ream Just Looked at the EPL TableIf reports in multiple British tabloids are to be believed,
English Premier League relegation favorites Bolton Wanderers will be signing New York Red Bulls
defender Tim Ream once the January transfer window opens, for a transfer fee of somewhere close to
£2 million, or approximately $3.
Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny admits that an opportunity to join reigning European
champions FC Barcelona at a later stage of his career will be too tempting to turn down.
The 21-year old Szczesny rose to prominence for the Gunners when Polish compatriot Lukasz
Fabianski was sidelined by a shoulder injury in the middle of last season.
Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea has been caught in a shocking controversy after
surveillance cameras at a Tesco store reportedly revealed that the Spaniard, along with two
friends, stole Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
The 20-year old De Gea earns a massive £70,000 paycheck at Old Trafford and although many
think that the allegations of a doughnut theft are nothing more than a huge miscommunication, the
security staff at the store insist that the player clearly attempted to walk away from the scene
without paying.
Professionalism is an odd topic. It can be as simple as "Does one get paid?" The NCAA has
hundreds of pages and dozens of people dedicated to codifying the differences between amateur and
pro status. Yesterday, after the Portland Timbers debuted their new dedicated training facility
some on Twitter were claiming that the Timbers are still not a fully professional organization
because they play on artificial turf.
As the transfer window creeps ever nearer, many fans and blogs are beginning to speculate on who
will transfer in and who will be let go, or traded elsewhere. Given the Portland Timbers recent run
of bad luck, I'm inclined to join in. Something is not right with the team and, as such, we'll
probably see at least a couple trades during the transfer window.
Sigi Schmid may do as much to earn his paycheck in the next couple of weeks of relatively
unimportant games as he did during the Seattle Sounders' hectic run of critical league games, cup
finals, and CCL group stage matches. The task during that difficult (and almost perfect) autumn run
was to keep up the winning while rotating through a deep roster to keep everyone as healthy and fit
as possible.
My name is Robert Hay, and I am a fan of Freddy Adu.
That statement has for years been quite controversial, as the young American has been the center
of much discussion of the failures of American soccer. Â We hype them too young! Â We don't develop
our own talent! Â Don't let players like Agudelo and Bunbury get Adu'ed!
High Ladder To Climb is a feature for the Brotherly Game. Current
Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) defender Tyler Ruthven gives readers insight into the life of a player
in America's lower tier leagues. His updates will be about his continued quest to make it to MLS.
Follow him as he details his day-to-day trials and tribulations based on the life he is able to
live through the constraints of his job - and paycheck.
High Ladder To Climb is a new feature for the Brotherly Game. Current
Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) defender Tyler Ruthven gives readers insight into the life of a player
in America's lower tier leagues. His updates will be about his continued quest to make it to MLS.
Follow him as he details his day-to-day trials and tribulations based on the life he is able to
live through the constraints of his job - and paycheck.
Other than a whopping paycheck after his move to Liverpool in the distant past, things haven't been
going well for Andy Carroll. He started well in his debut for West Ham United on Saturday, but had
to walk off after ...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.epltalk.com to read the entire article
Saturday night the Sounders embarrassed themselves. Forget the referee, the crowd, the Montreal
Impact. Intensity and focus matter in professional sports and the Sounders did not take the field
in Montreal ready to play. There were moments of precision and brilliance from the Sounders. Eddie
Johnson's goal was the result of beautiful interplay.
It's hard to really say much about this match because, well, not a whole lot happened. One thing
that I think was really apparent, however, is that the Revs' strength and depth at midfield was
finally realized. With both Clyde Simms and Ryan Guy out due to injury, the Revolution were still
able to dispatch a first string midfield.
The Ramos recently sat down for a chit chat with the good people over at La Liga for a segment
they coyly called, "Sergio Ramos' More Personal Side". The question of just how personal his
interview would be had our minds racing for at least two hours.
Uniqlo is probably my favorite store. It's as cheap as a Dema Kovalenko foul and as stylish as a
man of my age can get away with without looking like the old guy at the club. In an obvious bid to
lay claim to even more of my money and closet space the Japanese retail giant is opening a second
NYC outpost only blocks from my office and have enlisted Carlos Mendes --the last of the
MetroStars-- as a pitchman; they may as well just start garnishing my paycheck.
Today the Chicago Fire announced that Gaston Puerari has been sold to Atlas for an undisclosed
fee.
This move signals a few things. First off the team has confidence in Orr Barouch to take over a
bigger role in the offensive scheme. He immediately takes Puerari's place as one of the players who
will start at striker depending on form, Chaves and Nazarit being the other two.
There are two things at least which we learned from El Clasico-plosion 2011.
i. Less is more.
ii. No one gets kicked like Lionel Messi. (Learned long ago, but work with me.)
Except perhaps this guy in the video above, a (presumably) Colombian pitch invader during last
night's Copa Libertadores matchup between Mexico's Jaguares Chiapas and the local Atletico
Junior.
