The battle for the Cascadia Cup is as tight as ever. The Timbers have the early lead, but the
Vancouver Whitecaps and Seattle Sounders FC are better teams and in a points tie for the third spot
in the West. Saturday's 1 PM match isn't just for key points in the trivalry contest, but has
implications for the Playoff hunt.
Tomorrow's match against the Colorado Rapids has certainly snuck up on us. It's the first
competitive match in almost two weeks for the Sounders - a long dry stretch for a team used to
multiple matches a week. And the last few days leading up to the close of the transfer window have
been dominated by speculation about player movement, climaxing in the team's flurry of moves today
that sent Alvaro Fernandez to Chicago and brought Christian Tiffert and Mario Martinez to
Seattle.
The MLS incarnation of the Seattle Sounders is a very young franchise with only three seasons
under its belt. That combined with the relative lack of player movement in the single-entity MLS
means that there really aren't that many ex-Sounders. But I thought it'd be nice to take a look
back at some Sounders of yore and see what they're up to now.
Although the majority of teams passed on the opportunity to add players in the second stage of
the MLS Re-Entry Draft, a few used Monday's exercise to stockpile depth ahead of the 2012
preseason.
Three teams took multiple players, spearheaded by the defending champion Los Angeles Galaxy, who
made four selections: defenders Andrew Boyens and Chris Leitch, veteran forward Pat Noonan and
veteran goalkeeper Jon Conway.
The news of a national team call up should always bring a smile to a player's face, but for
Carlos Valdes, this one was sweeter than most.
After two years out of the national team, Valdes was rewarded for his playso far this season and
selected by head coach Jose Pekerman for a 24-player camp in Madrid, Spain ahead of Colombia's
upcoming World Cup qualifiers in September.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (May 18, 2012) US Soccer Players -- Leave it to Major League
Soccer to try and takeover the story when most of us are focused on the Champions League final and
national team roster announcements. Thursday was a banner day for player movement in MLS, with the
Juan Agudelo for Heath Pearce trade and the Danny Califf move making Chivas USA a compelling team.
For D.C. United fans anxious over the club's four-year playoff absence, this past offseason was
an exercise in patience.
While United came back from the worst campaign in club history in 2010 to compete for a
postseason berth until last season's final week, a lack of experience in the back, consistency up
top and depth all around derailed their chances.
Power Rankings are nothing more than good fun, particularly in the pre-season. Taking fan support,
previous season rankings, player movement and the SuperDraft into account, I took a shot.That said,
here's how I see the Eastern Conference playing out.
1. Sporting Kansas City: This squad has done nothing but get better.
With the International Transfer Deadline producing a flurry of player movement and even more
rumors and speculation, MLS witnessed a prominent striker of their own swap jerseys.
The Vancouver Whitecaps announced Tuesday afternoon that they have acquired All-Star Sebastien
Le Toux from the Philadelphia Union in exchange for allocation money.
Danny Califf and Sebastien Le Toux both agree that the hope among the players is that there will
not be as much player movement in the closed season. Le Toux said, "I hope with the good result we
got this year, we'll get most of the guys back and move on and continue.
I knew this would be a busy week in terms of player movement but I think its safe to say it
could be a real busy week. Anyways, I just wrote a little article about how the New
England Revolution are set to sign their first DP, 22-year old Argentine forward Milton
Caraglio.
I can't say whether or not this is a good pickup or not.
Philadelphia Union manager Piotr Nowak is one of the best coaching minds in Major League Soccer.
The former Polish international knows what is needed to achieve success in MLS. Nowak knows how to
recognize talent and make players fit into his system.
After a tough inaugural season, the Union is right up with the best clubs in the Eastern
Conference.
Philadelphia Union manager Piotr Nowak is one of the best coaching minds in Major League
Soccer. The former Polish international knows what is needed to achieve success in MLS. Nowak
knows how to recognize talent and make players fit into his system.
In what is becoming a familiar refrain, the Washington Post took a look at HomeGrown Players
(HGPs) and how many of them never saw playing time. Much of the story revolves around the absence
of a larger Reserve League (with larger rosters) or the need for a more integrated Reserve system
within the NASL or USLPro.
Well, it looks like the band is getting back together. FC Dallas '09 is now coalescing around
the New York Tri-State area.
In a move that probably began this week with Peter Nowak wanting Danny Califf away from
Philadelphia, Chivas USA has sent former US national teamer and odd player movement expert heath
Pearce to the New York Red Bulls for Juan Agudelo.
Bye bye Timmy?Good morning! With MLS preseason training beginning in just three weeks and
the MLS Combine complete, there should be a lot of player movement and a ton of new signings
announced in the coming days. The 2012 MLS SuperDraft kicks off tomorrow, and though the New York
Red Bulls only have one selection (the 31st overall pick in round two), it's not inconceivable that
we could see a trade or two happen while the general managers and coaches are assembled in Kansas
City.
Another former SKC Wizards Update, plenty of player movement this week. Jonathan Leathers, Rauwshan
McKenzie, and Ryan Pore are now without clubs after not being selected in the second stage of the
re-entry draft. They're joined by Shavar Thomas who also wasn't selected. Also looking for a new
club, is Stephane Auvray whose was let go by the Red Bulls.
The MLS 101 series will be a "living/breathing document" in that I
will continue to edit and update these post to keep up to date with the inevitable changes that MLS
will make. I encourage you to bookmark the post so you can use them as a reference going
forward.
In this edition of MLS 101, it's time to tie up some lose ends about MLS roster rules, along
with player movement and acquisition.
Okay, suspension of disbelief for just a second here.
Not sure why he's pointing at the sky here.....he's the deity on the pitch.
Also, let's forget about a little thing called the Champion's League.
I'm taking a fleeting glance here at another Lionel Messi Master Class here as Barca digs a heal
into the necks of the Yellow Submarine's fans Yesterday it was Manchester United with a clinical
dismantling of Arsenal and Manchester City running rampant over the Rednapps.
If Real Madrid were a deck of cards, new signing Fabio Coentrao would be the Joker. There
has been much speculation on what Mourinho's Madrid was going to look like for the 2011-2012
season. Many had speculated that Mourinho was just about to return to the use of the Trivote (the
4-3-3) at Real Madrid.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Attempting to bolster the New England Revolution's still struggling
attack, the Revs today announced the signing of French-born Moroccan striker Monsef Zerka. Zerka
will be officially added to the Revolution's roster pending P1 Visa approval.
"We are looking forward to Monsef's arrival," said Revolution Vice President of Player Personnel
Mike Burns.
Sporting Kansas City's two month long home stand starts tomorrow when the Wizards take on Toronto
FC at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. It's also the end of a five week stretch of Kansas City playing two
games a week. Next week the team only has one game against New England on Saturday.
Behind the Axe looks towards 2013 and key dates for player acquisition and the first fixtures of 2013 as the Portland Timbers will play in a pre-season tournament in Arizona during January and February 2013. While the rest of the schedule isn't known, there are rumors of another early season tournament here in Portland, while we know which MLS teams will be visiting JELD-WEN Field based upon the 2012 schedule.
Depending on how seriously you focus on the European gossip, the summer of 2012 might seem like a
bit of a letdown in terms of player movement. Blame it on the European Championships and even the
Olympics, but so far we haven't seen the kind of moves that draw attention on both sides of the
Atlantic.
Philadelphia Union CEO and Operating Partner Nick Sakiewicz clarified in the press conference
earlier this week that Peter Nowak was responsible for all personnel decisions during his reign.
With nearly every journalist, blogger, tweeter, fan, or casual observer of the league scratching
their heads over why he chose to part ways with the most successful and recognizable players on his
young team, it's not a surprise his days were numbered.
With the restructuring of Australia's coaching badges we've seen an emergence of talented young
coaches taking A-League positions. Nick Cumpston and Nick Amies run the show this week as they
close off the coaching merry-go-round, look at all the latest player movement and dissect the
latest Socceroos squad.
Another episode of From the Byline to the Back Post is available for your listening. This week Thad
and I discussed the supplemental draft, more player movement, the US national team, and the
Missouri Comets. Enjoy on both Posterous and iTunes.
Amsterdam-based Greg Seltzer is certainly a unique cat.
Seltzer
Greg decided long ago to make his name and career in soccer reporting and found himself
relocated over to the Netherlands reporting for Soccer America.
With the re-vamp, or re-start if you prefer, of MLSSoccer.com and the need for a qualitative
reporter on player movement became clear, Seltzer fit the bill.
Women's soccer in America has encountered another setback. The top-tier female league in the
United States, Women's Professional Soccer, is facing a loss of sanctioning by the U.S. Soccer
Federation as a Division I league. Entering its fourth season, WPS "terminated" its Florida
franchise, magicJack, bringing the number of teams down from six to five in early November.
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The Chicago Fire capped off their final training session on Thursday, and now
the focus squarely shifts toward head coach Frank Klopas' club making the necessary moves to
improve their fate for 2012.
The Fire, who posted a 9-9-16 record and put together a winning record in the final third of the
season, anticipate that a bulk of this year's team will be retained for next season.
PES 12 Review - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Visually stunning and superbly realistic, Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 is a welcome upgrade and
like last year, PES is finally moving in the right direction again to be the best football playing
experience around.
No discussion of PES 12 can even start before it's compared to FIFA 12 as a benchmark, similar
to how Championship Manager keeps being held up to the light to be compared against Football
Manager.
What an informative photograph! Thanks, Leo. Image via sochuteiras.com.
Clearly, the most exciting thing about this photograph for most of the Kickette staff is that it
not only offers a far more expansive view of Leo Messi's 'action' than we're used to, but we also
get to speculate on how he achieves such smooth and supple skin on his calves and thighs.
July 15 marks the first day that teams can 'officially' agree to terms over the transferring of
players from one side to another. That doesn't mean that teams haven't already made deals and
players haven't already moved. Their deals are just official worldwide come July 15.
