Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIPhotos.com

BY ADAM SERRANO

CARSON, Calif. -- With Landon Donovan, David Beckham and Robbie Keane, the Los Angeles Galaxy boasted one of the strongest rosters in MLS.

Now with the addition of Edson Buddle, the Galaxy's attack may be the finest in league history.

Etoile FC were allowed to play two seasons in the S-League despite having failed to provide the full $500,000 banker's guarantee that foreign clubs have to put up, it is believed.

That is one reason why the club, facing debts 'a few times more' than the $100,000 that has been reported, has been struggling to repay money owed to players from last season.

The Hard Work Starts NowThe Red Bulls preseason got underway in earnest today at Montclair State University, as an expanded group of players reported to camp, including a massive 12-13 trialists. The size of the group is hardly surprising, considering the number of reserve and fringe players the club has shed since November.

So Long Timmy!The long-running transfer saga involving New York Red Bulls central defender Tim Ream appears to have finally come to an end this afternoon, with the BBC reporting that Bolton Wanderers have secured a UK work permit. There had been considerable doubt about Ream's qualifications for a visa, as he had only played in a total of two competitive fixtures for the US Men's National Team.

Football at the moment is about money isn't it. All we are reading and hearing about at the moment is either player salaries or the size of transfer fee's. Chelsea are now a club that is constantly linked with big money moves in EVERY transfer window as AVB looks to rejuvenate our club out of the shadows of the Mourinho era.

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.

Keeping Neymar at Santos meant compromising all female football?

Europe's giants were getting ready to fight over the signing of the Neymar, the 18-year-old Brazilian prodigy. However, in November Santos announced that Neymar had signed a contract that lasted until 2014 and included a 50% pay increase.

It's a common refrain from Seattle Sounders fans that the ownership of this team is profit-taking, or not adequately investing in player payroll. Whether these conversations occur here, on various message boards, over twitter or even through the most submitted question to not be answered at the End of Year Meeting it may be the most common negative thought surrounding the team.

The Philadelphia Union's guaranteed compensation in 2011 is $3,653,981.17, but their salary cap hit is only $2,530,292.54. $144,707 is left over ($2,675,000 cap) for use in 2011, but the season's roster freeze has already happened.

Every dollar under the cap is paid for by MLS, not the Union or any other MLS team.

The Seattle Sounders are sitting pretty good going into the weekend. The Sounders put in a yeoman's performance after traveling down to Costa Rica. They remain perfect in the CONCACAF Champions League with their 2-1 win over Herediano. This weekend D.C. United arrive in Seattle looking to bolster their record in the less than competitive Eastern Conference.

After releasing its initial list of player salaries in May, the MLS Players' Union recently released an updated edition, which includes all of the new signings from an active summer transfer period.

More recent Designated Player signings Robbie Keane, Frank Rost, Mustapha Jarju, Jeferson, Milton Caraglio, Danny Koevermans and Torsten Frings are included in the bunch.

The MLS Players' Union released updated player salaries today. Five players have been added to the list for Kansas City while 3 players are gone from the list. One other player has seen their salary increase.
Added to KC's salary list are Daneil Cyrus, Jeferson, Joseph Peterson, Soony Saad, and Seth Sinovic.

The Major League Soccer Players Union has released the second set of player salaries, with its surveys correct as of 9/1/2011. Veljko Paunovic and Freddy Adu both had their salaries revealed and Joe Tait was shown to have been signed by the Philadelphia Union. Thorne Holder is not listed, due to being re-signed after the survey, but he is most likely back at the minimum salary ($42,000).

In the second article of this ongoing analysis, I compare Liverpool's wage-spend with Arsenal's over the last 10 years.
Liverpool vs. Man United - Wage Spend Comparison - 2000-2010
NOTES
* Below is an example of how the figures are presented in the accounts:
* The wages and salary figure includes all staff connected with the club.

How much has Liverpool spent on wages over the last decade compared to other top Premier League clubs? In the first article of this new series, I compare the club with Manchester United to see if a higher wage bill really is the secret to league-winning success.
NOTES
* Below is an example of how the figures are presented in the accounts:
* The wages and salary figure includes ALL staff connected with the club.

Who will follow Atlético Madrid as Super Cup winners?

The UEFA Super Cup will be held on Friday night with 2010-11 UEFA Champions League winners FC Barcelona ready to take on the 2010-11 UEFA Europa League holders FC Porto in a massive Iberian derby. These two clubs have been the dominant forces in their respective countries in recent years and both teams are hoping to add yet another trophy to their already bulging trophy cabinets this weekend.

A personal view -
One story has been suffocating all other news in Britain this week - the phone hacking furore surrounding Rupert Murdoch's media empire.
Journalists have been arrested, senior policemen have resigned, politicians of both main parties are scrambling to deny their links to News International, Hugh Grant has led the prosecution and tonight comes news of the sudden death of a whistleblower.

Two year's after its creation, Myanmar's Premier League is reportedly struggling to lure fans. "In 2009 there were big crowds, now it's half," one league club manager, who did not want to be named, told Alex Delamare of AFP. "There are maybe five or ten good players in Myanmar," he said, explaining that new investment in training facilities and relatively high player salaries will take time to

Well last night was fun, you know if you forget about the loss and everything. Seriously, it was great to see such a talented side come out here and give it there all. I don't know if you guys heard or not but that almost Ajax's full starting squad out there and those guys are still in their prime as they have not yet gone on off-season break yet.

Article republished on businessofsoccer.com

Earlier this month, Major League Soccer announced and released the first official Castrol Index for MLS. The Castrol Index objectively ranks a player's performance. It analyzes and tracks every players move, providing statistical data and analysis to fans, players and coaches throughout the season.

Major League Soccer Players Union released salaries and compensation for all players earlier this month. There were few surprises throughout the report as well as few additions to the top of the compensation table in the league.

Despite the trend of past seasons, 2011 proves to be the league's time to take one step back with regards to player compensation as the Reserve League is reintroduced, significantly increasing the pool of available players.

The Red Bulls defense goes to sleep allowing Justin Braun to score a hat trick.

Thierry Henry keeps his hot streak going with a deft touch off Rafa Marquez's on the dime long ball. Dwayne De Rosario gets his first goal in a Red Bulls jersey from the spot. But the story is the cheap goals given up on two set pieces.

Another great episode of this RBNY-themed podcast. Dave "The Emperor" Martinez returns from Disney and, along with Mark, discusses the epic draw @Los Angeles, RBNY player salaries and preview the upcoming home game against Chivas USA. Their guest this week is Dan Ryazansky, of Metrofanatic.

After the MLS Player's Union released information on 2011 player salaries last weekend many amateur capologists (myself included) began crunching numbers, analyzing data, and speculating as to the "salary cap" standing of each team in the league. It's an exercise that's rooted in educated guesses and assumptions based on the raw numbers presented by the union.

The MLS Players Union has released 2011 player salaries. I take the opportunity to take both a look at the raw numbers & the surprisingly good shape TFC finds itself in when it comes to managing the MLS Salary Cap.
Rating: 5.0/5 (6 votes cast)

The MLS Player's Union has released player salaries for this year, as of May 1. There are certainly come surprises on KC's list. Here is the list, at the end I'll have my thoughts on the salaries. For those wondering why there are two numbers, the first number is the player's base salary, meaning what counts against the cap.

To find out which athletic organizations shell out the most dough, we surveyed 272 teams in 14 major pro leagues, covering seven sports, spanning 10 countries, comprising 7,802 athletes making a combined $15.2 billion in salary. Our final numbers, below, were compiled by Nick Harris, editor of sportingintelligence.

I alluded to this on my Twitter feed, but this article in the Mexican sports daily Récord gives an indication of the economic gulf between the elite of the Mexican league and that of Major League Soccer. With some assistance from the German Transfermarkt website, Récord came up with a total valuation of each side's players on the transfer market.

Chris Savino writes of the rising pay scale in Major League Soccer.

Major League Soccer has come a long way since the 2004 let alone 1996. The league's introduction of Freddy Adu brought about significant change to the scale of player salaries and compensation. The fourteen year old was the highest paid player at the time, prior to Landon Donovan returning to the league the following season.

Every team playing in competitive championship, regardless of category, address their weaknesses in January transfer market. This January was not an exception to the generally known rule. As usual, financially stronger teams took advantage and further strengthened their rosters while doing their best to offload some financial burden in the form of player salaries most [.

Every team playing in competitive championship, regardless of category, address their weaknesses in January transfer market. This January was not an exception to the generally known rule. As usual, financially stronger teams took advantage and further strengthened their rosters while doing their best to offload some financial burden in the form of player salaries most [.