Jurgen Klinsmann has been a polarizing figure since being named head coach of the USMNT, for me the jury is still out. Soon the US U23's will begin the qualifying rounds to earn their ticket London and the 2012 summer games. The problem I have at the moment (and this just might be my brain) is that Klinsmann isn't being too positive about the whole thing.

"You are just on loan Dave..."A SALARY CAP FAR, FAR AWAY
In the most uneventful (in a good way) pre-season of Toronto FC's history, we can't help but gaze into the distance at our next meaningful opponent, LA Galaxy. In one of the shrewdest moves in MLS governance, Galaxy persuaded the league to allow them to use Mexican Pesos as their salary cap currency.

The Dynamo have added another forward/midfielder to the roster, trading a conditional draft pick to the Colorado Rapids for Macoumba Kandji. Kandji is a tall, atheltic forward with good quickness, but he's had his injury struggles the last couple seasons.

It's an inexpensive move for Kinnear to make and makes good sense as Kandji has experience in the league and has shown the ability to score goals and create chances for teammates in the past.

I woke up this morning to Josh Mayers of the Seattle Times reporting that the LA Galaxy had managed to secure Leonardo on a free transfer and they got Juninho back on a free loan.Suffice it to say that my initial response was not fit to print.

The top of the LA Galaxy roster boggles the mind.

The past couple of weeks have filled Fire fans heads with visions of sugar plums dancing around (or in this case world class players running around and scoring goals in Fire red). I have to admit, the Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack rumors got me excited. Most sane fans (including myself) knew these rumors were extremely far-fetched at best and a product of extremely shoddy journalism at worst.

Sometimes items from Soccer America can be a total miss but check out today's MLS Confidential on the Galaxy. For anyone out there that couldn't get how the LA Galaxy was able to squeeze in Edson Buddle to their salary cap, check this article out.

By bringing back Edson Buddle into the fold, even if he costs slightly more than the $178,488 salary he earned in 2010 before leaving for Germany, the Galaxy probably hasn't crunched its salary cap to any great extent, because of player departures as well as amassing allocation money.

There's been murmurs all week that Folan was looking for a a new club in Europe. Today the Rapids made it official, releasing him from his contract. Anyone who read this blog last year knows I was no fan of Folan, mainly due to the lack of effort he displayed on the field. This move frees up around 200K of salary cap space, possibly to go after that rumored Argentine midfielder.

Yeah, I've been getting beat up a bit on Twitter and through email today about my team grades for this winter. Again, I'll revisit those later on to have a final grade.

Obviously this kind of news will impact it. The Portland Timbers announced on Friday that forward José Adolfo Valencia will undergo surgery to repair damaged cartilage in his left knee.

Over the years in the world of sport, there have been stories abound concerning the ways in which players and coaches have found themselves embroiled in controversy surrounding tax payments, with certain individuals keen to pay as little tax as possible, but one strange factor about all of these stories is the reason behind the tax evasion; for people who earn so much money, why would they risk getting into serious trouble with the tax authorities?

As if the defending MLS Champions needed any more offensive firepower, the LA Galaxy announced today that Edson Buddle would be rejoining the Galaxy after terminating his contract with FC Ingolstadt by mutual consent.

Buddle's addition gives LA the league's best forward tandem, as he and Robbie Keane will lead a line that should feast on the service provided by Landon Donovan and David Beckham.

When I started this site back in 2009, I had expected the site to devote a significant amount of ink to the transfer market and the finances involved in buying and selling players. Over time the focus has shifted to marketing, promotions, broadcast and other business issues facing soccer in the United States.

It has been over 40 days and 40 nights since we last did an overview of the Chicago Fire roster going into 2012. In that time Mike Banner has been let go. Yamith Cuesta, Diego Chaves, and Josip Mikulic have drifted away in circumstances that are still being sorted out. Rafael Robayo, Federico Puppo, Austin Berry, and Kheli Dube have been brought in with contracts to their name.

"I have a squad thiiiiiiis big"FILLING HOLES, FEELING WHOLE
Isn't it refreshing to hear Aron Winter and his troops talk about how the club is "almost complete"? Barely a week in to training camp and the club's depth charts are nearly full. With the most recent acquisition completed, Chilean defender Miguel Aceval, the biggest hole of the off-season - the defence - has pretty much been taken care of.

Like an outdated fantasy league auction, the new Premier League Soccer featuring six teams based in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal bid for the rights to sign several "icon" players." Hernan Crespo, who scored nine goals for Parma last season, drew the highest bid and went for $840,000 (£536,000) at the sprightly age of 36.

European Clubs are in Major debt

There are fans out there that want the MLS to be exactly like the Euorpean leagues. Just looking at the levels of debt and how many clubs are in debt I am thankful for the methodically process of MLS and the salary cap.

The counsellors are back with their "campy" Dutch accents and the campers are arriving one-by-one at the big campsite by the lake. The weather forecast is looking a lot calmer than it was one year ago - but anything can happen at camp. Especially if that new camp up the river, "Le Camp Impact du Fromage", challenges us to a winner-take-all canoe race!

TFC release Andy Iro and Peri Marosevic in moves that free up over 200k in precious salary cap space.
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

From Barcelona to Manchester United, there has never been a shortage of interest in Frank Lampard's services over the years as the Chelsea midfielder continues to age brilliantly.

But despite the continuation of his superb form for the Blues, the fact remains that Lampard is approaching his 34th birthday and as many in Europe will say, it is ideal for him to look overseas for a more lucrative opportunity at this stage of his career.

Yesterday I discussed some of the basic roster rules in MLS and how it ties in with the salary cap. Hopefully the swelling in your brain has reduced sufficiently to allow you to move forward with your lessons as I attempt to help you further understand (to the best of our ability), the league's various roster mechanisms.

Former Liverpool strikers Robbie Fowler and Fernando Morientes have reportedly agreed to join a revamped Indian football league.
The format, which hopes to replicate the cricketing success of the Indian Premier League (IPL), is apparently attracting stars such as Fabio Cannavaro, Juan Pablo Sorin and Robert Pires.

So, understanding the Timber's salary cap situation should allow us a better ability to understand the kind of additional signings we'd likely be looking for in the coming month.

First, here is Portland's 2011 salary cap figure

Player Position Base Salary Guaranteed Compensation Alexander Eric M $46,750.

Indians will see Roberto Pires in action next month

Instant cricket, the 20/20 version has found a home in India's Premier league, one of the world's most lucrative sporting brands, till corruption eroded its worth. The success of the IPL is inspiring a new soccer league in India which will see the likes of Roberto Pires, Fabio Cannavaro, Juan Pablo Sorin, and others participating in a soccer competition styled on the IPL format.

The draft is over and next Friday players report to Portland and the Portland Timbers are hinting they are not done adding to their roster. Rumors are swirling as to who and what position said player plays. All of these leaves us fans in what seems like an internal state of nervous energy.

So lets take a look at what the roster looks like and what we can piece together from tweets and quotes over the last few weeks.

To the outside observer, the 2012 MLS SuperDraft seemed to be breaking almost perfectly for the Seattle Sounders. Despite holding the No. 15 pick in the first round, three Generation Adidas players were available to them when their turn finally came around.

Forward Dom Dwyer, who many seemed to think was high on the Sounders' list, was one of those players.

Tyler Polak could fill the Revs need at left back. (Photo Credit: Andy Mead / MLSsoccer.com)

With the 2012 MLS SuperDraft now in the books, the writers at New England Soccer Today handed out their grades for the New England Revolution's 2012 draft performance. The Revs selected UCLA midfielder Kelyn Rowe with the third overall pick and Creighton defender Tyler Polak with the 22nd overall pick.

Among the Philadelphia Union's many offseason moves was the acquisition of withdrawn forward, and occasional winger, Josue Martinez. The Costa Rican international striker was expected to help push Danny Mwanga and Jack McInerney for a starting role alongside Sebastien Le Toux. However, according to Soccer By Ives, the Union's addition of Martinez may have made Mwanga surplus to the team's requirements in 2012.

SB Nation Soccer held its second annual live MLS Mock SuperDraft Sunday night, with the results being published online Monday. The first round was a flurry of action, despite blog managers not being allowed to trade picks, or players, during the mock event. Drafting for the Philadelphia Union, I selected Enzo Martinez, Aaron Maund and Hunter Jumper with the Union's three picks in the two rounds of the mock SuperDraft.

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.

Recite the last name of some of association football's legendary players and their achievements immediately spring to mind. Just mentioning Pelé, Maradona, Eusebio, Puskas, or other luminaries should arouse images--most likely fuzzy and pixelated ones from YouTube--of what made them great and become instantly vivid, incredibly tangible.

The MLS Player Combine continues today with a second round of games available to stream on the MLS website. With the first games out of the way and two more days of practice together for the teams, expect today's games to be much more interesting as the invitees get to know each other.

The first game of the day, adiPower vs adiZero at 11:30 am, will feature several names that the Timbers will want to keep an eye on.

With the news coming yesterday afternoon from Jesus Ortiz on the Chronicle that Brian Ching will not retire and will report to Montreal Impact camp when it opens, the ant bed that is Dynamo fandom was again stirred with a stick. Reaction varied from renewed anger towards Jesse Marsch to clever theories about when Ching will have to have season ending surgery that sticks the Impact with his large salary for the season.

Out of Contract LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham will not be joining French side PSG after all. Club President Nasser Al Khelaifi revealed that the deal had been called off.

Beckham who had been linked with the Paris based club since late last year seems set to re-sign with Galaxy.

According to a report from Radio Cooperativa (Chile), Milton Caraglio, the Revolution's first Designated Player, has reached an agreement with Chilean first division side C.S.D. Rangers.

Caraglio, who was signed by New England to a Designated Player deal on Aug. 2, scored three goals in 12 games with the Revolution, including a two-goal effort against New York on Aug.

Dear David Beckham,

I just wanted to introduce myself first. My name is Matt, I'm 29-years-old and, to be honest, I didn't really get involved in soccer all that much until 2006. At that time, I was in Iraq. As you can imagine, soccer is beloved in Iraq, but what got me caught up in it was the fact that I couldn't friggin' escape it.

After the live Q&A session Seattle Sounders FC committed to answering the rest of the questions that were submitted by Alliance members. Many of these passed through my hands at some point, though not all. Several had to be condensed together as they covered similar issues. But in the final versions of the questions as submitted to the club through the Council or through twitter submissions they answered.

The Salary Cap has struck again.
Brisbane Roar have lost Thomas Broich, Henrique, Matt Smith and other key players in recent weeks and as a result despite continuing to boss possession, key goals have been conceded and a lack of attacking penetration has seem the team suffer three defeats in a row.

After months of speculation, it is finally official: Mauro Rosales has re-signed with the Seattle Sounders. Exact terms of the deal were not released, as this is MLS, but the team has confirmed that Rosales has signed a multi-year deal that could make him a Designated Player. Rosales will be announced as the team's newest signing as the first order of business during Tuesday's End of Year Business Meeting

Rosales' contract would qualify him to be categorized as a DP, but the team is holding off on finalizing that part until they determine if the required allocation dollars would be better used elsewhere.

Photo by Bill Barrett/ISIphotos.com

Omar Bravo's time in MLS is up.

Sporting Kansas City and top-flight Mexican club Cruz Azul agreed to a deal that will see the Designated Player return to his native country after one season in MLS. No terms of the deal were disclosed.

Josue Martinez has officially joined the Philadelphia Union on a transfer, according to a press release on the team's website. As per Union official policy, the club will not release the terms of either Martinez's contract or the transfer itself.

Martinez had been linked multiple times to the Union over the course of the last six months, particularly throughout late Novemember and into December.

Philadelphia Union

John Hackworth explains what the Union is looking for going into the 2012 season. "When you're retooling, you have to make sure you're managing the roster and the salary cap. We're not necessarily trying to get younger; we're trying to get better. And we're going to look at every avenue do that.