So the MLS combine this year took place in sunny Florida - which was good for the players, because it's been wicked cold in Southern California of late. It's warmer today, but I'm sure that at least some of the USMNT players out for January camp have felt like it's a real winter workout.
Anyway, I'm not at the MLS combine, but the photo op pictures some players took at the Seaquarium were emailed to me by the league, so I thought I'd share a few.
In 2004, Major League Soccer decided their eleventh franchise would be placed in the soccer hotbed of Southern California. Rather than move the team to San Diego or another part of the area, the league's brain trust and team owners ... Continue reading →
A quick roundup of Southern California soccer news for your reading pleasure: *Rolling Hills
Estates' Robbie Rogers is on the move again in England - after playing just one game for Leeds
United: LEEDS, England (AP) -- American winger Robbie Rogers has been loaned from English
second-tier club Leeds down
Chivas USA fan Yvie Bueno welcomed the club's newest signing - and arguably its biggest ever
acquisition - Shalrie Joseph to Southern California today after his first training session with the
team Monday morning. I'll have more on Joseph and what his signing means to Chivas USA ahead of
this
Looks uncomfortable doesn't he? Staff Writer Phil Collin takes a brief look at what has become one
of Southern California's most enduring July 4 traditions, the annual Galaxy home game and fireworks
spectacular in Carson. Here's the Union perspective.
Acknowledging that "In this business, it is never easy to say goodbye," Peter Nowak confirmed at
a press conference on Wednesday that the Philadelphia Union and Chivas USA have agreed on the terms
of a deal that will see Danny Califf traded for an as yet unnamed player.
US Soccer Player MLS writers Justin Shaffer, Dario Camacho, and Tony Edwards debate the first month
of the season, NBC Sports Channel's coverage of the League, and the situation in Southern
California. What has surprised you the most so far this season? Dario Camacho: Toronto. Say what
you will about their current problems, but by year's end last year it looked like they had turned
the corner.
Three questions for Southern California soccer fans: *What coach of an MLS club that will play at
Home Depot Center Saturday night do you think this quote should be attribued to? "There will come a
time in the season when we look back on this month and say, 'My God,
I headed out to Chivas USA preseason training at Home Depot Center Monday and was joined by staff
photographer Steve McCrank, whose work is seen below Familiar Face: To Galaxy fans, if not in this
jersey. Pasadena's Pete Vagenas has returned to Southern California with Chivas USA - even if
Even though he arrived early, about 30 Galaxy fans were on hand when Edson Buddle returned to
Southern California Friday night, stepping off a flight from Europe (Photo courtesy LA Galaxy).
Past and future Galaxy striker Edson Buddle will hold a press conference Monday at Home Depot
Center after his
People have been asking me for 'curriculum' and things detailing what it is we do. How do we
produce our end product they say. Here's a quickie from our State Cup final:
If you can't see the video, click here.
They seem to think there's a cookbook to make this happen, a recipe that can be followed.
With the release of our U11 video showcasing unseen before soccer in the States, and the
subsequent chronicling of our younger U10s and those U11s competing in Barcelona, I've been
bombarded with emails from coaches, DOCs, and parents from across the country (internationally
even).
Gonzo Gordo: The unlikely MLS career of Alan Gordon has taken an unusual turn with the U.S. National Team (Associated Press File Photo). A player who was never respected by fans (or frankly the media) when he played in Southern California now has a chance at World Cup qualifying glory.
At Wednesday's press conference in which Peter Nowak announced that a deal was in place to trade
Danny Califf, the spin was that the former Union captain was ready to go "home" to Southern
California. Kerith Gabriel reports Califf's reaction when listening to the press conference was,
"It made me want to throw up.
Since the popularity of the EPL in Southern California keeps climbing, in no small part due to the
efforts of Los Angeles-based Fox Soccer, I thought I'd begin posting these excellent weekly
previews you can see below as well as listings of the games. Let me know what you think.
Warren Barton played for Newcastle from 1995 through 2002, and he now lives in Southern
California and is Fox Sports Chief football analyst in the US, and is featured for all the English
Premier League games throughout the season, and he comes across as an excellent and
knowledgeable pundit. Warren Barton in Fox Sports studio in LA He is [.
Jay Heaps and Shalrie Joseph chat during a preseason drill. On Monday, Joseph asserted that he
and Heaps had a "rocky relationship" in the weeks leading to his trade to Chivas USA. (Photo: Chris
Aduama/aduama.com)
Happy days they were not for Shalrie Joseph as his time in New England came to a close.
Chelsea fans all over the world it's time to come together and support two of our supporters in
their challenge to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to mark it as "Chelsea Territory" and most importantly
of all, to raise money for FOUR tremendous charities: Help a Capital Child, Right to Play
International, Association for Suicide prevention and Save the Children.
Chelsea fans all over the world it's time to come together and support two of our supporters in
their challenge to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to mark it as "Chelsea Territory" and most importantly
of all, to raise money for FOUR tremendous charities: Help a Capital Child, Right to Play
International, Association for Suicide prevention and Save the Children.
Chelsea fans all over the world it's time to come together and support two of our supporters in
their challenge to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to mark it as "Chelsea Territory" and most importantly
of all, to raise money for FOUR tremendous charities: Help a Capital Child, Right to Play
International, Association for Suicide prevention and Save the Children.
The fireworks continued for one or two sides, but sadly the magical pixie dust had officially run
out on two darlings of this editions tournament of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The Great Lakes and
Southern California had their ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.
Wikipedia calls Derby Carrillo's time with the Seattle Sounders a trial. Derby calls it
something a bit more. In Friday's phone conversation with Sounder at Heart he said "It's almost
exactly like what Bryan Meredith did." His 'trial' with the Sounders was more than a trip to
Arizona. He was with the Kitsap Pumas in 2010, practiced with Seattle and even was the backup in
some of the ad hoc reserve games on the backfields of Starfire that year.
Are we getting spoilt? This is the fourth time since 2005 Real Madrid will have faced the Galaxy in
Southern California, something those of you who picked up a free Galaxy poster at the gate Saturday
for the Red Bull game apparently already knew. Or is it just that these
The Galaxy will play Robbie Keane's former club Tottenham Hotspur July 24 at Home Depot Center,
part of Spurs' U.S. summer tour that also includes a July 31 game against the New York Red Bulls.
Single tickets for the club's first-ever visit to Southern California have yet to go
You can bet the former Bruin playmaker would like a return to Southern California. But is another
midfielder a priority for the Galaxy? Read more here.
Another Philadelphia Union player is on his way out of the club, as Kyle Nakazawa will be
traded, the Brotherly Game has learned.
Sources tell the Brotherly Game that the Nakazawa will be moved to the LA Galaxy in a move that
one of the sources said will be announced tomorrow. The trade has been in the works since sometime
last week.
As we all know, tonight the Portland Timbers will take on southern California side Chivas USA is
round 2 of the Timbers' tournament. Tonight is an important game for both the Timbers and Chivas
USA as each will want to prove that Monday's performance was a fluke, not a trend. Not to say the
Timbers were terrible, but their performance left something to be desired.
CD Guadalajara are often called Southern California's third biggest sports team (behind the Lakers
and Dodgers) and, of course, there's the little matter of the club having a local offshoot in
Chivas USA. So no doubt fans of the real Chivas are mortified by the display so far this season
No column this week, but it will return next Tuesday with a preview of the independent documentary
"Gringos at the Gate," which should be required viewing for any Southern California soccer fan,
ahead of its LA premiere. Also, readers should know we are shifting the entire blog to a new
Gymnast tribute: In a nod to Olympic gymnasts, U.S. striker Abby Wambach included a cartwheel in
her goal celebration today against New Zealand (AP Photo)./em> Players with Southern California
ties led the U.S. Women's National Team to the Olympic semifinals today. Asociated Press Sports
Writer Joseph White has the game
It's reached the boiling point. If Albert Pujols doesn't hit any better and for power by the end of
this week, he is officially in a psychological wreck.
How can any man feel good about stealing money in front of everybody? This power outage has gotten
absurd. He's in a funk, but this funk is not any old funk, it's way more serious than that for Los
Angeles-Anaheim Angels fans because Pujols was being counted to make a major impact in his first
season in Southern California.
The entire roster for the U.S. WNT training camp is complete as forward Christen Press has arrived.
Press says there was two feet of snow on the ground when she left Sweden, where she is playing for
Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC. It was closer to 80-degrees when she landed in Florida on Thursday
evening for her first-ever full National Team call-up.
Few American players have had the career at the international level as John O'Brien. O'Brien became
one of the first Amerians to make a name for himself abroad when he signed with Ajax Amsterdam, and
scored for the United States versus Portugal in the 2002 World Cup.
Knowing this about his experiences at Ajax, no American probably has better insight into what it
takes to be successful playing in the 4-3-3 alignment that Ajax has mastered over the years.
Our mission here is education.
Education so you can make better soccer decisions and have more sophisticated, well-grounded
opinions.
I think it boils down to two main components:
The soft skills. Specifically, a continual and unvarnished discussion of soccer philosophy that
reflects the values of the greatest teams, players, and managers in the world.
