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By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 10, 2012) US Soccer Players -- With Fabio Capello opting not
to continue as England manager this week, the interplay between the coach and the administration is
once again the topic du jour in world soccer. Whether it's for club or country, the job role of the
head coach has historically been a source of friction.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 8, 2012) US Soccer Players -- I was in 8th grade in the Fall
of 1989, a time when neon was about to give way to plaid and skater haircuts were close to turning
into anything that wasn't a skater haircut. This was also an era when professional soccer was still
working to reestablish itself as an American sport, so keep that in mind while reading the story.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 6, 2012) US Soccer Players -- As halftime came to an end
during Sunday's Chelsea - Manchester United broadcast on Fox, studio host Rob Stone fell back on
what has become a cliché of getting professional soccer over to a broader audience. Each and every
game is of unquestioned importance.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 3, 2012) US Soccer Players -- Manchester City enter the
weekend schedule still top of England's Premier League. Unfortunately for the next super club, that
lead is only through a superior goal differential to Manchester United. City are coming of a loss
to an Everton team that was going through the disruption of the transfer window closing, and once
again it's City facing nagging questions about value for.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 2, 2012) US Soccer Players -- The ballot for the National
Soccer Hall of Fame's Class of 2012 was released earlier this week, with two of the nominees
presenting themselves as obvious choices. Claudio Reyna and Tony Meola should have no problem
getting the requisite number of votes to make them first ballot Hall of Famers.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 1, 2012) US Soccer Players -- In our Corner feature a couple
of weeks ago, we looked at the rules for overtime in the National Football League and compared them
to soccer. When we rated the likelihood of the issue going away, we gave it a 9 out of a possible
11. That was mainly due to complaints about the current overtime system coming out of this
summer's.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 31, 2012) US Soccer Players -- There's something vaguely
unsettling about the final day of the January transfer window. We watch a sour European friends
become the equivalent of the person trying to set a competitive eating record. It's intriguing, no
doubt, yet at the same time slightly disgusting.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 27, 2012) US Soccer Players -- The news that Arsenal -
Manchester United drew 1.2 million viewers in the United States for a live game early on a Sunday
morning has opened a new discussion for the what it means for televised soccer to succeed. Use
whatever cliché you would like, but the impact of that game should have the holders of other
foreign soccer rights in the.
Once again with UEFA, it's the money. Specifically, who controls it and how it's spent across
Europe. That's the broad carryover from UEFA's attempt to restructure European football club
finances, a point they pressed with the 4th edition of the Club Licensing Benchmarking Report
released on Wednesday.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 24, 2012) US Soccer Players -- The National Team is one game
into a two-game series that caps another January camp. This annual tradition gives a coach the
opportunity to audition players over several weeks, a rarity in most countries. US coach Jurgen
Klinsmann has already shown a willingness to experiment, using a different formation from what
we've seen with his first choice roster.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 23, 2012) US Soccer Players -- On Sunday morning, the Premier
League on Fox gave us a glimpse of the immediate future of professional soccer in the United
States. A live regular season game on network television treated the same way as the other North
American pro sports.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 19, 2012) US Soccer Players -- It's easy enough to pick on
Major League Soccer and the CONCACAF Champions League. Not only are their flaws obvious, in most
cases they can't fall back on obvious success. Not so for Europe, where the UEFA Champions League
can overlook its faults while generating massive amounts of money for all involved, especially for
those teams advancing to the knockout stage.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 17, 2012) US Soccer Players -- It's the dawn of another Major
League Soccer draft, this time the Supplemental Draft that until recently was part of what made the
SuperDraft super. Now, it's a Tuesday afternoon exercise in player selection minus the television
coverage or live audience.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 16, 2012) US Soccer Players -- Premier League chief executive
Richard Scudamore's interview with the Daily Mail's Martin Samuel has something for almost
everyone. Depending on your constituency, there's something to confirm a position, challenge a
view, or generally set you off.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 11, 2012) US Soccer Players -- The first SuperDraft I covered
was in 2001 when it was still held in Florida, back in the days of dial-up modems. I drew the short
straw and ended up manning the laptop rather than attending the event in person. It was much more
likely that we would be able to get the draft results out as they happened without trying to.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 10, 2012) US Soccer Players -- Whatever happens on Thursday
at Major League Soccer's SuperDraft (12pm ET - ESPN2), Montreal has already made the biggest player
move. That happened in the expansion draft, when they opted against taking a player's wishes into
account and used a pick on then-Houston forward Brian Ching.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 6, 2012) US Soccer Players -- During its glory years in the
late 1970's, the original North American Soccer League expanded from 18 to 24 teams, increasing the
regular season schedule from 26 games to 30. By 1980, those 24 teams were playing 32 games. The
number of regular season games stayed the same through 1982, even as the number of clubs dwindled
to 14.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 2, 2012) US Soccer Players -- National Team camp opens today
in Phoenix, and with it a new set of expectations for the coaching staff. With head coach Jurgen
Klinsmann stressing first choice since taking the job last summer, he gets his first look at a
group he's calling "the next in line behind the established players.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 2, 2012) US Soccer Players -- Later today, the National
Hockey League will put on their annual version of what hockey would be like if it returned to an
era that never really existed for professionals. The game played outdoors... with the addition of a
full and modern Major League Baseball stadium.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 29, 2011) US Soccer Players -- European soccer has spent
another year living through interesting times. On the field, Barcelona continued their run as the
dominant club against whom all others are judged. Off the field, Financial Fair Play looms on the
horizon. Midway through the 2011-12 seasons in Europe, we've already seen indicators of trends that
could become issues next year.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 28, 2011) US Soccer Players -- After a year where Major
League Soccer added two more teams, lost several high profile players through retirement and other
opportunities, and got a marquee winner in an MLS Cup final, here are a few things I would like to
see from the League in 2012.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 27, 2011) US Soccer Players -- We'll start the short week
between holidays with a quote from UEFA president Michel Platini, taken from his summary of 2011
published on UEFA's official site. It has been a year in which certain of our national associations
have had to take courageous decisions to preserve the justice and integrity of our sport.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 21, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Since various Major League
Soccer clubs were nice enough to send us email holiday cards over the last couple of weeks, I
thought I'd return the favor with some holiday wishes of my own. For MLS, An Easier Answer To
Designated Player Drama Who would've thought that at 36 years old we'd be getting another episode
of where will David Beckham go.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 21, 2011) US Soccer Players -- As we rush toward the UEFA
vision of Financial Fair Play along with various European leagues trying to figure out what might
make their leagues more competitive, one doubt continues to nag. Well, at least one doubt. How does
any of this change the marketing and sponsorship power of the elite European clubs?
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 19, 2011) US Soccer Players -- We've all seen quotes where
some English soccer executive flatters the North American game by saying Major League Soccer has
clubs that could compete in the Championship or even the lower level of the Premier League.
Stripped of any context like a sponsorship agreement or other Transatlantic linkup, these sorts of
statements might work to convince some that what's on display in.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 15, 2011) US Soccer Players -- It's easy enough to add to the
pile of criticisms directed at Europe's other club competition. It's too large, the schedule is a
gauntlet for teams, there's the late inclusion of ousted Champions League clubs, and there's an
overall question of importance.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 13, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Early tomorrow morning East
Coast time, Monterrey becomes the latest CONACAF champions to play a consolation game at Club World
Cup level. At least this time around Monterrey didn't make the mistake of building themselves up as
a Club World Cup team.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 12, 2011) US Soccer Players -- For those of you that don't
schedule your Saturday around La Liga clasico encounters, I'll go ahead and spoil the Real Madrid -
Barcelona game for you. After spotting Real Madrid a goal, Barcelona did as expected and skillfully
took the game 3-1 in front of the Madrid support at the Bernabéu.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 8, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Before those rooting for a
better story get too excited, let's consider for a moment what the absence of Manchester United in
the knockout stage of the Champions League really means. For American fans, it's easy enough. This
is a heavily supported team with worldwide appeal failing to advance in the playoffs.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 7, 2011) US Soccer Players -- There's a model in Major League
Soccer for over achieving and then staying competitive for a few years. You make your splash, then
you remain in the conversation. The clubs that have followed this path win their Cup as a low seed,
and then use that core group of Cup winners to stay right at the cusp of contention.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 5, 2011) US Soccer Players -- For those of you still
following the story of FIFA's bid for reform, earlier today world soccer's governing body announced
a delay in releasing what is now being commonly referred to as 'the ISL file.' For those needing a
quick reminder, the expectation is that the release of that file will show who received money
during the 1990's when International Sports and.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 5, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Those of us that grew up in the
televised soccer wasteland that was the United States for a lot of years probably share a similar
story and a similar affection for a collection of video tapes. After all, it was how we saw what we
read or heard about.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 2, 2011) US Soccer Players -- If the reports describing
Martin O'Neill's move to Sunderland a done deal prove to be true, it's an interesting decision from
both parties. O'Neill has been the next great manager for over a decade, the media's regular
candidate whenever a high profile job comes open.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 1, 2011) US Soccer Players -- On Wednesday, FIFA took its
latest step on toward a new future that is supposed to stop the barrage of questions over
corruption, ethics, and accountability. I'm willing to bet that for most of you this story has
already fallen well down your personal watch list, and that's part of the problem.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 30, 2011) US Soccer Players -- And once again it's the
schedule. This time, it's Blackburn openly admitting they're prioritizing the league on their way
out of the Carling Cup. Blackburn manager Steve Kean made the headline writers in England happy by
using the term 'forfeited' in his post-game comments, making it clear that the team with the worst
record in the Premier League needed to focus on.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 29, 2011) US Soccer Players -- When I was a kid, there was a
guy at my church who was the son of a professional baseball player. His dad spent 14 years pitching
in the big leagues. The son played major college football and minor league baseball. Obviously,
this was of interest to those of us who were into pro sports - meaning every kid I knew.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 28, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Rugby Park seats 18,121 and
far less were in attendance when Kilmarnock beat Rangers 1-0 on Sunday in the Scottish Premier
League. Though you might not have thought so if you watched the Rangers TV team's postgame
coverage, Rangers remain top of the table by four points over old friends Celtic level on games
played with 16.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 22, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Is anybody really surprised
that a tape-delayed Premier League game Fox showed on Sunday afternoon outdrew MLS Cup on ESPN
later that night by a considerable margin? 1.5 to 0.8 on the Nielsen scale, and once again Major
League Soccer's big night turns onto a problem in search of an answer.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 20, 2011) US Soccer Players -- We could've called this
'Lessons Learned From 2011,' but that suggests accepting that any of these are actually problems.
Instead, the group think at work within Major League Soccer would likely go ahead and move them to
the 'successes' side of the docket.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 16, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Here are some things about
FIFA that we can probably agree with: FIFA is a bureaucratic organization. FIFA creates soccer
politicians. Those politicians are beholden to more than their direct electorate. Those politicians
should be held to a public trust standard just like politicians in democratic countries all over
the world.
