SoccerAmerica has a great post with all kinds of stats about the USA roster.
Things like: youngest player: Jozy Altidore (20) oldest player: Marcus Hanhemann (37) and Players who did not make appearances in qualifying play for South Africa (4) Edson Buddle, Robbie Findley, Herculez Gomez and Marcus Hanhemann.
Check out the full statistical breakdown at SoccerAmerica
Not surprisingly, MLS and the MLS Players Union have agreed to extend talks until February 25. Just weeks ago, they agreed to push the deadline to February 12.
The original deadline was set at February 1.
This move was somewhat expected as both sides delayed talks due to blizzard conditions in D.C., and therefore no chance to get in the trenches as it were during the final days before the deadline.
I’ve been a part of collective bargaining agreements before (entertainment related, not sports) and I am willing to bet that there will be at least one more extension, it’s just how these things work. I’m also willing to bet that talks won’t last much longer than the first week of March. By then we will know if their will be player’s strike/lockout or final agreement.
In the meantime, all MLS teams have begun their preseason training.
photo credit: Arturo J. Paniagua
Reports out of Spain suggest that Raul will be heading to Major League Soccer this Summer, specifically to the New York Red Bulls.
He has fallen in the depth chart at Madrid, not surprising considering his age and the new strikers that Madrid seems to sign on a weekly basis.
Raul has previously stated his desire to play in America, and this could be the perfect time for the 32 year old to make the change. MLS has instituted the designated player rule allowing for a player’s salary to be as large as the team wants and not have it count against the salary cap, and NY has the DP slot to make the move. Let’s hope a deal can be reached
Juan Pablo Angel and Raul leading the attack for the Red Bulls? Wow.
MLS veteran Jesse Marsch has retired from soccer and will take on his new role as assistant coach of the US Men’s National Team under Bob Bradley immediately. Marsch played 14 seasons in MLS two with DC United, eight with Chicago, and four with Chivas USA. He is one of the last remaining players to have been in MLS since its inception.
He had his best run with Chicago, helping the team win the 1998 MLS Cup title as well as U.S. Open Cup titles in 1998, 2000, and 2003.
Marsch said about his retirement, “I would like to sincerely thank my family, friends, teammates, coaches and supporters for the past 14 excellent years,” said Marsch. “Many people have touched my life in a very positive way, and these relationships have shaped and will continue to shape me and my family. I am excited to get started with U.S. Soccer, and I hope for continued success and support within the sport of soccer.”
To read more about Jesse Marsch and his career check out MLSnet
Major League Soccer has announced its schedule for the 2010 season. Some of the best news is that there is finally some equality in the scheduling. All teams will play each other twice: once home and once away. The way the league should be. Well done MLS for getting this far!
Browse the full schedule here.
Photo By: Jason Gulledge
Kenny Cooper has completed a loan deal that will see him play for Plymouth Argyle of the Coca Cola Championship in England. The move is an effort by Kenny and his father to ensure more playing time in hopes of making the US World Cup roster. Cooper’s departure from 1860 Munich comes on the heels of an argument between head coach Ewald Lienen and Cooper’s father, Kenny Sr., about the issue of playing time.
This isn’t the first time Cooper’s father has been in the limelight when dealing with his son’s career. He made for quite the interview upon Kenny’s departure from MLS club FC Dallas to 1860 Munich. You can read the whole story here.
Back then, it was all about money, and Kenny Sr. brings up some good points about the league paying their best American athletes.
“The value of a player as a young American is not even close to what it should be. It’s sad when people from other countries see your talent and reward you, and pay you what you’re worth, as opposed to being an American player who’s told we can’t pay you because this other player makes less.” Kenny Sr. continues, “Then they bring in a foreign player and they say ‘we’ll make him the DP, the highest paid player,’ and there’s no reward for a person who works hard and builds up the club.”
However, Kenny Sr. also shows a bit of “stage mom” when he says, “”We put a three year plan together for Kenny in terms of if you’re not going to get paid what you’re worth then we’ll have to go back overseas. We were never able to meet in the middle or anything close to that.”
Negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement between Major League Soccer and the Players Union have been tense. With a deadline of February 1 fast approaching, the two sides have agreed to push the deadline date back 11 days to February 12.
The sad fact is that in order for soccer to really grow in America, MLS has to let go of a lot of the controls they seem insistent upon keeping. Rules such as: MLS owning player contracts as opposed to teams or player allocation instead of free agency. The latter boggles my mind the most. Currently if a player still under contract wants to leave his current team (and that team is willing to let him go) for another team in MLS, he can’t. Not without following MLS’s strict player allocation rules that basically say, you can only go to the team at the top of the allocation order, and if they don’t want you, you’re out of luck.
I’ll admit, that’s a pretty awful explanation of the allocation rules, but frankly, they are so confusing and ridiculous that I want to take the time to learn them. I just want them to go away. They are unnecessary and hinder growth. I know, I know. MLS is scared of going the way of the old NASL and the New York Cosmos, so they don’t want to grow too quickly. But with salary caps in place (which I agree on to an extent), the league doesn’t have to worry about over growth.
Speaking of salary caps, the league’s current $2.3 million is embarrassing. It’s embarrassing that professional players have to settle for $30,000 or potentially even less (as mandated by the league minimum of $20,100). It’s time to double the salary cap MLS, there’s not too much risk in setting the cap at $5 million.
A $5 million salary cap will also help with MLS’s ever expanding lifestyle. It’s funny how worried they are about over spending on things like players (the most important part of the game) but how quick they are to invite new teams into the league. At some point the talent at the $2.3 million cap level will be saturated and the product on the field will go down in quality.
Here’s some advice to MLS, listen to your employees, and then do your best to be reasonable with them. We as fans don’t watch games and support teams because of how well you have steered the league towards prosperity. We watch because we love the game, we support you because you have the power to help make the game better in this country, so help it, don’t hurt it.
There have been multiple reports surfacing that Stuart Holden has signed a contract with Bolton Wanderers of the English Premier League for the remainder of the season.
Holden has been on trial at Bolton for the past few weeks. He picked up a thigh injury in training, but is expected to fight for playing time starting immediately. Bolton manager Owen Coyle had some kind words about Holden, “There is an incentive for Stuart to try to get himself in the team, [but] he’s had a little thigh knock for the last three or four days which has curtailed his training a little bit, but he did ever so well in the first week and he comes looking to push his career on. He has done very well in the MLS and he wants to continue that development.”
Holden played 88 games with Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer and has 12 caps with the US Men’s National Team, earning his first in 2009.
Bruce Arena has been elected into the National Soccer Hall of Fame with his name on 78% of the ballots.
Arena’s career has been long and remarkable. He is arguably the best American coaches and certainly is one of the most successful. His career took off at the University of Virgina, where he led the Cavaliers to five national titles. He moved to DC United in 1996 to be part of the inaugural year for Major League Soccer. There he won both the MLS title and the Lamar Hunt Open Cup title in 1996, and repeated as MLS champions in 1997. His success continued as he was named head coach of the US Men’s National Soccer Team in 1998. The highlight of his career came at the World Cup 2002 where he led Team USA to their best finish at a World Cup, but unfortunately lost to Germany in the quarterfinals. Arena led the team for 8 years and finished his run with a record of 71-30-29.
Arena now coaches the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer.
For more information on Bruce Arena and his storied career, check out this article at mlsnet.com.
I love his reaction. The look on his face is priceless.
Follow me on Twitter