Category: Section 2 Around the Net

Kansas City Star columnist Mike Hendricks reports from Tuesday’s Kansas City plan commission meeting, where after an hour of discussion, requests for rezoning and changes to a land-use plan were approved on the 467-acre development that includes a new soccer complex. The Kansas City Wizards and their investors are asking for a $273 million subsidy […]

Major League Soccer on Wednesday released the third installment of its four-part end of season award series, announcing Chivas USA’s Preki as Coach of the Year and Toronto FC’s Maurice Edu as Gatorade Rookie of the Year. Edu this season was a consistent force in central midfield for last-place Toronto FC. He started all 25 […]

It’s hard to assess Claudio Reyna’s first year in Major League Soccer, says Frank Giase of the Newark Star-Ledger. From a Red Bull fan’s point of view, signing for Reyna for $1.2 million per year at a designated player slot looks a retrospectively bad move. Stats-wise, Reyna contributed three assists, zero goals and 14 shots […]

The L.A. Times’ Grahame L. Jones says the Los Angeles Galaxy should have a new coach by the end of the month, and probably before the team leaves on a two-game trip to Australia and New Zealand following the Thanksgiving Day holiday. The Galaxy isn’t naming any names, but Jones believes Manchester United assistant Carlos […]

As Steve McClaren prepares to announce his England squad for the final round of European Championship qualifiers, pundits in the British press are proclaiming once again that the England coach should place a moratorium on David Beckham’s international career. Tempting though it may be to see a living legend complete 100 appearances for a country […]

Did Bruce Arena resign or was he fired as head coach of the New York Red Bulls? Four sources told Steve Goff of the Washington Post, he was fired. The official word from the Red Bulls camp is that Arena left by mutual consent   It doesn’t really matter, says Paul Gardner in his column […]

Sir Alex Ferguson has been outspoken in his support of FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s proposal that limits be imposed on the number of foreign players on European clubs. “It’s certainly not wrong that clubs should be seen to have a proportion of home-based players,” Ferguson said. Manchester United has a strong tradition of fielding mostly […]

World Soccer has a lengthy interview with AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti, who despite widespread criticism in Italy, says he gets “a distinctly positive feeling” when he thinks about the season ahead. “We start off every season wanting to win everything but the Champions League is something special; it’s part of our DNA,” Ancelotti says, […]

Frank Yallop’s tenure with the L.A. Galaxy is over. He resigned as head coach just hours before the team left on a four-city tour of Minneapolis, Vancouver, Aucklund, New Zealand, and Sydney, Australia. Various reports claim that Yallop will soon be named head coach of the revived San Jose Earthquakes. A former coach of the […]

It’s not the job of the sports press to “big up” Major League Soccer’s Eastern and Western Conference finals, says Ian Plenderleith of USSoccerPlayers, “which is just as well, because I can’t think of much to recommend them.” Taking a look at the field, Plenderleith says that not a single one of the remaining four […]

Many critics decry the tentative, defensive soccer on display so far in this year’s MLS playoffs, but Boston Globe writer Frank Dell’Apa says Thursday’s Eastern Conference final between the Chicago Fire and New England Revolution is perfectly poised. New England has the history, having beaten the Fire in all five of their playoff contests at […]

The occasion of Manchester United playing Arsenal is as suitable a yardstick as any to measure soccer’s burgeoning globalization: Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune says the game — which he notes was generously placed at Saturday’s early time slot to correspond with late evening primetime viewing in Asia — is reported to have […]

USSoccerPlayers’ Clemente Lisi doesn’t see Bruce Arena’s Red Bulls walking away from Gillette Stadium with a victory this weekend, and should they fail, Lisi says the onus falls on Arena, and no one else. And it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise if they do: the Red Bulls, he says, play a “dull brand […]

It’s a rare thing in professional soccer to be able to say that more than half your starters have been together for five years, but the New England Revolution can:  Matt Reis, Jay Heaps, Shalrie Joseph, Steve Ralston, Taylor Twellman and Pat Noonan have all been playing with the Revs since 2003. Ralston tells USA Today […]

D.C. United was made to pay for its poor first-leg performance in Chicago after a spirited comeback Thursday night fell short of the required one-goal victory that would have extended the match to overtime. Instead, the 2-2 draw was enough for Chicago to emerge victorious once again against D.C. United in the playoffs. Its unbeaten […]

Former PSV Eindhoven coach Ronald Koeman signed a two-and-a-half year deal with Valencia on Friday, making him the La Liga side’s fourth coach in three years. Each of Koeman’s predecessors, Quique Sanchez Flores, Antonio Lopez and Claudio Ranieri were all fired by a club looking to regain to the form it enjoyed in 2001 and […]

Barcelona star Ronaldinho has been heavily criticized for his form so far this season, but the Brazilian was one of the brightest lights in an otherwise tentative display by the Catalans at Valladolid on Thursday. The two-time FIFA World Player of the Year was happy to score his first goal from open play this season, […]

It’s a good thing for Bernd Schuster that Real Madrid absolutely demolished Valencia Wednesday, because prior to the match, the Real coach gave reporters a thorough tongue-lashing after it was suggested his team had been under-performing. Schuster told them he’d “love a job like yours where you get paid for insulting people, despite not having […]

The first of Major League Soccer’s end of season awards is in, with Chivas USA’s Brad Guzan winning Goalkeeper of the Year, Michael Parkhurst of the New England Revolution taking home the MLS Fair Play award, and the Columbus Crew earning the MLS Team Fair Play award. The awards were voted on by members of […]

Chivas USA had a wonderful regular season, finishing first in MLS’ Western Conference, but L.A.’s other club faces mounting injury problems that could curtail its playoff challenge. Chivas is already without veteran forward Ante Razov due to a long-term injury, and now Maykel Galindo, the club’s top scorer during the regular season, looks set to […]

D.C. United may have one of MLS’s best records over the past four seasons, losing only 12 times, but its regular-season success has failed to translate to the playoffs over the last two years. Tonight, United is again faced with the prospect of its MLS Cup hopes ending at home as it hosts Chicago in […]

It’s been a bad couple of days for England’s national team. First it was revealed that Wembley’s turf had been destroyed following the NFL game between the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins last weekend. The game, played in a torrential downpour, was held barely three weeks before England’s final Euro 2008 qualifier, which it […]

Thierry Henry has come under heavy criticism for failing to recapture his Arsenal form since joining Barcelona over the summer. The Frenchman has visibly struggled to adapt to the slower pace of the Spanish game, which emphasizes vision and close control over pace and power, which Henry was accustomed to in the Premiership. In an […]

Three total goals in four first-leg playoff games means that MLS ought to consider modifying the playoff format, says the Boston Globe’s Frank Dell’Apa. Teams currently play each other home and away, with the higher seeded team hosting second in case of extra time, and the one with the better record over two legs advances […]

In the end, Brazil was the obvious choice for FIFA to host the 2014 World Cup, but that’s mostly because it was the only choice, writes the Independent’s Glenn Moore. While there’s definitely an element of romance in the beautiful game’s most important tournament coming to the land where it’s played most beautifully, Moore says […]