Category: Section 2 Around the Net

As they say, it’s tough at the top, but for Inter Milan, it’s even tougher at the top when there’s three months left of a season and nearly nothing left to play for, writes Guardian columnist James Richardson. He’s not talking about competition, of course, but rather infighting and rumors-all that’s left to a team […]

If indeed New York Red Bull lost $14 million last season, how does that compare to other MLS teams? Generally speaking, says Steve Davis of ESPN Soccernet, when you start examining MLS financials, “it’s all as foggy as a Westminster morning,” because, as with many companies owned by multi-layered organizations, it’s tough to see just […]

Following Ives Galarcep’s oft-cited columns about the terrible financial situation of the New York Red Bulls, Big Apple Soccer decided to let the Bulls board respond, which they did, vaguely. “We are proud of what we accomplished in the last 12 months,” Red Bull managing director Marc de Grandpre said when asked about the criticism […]

Goldman Sachs officially walked out of a deal that would have seen the global financial services firm fund 50 percent of the construction cost of Real Salt Lake’s new stadium in Sandy, Utah. On Monday, the Major League Soccer club responded to the potentially devastating news by saying it had already lined up another investor-though […]

A few weeks ago, Shalrie Joseph, who has perennially been linked with a move away from Boston, was named New England Revolution captain. On Saturday, the player said he would give up the honor and seek a trade due to a breakdown in contract negotiations with the club. Last year Joseph, who earns $167,500 annually, […]

If West Ham United somehow manages to stay in the English Premiership next season, it will be thanks in large part to the industry and commitment of Argentine striker Carlos Tevez. Whereas Javier Mascherano, Tevez’s Argentina teammate who also arrived at West Ham last September, had an ineffectual four-month spell at the club before departing […]

He didn’t score for a change, but Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo crafted three of United’s four goals at Old Trafford on Saturday, guiding the Premiership leader to an easy 4-1 win over fifth-place Bolton Wanderers. The 22-year-old Portuguese’s performance was further proof that he, without a doubt, is the difference in Man United’s title challenge […]

Houston, on the other hand, executed its game plan perfectly against Pachuca, the other Mexican powerhouse in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semis-in the second half that is. As expected, the 2006 Copa Sudamericana champion was all over the Dynamo for the first 45 minutes at Robertson Stadium last night, dictating the play in almost every […]

D.C. United now faces an uphill in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal against Chivas de Guadalajara-but it could have been a lot worse. A 1-1 draw salvaged in the final minute by a Luciano Emilio header was enough to give fans at RFK a reason to hope. Indeed, it’s a very […]

It’s gone left unsaid for months now, but Derek Rae of ESPN Soccernet finally examines the failure of Spanish champ Barcelona to reach the same peaks as last year. Dumped out of the Champions League by Liverpool last week and making impossibly difficult work of defending its La Liga title this season, Barcelona is indeed […]

At a cost of just over $20 million, Dimitar Berbatov may have already proven to be best buy in Europe this season. The Guardian’s Rob Smyth writes a glowing panegyric to Tottenham’s lanky Bulgarian striker, who punctuated a magnificent first season this past week with man-of-the-match performances against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and Braga in […]

Three cheers for Toronto FC, the first team in MLS history to completely sell out of season tickets. In just five months, the league’s first Canadian franchise sold 14,000 season seats out of a total capacity of 20,000 at the new BMO Field, which is on schedule for completion in time for Toronto’s home opener […]

It’s hard to say who has the tougher task tonight: the Dynamo against Pachuca or D.C. United against Chivas? You could argue in fact that it’s a tossup, since the Mexican teams are the defending champions of both Mexican First Division championships held in 2006. However, the focus may be a little different for the […]

Marketing move or league improvement strategy: David Beckham may not be the only face Japanese soccer fans recognize in MLS next year, says the Japan Times, as former national team players Takashi Hirano and Takuya Yamada recently held trials with the New England Revolution. In the end, the Revs decided not to take either player, […]

Its cancellation Wednesday night has set up an impressive doubleheader Thursday evening for Fox Soccer Channel, as the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal between MLS champ Houston Dynamo and Mexican powerhouse Pachuca will be followed immediately by the other semi between D.C. United and Chivas de Guadalajara. The Houston Chronicle says tonight’s match-up is easily the […]

It’s an American idea that American soccer even abandoned, but various reports indicate that the English Football League board is set to consider doing away with draws altogether, letting matches be decided instead by penalty shoot-outs. The BBC said no timetable was given for implementing the proposal if it was to pass. The idea came […]

Soccer has often been called the sport of communists and socialists, but nowhere is this connection more evident than … the USA? Indeed, Steven Wells of the Guardian says communist soccer clubs and leagues have sprouted up like mushrooms across the suburban U.S., where you can find “uncountable hordes of them” competing in unsuspecting places […]

In a column for the North Jersey Herald on Tuesday, Ives Galarcep said energy drink giant Red Bull had proved to be a bad owner of the MLS New York franchise after losing so much money in its first year. Later, on his blog, Galarcep clarified his position. Last year, Red Bull NY spent $14 […]

Barca’s Ronadinho, Roma’s Francesco Totti and Inter Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic have all made compelling cases this season, but Paul Gardner believes that Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the world’s best player. And many of the English game’s best players agree. Ronaldo’s United teammate, Wayne Rooney, who just 10 months ago was dumped out of […]

Along with Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo moving to Real Madrid, the departure of Barcelona great Ronaldinho for AC Milan, where he would be reunited with Brazil teammates Ronaldo, Cafu and Kaka (presuming he doesn’t leave for Madrid, either), would top the shortlist of big off-season moves in Europe this summer. Those rumors were lent […]

Yanks Abroad spoke with Heerenveen midfielder Michael Bradley about the upcoming 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada this summer. Bradley, 19, is the son of U.S. nen’s national team coach Bob Bradley; he’s expected to be named to the U-20 squad that will be announced on Thursday for an upcoming friendly against a still […]

The New England Revolution has failed to make a big-name signing since Clint Dempsey left for England in January, but that doesn’t seem to bother Revs coach Steve Nicol, who’s turned his focus instead toward blooding some of his first-years. Injuries to forward Pat Noonan and defender Michael Parkhurst have presented rookie Adam Cristman with […]

On Tuesday, Major League Soccer and the German Bundesliga announced a formal agreement to …meet twice a year to exchange ideas. That’s right, it’s another promotional partnership that doesn’t even go so far as the “coaching exchange” the Colorado Rapids set up with the English club Arsenal. Under this new agreement, the German Bundesliga will […]

The Times has an interesting interview with Colorado Rapids right winger Terry Cooke, a former teammate of David Beckham at Manchester United in the mid-90s. Cooke and, to a greater extent, Beckham both played a part in the famous team of United “kids” that brought the Premier League title back to Manchester in 1996 after […]

This isn’t something Jose Mourinho would merely like to do; rather, it’s something he would “really, really like” to do, the Chelsea coach told reporters on Tuesday: that is, become coach of Real Madrid. Later, of course, he added the obligatory comment, “I would like to go to Madrid when my work at Chelsea is […]