Category: Section 2 Around the Net

Don’t expect changes overnight, New York Red Bulls owner Dietrich Mateschitz tells fans in a New York Daily News interview. He takes the long view instead: “It will take a number of years to build a top team,” Mateschitz told the paper, adding that he doesn’t anticipate bringing in a top foreign player until the […]

Has Major League Soccer’s “designated player” strategy already gone bust? It may be harsh to say so just a month after David Beckham signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy, but Frank Dell’Apa of ESPN Soccernet says there are signs the plan isn’t working. For one thing he says, overtures made to players like Edgar Davids, […]

The name of the writer of the Chicago Tribune preview of the Champions League was misspelled in Wednesday’s Section 2. His name is Luis Arroyave.

It’s the return of the king at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich seemed to have lost his interest in the Premier League champions after the spat between he and Manager Jose Mourinho was made public in early January, but now, the London Times reports the two are set to meet this week for the […]

It’s a worrying theory pondered by economists across the world: is it a byproduct of globalization that the rich keep getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer? Well, if you look at English soccer as a model, the answer would appear to be yes. Regardless of what you think about Liverpool’s sale to American […]

Soccer365 talks to U.S. international Heath Pearce, left back of the Denmark-based club Nordsjaelland, about his plans for the future now that his contract expires at the end of the season. Because he plays in a league with next to no visibility in the US., Pearce understands that he’s at a disadvantage when it comes […]

English coach Terry Venables believes the influx of young players from other parts of the world, is hindering the development of young talent in England. He says teams like Arsenal place too great an emphasis on signing foreign players at a young age rather than developing talent from their own academies. “When I was playing, […]

While Crew supporters retain the hope of a big-name announcement, at the moment nothing is imminent. Columbus still has a designated player slot at its disposal. A late attempt to bring back Brian McBride was thwarted by the striker’s decision to sign a one-year extension with Fulham, his current employer in the English Premiership. If […]

Guardian columnist Steven Wells hits out at a New York Times article from a month ago written about the Fugees, the rag-tag soccer team of Luma Mufleh, the inspiring Jordanian-American woman with a military mentality and a heart of gold. Wells says the Times story, which for weeks topped the paper’s “Most Emailed Stories” list, […]

He may not be surrounded with the glittering hype that hangs over his older brother Freddy, but Fro Adu is on his way to achieving a different kind of first for the Adu family: a college degree. Fro, a 15-year old high school senior has recently accepted an offer to play at George Mason University […]

Suddenly things just seem to be turning around for L.A. Galaxy-bound David Beckham. Recalled to the Real Madrid first team last weekend, Beckham was instrumental in helping the Merengues win 2-1 at Real Sociedad, scoring once and helping to create the second. Now, England coach Steve McClaren, who dropped the former England captain after he […]

Despite missing two penalties, Arsenal was able to secure safe passage to the fifth round of the F.A. Cup with a 3-1 overtime win over Bolton. The win was a sweet one for Arsene Wenger’s men because it came at Reebok Stadium, which had proven to be something of an impenetrable fortress for the Gunners […]

They’re already calling it the “group of death”: Wednesday’s 2007 Copa America draw saw the U.S. placed with Argentina, Colombia and Paraguay in Group C, which on paper anyway, looks to be the strongest of the three. U.S. coach Bob Bradley knows it will be tough: “I think we all felt that Argentina was one […]

American goalkeeper Tim Howard signed a five-year contract with Everton on Wednesday. The Merseyside club is believed to have paid nearly $6 million to Manchester United for his services. The 27-year old has been on loan at Everton all season. Apparently, United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson tried to convince the big American to come back […]

They might be fighting like siblings, but Luis Arroye of the Chicago Tribune believes Barcelona’s players are once again playing like European Champions. Ronaldinho showed he’s back to his best this weekend against Racing Santander, as did Portuguese midfielder Deco. Striker Javier Saviola has been on a goal-scoring tear since the beginning of the year, […]

UEFA’s new president Michel Platini has laid out new measures to cut back on referee mistakes, but they don’t include video technology. Instead, the former France and Juventus legend advocates upping the number of officials on the field from three to five. The idea is that an extra official on either side would make all […]

The rumor mill this week paints a broader picture of disquiet at Europe’s top clubs. Real Madrid and Chelsea’s woes are well-documented, but reports in the Spanish media indicate that all is not well at Manchester United and Barcelona. Valencia midfielder Hugo Viana revealed that Portugal teammate Cristiano Ronaldo definitely wants out of Manchester United […]

You can believe Real Madrid was happy to see infighting at another club steal headlines on Tuesday, especially because that club was Spanish league leader and bitter rival Barcelona. An incensed Samuel Eto’o, who’s missed most of the season through a knee injury, called Coach Franck Rijkaard “a bad person” for telling reporters he didn’t […]

Perhaps Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman’s hunch is best backed up by the sport’s sudden, meteoric rise in American media coverage since the beginning of the year. In early January, there was Beckham of course, then came George Gillett and Tom Hicks buying Liverpool, and now most recently there’s the Colorado-Arsenal deal. Greg Lalas writing for […]

Deseret Morning News columnist Lee Benson wonders how in the world Real Salt Lake ended up getting its stadium deal, especially after it was denounced by financial reports and flatly denied local taxpayer money. How, he asks, did it come to pass that the state saved soccer in Utah? “Overnight,” says Benson, “a deal that […]

Soccer pundit Ian Plenderleith, in a column for the U.S. National Soccer Team Player’s Association Web site, takes a closer look at the new deal between Colorado and English Premier League giant Arsenal, and concludes that there’s not all that much to it, really. For starters, Colorado owner Stan Kroenke takes no equity interest in […]

The Denver Post points out that each of these men believe the road to success in American soccer passes through Europe. Philip Anschutz, of course, is the man with enough millions to lure the European uber-celebrity David Beckham over from Real Madrid. Stan Kroenke last week orchestrated the sports marketing and management collaboration between Arsenal […]

Paul Gardner of the New York Sun takes a look back what was a particularly eventful weekend in Spain and Italy. In Italy, Ronaldo made his AC Milan debut in a 2-1 win for the home side. He didn’t score, but he didn’t play half bad, either. League leader Inter walked through the motions to […]

A few weeks ago, Liverpool and Arsenal, the third- and fourth-place teams in England’s Premier League, built up the world’s expectation for a tightening EPL race only to disappoint since then. After recording big victories against Manchester United and Chelsea, respectively, Arsenal and Liverpool have dropped points while the leaders have not, effectively closing the […]

Over the past five seasons, the New England Revolution’s Taylor Twellman is the highest-scoring U.S. player in Major League Soccer, though he hasn’t been paid like it. Today, following months of speculation linking him to clubs in Europe, the 26-year-old is expected to announce a new deal with the Revs, worth $300,000 over the next […]