Category: Section 2 Around the Net

“I think he certainly has benefited from one year of playing somewhere else. He looks as athletic as before, probably more comfortable on the ball. I think with any player you get experience by playing and by making mistakes. I think he has gained some experience that is quite good for him.” RB New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio on returning defender Eric Brunner, 22, who left a year ago to play for Miami in the USL rather than downgrade his salary to a developmental contract.

“It’s disappointing to lose Jimmy. We said all along that we’d like to keep all of our players but the possibility of Jimmy leaving has been there all the time. He’s been seeking the type of contract we couldn’t give him.” Fulham manager Roy Hodgson on the departure of midfielder Jimmy Bullard to Hull City. […]

“I’ve kept an eye on Emile’s career and when he’s confident he’s a top player. Something leveled at Emile is that he doesn’t score enough goals and I am sure he probably thinks exactly the same. But it doesn’t mean he hasn’t made a massive difference in other areas.” Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill on […]

“We’ve got some tough games, we’ve a game at Man. United that really is so secondary to me now.” Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp says he will send a second string lineup to face Manchester United in the FA Cup fourth round this weekend, because Premier League survival has become a priority. Redknapp’s team reached […]

“Sports events bind us together as a nation and it’s vital, where possible, the public can watch them. It’s also crucial for the development of sport that broadcasting deals represent good value for money for governing sports. The voluntary code strikes the right balance between audience and revenue.” Senior barrister Charles Flint, one of a […]

Europe’s top clubs and its soccer governing body UEFA have started preliminary talks on measures to curb inflated transfer fees and players’ wages, reports Darren Ennis. The European Club Association, which represents clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan, has proposed that teams should only be allowed to spend around 51 percent […]

While some potential Major League Soccer expansion franchises are withdrawing their bids or receiving negative messages from league headquarters, the 2009 startup team Seattle Sounders FC is looking like one of the league’s strongest clubs without having yet kicked a competitive ball. Not only is it set to become one of the best supported clubs […]

The general consensus on the L.A. Galaxy is that last season is best forgotten. But Coach Bruce Arena is still drawing lessons from the poor showing of a team he took over too late to rescue, pinpointing its brittle defense as the core of its problems. “We got pushed around a little bit too much […]

Former Chicago Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens seemed top be on an upward path when he left the MLS team for England’s Queens Park Rangers last year on a short term deal. But he never made it farther than the second-tier club’s reserve team and was cut at the end of the 2007-08 English season. Where’s […]

“I won’t walk home on my own again, that’s for sure. It left a bitter taste in my mouth for a while, but I’m just glad justice has been done. It was a one-off incident. It upset me and disappointed me. It is not a fair reflection on Glasgow. It has got nothing to do […]

“We’re not anybody’s fool. We’ve turned down negotiations for three different players because we felt the demands both from the [selling] club and, in essence, the players have been ludicrous. The perception that we are out there throwing money around is simply not true.” Manchester City Executive Chairman Garry Cook complains that the club’s attempts […]

U.S. national team midfielder Maurice Edu has said he turned down the possibility of a loan move away from Glasgow Rangers in order to stay at the club and fight for a first team place. Edu has played just twice for the Scottish club since his summer move from Toronto FC, and was also sidelined […]

Real Madrid has been fined a risible $3,900 by the Spanish sootball federation after a group of its fans were reported by a referee for making fascist gestures and chanting fascist slogans during last weekend’s home game with Osasuna. Referee Alfonso Perez Burrull said in his report that some Real fans were waving flags and […]

Soccer pundits gave Real Salt Lake low marks for gambling with every one of its three picks at last week’s MLS SuperDraft, writes James Edward. But the team’s general manager, Garth Lagerwey, said his coaching staff did much more homework than they’re getting credit for. Lagerwey said it would have been safer to grab a […]

L.A. Galaxy coach Bruce Arena has 33 names on his roster for the first training session of the new year Wednesday, writes Grahame L Jones, and it includes a couple of surprises — trialists Tony Sanneh, 37, and Venezuelan defender Henry "Leo" Bautista, 25. Former U.S. national team player Sanneh was a starting defender on […]

Spain and Portugal’s announcement that it will launch a joint bid for the 2018 World Cup could be a blessing in disguise for Australia’s hosting aspirations, according to Football Federation Australia Chief Executive Ben Buckley. Australia expects England to be its biggest competitor in the bid to secure hosting rights, but now that there are […]

"A team loses its soul when it loses so many players so often." Former L.A. Galaxy playmaker Mauricio Cienfuegos laments the high turnover of players at his old club.

"He was tidy around the ball and his finishing was good. He’s showed a good attitude in training, but strikers are there to score goals and he did that." Leeds United reserve team manager Neil Thompson on 21-year-old American striker and trialist Mike Grella, scorer of three goals for Leeds Reserves in a 4-0 win […]

You, the U.S. taxpayer, will no longer be sponsoring Manchester United. Insurance giant AIG, bailed out by the U.S. government to the tune of $150 billion, announced as expected Wednesday that it will not renew its shirt sponsorship deal with the EPL and European champion when the current contract expires at the end of the […]

Tottenham Hotspur has signed Wigan Athletic’s Honduran forward Wilson Palacios, for a reported fee of $19.4 million. Real Madrid had also expressed an interest. Palacios moved to Wigan from Birmingham last summer, and has impressed with his sparkling wing play.

“The lads at [non-league] Burton [Albion] were better at doing certain things. Any player in the lower leagues would not have made those sorts of basic mistakes. It was a strange experience and I have been in a state of shock for the last 48 hours, really.” Nigel Clough, freshly installed as manager at Championship […]

AC Milan “bottled” the transfer of Brazilian midfielder Kaka to Manchester City, according to City’s Chief Executive Garry Cook, returning home from Italy after the Serie A club turned down the EPL team’s $150 million offer for the player.   Cook said that although he knew a deal wouldn’t be easy, Milan’s celebrations at Kaka’s […]

Having failed to secure the services of Kaka, Manchester City found itself without another Brazilian, striker Robinho, who went missing from the team’s training camp in Tenerife on Monday.   The club refused to comment on reports that the player had returned to South America after falling out with City manager Mark Hughes. Other reports […]

Brazilian soccer’s biggest signing will be sidelined as the new season kicks off this week, writes Brain Homewood. Ronaldo, 32, who joined Corinthians last month, is still struggling to regain fitness following a long term knee injury he suffered last February.   “It’s best not to make a prediction,” said the former Barcelona, Real Madrid, […]

His regular column in the Chronicle may not win any prizes for originality, but former pro Glenn Davis makes a fair point Tuesday in calling on those MLS teams with quiet stadiums to pull out all stops this season to create “more passionate environments.”   In stringent economic times, teams are going to be hard […]