Category: Section 2 Around the Net

The Houston Dynamo and Major League Soccer have made an offer to take Mexican forward Luis Angel Landin, 23, on loan for a year from Morelia Monarcas, reports Bernardo Fallas. The Mexican team would retain the player's rights and collect an undisclosed fee. Houston's Chief Operating Officer Chris Canetti called the discussions "very interesting" and […]

Speculative Italian media reports have claimed that Borussia Dortmund's possibly U.S. defender Neven Subotic has as good as been sold to Serie A side Napoli. But the team's Managing Director Hans-Joachim Watzke has issued an unequivocal statement that the player is "absolutely not for sale." For good measure, Watzke added, "regardless of how much is […]

It doesn't matter how hard Columbus Crew GM Mark McCullers tries to spin it, the team "dropped the ball" by not getting former coach Sigi Schmid under contract before the Crew won the MLS Cup, writes Bob Hunter. But they have been saved by the fact that his assistant Robert Warzycha was available. Hunter believes […]

"If you try to protect strikers I would not have had a red card. I don't think I deserved a red card, but at least one of the Liverpool players did. [Jamie] Carragher was always fouling, so was [Leiva] Lucas in the middle. I made two fouls and got two yellow cards, which is not […]

"Fabio [Capello] has been absolutely brilliant. His seriousness is so transparent. He does everything in a meticulous way and the distractions are not there. There is a sense that the players are being treated as serious athletes. It isn't all a funfair. They react really well to that." English Football Association Chairman Lord Triesman praises […]

"We need to present a strong, consistent and winning bid for the 2018 World Cup. Personally, I think it should be with Portugal." Spanish soccer federation President Angel Maria Villar's reported comments on a potential Spain bid to host the 2018 World Cup.    

Major League Soccer has sold the international TV rights to its games to sports media company MP & Silva through 2013. Sports Business Journal (subscription only) reported that the deal involves "an eight-figure agreement." The TV deal is part of "a long-term, broad partnership with" MLS and includes "the exclusive rights to all MLS games, […]

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill has said that soccer is in the age of the “disposable manager,” and that he is not exempt from getting fired in spite of his team currently sitting third in the English Premier League. He knows how quickly things can change, and feels increasing emphasis is being placed on instant […]

Both D.C. United and FC Dallas were approached last month about the possibility of acquiring Ghanaian international Stephen Appiah, 28, on a free transfer, reports Steven Goff. But for reasons not yet clear, the potential deals fell through. "Appiah would have been willing to play in MLS for $2 million per season, a figure probably […]

The English Football Association's full report on the incident involving Manchester United defender Patrice Evra and the ground staff of Chelsea FC last April is well worth reading in full at the FA's website, writes Sam Wallace. "In parts it reads like the average fight outside a kebab shop on a Friday night in a […]

"The title is won in May and we are in December. Mathematically we will fight until the end. I believe Liverpool will drop many points. I am convinced of that. They had four draws at home. That means they dropped eight points, why shouldn't they drop eight more in the second half of the season?" […]

"They are an absolute disaster, staggering into rotten relationships as broken promise after broken promise drives them ever closer to a complete breakdown, teetering on the edge of the financial and football abyss." Sid Lowe tells how it's not been Mallorca's season so far in La Liga.    

"I suppose the only thing that I sometimes get frustrated by is when people outside the football club are talking about things to do with me, because they are trying to create something that is not there." Liverpool striker Robbie Keane, who scored a fine goal for his team in the weekend's 1-1 tie at […]

I say, how awfully splendid. The English FA has something the U.S. and many other countries can't call on in their bid to land the 2018 World Cup — a member of the royal family to shake important hands and make small talk. Presuming that the monarchy is not overthrown in the meantime, Prince William […]

“Victory would put Rafael Benítez‘s club four points clear at the top of the standings for 24 hours at least and all but end Arsenal’s challenge.” Sachin Nakrani on how victory for Liverpool at Arsenal this weekend would not just end the home team’s championship hopes, but avenge Arsenal’s last-minute goal in the 1988-89 season’s […]

The draw for the round of 16 in the European Champions League will take former Chelsea managers Jose Mourinho and Claudio Ranieri back to England. Mourinho's Inter Milan team will play Manchester United, while Ranieri will take his Juventus team back to Stamford Bridge. Liverpool will meet Real Madrid in a repeat of the 1981 […]

Aston Villa, the team of U.S. goalkeepers Brad Friedel and Brad Guzan, will meet CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Cup round of 32. Standard Liege and Oguchi Onyewu, provided he hasn't moved to Marseille in the transfer window, take on Braga of Portugal. Marseille plays FC Twente of the Netherlands, the club coached by former […]

Arsenal shareholder Nina Bracewell-Smith, who has a 15.9 percent stake in the club, has spoken out about the way she was treated by her fellow board members, and at her removal from the board. "I'm in total shock and very upset about the appalling way I have been treated," she said. "The board have no […]

"Business, always business," a murderous character known only as "The Greek" answers laconically at the end of the second series of HBO's "The Wire" when asked by an airline check-in assistant if he's travelling for business or pleasure. The phrase could increasingly apply to soccer — it's less about the pleasure of the game, and […]

"Whether the Dynamo succeeds [in signing Mexican striker Luis Angel Landin] or are forced to look elsewhere is not the point. Rather, it is the fact the team has the tools to be aggressive in looking for talent — at home and abroad — that makes trading [Dwayne] De Rosario a potential winner." Bernardo Fallas […]

"Claudio [Lopez] and a lot of other experienced players in the league sometimes make very intelligent runs and they don't always receive the ball early enough." Kansas City Wizards coach Curt Onalfo carefully pinpoints one of the difficulties for good players in adapting to Major League Soccer.  

"The managers believe there has been too great a focus on refereeing decisions in post-match interviews." Scottish Premier League Chairman Lex Gold announces that the league's 12 coaches have agreed to desist from talking about refereeing decisions after games. If anyone's heard of a soccer-related New Year's resolution less likely to last beyond the end […]

"I think it is crucial all our players stay fit because we don't have a massive squad — that is a must." Aston Villa's Brad Friedel says that avoiding injuries will be key to Aston Villa securing a Champions League qualification spot in the EPL. Villa's partly second-string lineup lost 3-1 to Hamburg in a […]

AC Milan will offer David Beckham a two-year contract if his loan spell at the Serie A club works out, reports Christopher Davies, citing no sources. The L.A. Galaxy midfielder is set to start his loan spell next month and is due to return to the MLS team in March for the 2009 season, but […]

The English Football League, which governs the three professional divisions directly below the Premier league, has voted to bring in a new rule where four out of the 16 players on game-day rosters squads will have to be 'home grown.' Chairmen of the league's 72 member clubs voted on the measure Thursday, and it will […]