Category: Soccer America Confidential

The price of a NBDP – Non-Beckham Designated Player – could be increased by more than a factor of two, if RBNY – Red Bull New York – closes the deal on the player it is pursuing. According to a source with knowledge of the negotiations, MLS and English club Aston Villa have agreed on […]

This impasse between Shalrie Joseph and the Revs/MLS is about more than money, and Joseph can prove it, or at least so claims his agent, Ron Waxman. “He will play for any other team in MLS under his current contract,” says Waxman of a deal that will pay Joseph a base salary of $157,500, plus […]

Los Angeles Galaxy president and general manager Alexi Lalas has acknowledged that an MLS ban on charter flights came under discussion when the Galaxy began outlining its security and travel arrangements once David Beckham arrives. Red Bull New York has been denied permission by the league to travel by charter. (The players were, however, taken […]

Gamblers call it the choking point, that threshold of betting tolerance at which boldness melts and fear sets in. Judgment falters, confidence erodes, and more often than not, losses ensue. At the poker table, once that stack of chips to be pushed into the pot gets high enough and thick enough, the player quavers. At […]

Quietly, without much fanfare, ground was broken Friday in Swope Park, Mo. for a training facility, a four-field complex to be used by thousands of local youth players. Yawn Grande, right? Well, hardly. Shovels in the ground does not a franchise revive, but what has begun is the transformation of the Kansas City Wizards from […]

According to a source, negotiations with Robbie Fowler‘s representatives broke down when the player’s salary demands suddenly increased from $1 million to $3 million. An unidentified MLS club (not New England) was bidding to bring Fowler to MLS as a Designated Player at a salary of approximately $1 million. Fowler’s contract with Liverpool expires in […]

So how about that rumor of a $2 million bid from Glasgow Celtic for Shalrie Joseph that was supposedly turned down by MLS? It’s news to his agent, Ron Waxman, who also refuted rumors that another stumbling block was a contract laden with incentives and a rather low-ball base salary. “Celtic twice offered $1 million […]

WHAT’S IN A NAME? Credit Colorado for jumping on the lucrative academy bandwagon and dressing it up with a prestigious name, as done in Los Angeles (David Beckham Academy) and Real Salt Lake (the Real Madrid Something-or-Other.) The Arsenal Centre of Excellence (note the clever “English” spelling) will be housed at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park […]

There’s a lot more time for David Beckham and Real Madrid to reverse course yet again on whether he will come to MLS earlier than the summer. True, the European transfer window closes next Wednesday and Beckham’s contract with Real doesn’t officially expire until June 30. However, in the case of a player under contract […]

BEAS BUZZ. With Claudio Reyna joining the New York Red Bulls, the question becomes: are there any other U.S. internationals bound for these shores? Real Salt Lake would take DaMarcus Beasley yesterday, of course. Yet since he’s on loan from PSV Eindhoven to Manchester City, which just terminated Reyna’s contract so he could join MLS, […]

Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello has publicly declared he won’t field David Beckham again. Even if Beckham finishes out his Real contract, he could play for the Galaxy before the USA summer transfer window opens Aug. 15, for the windows regulate competitive play only. Upon expiration of his Real contract June 30, he would able […]

With hundreds of NSCAA Coaches’ Convention attendees roaming in and out of the ballroom staging the 2007 MLS SuperDraft and sections of Columbus and Chicago fans waving scarves, chanting and cheering – or booing – certain selections, the league began its first full day of the Beckham Era. 2007 MLS SuperDraft Picks Beckham’s team-to-be, Los […]

Since its early days, MLS has designated its allocation process as the method by which teams can sign U.S. internationals when they either enter the league or return to it from overseas as well as obtain other high-profiled players. Implementation and administration of the process, as in all player-distribution processes used by the single-entity league, […]

Well, those rumors a few months back about Peter Nowak leaving D.C. United and being replaced by assistant Tom Soehn turned out to be true. Sort of. Nowak is indeed leaving D.C. United, but not for another MLS team or a club or national team in Europe. A press conference is scheduled for Thursday at […]

Panamanian striker Luis Tejada has officially joined Real Salt Lake as Coach John Ellinger continues to build the team that managed just five wins in its 2005 expansion season and narrowly missed the playoffs last year. Tejada, 24, starred at the 2005 Gold Cup and won MVP honors of the tournament. That same year he […]

Despite claims that the trade that sent Freddy Adu to Real Salt Lake had only been formulating for a couple of weeks at most, the die was cast long before then. During his brief tenure as president and general manager of the Team Formerly Known as the MetroStars, Alexi Lalas hinted perhaps a change in […]

The four coaching finalists for the vacant FC Dallas job are being evaluated by an intriguing quartet of executives: Clark Hunt, Dan Hunt and John Wagner of operator-investor Hunt Sports Group, and team president and general manager Michael Hitchcock. Each of them has used 10 criteria to score each candidate on a scale of 1 […]

The four coaching finalists for the vacant FC Dallas job are being evaluated by an intriguing quartet of executives: Clark Hunt, Dan Hunt and John Wagner of operator-investor Hunt Sports Group, and team president and general manager Michael Hitchcock. Each of them has used 10 criteria to score each candidate on a scale of 1 […]

When Galaxy coach Frank Yallop mentioned during MLS Cup activities last month he wasn’t done changing the roster, he wasn’t kidding. By trading a pair of two-year players — striker Herculez Gomez and defender Ugo Ihemelu, for eight-year veteran goalkeeper Joe Cannon — Yallop has added an element that was crucial to his winning the […]

How will MLS fare in the offseason rate of exchange, i.e., the players it sells or loses overseas to those it imports? Right away, the league has fallen slightly behind on the American side of the ledger, with EPL clubs Reading and Fulham in the hunt for Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey, respectively, and Brian […]

Toronto FC coach Mo Johnston probably isn’t finished with the wheeling and dealing that highlighted the expansion draft last Friday. Defender Tim Regan, waived by the former MetroStars last year and picked up by Chivas USA before being exposed in the expansion draft, is rumored to be on his way back to New York in […]

Ah, pity the poor souls who will be selected in the expansion draft. Whatever slim chance they had of generating any real noise outside of Toronto is being nearly drowned out by the Designated Player Frenzy, aka, the Beckham Buzz. For nearly two years AEG president Tim Leiweke has been on the Beckham beat. Although […]

Two MLS head coaching jobs are open and a third may be also if Sigi Schmid leaves Columbus to work with Juergen Klinsmann, whose employment as U.S. national team head coach is drawing near. As to this possibility, Schmid said only, “You’d have to ask [U.S. Soccer president] Sunil Gulati or Juergen.” Schmid has stated […]

HOUSTON 1 NEW ENGLAND 1 (Houston wins 4-3 on penalties.) PLAYER RATINGS (1-low; 5-average; 10-high) New England: Reis 6, Heaps 5, Parkhurst 6, John 6, Dorman 5, Ralston 6, Hernandez 5, Joseph 6, Franchino 6, Noonan 5, Twellman 6. Subs: Smith 6, Dempsey 6, Larentowicz NR. Houston: Onstad 6, Barrett 6, Robinson 6, Cochrane 6, […]

Of the myriad factors to be in play Sunday when New England plays Houston in MLS Cup 2006 (3:30 pm ET on ABC), these may be the most compelling: STRIKE FORCES. One of the matchups favoring Houston is Brian Ching against just about anyone on the Revs. They can deploy Shalrie Joseph or even Taylor […]