Tag: mls

[MLS WATCH] Coaches at the 2008 MLS SuperDraft in Baltimore shared their observations on their own picks and how the draft played out in general with Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney

Ridge Mahoney on the MLS SuperDraft
How can MLS teams give themselves a boost from Friday’s draft? Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney provides analyses of each club’s needs, their options and the possible moves they might make before the SuperDraft Friday in Baltimore. Here are the teams listed in reverse order of their regular-season finish in 2007, starting with the expansion Quakes, which Tuesday traded the top pick to Kansas City in exchange for defender Nick Garcia.

[MLS WATCH] They’ve squared off against each other for club and country, and circumstances swept one out of town to make room for the other. Now Landon Donovan and Carlos Ruiz, catalysts and protagonists in many a soccer drama, are teammates.

[MLS WATCH] Whether it improves or plummets from how it performed last season (11-12-7), Kansas City won’t be the same. Two days after striker Eddie Johnson left the U.S. training camp in Southern California to talk contract with English Premier League club Fulham came the announcement of Nick Garcia‘s departure. The team’s all-time leader in appearances is bound for San Jose in exchange for the No. 1 pick in the MLS SuperDraft. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney examines the trade. …

[OFF THE POST] David Beckham has the largest carbon footprint in human history according to British environmental group Carbon Trust. Having flown 250,000 miles last year, owning 15 gas-guzzling cars, and fueling mansions around the world has Carbon Trust calculating that the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder is responsible for 163 tons of carbon dioxide, compared to the 9.4 tons of CO2 the average Brit “produces.”

[HALL OF FAME] Former U.S. national team players Jeff Agoos, Earnie Stewart and Preki Radosavljevic are among 13 former players on the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame ballot for the first time. Agoos is currently the New York Red Bulls’ sporting director, Stewart is technical director of Dutch club NAC Breda, and Preki is Chivas USA head coach. The three were teammates on the USA’s 1998 World Cup team. Stewart also played in the 1994 and 2002 World Cups, while Agoos played in the 2002 finals. For the ballot, whose other newcomers include Evan Whitfield, Shannon MacMillan and Troy Dayak …

The exodus continues. Matt Pickens, Clarence Goodson and Eddie Johnson have left the U.S. camp in Southern California to chase overseas opportunities. Taylor Twellman hasn’t. Today’s lesson is the importance of foresight.

[MLS WATCH] It took more than a decade for Denis Hamlett to secure his first job as a head coach, but at least he didn’t have to leave town to find it. The longtime Fire assistant coach, who worked under head coaches Bob Bradley, Dave Sarachan and Juan Carlos Osorio, was officially named Friday as the replacement for Osorio, who left after just five months on the job to coach the New York Red Bulls. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney explains why Hamlett is well-suited for the job.

Ridge Mahoney on the 2008 Combine
MLS coaches were treated to increased scoring at the adidas MLS Combine. With the draft just five days away, Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney reports on the latest performances at this year’s Combine in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Ridge Mahoney examines MLS’s first major signing of 2008
The deal in Dallas is done; former Mexican international defender Duilio Davino has signed a two-year contract. He’s no longer with the national team, having last played for Mexico in a friendly against Paraguay prior to the 2006 World Cup, for which he wasn’t selected. True, this indicates he’s not quite as strong or fast as he was while playing 84 times for his country and 323 league games for Club America, yet it also means – unless he’s recalled – that he won’t be tied up with qualifiers and the sometimes staggering load of friendlies piled onto the national team.

[MLS WATCH] When is an option not an option? When a player like Guillermo Barros Schelotto believes both sides have equal power to extend or terminate the contract, and the other entity, in this case MLS, defines it as something else.

Ridge Mahoney examines the MLS coaching carousel
The Chicago Fire has narrowed its choices to replace coach Juan Carlos Osorio and is expected to make an announcement by the end of the week. Meanwhile, in his new position as New York Red Bulls head coach, Osorio is shaking up his assistant coaching staff, which could mark the departure of John Harkes.

[MLS WATCH] Coaches and players came and went, one DP dazzled while the other dallied, AEG pulled out of the Red Bulls’ operation once and for all, and at some point actual dirt was actually moved at the site of what is to be Red Bull Park. All that occurred during the first year of former U.S. international Jeff Agoos‘ tenure. His second year began this week with a new title, Sporting Director, and a much heavier workload following one season as Technical Director.

Ridge Mahoney examines decision-making at FCD
FC Dallas, which already boasted one of the better midfields in the league and threw away more than $800,000 for the disaster that was Denilson last season, actually might be ready to shell out real money to shore up its shaky back line. FCD invited Mexican international defender Duilio Davino to attend last weekend’s InterLiga games at Pizza Hut Park as its guest.

Political obstacles have delayed or tripped up several stadium projects in the 13-year history of MLS, but count Kansas City among the eventual winners. Banished to a minor-league baseball park for the next two seasons because of renovations at Arrowhead Stadium, if all goes as planned the Wizards will have their own home in 2010 and might never play at Arrowhead again.

Renovations to Buck Shaw Stadium, which operator-investor Lewis Wolff says will cost between $1 million and $2 million, won’t be completed until early spring, so the expansion San Jose Earthquakes will start their home schedule April 12 against Chicago at the Oakland Coliseum.

Thirteen months after being honored as MLS Defender of the Year, Bobby Boswell is leaving D.C. United. Boswell, who lost and regained his starting spot several times last season and sat out the conference semifinal, first leg against Chicago (a 1-0 loss) that eventually eliminated D.C., 3-2, on aggregate, is the newest member of the two-time defending champion Houston Dynamo.

Red Bull New York will give up its No. 1 pick, the seventh choice overall, in next year’s SuperDraft as part of the compensation package for luring head coach Juan Carlos Osorio away from Chicago, according to a source.

Juan Carlos Osorio will be the New Red Bulls (nee MetroStars) 10th coach.

Since he left NFL Europe to assume the helm of Major League Soccer in 1999, Don Garber has expanded the reach of the league internally as well as among its ownership group. He has added executives from other American sports leagues, including the NFL.

A gain for Red Bull New York is a loss for Chicago, and a reprieve for Chivas USA. Juan Carlos Osorio, passed over twice in previous coaching searches by the dysfunctional MLS franchise previously known as the MetroStars, is bolting from the Fire five months after leaving his native Colombia to coach in MLS. Osorio’s move to Red Bull, where he replaces Bruce Arena, leaves Preki — who had pursued the Red Bull job — still in charge of Chivas USA, and Chicago in a major lurch.

Would Scotland hire an American coach to revive a national team that hasn’t qualified for a major tournament in a decade? The question has come up because numerous media outlets reported that Bruce Arena expressed his interest in the position. Arena, contacted by e-mail, described the media reports as “pretty inaccurate,” but did not elaborate. A foreign nation hiring an American as national team coach would not be unprecedented.