Tag: mls

MLS has announced the creation of the Coaching Diversity Initiative, which requires the league’s teams to interview candidates of diverse backgrounds for any open technical staff position. Technical staff positions include head coach, assistant coaches, youth coaches and technical director. Currently, among the 13 teams in MLS, there are two minority head coaches — Colorado’s Fernando Clavijo and Chicago’s Juan Carlos Osorio — and nine minority assistant coaches. Not a single black coach has been among the more than 60 head-coach hirings since the league’s inauguration in 1996.

MLS’s Coaching Diversity Initiative resembles similar measures taken in recent years by Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

MLS has created the Latin American Advisory Board (LAAB), which will look to disseminate targeted information as well as acting as a sounding board for the Latin American community. Upon receiving feedback, the board will advise MLS and its teams on the best practices in order to engage the Latin American public. Organized by World Cup veteran and current MLS Fan Development manager, Wilmer Cabrera, the LAAB is made up of key members of the Latin American community who live in the United States and are involved in soccer at a high level. For the list of LAAB members and bios …

More than a week prior to his arrival in Los Angeles, a source with ties to SUM said David Beckham won’t play against Chelsea Saturday and instead will debut for the Galaxy in the SuperLiga. Galaxy coach Frank Yallop says Beckham’s status is “day-to-day,” league and team officials have been noncommittal. But as of Wednesday night, the over-under on how many minutes Beckham will play Saturday is 10. He arrived in Los Angeles last Friday with a very tender left ankle and has trained only lightly with the Galaxy this week. He traveled here to Denver to make an appearance on the ESPN broadcast of the All-Star Game against Glasgow Celtic Thursday.

Northern California, which lost its MLS club to Houston after the 2005 season when the San Jose Earthquakes moved to Texas and became the Dynamo, will welcome back a reincarnation of the Earthquakes for the 2008 season, according to the San Jose Mercury. The Mercury and the San Francisco Chronicle reported that MLS Commissioner Don Garber will make an announcement in Wednesday’s state-of-the-league address in Denver (site of Thursday’s All-Star Game) that Oakland A’s owner and developer Lew Wolff has been awarded an expansion franchise. The new San Jose Earthquakes may  play in Bay Area venues outside San Jose while Wolff and his partners negotiate with the city of San Jose to build a new stadium.

Teams change coaches, and coaches trade players, and still Houston rolls over all comers. Juan Carlos Osorio debuted as Chicago’s head coach Thursday night on national television and fortunately has more than a week to shrug off a 4-0 thumping inflicted by the defending champion before his team plays again. Houston’s rout include a brilliant goal by Joseph Ngwenya (video HERE). By the time Scottish club Glasgow Celtic lines up for a friendly July 22, Osorio will have Cuauhtemoc Blanco in uniform and perhaps a few answers to the harsh lessons taught by Houston. He might also have observed how a team that won the league title last year has further strengthened itself by intelligent tweaking.

David Beckham, his wife, Victoria, and their three young children landed at Los Angeles International Airport just after 8 p.m. on Thursday to begin their life in the USA. The introduction of Beckham by the Los Angeles Galaxy at a Home Depot Center press conference on Friday at 1 pm ET will be telecast live on ESPNEWS channel and on MLSnet.com. The Los Angeles Galaxy has reported that it has already received orders for 250,000 replica jerseys. Beckham’s arrival has already been greeted with an avalanche of media coverage, including a Sports Illustrated cover and a risqué photo shoot of David and Victoria in W Magazine.

[TV PREVIEWS] Can Red Bull New York hold onto first place with the Revs in town? Will defender Adrian Serioux solidify the FC Dallas back line as it takes on D.C. United? Can Kansas City break its five-game winless skid at home against Real Salt Lake? Will anyone in Beckham-obsessed LA take notice that Chivas USA and Columbus meet at Home Depot with both teams above .500? Will Houston break the league’s all-time shutout streak by blanking Toronto? Ridge Mahoney previews this weekend’s MLS action …

MLS Commissioner Don Garber and New England Revolution coach Steve Nicol named the remaining seven players to complete the roster for the 2007 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game between the MLS All-Stars and Celtic FC on July 19 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. Garber selected Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake) and Cobi Jones (Los Angeles Galaxy). The five players selected by Nicol were: Kevin Hartman (Kansas City Wizards), Ronnie O’Brien (Toronto FC), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy) and Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo). For complete MLS All-Star roster …

U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati told Reuters that the USSF is set to hire a technical director next year and that it’s likely the position will be filled by a Latin coach. “We will bring on a technical director to work with [national team coach] Bob [Bradley],” Gulati said. “There’s a reasonable chance that would be an international coach, not because I necessarily think they’re better but because he’ll bring something different to the mix. Everything else being equal, if we could have it be a Latin coach that would be ideal. The Hispanic community is a huge part of our future in the United States.” The technical director would oversee player development and youth teams. Speaking at a gathering hosted by Spanish-language Univision TV network, Gulati also offered his opinions on the arrival of David Beckham to MLS.

[REF WATCH] Aside from perhaps the brandishing of a red card, no incident triggers more hot disputes than the shrill trilling of the referee’s whistle as he points to the penalty spot. Yet more often than not, the defending team has been guilty of lax tackling or lazy marking prior to the alleged foul that prompted the spot kick. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney reviews the six penalty kicks called in last week’s MLS action. …

Soccer United Marketing (SUM) has secured $2 million in international TV rights fees for this rest of this season’s MLS and SuperLiga games. The arrival of David Beckham and Mexican star Cuauhtemoc Blanco to MLS drove deals with Mexican broadcasters Cadena Tres and TeleVisa, and ESPN International and ART, a North African and Middle Eastern distribution company. According to Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, SUM also hopes to finalize deals with broadcasters in South Korea and Japan in the next 45 days.

[MLS WEEKEND REPORT] The Eastern Conference is tighter than ever — two points cover the top five teams — after the Crew and Red Bulls win, and the West is a two-horse race following Houston’s seventh victory in its last eight games.

New Fire head coach Juan Carlos Osorio will be officially introduced Monday at a press conference. The former Manchester City assistant manager, replaces Dave Sarachan, who was fired on June 20. Longtime Fire assistant Dennis Hamlett coached the team on an interim basis for the last three games — two ties and a loss.

[MLS WEEKEND PREVIEWS] Two hot teams collide as Houston hosts D.C. United; Chivas USA and the Revs stage a rematch; Toronto FC and Chicago square off to see who can keep pace in the East; the Crew can squeeze the standings even tighter at home against Real Salt Lake; the Rapids and Red Bulls hope to rebound after being blanked; and the revamped (again) Galaxy get a stern test against Kansas City.