latest articles by Kartik Krishnaiyer
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/ 3844 days agoRanking soccer teams in US and Canada; best to worst
Over the course of the last few years, discussion of what an open pyramid in the United States and Canada would look like has become a major talking point for soccer fans. In a closed league system, it’s difficult to conceive sometimes how sides would fare against one another. For example, USL, the current third […]
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/ 3849 days agoHow a Group Stage exit for Arsenal can help the team's title aspirations
Arsenal’s 3-2 setback against Olympiacos at the Emirates on Tuesday set off the usual alarm bells among Gunners supporters as well as the annual 'bash Arsene Wenger' circus that ensues after the club puts up a result like this. Once again, the calls for Wenger’s sacking from some quarters are premature and shortsighted. But that […]
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/ 3863 days agoUS Soccer should consider eliminating D1, D2 and D3 designations
The continuing battle being waged publicly over the value of Division 1 sanctioning within the US Soccer pyramid has the making of the start of another “soccer war,” which the sport in North America can scarcely afford. While many fans of the game in the United States and Canada simply watch foreign leagues on their […]
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/ 3869 days agoCould a hybrid promotion/relegation system work in US soccer?
Is there legitimacy to a hybrid promotion/relegation system in North America? World Soccer Talk's Kartik Krishnaiyer breaks it down. The discussion around promotion and relegation, and the potential of it being implemented in the US/Canadian leagues has grown in scope and intensity over the last few years. One camp of fans and analysts clearly state that […]
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/ 3872 days agoThe Baird dilemma: Should referees stop a match any time a booking is in order? [VIDEO]
I must admit, I had never pondered this dilemma until Chris Baird was sent off for two fouls in one sequence in Monday’s crucial Euro qualifier in Belfast. With eight minutes left, with Northern Ireland down 1-0 to Hungary following an unfortunate yet dreadful goalkeeping error by Michael McGovern, Michael O’Neill’s men pushed forward in […]
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/ 3876 days agoManchester City’s first four games of 2015 Premier League season
Manchester City have made an excellent start to the season. Three points clear at the top of the Premier League, the Blues are also eight points clear of last year’s title winners Chelsea. However, with just one month in the book and Chelsea adding more firepower in the form of three-time Champions League winner Pedro, the […]
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/ 3879 days agoNASL pursuing litigation against US Soccer
On Monday, The Financial Times newspaper reported that the second-tier North American Soccer League (NASL) has launched a legal case against the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) regarding first division sanctioning. In a nation without promotion and relegation, USSF is able to create arbitrary standards with the first-tier league MLS to determine what D1 standards should be. While […]
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/ 3880 days agoThe changing relationship between MLS, NASL and USL
This week's episode of Divers and Cheats focused its discussion on the NASL, USL and MLS, and it created more buzz on social media than any of our previous three shows. The change in tact by the NASL since 2012 is striking. The mission statement of the league in the 2012 media guide included the following passage: “The […]
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/ 3890 days agoNew York Cosmos and NASL need to stop focusing on MLS
This week, The Guardian newspaper was able to score a rare interview with New York Cosmos owner Seamus O’Brien regarding the future of the iconic soccer brand he leads in the United States. O’Brien purchased the Cosmos in 2012 soon after opting to join the second-tier North American Soccer League (NASL) rather than attempt to […]
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/ 3891 days agoMan City’s strong start to the season a direct result of Sterling
Many a pundit and fan has cast Raheem Sterling, Manchester City’s £49 million man, as this season’s pantomime villain in the Premier League. Sterling’s demand of a move away from Liverpool, which is historically a more successful club than City and his schemes to force the move, made Sterling’s transfer one of the most-controversial in recent […]
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/ 3898 days agoHas Jose Mourinho finally worn out his welcome in England?
For years, Jose Mourinho has mesmerized the British press with both clever catchphrases and insensitive remarks. As the master of mind games, the Chelsea manager has used the media as an ally to get under the skin of opposing managers and players. Even while media in other countries appeared dubious about Mourinho, his public love affair […]
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/ 3899 days agoNASL’s Bill Peterson moves pro/rel conversation forward
NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson gave a wide-ranging interview on an array of topics related to the second division in the United States and Canada to The Telegraph newspaper this week. The most talked about and controversial comments by Peterson relate to promotion and relegation within the league system in North America. For five plus years, […]
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/ 3915 days agoJamaica’s Gold Cup run shows improvement of Caribbean teams
While some American soccer pundits and fans were quick to write-off Jamaica as a CONCACAF “minnow” that should have been easily dispatched by the US in the Gold Cup semifinals, the reality about this new version of the Reggae Boyz is actually quite different. Jamaica boasts nine players featuring in English football, most of whom […]
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/ 3918 days agoUS soccer media ignores fact that Klinsmann dealt a bad hand
As expected, the USA’s 2-1 loss in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals to Jamaica was met by the usual chorus of critiques from some quarters of the American soccer press and reactive US fans. The criticism was quite predictable –“Jürgen Klinsmann must be fired," "The US is badly underachieving," "This team was better off under […]
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/ 3920 days agoWill Jeffrey Webb and Aaron Davidson try to bring down USSF?
It’s difficult to conceive that US Soccer President Sunil Gulati and USSF CEO Flynn had no inkling of CONCACAF corruption. Gulati regularly would have been in contact with Blazer, Warner and Jeffrey Webb, who succeeded Jack Warner as CONCACAF President. In the meantime, CONCACAF’s dirty deals were mostly being hatched on American soil, with US […]