Mattlichtenstadter

Nearly five years ago, Jurgen Klinsmann took charge of his first game as the US Men’s National Team head coach against Mexico at Lincoln Financial Field. Now he returns for the first time since then to that stadium with the prospect of advancing to the Copa America Centenario knockout stages. His tenure has been marked […]

Uruguay currently lead the South American World Cup Qualifying table. Venezuela is in last place. In Philadelphia on Thursday night, that didn’t matter. La Vinotinto with a 1-0 win are through to the Copa America quarter-finals, and Los Charrúas are going home after they play one last game. Much of the talk will surround Luis Suarez, […]

No matter what the Russian royal family tried to do to kill Rasputin, they failed almost every time. In many ways, Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenure as US National Team manager is similar: when he’s closest to being fired, his teams turn in their best performances. Under as much pressure as he’s ever faced as US Head Coach, […]

Usually when major soccer tournaments come to new regions, one of the barometers of success is in the form of ticket sales. One of the pillars of a future US World Cup would be that major ticket sales would fill up gigantic stadiums across the country. This Copa America Centenario tournament, with 16 teams including […]

Starting off with the most difficult game in a Group Stage is never an easy task especially when the margin for error in these tournaments is so small. When the US Men’s National Team dueled with Colombia, they knew that the toughest task of the group stage was in front of them, leaving them with […]

For all of the discussion about the age and makeup of Jurgen Klinsmann’s Copa America squad, and the tactical changes he made in the second half against Ecuador indicate what the future may be like for this team. After the 1-0 win against Ecuador, this also may indicate that the future is closer to the […]

MLS fans and American soccer fans in general often take umbrage with every perceived slight against their leagues and how the sport is perceived on these shores. Take yesterday’s comments from Antonio Conte about his decision to leave out Sebastian Giovinco and Andrea Pirlo from his Euro 2016 preliminary squad. "When you make a certain […]

Waiting on the dust to settle from the disaster at St. James Park will take some time for Tottenham Hotspur supporters, but when it does, the 2015-16 season will be looked back on as one that could be a stepping stone to a new era for a club that has found itself too often playing […]

If there was any confirmation that this has been a down Premier League season, look no further to the Champions League race. Spurs are in, but by math only, as they’ve only taken two points from their last three games. Arsenal could, by the final day of the season, also still be in within a […]

Yesterday should be about Leicester City and what they have managed to accomplish but for me, as a Tottenham supporter, it was not. Instead, we’re left to talk about what handed Leicester the title: a street brawl disguised as a soccer match. Chelsea and Spurs are big rivals, no doubt, but before yesterday's match, no Spurs […]

Escaping narratives is difficult. They’re ever-present and often times inescapable. So is the case with Manchester City’s 2015-16 campaign, and particularly their departing manager Manuel Pellegrini. He won the League Cup and Premier League in his first campaign, dropped quite a bit in form last season, and will be exiting stage right after this season […]

Another dramatic and important night in US Soccer ended as many expected it to, with the US Men's National Team putting in a typical American effort in a 4-0 demolition of Guatemala, while the U-23’s lacked the quality or the nous to overcome Colombia in the second leg of their Olympic qualifying tie. So where […]

There’s no other way to describe the US Men’s National Team’s performance in Guatemala other than it was disgraceful, especially in the first half. That performance does not change if the USA take care of business in their last three games. But for now, the calls for Jurgen Klinsmann’s head have gotten louder again, and his […]

Mauricio Pochettino has made many great decisions in his short tenure in the White Hart Lane dugout. How he has transformed Tottenham from fringe Champions League contenders to title contenders in one season has been nothing short of remarkable. But all managers are capable of making mistakes, and against Dortmund on Thursday, he made a […]

The biggest winner in the north London derby was Leicester City, seeing that both of their biggest title rivals dropped five out of a possible six points in a week when even they dropped points. While there are both positives and negatives for both sides to take from one of the more enthralling derbies in […]