Robert Hay

At first glance, all seems right in Serie A this season. Traditional power Juventus is atop the league table with the scudetto seemingly in hand, a resurgent traditional power in A.S. Roma sits behind them, and in third is big-spender and recent title challenger Napoli. None of the top teams currently are tainted with scandal, […]

Autobiographies always tell a story. Just like the newest John Grisham lawyer drama, an autobiography is an attempt to weave a story out of common human experience and present the reader with a linear series of events meant to entertain and impress. Whereas fiction relies on real elements to sell an imagined tale, autobiographies and […]

Despite some of the more odd pairings for MLS Rivalry Weekend/Day (you can just taste the hatred between the Union and Revs!) the attempt by MLS and its TV partners to drive attention and viewers on a crowded sports weekend by putting so many hated teams on the pitch over two days led to some […]

(New England and DC fans, avert your eyes. This could hurt). The Columbus Crew hold the distinction of opening MLS's first soccer specific stadium when Crew Stadium was opened in 1999. Since then, the stadium has hosted one MLS championship and two All Star games; more importantly, however, it has become an absolute fortress for […]

For the past three years, the gulf between the two MLS conferences has seemingly been as deep as the Grand Canyon. In 2011 and 2012, the East's representative in MLS Cup was Houston, a convert from the West. The last time MLS Cup featured an original Eastern Conference team was 2008 when two teams from the […]

In the United States, we are used to the best. The best cars, the best electronics, the best TV shows, everything we have is the best. Even if we did not make it or create it, we still want it here in the U.S. So when the best version of a product cannot been found […]

As Earl said yesterday, we're doing the MLS preview a little differently this year, and our first article today is on the men on the bench, the new head coaches. This offseason five teams from various situations and needs hired new head coaches, all from very diverse backgrounds. MLS teams have been trending towards hiring […]

Joe Thomas is a (fictional) 23 year old defender who is in his second year playing in MLS. He was drafted out of a local university in the second round. He is from a blue collar family and his father was laid off his longtime manufacturing job four years ago; Joe would not have been […]

Tomorrow Jurgen Klinsmann will announce the roster invitations for the U.S. national team camp. These players will make up the eligible roster for selection for the January 29 friendly against Canada as well as possibly the February 6 World Cup qualifier in Honduras. Usually, the January camp (loving referred to as "Camp Cupcake") is a […]

One thing we are not afraid to do here at MLS Talk is to take a look back on our predictions and previews to highlight what we got both awesomely right and so terribly wrong. Now that the 2012 MLS season is well over and the 2013 preseason is in full swing, I thought it […]

In retrospect, it was obvious. Houston is so good playing with an aggregate lead in the playoffs and with DC missing Chris Pontius and a fully healthy Dwayne De Rosario, the task really was impossible. But it didn't feel that way at RFK Stadium Sunday afternoon, as a crowd of over 20,000 (including 350 standing […]

After only twelve goals total being scored in the conference semifinals, fans could be forgiven for expecting low-scoring first legs of the conference finals. Instead, tired legs and teams pressing advantages led to seven goals and seemingly anti-climatic second legs coming up on Sunday, as a repeat of the 2011 MLS Cup looks in the […]

As you may have noticed when you excitedly opened your podcast app this morning, we were unable to record a post-Thursday episode of the MLS Talk podcast due to a variety of conflicts. However, after a wild and crazy first round/conference semi-final round, I wanted to approach a wrap-up from a different perspective. After elections, […]

In MLS, 56% of teams made the playoffs this year, meaning your team had a pretty good chance to make at least the 4 v. 5 game of the playoffs (except you, Toronto fans, sorry). Of course, at the end of the season, 44% of teams didn't. Some just fell short, like Montreal and FC […]

Tonight the road to MLS Cup 2012 begins with Chicago hosting Houston in the Eastern Conference 4/5 game. Over the next month ten teams will battle to determine who is the best team in MLS this season (at least, the best playoff team) and based on the regular season all of these games are must-see […]