Robert Hay

In last night’s MLS Talk podcast, the crew discussed the news broken by Don Garber that MLS was helping Chivas stabilize their geographic situation by seeking a permanent soccer-specific stadium in downtown Los Angles. Speaking with Abraham Madkour of Sports Business Daily last week, the commissioner used the beleaguered West Coast franchise as an example […]

As the seconds in stoppage time ticked away, the stands shook at RFK Stadium like they had on the old days. As the chants from both sides of the pitch reverberated and DC tried to keep the ball away from an arsenal of Crew attackers, you could be forgiven for squinting a little and thinking […]

Injuries, an international break, and a bevy of good matches gave MLS fans a number of games to watch Friday and Saturday. With the number of games to be played dwindling, every match-up takes on that much more importance, and this weekend the results shook up the Eastern Conference standings. On Friday, a back and […]

This morning, U.S. soccer fans are again wearing their rose-colored glasses and celebrating the home team's necessary 1-0 win over Jamaica last night at Crew Stadium. With the win, the Yanks sit atop Group A and control their destiny in qualifying for the Hexagonal, the next step on the road to Brazil 2014. Unlike Friday's […]

In the beginning, MLS was a little league that merited little notice internationally. On occasion an all star went overseas and their previous career was noted by pundits, but MLS itself was paid little heed by the Sky Sports of the world. For better or for worse, this changed with the Beckham Experiment when the […]

An Atlantic Cup match is always a show. The dueling cheering sections always cheer a little louder, the players are a bit more physical, and the soccer world is reminded that league rivalries can be just as fierce on the East Coast as the West, albeit maybe slightly less well attended. The third and final […]

On Sunday, Geoff Cameron was named man-of-the-match in his first game for his new team, Stoke City. After weeks of waiting and paperwork, Cameron was finally able to take the pitch after a transfer that continued the gradual march of quality U.S. players into higher leagues. Playing midfield (!) his City team held the usually […]

In political parlance, the "laugh test" is the method to determine the reality of a proposal or idea, as in if a person laughs when you tell them your solution to a problem, it both unrealistic and ridiculous. A few weeks back on the MLS Talk podcast (subscribe on iTunes today) I suggested that Chivas […]

What do the Michigan Bucks and DC United have in common? They are the only two teams to score more than two goals against the Chicago Fire in 2012, but last night the Fire could only blame themselves (and not dodgy turf or a backup XI) for an embarrassing loss. With a loud but small home town […]

I had the fortune of attending the DC United and Paris Saint-Germain friendly this past weekend, one which this site has covered fairly extensively due to the debut of Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the French side. The game, as has been noted, was scheduled at the last second as Juventus withdrew from its North American tour to prevent […]

About a year ago on this site, I wrote an article about why I would not be watching the MLS All Stars face off against Manchester United at Red Bull Arena. In essence, I felt that another meaningless friendly, but this time with a collection of MLS talent instead of just one team, didn't peak […]

The summer games in London are right around the corner, but for the U.S. women's national team the tournament is about more than a gold medal. It is a chance to put behind them the disappointing loss in last year's Women's World Cup and try to reclaim the mantle of the best team in the […]

Last night's games certainly did not lack offense. Excluding the Seattle friendly, eighteen goals were scored in the seven MLS games and only two teams (not coincidentally, both playing midday) failed to score a goal on Wednesday. And anytime you have close, exciting games with a number of goals, there are inevitably some goal of […]

It's finally come. After a few years of dangerous tackles and public outbursts against officials, MLS finally has a very public example of poor behavior by David Beckham that will either lead to a suspension or a discrediting of league management. Saturday night saw the best and worst of Beckham: his lovely free kick goal […]

Tonight's DC United and Montreal game saw an occurrence that is become more common in MLS – both teams coached by two long-time MLS players. For the home team, that coach is legendary player Ben Olsen, who as a player was known for his passion, his on-the-field smarts, and his desire for the game. Everyone […]