Robert Hay

The question I wrestled with in my head last night was this: if there were no playoffs or a playoffs with just four teams instead of 10, would this weekend be as exciting? Regardless of how you feel about the playoff format or the playoffs in general, the answer I came up with was YES. […]

Sometimes life gets in the way of art, and that is the way this week's Major League Soccer Talk Podcast ended up. Technology has impeded host Chris Riordan from recording the podcast, so if you're like me you unfortunately will miss out on some good Thursday night/Friday morning soccer talk. But we here at MLS […]

Fans who saw the scoreline of September 10th's 3-0 win by DC United over Chivas would assume that DCU would win handily against the Goats at home and, with New York's loss, would move into the driver's seat with their playoff push. But as the excellent fan blog Black and Red United noted, Chivas actually […]

It's catch-up time. In both games in hand and playoff positioning. In the shadow of the CONCACAF Champions League matches six MLS clubs will take the pitch tonight in critical games for playoff positioning. One of the matches is a match-up of heavyweights, while the other two look to be mismatches that could be surprises. […]

The talking point since First Kick has been the same: the Western Conference is vastly superior to the Eastern Conference. For the past six months or so, we've heard about the top teams in the West and their chances of winning the MLS Cup. Recently, with the playoffs looming, the talk has focused on how […]

Former MLS and U.S. men's national team coach Bob Bradley was appointed today by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) to coach their senior men's national team. Bradley, fired by the USMNT this summer, had been rumored for months to be taking over the Pharaohs but was just today confirmed finally as the head coach. This […]

If you listened to the most recent episode of Feuerstein's Fire, you will know that I was a bad U.S. soccer fan and watched the Costa Rica friendly via DVR the morning after the match. Watching the game after the fact made me realize how my sports viewing has changed just over the past year […]

During the 2010 MLS Cup game, Commissioner Don Garber went on the ESPN halftime show to answer some questions about the state of the league. The major issue circulating in the media was the playoff structure – a team from Colorado had just been named the Eastern Conference champion and, with two more teams entering the […]

Hurricane Irene could delay some MLS games this weekend but could not stop the teams playing from putting out some excellent performances. In fact, there were two sets of winners from yesterday's matches: the Western Conference and the teams that did not play. While the West didn't get a clean sweep due to Chicago's home […]

UPDATE: The DC United-Portland Timbers match has been postponed; a make-up date will be announced next week. The expected landfall of Hurricane Irene has caused MLS and other major professional sports teams to shift their schedules in anticipation of dramatic winds, rain, and flooding. Irene is expected to reach land by Saturday and move up […]

The action this weekend in MLS really clarified the playoff picture and set clear markers as to who is in, who is contending, and who should begin their scouting for their top five draft pick. More so than recent results, this weekend began to set the table for the 2011 playoffs and establish what teams […]

In the land of draws, the Chicago Fire are kings. Last night, La Maquina Roja looked well on their way to their third win of the season after dominating DC United at home for about 70 minutes. Sebastian Grazzini had given the home side the lead early in the second half and United's attack looked […]

Many times on this site, I've bemoaned that fact that American internationals face hurdles to return to MLS when their career in Europe has either stagnated or are failing to provide them with growth opportunities. This year there has been a change for the better with players like Charlie Davies, Benny Feilhaber, and Freddy Adu […]

The Los Angeles Galaxy, looking at its rivals for the MLS Cup and seeing them focus more on acquiring American players overseas and trading amongst themselves, decided to make the big-named signing by acquiring Irish international Robbie Keane from Tottenham. The cost of the contract is huge, rumored to be roughly $9.75 million over two […]

The investigations into FIFA's corrupt practices continue, and the attention has again been focused on American Chuck Blazer. Andrew Jennings, one of soccer's most outspoken reformers, released a new detailed report yesterday with a laundry list of accusations against Blazer and his lavish lifestyle. Jennings claims the FBI has now begun investigating the FIFA official's […]