Steve Davis

ST. LOUIS — No question the United States men's national team needs freshening up. All national teams do, every four years as the World Cup cycle turns. Don't forget what Bruce Arena famously told us back in 2002: World Cup soccer is a young mans' game. So the here and now of early qualifying looks […]

Something curious is occurring this year as Major League Soccer teams gradually tumble from the championship chase, waking up from MLS Cup dreamland: The moment they are eliminated, these teams suddenly become more interesting. Obviously, success is always compelling. We faithfully observe and applaud as clubs earn playoff berths and subsequently move forward toward the Dec. […]

Yes, the LA Galaxy defense was an absolute disaster Wednesday night in Seattle, a real cascade of calamity. Yes, goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts was a mess -a predictable mess if we’re being honest. (See Item No. 4 here, written back in August.) Yes, Steven Gerrard’s performance in midfield was a dud, a highly predictable dud, one that appropriately punctuated […]

One of Major League Soccer’s ongoing struggles is creating best-case balance between regular season relevance and the playoffs, that far shorter window of matches that ultimately means so much. We can have the “regular season relevance” debate, but make sure this is part of it: There are eight teams today who wish they had done […]

There are so many great things to say about Sebastian Giovinco and, to a lesser but still significant degree, MLS rookie sensation Cyle Larin and the goods they delivered in bulk in 2015. But if we’re picking nits, here’s one: They sure subtracted a lot of drama from awards season. Thanks a lot, guys! Most […]

Say it ain’t so, New York City FC! Say it ain’t so! SI.com is reporting that Jason Kreis’ job may be in peril. If that’s the case – not doubting SI’s reporting, just hedging against the better angles of good sense prevailing – then it says a lot about Major League Soccer’s high profile expansion […]

A few years ago I read a great book, Personal Velocity. It’s a story that probably sounds familiar, about a young person who stumbles around a bit through early adulthood but eventually finds her feet and strides forward successfully. When she finally gets her act together, her proud father announces in blissful summary, “Well, we […]

Sometimes in life, the “way out” of a jam is by … doing nothing. You keep your head down and ride out the proverbial storm, uncomfortably perhaps, but more or less safe in the knowledge that worms turn, fortunes swing, the sun comes up tomorrow, etc. The waves of frustrated discontent over Jurgen Klinsmann and […]

Here is the very definition of irony: Jurgen Klinsmann and Landon Donovan share a common piece of real estate in domestic soccer. Donovan once stood as American soccer’s most divisive figure. He was either a blue ribbon talent who faithfully served his country’s World Cup efforts for more a decade while propping up the cause […]

I read somewhere on one of the internet’s dependables that Mexico’s back line is looking pleasantly settled ahead of this weekend’s Rose Bowl biggie. Must be nice. The United States’ back line is … well … let’s go with “ongoing work in progress.” Settled? If it were any “less settled” it would be a fidgety 5-year-old on […]

A crackerjack of a match happening Oct. 10 inside Pasadena’s historic Rose Bowl is, of course, the big fire sucking all the oxygen from our domestic soccer “room.” Meetings with a bitter border rival will do that, you know, and US versus Mexico is practically a brand. (I forget, does the hashtag dosacero take an […]

There have been better, more talented and more accomplished men than Sebastian Giovinco to perform in Major League Soccer. Start with a fellow who just left MLS, Thierry Henry, who is sometimes called “King” for a reason. The majesty of his best days in the game can hardly be overstated. In terms of team accomplishment, […]

A certain school of thought says for everything we gain in life, we necessarily give something up. Skipping the philosophical debate and just accepting the premise, a perfect example is happening in Major League Soccer at this very moment. When league planners expanded playoffs from eight to 10 teams back in 2010, I said it […]

Major League Soccer can be an odd and fascinating place. A great case in point came Wednesday night inside Yankee Stadium. Two undeniable legends of the game – no hyperbole here, honest – were in the midfield, both delivering the goods as NYCFC clung desperately to playoff hopes wedged somewhere between “dead” and perhaps “mostly […]

Let’s talk about that looming Oct. 10 date, the one of such super-duper importance in our part of the soccer world. And then let’s hack away at some conventional wisdom that needs taming – a false narrative has spilled out, and it needs cleaning up. The match is United States versus Mexico inside Pasadena’s historic […]