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 […]

In their last seven MLS games, Seattle has lost four matches and drawn three, falling from near the top of the Western Conference to fourth in the conference, a point behind Cascadia rivals Vancouver but with the Galaxy in their rear view mirror. What's the reason for this mess? Is it something more than a […]

Apologies, folks, but Monday Morning Sweeper has to take another week off. But fear not, because to try and make it up to you, here are the top fives goals of the weekend that was in MLS. 5. David Beckham does what he does best to draw the Galaxy even with Montreal 4. Sebastian Miranda […]

Name: Seattle Sounders Coach: Sigi Schmid Last Year: 18-7-9, 2nd Western Conference, 2nd Overall Hashtag: #Sounders Are Sounders fans too demanding? In its current iteration, the club is entering its fourth MLS season and has made three consecutive conference semifinals. They own the U.S. Open Cup. They have set attendance records that will be hard to […]

Team: San Jose Earthquakes Coach: Frank Yallop Last Season: 8-12-14, 7th Western Conference, 14th Overall Hashtag: #SJEarthquakes Although it is an overused phrase, this year is a critical year for the San Jose 'Quakes. The team is at a crossroads and this season will show if the newer franchise with the classic name can create a permanent and financially […]

As the preseason gets into full swing and rosters begin to stabilize, it's time to take a look at the men who pull the strings and have the greatest impact on the team itself. The modern manager is part tactician, part showman, and part PR man. The best are the ones who can bring a […]

The U.S. Soccer Federation yesterday announced an expanded Open Cup format and schedule, one that will incorporate all MLS and lower division teams in a newly and hopefully more condensed way. In essence, the changes allow the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup to mirror the English FA Cup, where lower division and semi-pro teams have […]

Last year was a good year for one of MLS's premier franchises. The Sounders won yet another U.S. Open Cup and advanced past the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League. While they could not vanquish their nemesis Galaxy in the regular season or playoffs (and were knocked out early by streaking RSL), the team […]

On Saturday night the Seattle Sounders publicly saluted keeper Kasey Keller, who is retiring at the end of the season. The club had a great pre post-game ceremony complete with gifts of a Honda off-road vehicle (driven in by minority owner Drew Carey) as well as bronzed keeper gloves. But the greatest tribute of all might […]

The Seattle Sounders won a thrilling 2-0 victory in last night's U.S. Open Cup as the Sounders have now won three straight Open Cup trophies. Their opponents, the Chicago Fire, failed to become only the third team ever to win the Cup five times. The first goal came in the 77th minute and Chicago had […]

A report out of Toronto indicates that MLS fans had better get their overcoats ready for First Kick 2012. Duane Rollins reports that Toronto FC executives told a fan gathering that they expect the MLS season to begin Saturday, March 10, with the First Game logically falling on March 8. The start, which would be […]

As promised, here is the second half of this weekend's preview, where we review the late games Saturday night and the one Sunday game. Colorado Rapids v. San Jose Earthquakes (Saturday, 9 PM ET) This game may be the hardest to predict this weekend. It is no longer unthinkable that Colorado could fall out […]

Going into the MLS regular season and CONCACAF Champions League games last night, American soccer fans knew it was going to be an interesting night. The CCL matches would determine who would advance to the group stage while the three MLS games had major playoff implications. However, even I was unprepared for the intense level […]

It was an incredibly busy week in American soccer. Between the US national team, MLS midweek matches, and all sorts of FIFA controversies, there was a wealth of story lines for fans of the beautiful game. Below are some of the ones we were following this week that we did not have time to post […]

One would be tempted to overlook the two matches going on tonight in MLS and focus on an incredible slate of games this weekend, with LA/NY as the headliner. To do so would be to miss some important storylines as the four teams taking the pitch tonight are all in a critical stretch of games […]