<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" media="screen" href="/~d/styles/rss2full.xsl"?><?xml-stylesheet type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~d/styles/itemcontent.css"?><rss xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:creativeCommons="http://backend.userland.com/creativeCommonsRssModule" xmlns:feedburner="http://rssnamespace.org/feedburner/ext/1.0" version="2.0">

<channel>
	<title>BigSoccer - Featured Soccer Blogs</title>
	
	<link>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer</link>
	<description>Read premium soccer blogs on BigSoccer, the best community of soccer fans on the web.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 16:14:18 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en-US</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>0.25</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1</generator>
		<atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/bigsoccer-blog" /><feedburner:info uri="bigsoccer-blog" /><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="hub" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/" /><creativeCommons:license>http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/</creativeCommons:license><feedburner:feedFlare href="http://add.my.yahoo.com/rss?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2Fbigsoccer-blog" src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/my/addtomyyahoo4.gif">Subscribe with My Yahoo!</feedburner:feedFlare><feedburner:feedFlare href="http://fusion.google.com/add?feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2Fbigsoccer-blog" src="http://buttons.googlesyndication.com/fusion/add.gif">Subscribe with Google</feedburner:feedFlare><feedburner:feedFlare href="http://www.live.com/?add=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2Fbigsoccer-blog" src="http://tkfiles.storage.msn.com/x1piYkpqHC_35nIp1gLE68-wvzLZO8iXl_JMledmJQXP-XTBOLfmQv4zhj4MhcWEJh_GtoBIiAl1Mjh-ndp9k47If7hTaFno0mxW9_i3p_5qQw">Subscribe with Live.com</feedburner:feedFlare><feedburner:browserFriendly>Thanks for subscribing to the BigSoccer Blogs feed. Enjoy reading our featured writers covering the world of soccer each and every day.</feedburner:browserFriendly><item>
		<title>MLS Announces New York City FC</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~3/vbtDqR3QA6w/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/bill-archer/2013/05/21/mls-announces-new-york-city-fc/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 16:14:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Archer</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/bill-archer/?p=2145</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[MLS drops the bomb. Expansion team awarded to New York New York, the town so nice they named it twice.

Cohiba Don has his 20th. 

Out of the blue partnership with New York Yankees &#8211; take THAT Wilpon creeps &#8211; and Manchester City (code name for &#8220;that Arab guy&#8221;) as the majority shareholder, forking over a reported $100 million entry fee.

Yankees president Randy Levine says his organization only joined the process &#8220;very, very recently&#8221;. Like, possibly, last Thursday.

And either they held the &#8220;auction&#8221; for the team in private or there really weren&#8217;t that many guys with $100 million after all. Go figure. Then again, I&#8217;m guessing that the group led by Chuck Blazer wasn&#8217;t a viable option after all.

They say they&#8217;ll start play in 2015 in an &#8220;interim&#8221; facility someplace or other but no specific place is mentioned.

In terms of a permanent home, the interesting thing is that they specifically say, when noting that MLS has been in discussions about FMCP in Queens, that &#8220;the club&#8221; (ie. NYCFC) will be taking over for the league in those negotiations. That would seem to suggest that they themselves will also be taking over the ownership and financing of the deal, since ManCity and the Yankees can&#8217;t negotiate with someone else&#8217;s money.

They allow, however, that other sites will be considered.

Up until now the plan was supposedly for MLS to build the place, lease it to a team and also operate it as a concert venue. It would seem that those plans have gone by the board.

The timing of the announcement is also notable. Maybe they figured it would get out anyway &#8211; recent reports had pretty much conceded the thing to the...<br/>
<br/>

Keep reading this post at http://www.bigsoccer.com
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=vbtDqR3QA6w:crdkV2F6nOA:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?i=vbtDqR3QA6w:crdkV2F6nOA:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=vbtDqR3QA6w:crdkV2F6nOA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~4/vbtDqR3QA6w" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/bill-archer/2013/05/21/mls-announces-new-york-city-fc/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="" length="" type="" />
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/bill-archer/2013/05/21/mls-announces-new-york-city-fc/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>The cup-hoisting Bill McPherson</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~3/vWuYtS25Npc/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/roger-allaway/2013/05/20/the-cup-hoisting-bill-mcpherson/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 04:10:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Roger Allaway</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[fall river]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[us open cup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[us soccer history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/roger-allaway/?p=690</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[Until just five years ago, Bill McPherson was the all-time leader in games played in first-division American soccer, with the 370 games that he played in the original American Soccer League of the 1920s. In the 2008 MLS season, Steve Ralston passed him. Since then, McPherson has dropped to fifth place on that list, which includes both regular-season and playoff games. Kevin Hartman (the current leader at 465), Jaime Moreno and Jeff Cunningham also have passed him him.

Actually, McPherson played a lot more pro games than that in his career, thanks to his ability to bounce back from adversity and find new situations for himself several times, although the exact number of games is unknown. He began his career in 1919 with Greenock Morton, a first-division team in his hometown of Greenock, Scotland. In 1922, he moved to America, where wages for soccer players were much better than they were in Scotland and a new life beckoned, to sign with the new Fall River Marksmen team. He stayed with that franchise for a decade, including its eventual moves to New York and New Bedford at the tail end of its life, winning U.S. Open Cups with it in 1924, 1927, 1930, 1931 and 1932.

The Marksmen, by then playing as the New Bedford Whalers, won the 1932 U.S. Open Cup from Stix, Baer &#38; Fuller of St. Louis in their final game. McPherson was one of several New Bedford players who stayed in St. Louis after that game. He played two seasons in St. Louis, winning U.S. Open Cups with Stix in 1933 and 1934, giving him five in a row and seven overall. Stix changed sponsors after the 1935 season, and while some of Stix&#8217; transplanted New Englanders stayed with the renamed team (one, Alex McNab, lived the rest of his life in St. Louis),...<br/>
<br/>

Keep reading this post at http://www.bigsoccer.com
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=vWuYtS25Npc:II5ldSdO170:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?i=vWuYtS25Npc:II5ldSdO170:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=vWuYtS25Npc:II5ldSdO170:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~4/vWuYtS25Npc" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/roger-allaway/2013/05/20/the-cup-hoisting-bill-mcpherson/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="" length="" type="" />
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/roger-allaway/2013/05/20/the-cup-hoisting-bill-mcpherson/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>CCL 2013-14 Qualifiers: One Last Go-Around</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~3/VI4iK2AmTc4/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/usafan12/2013/05/18/ccl-2013-14-qualifiers-one-last-go-around/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 20:34:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Paul Calixte</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[caledonia aia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[caribbean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[club america]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[costa rica]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cruz azul]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[el salvador]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Honduras]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mexico]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monterrey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[montreal impact]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[olimpia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[panama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[portmore united]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[real sociedad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[san francisco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[santos laguna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sporting san miguelito]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unprofessionalism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vancouver Whitecaps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[victoria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/usafan12/?p=2044</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[This weekend, we will discover four new participants in the upcoming CONCACAF Champions League.  The semifinals will wrap up in Mexico, and a pair of Clausura finals will determine the second representatives for Honduras and Panama.  The current Salvadoran, Costa Rican and Canadian tournaments are also approaching their dénouement; and the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), true to its current form, has yet to let us know if the Third-Place playoff will be decided through a two-game series, a last-minute one-off or a game of chicken to see which of Portmore United and Caledonia AIA will lose patience first and withdraw.

Unfortunately, I must begin with the following announcement: this will be my last entry in The Regional Review for BigSoccer.

This de facto resignation was not in any way, shape or form provoked by my rapport with fellow Featured Writers or the leadership.  I will always be grateful to Huss for having extended the opportunity to post my ramblings on the biggest soccer webpage in the U.S.; collaborating with Bill Archer on the various facets of CONCACAF reform has been a true highlight of my time here; having writers of the stature of John Jagou, Roger Allaway and Martín del Palacio react to your work is simply an honor; and without Dan Loney&#8217;s encouragement, I never would have attempted this in the first place.  For the remaining writers with whom I interacted on a less frequent basis (due to the smaller overlap in subject material), I have enjoyed reflecting and commenting on their entries as a means of learning about football stories beyond my immediate sphere of interest.

Nor have I lost the desire to cover the major tournaments in our corner of the world.  I freely admit to following the...<br/>
<br/>

Keep reading this post at http://www.bigsoccer.com
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=VI4iK2AmTc4:x5m4R6VX_jI:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?i=VI4iK2AmTc4:x5m4R6VX_jI:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=VI4iK2AmTc4:x5m4R6VX_jI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~4/VI4iK2AmTc4" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/usafan12/2013/05/18/ccl-2013-14-qualifiers-one-last-go-around/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="" length="" type="" />
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/usafan12/2013/05/18/ccl-2013-14-qualifiers-one-last-go-around/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>EPL Newcomers Team of the Season 2012/13</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~3/mAHVV_CDemo/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/david-bolt/2013/05/18/epl-newcomers-team-of-the-season-201213/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 16:37:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David Bolt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[english premier league]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/david-bolt/?p=561</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[Sadly, the end of the Premier League season is now upon us, and writers everywhere are picking their teams of the season, so I thought I’d do the same.

The problem I have with many of these teams is that, most of the time, it’s obvious who will be in them and as a result, they don’t vary much from writer to writer. That’s not very interesting to me; I’m sure none of you reading this needs me to tell you how good a season Gareth Bale’s had, how Robin van Persie made a seamless transition to Manchester United, or how great a player Juan Mata is for Chelsea.

So, I try and do things a little differently. I pick my team solely out of players who had never played a single Premier League game before this season. It is known that the Premier League can be a particularly tough league for players to adapt to, and many excellent players have tried and failed to do so in the past. I think this makes it all the more impressive when a player can come into a new league and produces their best in their first season. 

As this is a team of the season, I don’t include players who arrived in January, as they have not played a full season. So, there is no room in my team for Philippe Coutinho or Roger Espinoza, despite their excellent play since their arrival. 

So here’s my Premier League newcomers team of the season 2012/13! (4-2-3-1 formation, stats by OPTA)

GK: Julio Cesar (QPR):  Julio Cesar just beats Hugo Lloris to make this team. QPR have had a dismal season and, not completely unfairly, a lot of the blame has fallen on the signings Mark Hughes made last summer. However one of those signings, Julio Cesar, who was seen as a bit of an unnecessary signing when he arrived (most people considered Robert Green to be good enough), has...<br/>
<br/>

Keep reading this post at http://www.bigsoccer.com
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=mAHVV_CDemo:8x8fBEoKzU0:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?i=mAHVV_CDemo:8x8fBEoKzU0:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=mAHVV_CDemo:8x8fBEoKzU0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~4/mAHVV_CDemo" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/david-bolt/2013/05/18/epl-newcomers-team-of-the-season-201213/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="" length="" type="" />
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/david-bolt/2013/05/18/epl-newcomers-team-of-the-season-201213/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>The Potential Robbie Rogers Trade: Make it about the Player, not his Sexual Identity</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~3/IKeqQtF2K9I/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/barroldinho/2013/05/15/the-potential-robbie-rogers-trade-make-it-about-the-player-not-his-sexual-identity/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 May 2013 23:56:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>barroldinho</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[chicago fire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[la galaxy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[robbie rogers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/barroldinho/?p=115</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[I’d like to take a moment to write about this proposed Robbie Rogers trade between LA Galaxy and Chicago Fire.  For those who don’t know, Robbie Rogers while not under contract to a team right now, currently has his MLS rights owned by Chicago, meaning that if he returned to MLS, that’s the team he would currently be assigned to.

The Galaxy can certainly use a winger and Rogers by my estimation, is better than anything we’ve got righty now.   He’s from SoCal and wants to play for them.  He’s even indicated that if his only choice was to play for Chicago, he would likely not come back to MLS even if it means staying retired.

My opinion on both Robbie and also NBA player, Jason Collins coming out as gay is firstly, that they are to be credited but secondly, that in this day and age it’s sad that such a thing should be so extraordinary.  Indeed, the way that the public reacted to Collins was actually so low-key that it was pleasantly surprising.  That’s not to say that these guys coming out isn’t a big deal: it truly is.  This is a watershed moment in US Sports.  However, their orientation itself should in my opinion, be so easily accepted as not to be a big deal – and refreshingly, that seems to largely be the reaction.

However, MLS’s rumoured attitude to this trade strikes me as unsavoury.  If Robbie hadn’t just come out, the scenario would be that LA Galaxy wanted his rights and that Chicago, having fairly traded for them, would need to receive an offer that worked.  As it seems to stand right now, the talk is all about MLS presiding over the situation, leaning on Chicago to make this happen.  It is heavily rumoured that if Chicago ask for too much, or even reject the deal entirely, MLS is going to step in and...<br/>
<br/>

Keep reading this post at http://www.bigsoccer.com
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=IKeqQtF2K9I:Vv89qT3fDpc:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?i=IKeqQtF2K9I:Vv89qT3fDpc:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=IKeqQtF2K9I:Vv89qT3fDpc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~4/IKeqQtF2K9I" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/barroldinho/2013/05/15/the-potential-robbie-rogers-trade-make-it-about-the-player-not-his-sexual-identity/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="" length="" type="" />
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/barroldinho/2013/05/15/the-potential-robbie-rogers-trade-make-it-about-the-player-not-his-sexual-identity/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Liguilla Quarterfinals:  Winners and Losers</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~3/WSY7Z-BIMOM/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/john-jagou/2013/05/14/liguilla-quarterfinals-winners-and-losers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2013 16:39:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>John Jagou</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/john-jagou/?p=1495</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[When fans of the beautiful game ask why on earth Mexico has had a post-season system for the past 40+ years, the pro-liguillistas can point to this past weekend.  

The first round included 2 heated derbies; while the other two match-ups pitted one team looking for redemption against one looking for respect,  and a side that had surprised everyone (including its own fans) went up against a team that had made 4 finals over the past two years.

The quarterfinals gave us some compelling soccer, and in the end, 4 worthy teams:  Club América, Monterrey, Cruz Azul,  and Santos Laguna will fight for the right to lift the Liga MX trophy.  

Some winners and losers from the quarterfinal ties.  

Winner:  Chucho Benítez. The América striker got the goals when the team needed them most.  Sure, he missed a few, what striker doesn&#8217;t?  The most expensive transfer in Liga MX history is more than proving his worth.

Loser:  Miguel Herrera&#8217;s jittery performance in the second leg is exhibit A as to why Americanista&#8217;s are nervous about their legitimate chances to win the league title.  

Winner:  Victor Manuel Vucetich.  Here is a coach that knows how to get his team to sit on a lead, and, moreover, exudes an air of calmness and complete control from the bench.    Now the winner of 13 finals in 14 tries is one step away from another one.

Loser: For a team that has such a great home atmosphere, it is just bizarre that Tigres has such a poor home record.  The Volcán should be a citadel, but for some reason, Tigres only won 3 times at home this season.  

Winner:  Our own Martín Del Palacio correctly picked all four semi-finalists.

Loser:  Yours truly, who whiffed on the the first two but saved face by hitting the next...<br/>
<br/>

Keep reading this post at http://www.bigsoccer.com
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=WSY7Z-BIMOM:PtGdFjMUXRc:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?i=WSY7Z-BIMOM:PtGdFjMUXRc:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=WSY7Z-BIMOM:PtGdFjMUXRc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~4/WSY7Z-BIMOM" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/john-jagou/2013/05/14/liguilla-quarterfinals-winners-and-losers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="" length="" type="" />
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/john-jagou/2013/05/14/liguilla-quarterfinals-winners-and-losers/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>At the crossroads of history, waiting for the light to change</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~3/Z5NdEpEB-qU/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/dan-loney/2013/05/13/at-the-crossroads-of-history-waiting-for-the-light-to-change/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 May 2013 23:14:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Loney</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The MLS]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/dan-loney/?p=2045</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[All right already.  Listen, Chicago Fire, Los Angeles Galaxy, Don, Phil, Andrew, and not least Robbie &#8211; get off the thinking couch and get this the freak over with already.  Some of us have blogs to write.

I suppose I could just predict what will happen at this point, but&#8230;I’ve gotten really shy about predictions.  Remember my MLS preview this year?  That’s right, I punted it, because even now the season is over two months old and I got no idea who will finish where.  (I would have badly overrated Chicago and DC, for one thing.  And I would have picked the Galaxy to win it all again, and who wants to read that crap again?  Not you.)

And the Robbie Rogers to Wherever saga will mean two very, very different things depending on where he ends up.  (Or three.  Have we ruled out a return to Stevenage?)

Option one is that LA, MLS, and/or Rogers force a trade where the Fire get nothing.  (Let alone the Crew, the team he actually played for.)

Not completely unprecedented, but said precedents are worrisome.  Three jump to mind.  Doug Logan &#8211; you know, the guy who made track and field America’s number one pastime &#8211; re-assigned Carlos Valderrama to the Tampa Bay Mutiny from the Miami Fusion, a move that helped make MLS in Florida what it is today.  Dallas was obliged to trade the Freddy Adu draft pick to DC United in exchange for a player allocation &#8211; and for all I know, Dallas still has that allocation.  Of course, whatever rights the San Jose Earthquakes had over Landon Donovan were effectively vetoed by Landon himself, causing an allocation shuffling that made the Adu mess a year earlier look positively straightforward.  (Or you can believe the official story, that San Jose traded Donovan for an...<br/>
<br/>

Keep reading this post at http://www.bigsoccer.com
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=Z5NdEpEB-qU:3wYUO2uvGU8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?i=Z5NdEpEB-qU:3wYUO2uvGU8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=Z5NdEpEB-qU:3wYUO2uvGU8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~4/Z5NdEpEB-qU" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/dan-loney/2013/05/13/at-the-crossroads-of-history-waiting-for-the-light-to-change/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="" length="" type="" />
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/dan-loney/2013/05/13/at-the-crossroads-of-history-waiting-for-the-light-to-change/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Down and out</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~3/PvoCikFt5WA/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/roger-allaway/2013/05/13/down-and-out/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 May 2013 04:17:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Roger Allaway</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[us soccer history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usmnt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[world cup]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/roger-allaway/?p=685</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[A lot of what I&#8217;ve written about the U.S. men&#8217;s national team in this series of posts on historical matters has had to do with high points, like events in 1991 and 1995. It&#8217;s time to give a little attention to low points. The United States had a 40-year drought between World Cup appearances. It would be foolish to pretend that there were only four lows during that stretch, but these four World Cup qualifiers were particular disappointments:

Canada 5, United States 1, Toronto, June 22, 1957&#8211;The United States had lost both of its games against Mexico, 6-0 and 7-2, and its hopes of advancing to the next round of World Cup qualifying were hanging by a thread going into this game. Still, you would expect that it might fare OK against an opponent that was playing its first full international in 30 years. Oops.

Haiti 1, United States 0, San Diego, May 11, 1969&#8211;After being eliminated in qualifying for the 1954 &#8217;58, &#8217;62 and &#8217;66 World Cups, the United States seemed to have a better chance of making the 1970 World Cup, because it didn&#8217;t have the obstacle of Mexico, which was an automatic qualifier as host. The Americans looked pretty good under coach Phil Woosnam in winning a round-robin group against Canada and Bermuda in the fall of 1968. That advanced them to a home-and-home series in the spring of 1969 with Haiti, which hadn&#8217;t even bothered to enter qualifying for the previous three World Cups. However, the U.S. team wasn&#8217;t the same as it had been in the fall, after a winter of inactivity and the loss of Woosnam, who had been named executive director of the NASL. Goals by Joseph Obas and Guy St. Vil gave Haiti a 2-0 win in the first leg on April 20 in...<br/>
<br/>

Keep reading this post at http://www.bigsoccer.com
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=PvoCikFt5WA:UGRaGDIOLmo:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?i=PvoCikFt5WA:UGRaGDIOLmo:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=PvoCikFt5WA:UGRaGDIOLmo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~4/PvoCikFt5WA" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/roger-allaway/2013/05/13/down-and-out/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="" length="" type="" />
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/roger-allaway/2013/05/13/down-and-out/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Field of Schemes Too: Rise of the NeoCosmos</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~3/DPgEZ26mTTU/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/bill-archer/2013/05/10/field-of-schemes-too-rise-of-the-neocosmos/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2013 12:03:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Archer</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/bill-archer/?p=1892</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[In the movie The Candidate &#8211; the quintessential treatment of the American political process &#8211; there&#8217;s a scene where the title character, played by Robert Redford, is meeting with a smarmy, back slapping union boss who, now that Redford&#8217;s campaign is surging, is all of a sudden anxious to be best pals with him.

He tells Bob that he thinks the two of them have a lot in common. Redford pauses, looks him in the eye and says &#8220;I don&#8217;t think we have shit in common&#8221;.

That phrase came to mind late last summer after the brass at MLS and a NeoCosmos delegation led by President Seamus O&#8217;Brien met in New York to see if they could work out an amicable arrangement which would allow the Coz to join The United States of America&#8217;s First Division Professional Soccer League.

They almost immediately came to the conclusion that if possible they had even less in common than Redford and his erstwhile ally. 

Because despite the title of &#8220;Commissioner&#8221; which Cohiba Don wears with justifiable pride he is, at its most basic, the CEO of a company called Major League Soccer L.L.C., and his portfolio consists of steering a mutually beneficial cooperative path for 19 equal partners and not, as most of his peers have it, riding herd on a collection of independent competitors.

The latter is of course exactly the kind of league O&#8217;Brien needs to be a part of, and it&#8217;s exactly what MLS is not now and will not be in the foreseeable future, if ever.



(Image from WrongSideofthePond)

So the relationship between the two sides, which many people assumed was like a cheap, sweaty, booze-fueled frat party romance, now looks a lot more like a strip poker game where no one is...<br/>
<br/>

Keep reading this post at http://www.bigsoccer.com
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=DPgEZ26mTTU:0WTX0-fxUp4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?i=DPgEZ26mTTU:0WTX0-fxUp4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=DPgEZ26mTTU:0WTX0-fxUp4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~4/DPgEZ26mTTU" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/bill-archer/2013/05/10/field-of-schemes-too-rise-of-the-neocosmos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="" length="" type="" />
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/bill-archer/2013/05/10/field-of-schemes-too-rise-of-the-neocosmos/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Sir Alex Ferguson</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~3/IEBN_Oq9khM/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/barroldinho/2013/05/08/sir-alex-ferguson/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 May 2013 21:08:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>barroldinho</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[manchester united]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sir alex ferguson]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/barroldinho/?p=109</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[It&#8217;s 1986.  A nine-year-old boy is sitting on a sofa in the living room, watching the news.  His brow is furrowed, his nose wrinkled and his bottom lip juts out.  He&#8217;s irritated.  &#8220;Ron Atkinson: Manchester United Manager&#8221; is what he knows.  Tommy Docherty had been fired shortly after his birth and while Dave Sexton had been there, he wasn&#8217;t really old enough to acknowledge his presence.  The kid didn&#8217;t really get the football world yet.  He watched the game.  He played it (very very badly).  He&#8217;d always supported Man United.  What he didn&#8217;t fathom though was that the FA Cups and strong opening to the 1985 season were actually well short of what was expected for his team.  In his defence, their last league title had been won a decade before his birth.  He&#8217;d been told about Munich and the Charlton/Law/Best Trinity and knew that Man United used to be a great team.  What he&#8217;d experienced personally though, was a circle of friends who largely supported Liverpool or Norwich City (the local team) and the former winning lots.  He didn&#8217;t grasp that United were meant to stand toe-to-toe with Liverpool or that languishing in the lower half of the table was entirely unacceptable.  Big Ron had won the FA Cup and probably more importantly, was one of the first Man United stickers he&#8217;d got in his Panini Sticker Album&#8230; and Man United had just fired him.

Then this Alex Ferguson fellow came along and just around the time the kid had started to actually learn tangible things about the game, things weren&#8217;t going well &#8211; or at least that&#8217;s what everybody seemed to be saying.  So for a while, he rode the bandwagon that famously produced the banner...<br/>
<br/>

Keep reading this post at http://www.bigsoccer.com
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=IEBN_Oq9khM:0E8sSxOpxVg:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?i=IEBN_Oq9khM:0E8sSxOpxVg:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?a=IEBN_Oq9khM:0E8sSxOpxVg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/bigsoccer-blog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/bigsoccer-blog/~4/IEBN_Oq9khM" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/barroldinho/2013/05/08/sir-alex-ferguson/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="" length="" type="" />
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/barroldinho/2013/05/08/sir-alex-ferguson/</feedburner:origLink></item>
	</channel>
</rss>
