Keep checking back, I have something big coming down the pipeline, so be on the lookout!

Not surprisingly, MLS and the MLS Players Union have agreed to extend talks until February 25. Just weeks ago, they agreed to push the deadline to February 12.

The original deadline was set at February 1.

This move was somewhat expected as both sides delayed talks due to blizzard conditions in D.C., and therefore no chance to get in the trenches as it were during the final days before the deadline.

I’ve been a part of collective bargaining agreements before (entertainment related, not sports) and I am willing to bet that there will be at least one more extension, it’s just how these things work. I’m also willing to bet that talks won’t last much longer than the first week of March. By then we will know if their will be player’s strike/lockout or final agreement.

In the meantime, all MLS teams have begun their preseason training.

photo credit: Arturo J. Paniagua

Reports out of Spain suggest that Raul will be heading to Major League Soccer this Summer, specifically to the New York Red Bulls.

He has fallen in the depth chart at Madrid, not surprising considering his age and the new strikers that Madrid seems to sign on a weekly basis.

Raul has previously stated his desire to play in America, and this could be the perfect time for the 32 year old to make the change. MLS has instituted the designated player rule allowing for a player’s salary to be as large as the team wants and not have it count against the salary cap, and NY has the DP slot to make the move. Let’s hope a deal can be reached

Juan Pablo Angel and Raul leading the attack for the Red Bulls? Wow.

Landon Donovan played the full 90 minutes for Everton against Chelsea as he helped lead his team to a victory over the league leaders. Donovan played quite well, and delivered an excellent corner kick to the near post which saw Louis Saha get on the end of it to open the scoring for Everton.

Check out the highlights above. Donovan’s assist comes in around the 1:30 mark. Then watch as Donovan takes a pass beats a defender with one touch from a pass and gets taken down in the box for penalty.

Well, isn’t this something? the UEFA Champions League final will be shown in America on Fox. Yes, you are reading that correctly, it says Fox. Not Fox Soccer Channel, not Fox Sports Net, it’s Fox. The same network that brings this country American Idol will be airing the Champions League Final. Wow.

This will be the first time in America that the Champions League final will be aired on network television. Until this current 09-10 season, ESPN held the American broadcast rights.

The final will be played at Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium on Saturday May 22 at 2:30pm EST. The broadcast will be very telling, as it has the opportunity to score huge ratings for soccer in this country, and I think it will do just that.

photo credit: Hector Garcia

You heard it here first! I’m predicting that Ronaldinho will not be on the Brazilian squad come June. He has not played an international match with Brazil since early 2009., and despite calls for his return to the squad in local media, coach Dunga has yet to bring the creative midfielder back into the fold. Dunga recently announced the roster for Brazil’s upcoming friendly against Ireland and Ronaldinho did not make the list.

Even with his current surge in form, Ronaldinho has still failed to make it onto Dunga’s radar, and at this stage in the lead up to the Cup, it will be quite hard for him to find playing time with Brazil. So the prediction is simple, No Ronaldinho at the World Cup.

By now, the world knows. The story has permeated throughout mainstream media across the world. John Terry has been removed as captain of the England National soccer team.

The story, for those few that do not know, goes a little like this: John Terry married with two children, began having an affair with another woman. As if the affair was not bad enough, it was clouded even more by the fact that the affair was with a woman named Vanessa Perroncel. Perroncel happened to be the long time girlfriend and mother to the child of Terry’s close friend Wayne Bridge. To muddy the waters even more, Bridge was not just Terry’s friend, he is also a professional soccer player teammates at both club Chelsea (Bridge has since transferred to a different club) and with the England National team.

So that’s pretty much the story. The moral, personal, and professional issues that come into play in this situation are complicated. First, you have Terry, captain and leader of England, getting vilified in press worldwide, dealing with resolving his personal life, under what I can only imagine to be impossible stress. Second, you have teammates, both club and country who have spent years building professional and personal relationships with both players. There are, as to be expected, players taking sides both publicly and privately. Lines are drawn, team chemistry goes out the window. Finally, you have the sticky situation in which the coach, Fabio Capello, and team administrations find themselves faced with.

What to do?

The only thing that can be done, damage control. Terry should have immediately come forward and made the decision to resign as captain, but that would have been the appropriate thing to do, but Terry doesn’t do appropriate – more on that later in the story. Finally, Capello strips Terry of the captaincy. But what about having Bridge and Terry together on the roster? Here, and interesting twist comes into play. Eric Wynalda, former US National team star, reveals on his TV show, that an identical situation happened in the run up to the 1998 World Cup. US team captain John Harkes was allegedly having and affair with Wynalda’s wife. The US coach at the time, Steve Sampson, was made aware of the potential problem and removed Harkes as both captain and left him off the roster for the 1998 World Cup.

Wynalda said on his show that the team would have fared better had Harkes been in the line-up, despite what was happening off the field, the priority, in Wynalda’s mind, should have been fielding the best possible team. Obviously, coach Sampson believed that the team would be better served without the distraction, Harkes, despite being captain, was more expendable than Wynalda.

It is easy for Wynalda to say the team would have been better off with Harkes on the squad now. It could have been much different while the affair was happening before his very eyes. It is also easy to say considering the strength and depth of the US team in 1998 – it was relatively weak and shallow.

So back to Terry and England. Terry is expendable as captain, but as – arguably – the best central defender in the world, he is of utmost importance. Bridge on the other hand, could be regarded as maybe the second or third best left back in the English squad, with the drop off in ability in the next best left back being marginal. Bridge becomes the expendable player here, despite being the person who has been wronged. I know it’s like kicking a man while he’s down, but it’s just the truth.

Damage control has been done, and now it’s up to manager Capello and Terry himself to help heal the wounds that are sure to exist within the locker room. They only have 4 months to get things right, so they better get to it quick. England next faces Egypt in March and it will be interesting to see how the team responds.

Now on to Terry himself. I really do not like this guy. Over the past decade I have read numerous reports of Terry’s transgressions, and although I hugely admiring him for his pure soccer talent and work ethic, the man is a miserable human being. Let’s go through the list starting with this most recent incident.

- Terry is having and affair with one of his best friend’s longtime girlfriend and mother of his friend’s child. That’s low in and of itself, but Terry is also married with two children of his own. And, to top it all off, just months ago, he was honored in England with the 2009 father of the year award. Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up.

- Just a mere two months ago, Terry was accused of accepting payments for behind the scenes tours of Chelsea’s training grounds.

- As captain of England, Terry is provided with a luxury box at London’s Wembley Stadium. Reports are now out suggesting Terry is offering the use of the box to private bidders. Strictly forbidden by team rules.

- Terry has taken full advantage of libel laws in England (mainly those that allow to easily sue and reap significant rewards) for almost anything he deems unsuitable. As an example, he was able to stop a prominent London newspaper from running a story about a missed penalty kick in the Champions League final. (What could be so offensive and libelous in a story about a missed penalty kick? We will never know).

- In Terry’s younger years, he decided to publicly expose himself, and urinate into a pint glass at a night club in Essex. He then proceeded to dump the contents on the club floor.

- Perhaps most heinous, at least to me, was Terry’s mocking and taunting of American tourists in Heathrow airport immediately following the terrorist attacks on September 11th.

John Terry, you are a terrible human being, you deserved to lose the captaincy. But you also deserve a few more things, like a very public divorce, and a very large settlement for your (hopefully) soon to be ex-wife. You deserve some other things too, but I won’t mention them here.

For some more info on John Terry saga and it’s connection to Team USA in 1998 check out these links.

Gambler, womaniser, drinker, and brawler.

Character flaws catch up with England’s inspirational skipper.

John Terry stripped of England captaincy by Capello.

Digging up a painful US memory.

Sampson ends silence on Harkes affair.

There has been no shortage of Manchester United fan protests since the Glazer family took over ownership in 2005. The protests have been over many different concerns, but the one that most often shines is the debt situation at the club. The Glazers, it seems to me, have used the club as leverage to raise significant amounts of money to use over their various business ventures. Manchester United’s debt continues to grow and grow, yet at the same time, United continues to keep winning.

It’s hard for protests to be heard and felt when the club has enjoyed such rousing success over the Glazer tenure: three successive league titles, two league cups, two community shields, and a 2008 UEFA Champions League title.

However the latest movement is quite interesting. Fans have taken to wearing the colors of green and gold. These colors were that of Newton Heath Club, the very team that went on to become Manchester United. It will be fun to see how this attempt to protest works out.

Thanks to the crew over at the original winger for pointing this one out.

Fabio Capello has stripped the captain’s armband from John Terry over the scandal that Terry reportedly had an affair with the girlfriend (or ex-girlfriend) of England teammate Wayne Bridge. Terry will remain a part of the team in the lead up to the World Cup and is still expected to play a vital role in South Africa.

“After much thought I have made the decision that it will be best for me to take the captaincy away from John Terry,” Capello said in a statement.

That’s all for now from me, but I’m working on a big piece regarding this whole scandal, Terry/Bridge, Wynalda/Harkes – An affair to remember. Check back for it on Monday.

MLS veteran Jesse Marsch has retired from soccer and will take on his new role as assistant coach of the US Men’s National Team under Bob Bradley immediately. Marsch played 14 seasons in MLS two with DC United, eight with Chicago, and four with Chivas USA. He is one of the last remaining players to have been in MLS since its inception.

He had his best run with Chicago, helping the team win the 1998 MLS Cup title as well as U.S. Open Cup titles in 1998, 2000, and 2003.

Marsch said about his retirement, “I would like to sincerely thank my family, friends, teammates, coaches and supporters for the past 14 excellent years,” said Marsch. “Many people have touched my life in a very positive way, and these relationships have shaped and will continue to shape me and my family. I am excited to get started with U.S. Soccer, and I hope for continued success and support within the sport of soccer.”

To read more about Jesse Marsch and his career check out MLSnet