The story arcs that football provides us with are both fascinating and absurd. Who could’ve guessed that, come 2016, Brad Guzan would be doing battle with Victor Valdes to be named the starting goalkeeper for Middlesbrough?
Guzan, the 31-year-old Illinois native with 50 USA appearances to his name, is expected to join the newly promoted Premier League club on a free transfer following Aston Villa’s relegation.
Sigi Schmid is no longer the head coach of the Seattle Sounders after they "mutually" agreed to part ways.
OFFICIAL: #Sounders, Sigi Schmid mutually agree to part ways: https://t.co/Pj8RBLYUCm pic.twitter.com/5s40QG2NLt
— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) July 26, 2016
The living legend that is Didier Drogba is approaching his 20th season of professional soccer, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down. The former Chelsea striker lifted the Montreal Impact into the MLS playoffs for the first time in their history last season, and he’s almost certain to have an even more influential campaign this time around following his resounding hat-trick against Philadelphia.
Recent signee, Ousmane Dembele roasted the defense of Manchester United to put the game completely out of reach Friday morning as he tallied Dortmund's 3rd goal of the match. A rough start for José Mourinho, as Man U had a disorderly day which led to a 4-1 beating but still a friendly at the end of the day. Dortmund is a team to be reckoned with this upcoming fall with Mario Gotze returning to join Reus while also signing German star, André Schürrle. A brilliant solo goal for Dembele is one that we hope to see more of this season.
Patrick Vieira’s initial appointment as the manager of New York City FC raised more than a few eyebrows around footballing circles. He’d previously been employed as Manchester City’s reserve team and Elite Development squad coach, but his profound experience as a player saw him linked with massive jobs such as manager at Newcastle United.
You can keep your Dele Allis, your Ross Barkleys, your Raheem Sterlings and Adam Lallanas and James Milners and Jack Wilsheres. I want Joe Cole.
Cole, formerly of Chelsea, Aston Villa, Liverpool and West Ham, is one of the few English footballers having a summer you wouldn't describe as "underwhelming." Look at this goal he scored for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the NASL (the USA's second division for those of you reading this somewhere besides the good ol' USA).
The New York Times has won more Pulitzer Prizes than any other news organization, which makes their July 12th publication of Jay Caspian Kang’s “The Dark Side of American Soccer Culture” that much more dumbfounding.
Landon Donovan has returned to the public spotlight with a couple of high profile appearances in the last week. On Monday, Donovan took part in Major League Baseball’s All-Star festivities by participating in a celebrity softball game. The USA’s all time leading scorer hit an inside-the-park home run that showed off the 34 year olds still electric pace.
(Extremely The Wire voice) Look out, NASL. Omar's comin'. Mexican striker Omar Bravo, formerly of Chivas, has joined the NASL's Carolina RailHawks.
Bravo will join the seventh-place RailHawks in hopes of bolstering their attack. Having scored more than 150 goals in his professional career, we like his chances.
The Seattle Reign and Western New York Flash were in need of a field this weekend, but what they got was a small patch of grass in the outfield of a minor league baseball stadium, resulting in one of the silliest-looking soccer games we have ever seen. In case you were wondering if the NWSL is a serious professional league, signs would point to "no" (We mean the league itself is not a serious professional league.