On Friday, the Seattle Sounders released a distressing statement concerning Sounders and USMNT forward Clint Dempsey. The 33-year-old will be undergoing medical evaluations for an irregular heartbeat over the coming days, missing Seattle’s match against Portland on Sunday and the United States’ September World Cup qualifiers against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.
After over seven years serving as the only MLS manager the Seattle Sounders had ever employed, Sigi Schmid and the club agreed to part on mutual terms following a bottom of the league start to the 2016 campaign.
Schmid, a two-time MLS Cup champion as manager of the Columbus Crew, left the Sounders with rumors of dressing room unrest having made his role untenable in Seattle. One big name mentioned in the fallout was USMNT captain Clint Dempsey.
Remember those late June whispers regarding a sophomore slump for Toronto FC’s Sebastian Giovinco? Yeah, suggestions of Giovinco’s apparent demise had been greatly exaggerated. The Italian registered his MLS-leading 16th goal on Saturday — it was his eighth goal in six MLS matches dating back to July 24th.
Both Minnesota United and Los Angeles FC are poised to make massive announcements over the coming days regarding their potential new stadiums and their standing with regards to joining MLS.
On Wednesday, it was announced that the St. Paul City Council had approved site plans for Minnesota’s new $150 million, 20,000-seat soccer specific stadium in the state’s capital.
The Los Angeles Galaxy have pulled out all the stops in anticipation of their August 27th match against the Vancouver Whitecaps. They’re commemorating the match with one of the greatest match day posters you’ll ever see. Inspired by the legendary series of children’s books “Where’s Waldo?”, the poster challenges readers to locate forward Alan Gordon amidst an amusing StubHub Center crowd.
A few weeks ago, the Seattle Sounders hit rock bottom. They were one point from the Western Conference cellar. They were just embarrassed on national television by Sporting Kansas City and had no choice but to fire Sigi Schmid, the only coach they’d ever had in their MLS history.
All of a sudden, one of America’s great soccer cities found itself with a club that was more pretender than championship contender.
Enter Nicolas Lodeiro.
While Jozy Altidore’s goalscoring record for Sunderland will always torment him like a black spot, a piece of low-hanging fruit for doubters who refuse to recognize his enormous talent, those who’ve followed his career of late will know that it’s his troublesome hamstrings which remain his personal Kryptonite.
The big kick off is here, and, wouldn’t you know it, the stars have aligned in the perfect manner for fans wanting to do nothing but watch football all weekend.
It’s as if Premier League, Liga MX, MLS, Olympic, Bundesliga and La Liga representatives all got together and did this for us. Head to the store tonight, grab all the sustenance you need to survive Saturday and Sunday, and bunker down.
Football is back.
It’s been more than two calendar years since the Chicago Fire last won an MLS road match. That’s 36 futile attempts at claiming three points dating back to their 1-0 victory over the New England Revolution on July 12th, 2014.
For a bit of perspective, Chivas USA (the defunct MLS club which folded after the 2014 season) experienced their last road win on that same date. It’s a staggering statistic that’s unbelievably damning for the club that’s won an MLS Cup (1998), MLS Supporters’ Shield (2003) and has won the US Open Cup four times — more than any other MLS club.
MLS used to be a league where everyone played a 4-4-2 and large, slow defenders would kick the ball really hard toward big forwards, who were good at winning headers but not much else, who would then try to either outrun the defense or take a long shot. It was painfully boring.