If you haven’t heard of him before, this is 15-year-old Angeleno Efrain Alvarez. He was given a professional contract by the Los Angeles Galaxy back in March, becoming the seventh youngest signing in league history.
He was sent to LA Galaxy II in the USL to begin the season, and he’s tearing up the league at an astonishing rate. Today, he scored two absolute golazos against Portland Timbers 2.
It should come as no surprise given what transpired on his debut, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic hasn’t exactly reached the heights expected of him in Los Angeles. Yes, his return of three goals and three assists in only 487 minutes is quintessential Zlatan, but the big Swede is also a legend for another reason: winning.
The MLS Players Association released salary data for the 2018 season this week, and we now know the MLS highest paid players for the current campaign.
For all of Toronto FC’s financial ambition, signing players like Sebastian Giovinco, Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, Gregory van der Wiel, Ager Aketxe and Victor Vázquez in recent years, the club hasn’t focused on one vital position: center back. And thus, with recent injuries to regular defenders, an intriguing new Michael Bradley center back experiment has unfolded at BMO Field in recent weeks. And it’s something the next USMNT coach might want to consider.
With Juventus set to take on the MLS All-Stars on August 1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Old Lady legend Edgar Davids was on hand Wednesday to do a bit of scouting for his former club. The 45-year-old also did a bit of what “The Pit Bull” does best: he hammered something.
D.C. United is desperate. Ben Olsen’s club is in dreadful need of a striker and the owners want a big-name star to draw the masses to Audi Field when it opens in July. And that is exactly why a newly reported Wayne Rooney D.C. United transfer rumor is so gosh darn juicy.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle, the Chicago Fire are currently in Madrid to hold talks with Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres, who’ll be out of a contract following the completion of the LaLiga season (which ends on May 20).
Rocco Commisso migrated to the U.S. from Italy at the age of 12 without a word of English, except maybe ‘no’, ‘yes’ and ‘may I use the bathroom, please.’ You know, the essentials. The Italian-American later founded Mediacom Communications Corporation, MCC, of which he’s also the CEO. The MCC is the fifth-largest cable television company in the country, which also makes the 68-year-old a Forbes billionaire.
On top of that, Commisso is an avid soccer fan, whose views on the beautiful game are often provocative.
When Bastian Schweinsteiger first burst onto the world scene at the 2006 World Cup, the precocious 21-year-old was a winger with a bag of tricks. By 2014, when he helped Germany hoist the World Cup trophy, he was a veteran defensive midfielder, a calm and composed presence.
But Bastian Schweinsteiger in 2018 with the Chicago Fire has taken on an entirely new role: sweeper.
Fire coach Veljko Paunovic has moved the aging but gifted player from the heart of his team to the heart of his defense, lining the German up at the middle of a three-man defense in a 3-5-2.
Toronto FC just finished the best Concacaf Champions League run in MLS history. They didn't win, but they came as close to winning the thing as possible. A lot of blame will fall at the feet of Michael Bradley, both because his miss was so bad aesthetically and because of the USMNT's recent failings.