Changes to the U.S. Open Cup…Good Ones

Steve Goff, that sly dog from the Soccer Insider, sneaked the following into his Presidents’ Day review of soccer news (and it occurs to me, only now, that this could be why things seem so damned quiet today):
“*The U.S. Open Cup schedule is much more compact this year. Pending USSF approval, the round of 16 [...]

Rapids TSII: (Borrowed) Line-Up Theory

View From The Couch (VftC) pieced together a plausible starting XI for the Colorado Rapids from a report on an intra-team scrimmage. This came, as all communications regarding the Rapids, from official sources.
By combining what looked closer to the first team from the two scrimmage squads with who he expects would take their place [...]

Pre-Season Results: RBNY Over Some Swedes (One that Got Away)

In a pre-season bout that Soccer America seemingly failed to notice (don’t see it in here), but later flagged, Red Bull New York topped Swedish Club IF Hammarby last Friday by a score of 2-0.   Word on that came tucked at the bottom of a larger, fairly useful Soccer America piece on which players look [...]

Pre-Season Match Reports: Too Many for One Clever Title

I just drank some African liquor…that came in a cellophane bag…so don’t expect much…
Truth to tell, I feel like I’m posting early – e.g. before the weight of the commentary and direct observations provides something for us to think about besides what team beat another and by how many. So…I’ll update what comes below [...]

Conde and Juan Carlos…serious man-love…

The (for-now) Chicago Fire’s Wilman Conde going public about wanting to ditch Chicago to follow Juan Carlos Osorio to Red Bull New York is, quite simply, fascinating. A couple reliable sources report the very open airing of this…well, cry for help…where one would think no such cry is needed. (Another less reliable, but [...]