Posted on November 10, 2011 by Ken Gude
News that Brek Shea will join Arsenal on a two-week trial following the USMNT’s games in Europe against France and Slovenia is big news and clearly an indication that the FC Dallas left-winger is likely the next American to make the leap to Europe. But are the Gunners really the best landing spot for Shea? [...]
Filed under: Future of American soccer, Premier League | 2 Comments »
Posted on August 26, 2010 by Max Bergmann
While I think MLS teams are doing a relatively good job in their own local markets, especially with attendance, I think they are missing big opportunities to grow their brands and potentially the leagues TV revenues. TV numbers for MLS on ESPN are not great and the notion of the World Cup tv bounce appears [...]
Filed under: Future of American soccer, MLS | 2 Comments »
Posted on August 10, 2010 by Max Bergmann
Bob Bradley has no Premiership or European managerial experience. He has never operated in the European transfer window. And his club coaching experience in MLS is hard to compare to the Premier League. Despite all of that, he makes a ton of sense for Villa. There are a few atmospheric things working in his favor [...]
Filed under: Future of American soccer, Premier League | 6 Comments »
Posted on August 3, 2010 by Max Bergmann
WV Hooligan is adamant that MLS take a break from expansion at 20 teams. This makes sense since at 20 teams the league will have reached the size of other big time leagues, it will give it time to consolidate and will give time to allow for the quality of the league to improve. All [...]
Filed under: Future of American soccer, MLS | 5 Comments »
Posted on July 17, 2010 by Ken Gude
This is the second post in a series of five recommendations for USSF President Sunil Gulati International tournaments are soccer’s Holy Grail. Club soccer has exploded around the world and changed the business of game, but it’s still the World Cup that grabs the attention of fans like no other competition. Europe’s continental championship is [...]
Filed under: Future of American soccer, Internationals, USMNT | 10 Comments »
Posted on July 14, 2010 by Ken Gude
This post is the first in a series of five recommendations for USSF President Sunil Gulati Bob Bradley has had a successful run, but it’s time for him to move on to a new challenge and for US soccer to bring in a new coach to take soccer in America to the next level. There is [...]
Filed under: Future of American soccer, USMNT | 6 Comments »
Posted on July 13, 2010 by Max Bergmann
Overall it was an outstanding World Cup for ESPN and a tremendous improvement over four years ago. ESPN’s massive investment in the tournament gave the World Cup and Olympics like feel and signifies the massive progress the game is making in this country. The coverage was thorough and professional and the on-air personalities seemed to [...]
Filed under: Future of American soccer, World Cup 2010 | 9 Comments »
Posted on July 13, 2010 by Max Bergmann
Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe is one of the classic American sports journalists. He is also a bit old school. He came of age before soccer was anything in this country and confesses to know little about the game. But Ryan unlike many of the sports writers of his generation, doesn’t approach soccer was [...]
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Posted on July 6, 2010 by Max Bergmann
As the World Cup is slowly coming to an end, the summer transfer season is about to pick up. In past World Cups for the US, MLS based players gained significant attention and used the tournament to initiate moves to Europe. In 2002, Brian McBride and Damarcus Beasley and in 2006 Clint Dempsey drew Fulham’s [...]
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Posted on July 2, 2010 by Max Bergmann
There has been a lot of talk about how no US strikers have scored in the last two World Cups. This is an uncomfortable stat and is a fairly solid thing to point to for why the US isn’t in the tournament. Strikers have to score and Altidore’s failure to do so is worth pointing [...]
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