News and Views

And now for the news that we have been expecting to hear: Chivas USA coach Rongen reassigned as sports director

Thomas Rongen was relieved of his coaching duties by Chivas USA on Monday, two days after the Major League Soccer expansion team lost its eighth game in 10 to open the season. Rongen was reassigned as the team's sporting director and will oversee its development efforts, including scouting, clinics and player development.

The rumors were true.

Beckham in Big Apple Beckham reiterated he was happy at Real Madrid and plans to end his career there - "and that's the end of that." Despite that, asked if his playing career might eventually take him to the U.S., Beckham said: "Maybe, one day that could happen ... I love America."

David Beckham: I might move to the MLS The author of this article starts by saying: Personally, I think that the former Manchester United ace was simply being polite – no disrespect to the Americans but I doubt he will ever play in the States. Well said.

MLS a possibility for Beckham, later

n the foreword to the American edition of his 2004 autobiography, Beckham: Both Feet on the Ground, David Beckham writes, "The rest of the world says America isn't interested in soccer. I'm not so sure. Every time I visit, I see kids playing in parks and on school and college campuses everywhere. Baseball, Football, Ice Hockey and Basketball are the established team sports in the States, I know. I get the feeling, though that soccer's time is about to come."

Any grass is good for MetroStars "I'd always rather play on grass, even if it's not a nice, level surface," Eddie Gaven said. "I'd still rather play on grass than on turf." I wholeheartedly agree. I much prefer grass over turf, even though I have played on some far less-than-perfect grass fields.

Landon Donovan comfortable with his leadership role

Roundup in MLS for Week 9

If the Cup were to be played today...

it would be between Dallas (6-1-3) and New England (6-0-3). Surprise, surprise. Both teams have played pretty consistently this year, and have been at the top for much of the season this far. The Crew (3-6-1), on the other hand, have consistently played rather poorly. Granted, they are not as Colorado (2-7-2) or Chivas USA (1-8-1), but they have done rather poorly when it comes to finishing well.

Standings

1. Dallas
1. New England
2. LA
3. Chicago
4. KC
5. San Jose
6. Metrostars
7. DC
7. Salt Lake
8. Columbus
9. Colorado
10. Chivas USA

News and Views

U.S. stumbles vs. England in friendly I was able to watch only the first 20 minutes or so of the second half of yesterday's friendly. From what I saw, however, the Curse of the Posts still has not been broken. The Curse of the Posts is what I call the USA men's tendency to have great opportunities on goal that ricochet off the crossbar or the posts, instead of actually going inside the 24 by 8 foot box (a.k.a. the goal).

Without Busch, Crew fall to Metros Not again! What is wrong with the Crew this year?

Chivas coach's job may be on line after loss to Galaxy Speaking of jobs on the line, I wonder how secure Andrulis is in his job right now.

News and Views

US-England: How Far the US Has Come The conclusion of this article reads:

Eleven years ago, people would’ve been excited to see England, and they would expect England to beat up on the States. Now, they’re excited to see both England and the USA. And no one knows what outcome to expect. The US has long been England’s step-child in the soccer world. It’s about time everyone realized that the child has finally grown up.

That may be a bit of an overstatement. Although the US has greatly improved in recent years (if my memory serves me correctly, they ended up 8th in Korea/Japan) and are in the top 10 of the FIFA World Rankings, they still have room for improvement. Still, with England ranked at number 6, and with the US tied with Italy at number 10, the gap certainly has closed. Believe me, it is a great relief that I no longer have to spend as much time defending the state of American soccer as I once did.

Kasey Keller's future in Europe, and at home This article poses an interesting question:

England faces the United States this Saturday in Chicago but has left such marquee names as Beckham, Rooney, Ferdinand, Lampard and Terry off the roster. With the United States still seeking international respect, the Fox Sports World Report Topic of the Week wants to know if you think the England squad against the USA an insult to the up-and-coming hosts?

An insult? Perhaps. A correct evaluation of oneself and one's opponent? Definitely. As I already said, the US has not yet (quite) arrived.

McBride voted top No. 1 draft pick Excellent choice!

Crew Lose Goalkeeper for Rest of Year Columbus Crew goalkeeper Jon Busch will miss the rest of the season because of a torn ligament in his right knee. Poor guy; poor Crew.

Much at stake in second 'Clasico'

TCS: It's a nice day for a car wash

Adu expected to be in mix at HOF Game

News and Views

Rongen maintains focus on improving To say that Rongen wants to focus on improving, with his team's 1-7-1 record (wow! a team with a worse record than the Crew (3-5-1)!), is make a statement that would be a prime candidate for the Understatement of the Year Award.

Columbus acquires veteran Henderson I have admired Henderson's playing ability for some time, and am excited that he has joined the Crew.

Cameroonian could be next big thing for Rapids

Inexperience doesn't hurt Parkhurst

MLS Preview: Kansas City v. San Jose

In case soccer folds, Fairpark stadium may be best bet

News and Views

Frisco stadium quickly nearing reality Yea for Dallas! I think it is great that they soon will have their own soccer-specific stadium. Although soccer can be played literally anywhere, a soccer-specific stadium is the best kind of pitch to play on. I have had to play many games on multi-purpose fields (football: way too short and narrow and the lines can be confusing, baseball: the partially-dirt field is no fun, and a grass parking lot: the ruts and terrible mowing job made for an interesting experience), and can definitely say, from experience, that it is way better to play on a pitch that is soccer-specific.

Commercial to feature four MLS stars

Standings

1. New England
2. Dallas
3. LA
4. Chicago
5. DC
5. Salt Lake
6. San Jose
7. Columbus
7. KC
7. Metrostars
8. Colorado
9. Chivas USA

If the Cup were to be played today, it would be between New England (6-0-2) and Dallas(5-1-3). Even though New England has two points over Dallas, my bet would be on Dallas, as they seem to be having a pretty solid season (only time will tell if my gut feeling is right). That said, I'm still moaning the demise of my Crew (3-5-0). The simple act of typing in their record was painful enough. What is wrong with them this year?

If the Cup were to be played today...

it would be between New England and Dallas or LA. All three have been pretty steady in the rankings as of late. Only time will tell if they will be able to maintain their lead through this fall.

Standings

1. New England
2. Dallas
2. LA
3. Chicago
3. San Jose
4. KC
5. DC
5. Metrostars
5. Salt Lake
6. Colorado
7. Columbus
8. Chivas USA

Columbus keeps falling in the rankings. They were on the number 2 spot for a while, and are still second - from last. What happened?

News and Views

Don't forget to vote for the players you want to play in the All-Star Match this summer (it is on the right of the page). And, like they say, remember to vote early and vote often; you can vote up to 10 times a day! (I'm not saying whom I voted for, but, just like I do not vote strictly on party lines, I did not vote strictly on team lines.)

Keller wants to stay This article starts with these words: US keeper Kasey Keller has denied reports that he is set to leave Borussia Monchengladbach during the summer and return to the MLS. Personally, I think it will be better for him to stay, than to return to MLS. Here's the official story.

The Cheap Seats: Score me a river

Rongen still testing Chivas USA lineup Maybe one of these days he'll hit on the right one.

First XI: Big picture parity

Chivas staying focused after rough start

Standings

1. New England
2. LA
3. FC Dallas
4. Chicago
5. San Jose
6. DC
7. KC
7. Columbus
8. Metrostars
8. Real Salt Lake
9. Chivas USA
9. Colorado

If the Cup were to be played today, it would be between New England and LA (which I do not want to see happen!).

Yikes! What happened to the Crew? I know that it is still early in the season, but things are not looking very good for the Crew. I think that this helps to strengthen my belief that the hardest working team in America is also the most underachieving team in America. I can't count how many times they have come so close to making it to and winning the Cup, but have failed every time.

It's been crazy around here...

This last week has been crazy for me, but thankfully, the worst of my final exams are now over. I have one left, but I'm not very concerned about it. Hopefully that will leave me with a little more time to blog. Now back to my irregular, unscheduled MLS blogging.