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Atlanta United’s MLS title defence started with a loss on Sunday, while Los Angeles FC left it late. Frank de Boer has endured a mixed start to life as Atlanta head coach and his side suffered a 2-0 loss to DC United at Audi Field in their MLS opener. Paul Arriola scrambled in the opener […]

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In their opening match of the 2019 season, the Colorado Rapids and Portland Timbers faced off in the midst of an early March snowstorm in Commerce City.

Despite three different lead changes and a red card to Colorado, which led to two different Portland leads, the 10-man Rapids stormed back with a late stoppage time goal from Andre Shinyashiki to split points with the defending Western Conference Champions.

Here are three takeaways from Colorado’s 3-3 draw with Portland.

Blustery Day in Burgundy

Saturday’s match at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park surpassed 2017’s match between Atlanta United and Minnesota United FC as the coldest MLS match on record with an official temp of 18 degrees Fahrenheit at kickoff.

The temperatures, along with snowy and windy conditions had an apparent affect on the game.

“It’s really not easy to play in the conditions we had tonight,” Rapids head coach Anthony Hudson said.

The conditions also played a role in the X-factor of this match – Andre Shinyashiki and is equalizer at the death. Despite his Brazilian background, the rookie from the University of Denver is well aware of what it’s like to play cold weather soccer in Colorado.

With the conditions the way they were, and it being early days in the 2019 season, it makes it hard to grade Colorado and Portland accurately, aside from mentality and effort, a test which the Rapids passed with flying colors in this one.

Kamara Doing it all

It didn’t take long for new Rapids addition Kei Kamara to get on the scoresheet as he added Colorado’s first goal of the season and his first in burgundy to open up the game’s scoring in the 16th minute. It was both surprising and unsurprising.

Pundits, perhaps rightfully, doubted Kamara for his age at 34-years-old. Some see him as a diva and not a good teammate, due to his past publicized dispute with Frederico Huguain.

But Kamara proved the naysayers wrong on Satuday. He did it not just by scoring, but also by getting in and doing the dirty work in possession. Defensively, he also contributed some tackles and clearances in the Rapids’ own half.

“The fact that he picked up some positions to help the team out shows the type of character he is and the type of person we’ve seen since he’s come into preseason,” Hudson said of Kamara. “He cares a lot. He’s been a great teammate. That’s just a small portion of it. That showed [against Portland].”

New and Improved Rapids?

Colorado is most undoubtedly a better team than it was last year, at least in terms of roster and roster improvements. Pundits and even team executives around the league acknowledged the team’s offseason as an active but productive one. The Rapids brought in proven MLS talent such as Kamara, Benny Feilhaber, Keegan Rosenberry, Diego Rubio and Nicolas Mezquida. They also drafted Andre Shinyashiki.

All of those moves paid early dividends on Satuday with newcomers accounting for all three of Colorado’s goals on Saturday.

“I think there were big performances,” Hudson said of his new players. “It was a shame, because for me, the sending off changed the game [against Portland] and it changed our performance. So, as the game was going on, I was disappointed because up until then, we looked really good. Our fullbacks were getting forward, our two strikers looked dangerous, I thought we played well in the difficult conditions.”

But it’s still early days for the new-look Rapids and it’s a long 34-game season. It’s still too early to tell if Colorado is indeed improved enough to make the playoffs and questions remain regarding whether or not the Rapids can sustain success under Anthony Hudson. But with the team trending positively, Rapids fans are ready to buckle up for the road that lies ahead.

The post Blustery Day in Burgundy: Takeaways from the Colorado Rapids’ 3-3 draw with Portland appeared first on Pro Soccer USA.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the winner as LA Galaxy, who unveiled a statue of former star David Beckham before the match, came from behind to beat Chicago Fire 2-1 in the opening round of the new MLS season. The visitors had led through Charles Sapong’s opener in the 49th minute, Galaxy defender Diego Polenta having gifted […]

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With snow blanketing Dick’s Sporting Goods Park and the match deep in second-half stoppage time, Colorado Rapids rookie Andre Shinyashiki came off the bench and warmed the hearts of his team’s frozen fans with the dramatic equalizer in a 3-3 draw with the Portland Timbers. Check it out.

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COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Playing in sub-freezing conditions, the new-look Colorado Rapids opened their season at home against the Portland Timbers. Despite being reduced to 10 men in the first half, Colorado weathered the storm both literally and figuratively, coming back to earn a 3-3 result with a second-half stoppage time goal from rookie Andre Shinyashiki.

“I thought we were very good,” Rapids coach Anthony Hudson said. “I thought we were really confident. We looked good going forward and scoring the goal, we were in a good place. It’s a shame because the sending off changed what was a good game at the time.”

With five new players in the starting XI, Colorado opened the scoring as Kellyn Acosta crossed the ball to newcomer Kei Kamara, who coolly finished to give the Rapids a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute.

“I think there were big performances,” Hudson said of the new additions. “I thought the new players did very well. But I think the biggest thing was to come back twice. It’s massive for this group.”

A quarter of an hour later, the tides shifted as Rapids defender Axel Sjoberg was sent off for a deliberate handball in the box. Diego Valeri’s initial effort from the penalty spot was saved by Rapids goalkeeper Tim Howard. But Valeri gathered the rebound to score on a follow-up effort to level the score at 1-1 in the 29th minute.

“We were told it hit his hand, but there was no way of getting his hand out of the way,” Hudson said of Sjoberg’s sending off. “That’s what we were told.”

Portland took its first lead in first-half stoppage time as Sebastian Blanco connected with Valeri’s corner to send the visitors into the half with a 2-1 lead. 

Despite going down a goal and a man, Colorado battled to level the match in the second half. Benny Feilhaber, another new face to the Rapids, leveled just seconds into the second half. Feilhaber dribbled through seven different Portland players to send in an effort which was initially blocked, but he scored on the follow up to even the score at 2-2.

The deadlock wouldn’t stand, however. On a Portland counterattack, midfielder Andy Polo sent in a dangerous cross across Colorado’s box, which resulted in an own goal by Rapids defender Deklan Wynne in the 66th minute.

With the lead, Portland began to take control of the game’s possession while continuing to outshoot Colorado. The Timbers ended the match with 22 shots (seven on target) compared to the Rapids 10 shots (three on target) while holding 58.2 percent of possession.

Nevertheless, Colorado battled yet again, tying with a late-ditch effort. Dillon Serna’s shot in the attacking third was saved by Timbers goalkeeper Jeff Attinella, but the rebound spilled to Shinyashiki, who ended the match at 3-3.

“To come back twice from a goal down showed a huge amount of character from the players,” Hudson said of the result. “As you know, in those situations, you’re down to 10 men, the conditions are the way they are, you’re playing against one of the best teams in the country. The easiest thing to do is to give up [in those conditions], but they kept going.”

Colorado will face the Seattle Sounders next Saturday night at CenturyLink field, while the Timbers continue their season-opening road trip against LAFC next Sunday. 

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The three designated player (DP) slots every Major League Soccer team has are the most important roster spots to fill. The DP slot allows a team to spend however they want on three players. Unlike other salary budget mechanisms, such as Targeted Allocation Money (TAM), these slots are guaranteed every year to each team. In other words, it’s a mechanism a club with resources or pull can use to create a meaningful competitive advantage.

It’s no surprise then, that every MLS team that’s won MLS Cup has leveraged the DP slots better than others.

Theoretically, if a club had the resources and pull, it could sign Messi, Mbappe and Neymar using the DP slots. This, of course, is not realistic. Teams have to deploy strategies on how to use their DP slots. I believe there are three different DP strategies teams employ: Hype DP (bringing buzz to the team), Field DP (being top-10-percent player in the league) or Asset DP (ability to produce revenue and allocation by selling later on).

Historically, the Hype DPs are the original designated players. Take a look at the first generation of DPs from 2007-2009 with players such as David Beckham, Freddie Ljungberg, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Denílson or Claudio Reyna.  There’s a running theme — teams hoped they would be elite competitors in MLS, but more importantly that they would sell tickets and bring fame or buzz to the club. There will always be a place for Hype DPs in the league, whether they’re older Europeans or a returning American or Mexican national team player (See: 2019 Orlando City signing, Nani).

The second type of DP was an elite MLS player regardless of name — the Field DP.  To be truly elite means being considered  among the top 10 percent (today, that’s about the top 30 players in the league when considering an 11-player lineup for 24 teams), which means being a perennial All-Star and a possible MVP threat. It started with David Ferreira signing with FC Dallas in 2009, but Field DPs today — Seattle’s Nico Lodeiro, Portland’s Diego Valeri or Montreal’s Ignacio Piatti — are the face of the league and provide their clubs a true competitive edge.

With the introduction of TAM, this became a bit more complicated. Now you have teams with the ability to buy down potential DPs with TAM. This allows ambitious teams like Atlanta or Sporting Kansas City to have six to nine players who actually make more than the maximum budget charge.

But some teams would rather not spend the TAM and keep the DP tag for budget reasons. Philadelphia and Alejandro Bedoya seems to be a good example. Bedoya is an excellent player and would start on almost any MLS team in the league. But he’d almost certainly be a TAM player (top-100 player) and not a DP (top-30 player) if he played for one of those previously-cited ambitious clubs. This is not a bad use of a DP slot by Philadelphia, but it’s also not maximizing the slot — and the difference is important.

The newest type of DP is the Asset DP. The idea of signing a player as an asset to create future revenue and allocation from selling the player started with the Young Designated Player rule, which was created in 2012 and allows teams to take a smaller cap hit for high-quality players under the age of 24.

In order to be considered an Asset DP, you have to have the right age, potential and a low enough salary and transfer fee to create allocation in the future. The last requirement is an important one because an MLS club only creates allocation on a sale once it recoups all costs from transfer fees and salary.  

Ideally, a DP signing today could be all three at the same time, but those are few and far between.

Arguably, Miguel Almiron was the only one last year having the potential to be an asset, while also easily ranking among the top 10 percent on the field and bringing hype and buzz to Atlanta.

But many designated players do fit multiple categories, and when a team has all three DP slots filled with players who fit more than one category, it’s built a true competitive edge. The reverse is also true. Even worse than not using the designated player slots available is using them poorly, which becomes a salary-budget nightmare.

I’m categorizing every DP today heading into the 2019 season to get an idea which team is best using its DP slots.  For comparison’s sake, I’ve also assigned points to each category.

A true Field DP is worth 3 points. An Asset DP is 2 points. A Hype DP is worth 1 point. A DP who is a very good player but outside the top 10 percent is labeled as a TAM-level DP and gets 1 point.

Below is how I’ve categorized each DP:

 

For those who don’t like Venn Diagrams, below is the list with some explanation:

HYPE DP — 1 point:  Tim Howard, Chris Wondolowski

Howard is a below-average MLS keeper today, but his signing brought much-needed reason to watch the Colorado Rapids and allegedly was an integral part of procuring sponsorship.  Wondo should be a super-sub on a decent MLS club, but his chase of the all-time MLS goals record should be a needed draw for the San Jose Earthquakes

TAM-LEVEL DP — 1 point:  Bryan Acosta*, Jozy Altidore, Fanendo Adi, Paul Arriola, Michael Bradley, Ale Bedoya, Dom Dwyer, Roger Espinoza, Carles Gil*, Jan Gregus*, Federico Higuain, Sacha Kljestan (since writing this, he’s been bought down with TAM), Tomas Martinez, Nikola Nikolic, Saphir Taider, Vako

This list shows how hard it is to remain in the top 10 percent of the league. Bradley, Altidore, Kljestan, Nikolic and even Higuain would’ve been top 10 percent a year ago. Bradley and Altidore were also easily Hype DPs when they signed with Toronto. But with the World Cup failure and how much fans (unfairly in my opinion) put it squarely on those two, I’m not sure they bring hype anymore. Any name starred means they’re new to the league and I’m projecting based on YouTube clips and past performance, so it’s very likely they could need to be recategorized as the year progresses.

HYPE + TAM-LEVEL DP — 2 points: Jonathan Dos Santos, Bastian Schweinsteiger

Both Dos Santos and Schweinsteiger bring credibility with their names and on-field performances, but are just outside the top-10 percent cutoff.  In other words, if their names were Jonathan Des Moines and Basti Winedrinker, they’d be TAM players in this stage of their careers and not DP players.

ASSET DP — 2 points: Allan Cruz*, Carlos Gruezo, In-Beom Hwang*, Andre Horta, Santiago Mosquera

This list may feel like either players that are too new to MLS to judge or had slightly disappointing first steps in MLS. You’re not wrong, but each one has the potential to be sold for profit fairly easily. For example, as much as Horta’s debut last year was a disaster, he’s also a stellar performer for the Portugal youth sides.

ASSET + TAM-LEVEL DP — 3 points:  Jesus Medina, Diego Rossi, Albert Rusnak, Jefferson Savarino

This is a list of really exciting players who could potentially be sold for a lot down the road. It would not be surprising if any of them are elite this year and then sold for a very tidy profit in the future.  It would not be crazy to see both Medina and Rossi as their teams’ main attackers with rumors of suitors offering $10 million transfer fees at the end of the year.

ASSET + HYPE DP — 3 points:  Ezequiel Barco

Barco is a bit of an enigma, so it’s fitting he sits by himself in his own category. When Atlanta bought Barco last year, he was seen as one of the top talents in South America, if not the world. There was no doubt that brings a level of hype to the Atlanta region and again raises the club’s prestige on the world stage. Barco’s performance on the field was less than expected, but his underlying numbers show he could still be an asset. His very large transfer fee means that in order to be an asset, he has to be Almiron-level good in the league. So if he doesn’t turn into an All-star level player soon, he could easily fall off this list.

FIELD DP — 3 points: Romain Alessandrini, Sebastian Blanco, Felipe Gutierrez, Nico Lodeiro, Maxi Moralez, Ignacio Piatti, Darwin Quintero, Raul Ruidiaz, Diego Valeri, Bradley Wright-Phillips

Most of these players are no-brainer picks as top-30 in the league. Quintero and Ruidiaz certainly made their cases in Year 1, and if you look at Alessandrini’s goals and assists per 90 without penalties, he was easily in the top 10. Of this list, Gutierrez is probably most controversial as a top-30 player in the league. In my book, he’s one of the top, if not the best box-to-box midfielder, especially in Sporting Kansas City’s system, which requires coverage. Blanco and Moralez would’ve been in the TAM-level group last year, which again shows this is a fluid list.

FIELD + HYPE DP — 4 points:  Marco Fabian*, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Josef Martinez, Nani*, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Vela

Zlatan, Rooney and Vela are no doubt top-30 players and bring acclaim to their clubs from an international stage.   Josef Martinez might not bring as much hype on the world level, but he’s well known in South America, and whenever your hometown team’s fans are talking about making a statue of you and you’re on the cover of local magazines, you’re a Hype DP.  There’s a question on why Martinez is not seen as an asset. This is based off my assumption that Martinez’s new salary will make it prohibitive to make a large enough transfer fee possible. If his salary is less than $3 million/year, then he’s an asset. If it’s higher, he’s no longer an asset for selling. I’ve projected out Fabian and Nani. While Nani’s signing has received lukewarm reception in MLS circles, his goals and assists per 90 in the last three years were all very healthy. He has a lot to offer, and past history says he should be excellent in MLS.

FIELD + ASSET DP — 5 points: Luciano Acosta, Alberth Elis, Kaku, Alexandru Mitrita*, Milton Valenzuela

First three on this list have had very large bids during this last offseason already. Acosta, when paired with Rooney, is probably a top-10 player in the league. Elis has shown underlying numbers similar to Almiron. A playmaking Kaku has the ability to be a top-10 player that’s worthy of a $10 million transfer, that makes him an asset. I know Lucho Acosta isn’t a designated player yet, but with the PSG transfer falling through and D.C.’s open slot, he will be very soon. Valenzuela is out with an ACL tear, but before that he was a 20 year old who was at-worst the third best in the league in that position. He’s a top-30 player for me already, and I’m sure Crew fans are hoping he can come back at the same level. I’ve put Mitrita here based on expectations.  His transfer fee level requires him to be a top-30 player in the league. If NYCFC want to sell him for a profit above his $9 million fee, then this expectation is doubly true.  If he performs short of expectations, then not only does he drop down on the list, but he also he loses his asset status. Its a high risk, high reward purchase.

FIELD + ASSET + HYPE DP – 6 points:  Pity Martinez*

When you buy the reigning South American player of the year, he’s expected to be a hype player and a very top player in MLS. Martinez’s aspirations of going to Europe and taking note of the Almiron sale means that he’s an asset. It’s fitting then that Pity replaces Almiron as the only player who fits all three categories — even before playing an MLS match. Let’s see if he lives up to it.

 

There’s a few DPs who don’t make the list because they don’t fit one of the categories. This could be based on performance (ex. Gashi), being on loan (ex. Ardaiz) or my expectation that they won’t be DPs anymore (ex. Giovani Dos Santos).

Phew!  So, given this point structure, how do teams fare with their DP strategies? 

Below is the “DP Utilization Rankings.” Another way to think about it is: How much is a team using the Designated Player rule as a competitive advantage versus other teams? It is just one of many ways to have a competitive advantage in the league (See: academies), but it’s a useful metric to think about when projecting a team’s performance in the upcoming season.

DP Utilization Rankings

Atlanta United – 13 points NYCFC – 11  DC United – 10 LAFC – 9  LA Galaxy – 9 New York Red Bulls – 8 Orlando City – 6 Houston Dynamo – 6 Seattle Sounders – 6 Columbus Crew – 6  Portland Timbers – 6 Real Salt Lake – 6 Philadelphia Union – 5 FC Dallas – 5 Sporting Kansas City – 4 Montreal Impact – 4 Minnesota United – 4 Chicago Fire – 4 Vancouver Whitecaps – 4 FC Cincinnati – 3 Toronto FC – 2 SJ Earthquakes – 2 Colorado Rapids – 1 New England Revolution – 1

The post Hype, Field or Assets: Categorizing every MLS designated player appeared first on Pro Soccer USA.

LA Galaxy general manager Dennis te Kloese says the decision to buy out Giovani dos Santos’ contract was for the benefit of all parties concerned. The club have taken up their off-season option in order to reduce their number of designated players to three ahead of the MLS season, which starts on Saturday. Dos Santos […]

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With the season just a day away, the Colorado Rapids placed forward Shkëlzen Gashi on waivers.

The move means Gashi is no longer on the Rapids’ active roster ahead of Saturday’s opener against the Portland Timbers. This clears up an international spot on the roster with the MLS roster compliance deadline taking place Friday evening.

Gashi joined the Rapids before the 2016 season as a Designated Player from FC Basel in Switzerland. The Albanian international scored nine goals and had four assists in his first season in Colorado, but struggled in each of the last two.

Gashi scored two goals in both 2017 and 2018 and saw his minutes cut as well. After making 25 starts in 2016, he made 12 starts in 2017 and played fewer than half as many minutes. Last season, Gashi made just nine starts and again saw his minutes go down.

With Kei Kamara and Diego Rubio joining the Rapids attack in the offseason, Gashi could have been in line for an even smaller role in 2019.

The 30-year-old is still under contract through 2019. The Rapids will be responsible for his salary unless another team in the league claims him off waivers. According to MLS Players Association numbers, Gashi made $1.67 million in 2018.

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Chicago Fire will start their new MLS season this weekend, when they meet up with Los Angeles Galaxy, but in the days leading up to the opening day of the season, there was plenty of talk of new arrivals in Illinois. Veljko Paunovic’s team has already brought in several players this winter, but now they […]

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COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — The 2018 season was one of growing pains for the Colorado Rapids, finishing second to last in the Western Conference with 31 points in 34 games – the worst total for a 34-game season in club history. That, along with a couple lengthy winless spells, was just one of the many growing pains under then first-year head coach Anthony Hudson.

In 2019, Colorado is looking forward, not just on the calendar, but in the team’s tactics. With a focus on attack, the Rapids spent the offseason adding several proven MLS goal scorers, with Kei Kamara, Diego Rubio and Benny Feilhaber being among the more notable names brought in.

Will it be enough to push them over the hump and into the MLS Cup playoffs? The regular season will bring the answer to that question, with the Portland Timbers providing the initiation.

Rapids face defending Western Conference champ Portland Timbers

When: March 2, 6:00 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. ET

Where: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park

Broadcast: TV — Altitude-Comcast Channel 25, Dish 413, DirecTV 681; RADIO – Altitude 92.5 FM (KKSE), 950 AM

Live stream: ESPN+

The buzz:  Colorado’s abysmal 2018 campaign prompted mass changes from Rapids vice president and general manager Padraig Smith, who sought out to sign proven attacking options and players with MLS experience.

There are few challenges harder than Colorado’s first regular-season test. The Portland Timbers won the Western Conference Championship last season before bowing out to MLS Cup winner Atlanta United. Normally, altitude could be on the Rapids’ side entering a match like this, but having spent the entire preseason at lower elevations, it could be equally challenging for the home side.

 

Colorado’s coach and front office touted 2018 as “playoffs or bust,” but failed to deliver. In year two, the same sentiment holds even more true, particularly for Hudson, who could find himself in the hot seat should the Rapids’ improved roster fail to deliver results in an expanded playoff format.

Other key matches

May 11 & Aug. 24 vs./at Real Salt Lake – The Rocky Mountain Cup rivalry matches, along with the corresponding trophy are always important to supporters of both Colorado and Salt Lake. Last season, Colorado was dominated in the Rocky Mountain Cup series, outscored 11-2 in three matches, including a record breaking 6-0 home loss at home in late August.

Taking back the Rocky Mountain Cup, which Colorado has only one once in the past five seasons and twice in a decade, will be an important step for both Anthony Hudson and the club to win back supporters.

July 4 vs New England Revolution – The Fourth of July game is always an important one for Colorado as a home match that always sells out (partly due to the postgame fireworks). But this year’s edition is set up to be a classic. Aside from the clever scheduling of the Revolution, there are real personal rivalry implications. Left back and former USMNT teammate of Tim Howard Edgar Castillo was shipped to New England in a three-way deal which brought Diego Rubio to the Rapids, and could have something to prove in his return to Colorado. Additionally, there seems to be some lingering bad blood between former USMNT keepers Howard and Brad Friedel, the Revs’ head coach.

Check out the full 2018 schedule here.

Quotes & Notes

“I’m never going to be totally content. It’s been a strange preseason because of niggly injuries. I always feel uncomfortable by that. I never feel fully ready when we’ve not had a real preseason like that. This week is about recovering the lads and feeling fresh. Fitness-wise I feel like a few of us need to get 90 minutes under our belt, so that will come.” — Anthony Hudson

“It’s going to be a long season, but I think we’re ready. It’s been a good preseason. Everyone’s been working so hard, but it’s never easy. We just can’t wait to kickoff next week at home in front of our home crowd.” — Kei Kamara

Colorado Rapids Week 1 Injury Report

Biggest offseason moves

Acquired right back Keegan Rosenberry from the Philadelphia Union Acquired former Whitecaps/Revolution/Crew striker Kei Kamara in expansion draft deal Traded backup keeper Zac MacMath to Vancouver in exchange for Nicholas Mezquida Re-acquired goalkeeper Clint Irwin via trade with Toronto FC. Drafted attacker Andre Shinyashiki from the University of Denver in first round. Added two Homegrown signings, 21-year-old defender and Wake Forest product Sam Raben and 18-year-old forward Matt Hundley, from UCLA. Sent left back Edgar Castillo to New England in a three-way deal which sent Kelyn Rowe to Sporting Kansas City and landed attacker Diego Rubio in Colorado. Locked up Kellyn Acosta, Keegan Rosenberry and Rubio to long-term deals with three-year contract extensions.

Roster breakdown

Forwards – Shkëlzen Gashi, 30, Niki Jackson, 23, Kei Kamara, 34, Diego Rubio, 25, Andre Shinyashiki, 22, Matt Hundley, 18.

Midfielders – Kellyn Acosta, 23, Bismark Adjei “Nana” Boateng, 24, Cole Bassett, 18, Benny Feilhaber, 34, Nicolas Mezquida, 27, Sam Nicholson, 24, Jack Price, 26, Johan Blomberg, 31, Dillon Serna, 24.

Defenders – Kortne Ford, 23, Sam Raben, 21, Keegan Rosenberry, 25, Axel Sjoberg, 27, Tommy Smith, 28, Danny Wilson, 27, Sam Vines, 19, Deklan Wynne, 23.

Goalkeepers – Tim Howard, 39, Clint Irwin, 29, Andre Rawls, 28.

See full roster details here.

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Few can argue that Wayne Rooney has been a success on the pitch since joining DC United from Everton last year. Manchester United and England’s record goalscorer revitalised his club’s fortunes in 2018, inspiring them to a 14th postseason appearance in their history. Their quest for the MLS Cup final ended in a penalty shoot-out […]

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It is all change in Major League Soccer as the new season looms. FC Cincinnati have arrived to grow the league to 24 teams, while Copa Libertadores finalist Guillermo Barros Schelotto is in at Los Angeles Galaxy. Columbus Crew are staying put in Ohio, but they have new owners, a new general manager and a […]

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Nicolas Gaitan will move from Dalian Yifang to Chicago Fire, the Chinese Super League club have announced. The 31-year-old’s arrival has not yet been confirmed by Fire, but the deal is expected to be announced soon. Gaitan joined the CSL outfit in February last year from Atletico Madrid and made 28 appearances last season, scoring twice. The former […]

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Jozy Altidore has signed a new Toronto contract running until the end of the 2022 season, the club announced on Thursday.  The 29-year-old United States international joined Toronto from Sunderland in January 2015, returning to MLS after nearly seven years abroad. He has starred as a designated player for Toronto, contributing 60 goals and 20 assists in […]

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Jozy Altidore has signed a new Toronto contract running until the end of the 2022 season, the club announced on Thursday.  The 29-year-old United States international joined Toronto from Sunderland in January 2015, returning to MLS after nearly seven years abroad. He has starred as a designated player for Toronto, contributing 60 goals and 20 assists in […]

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