Whitecaps
Recent Posts on Player Development
Openers
- This post contains several links to stories about player development, both in the US and abroad. The hiring of Jurgen Klinsman as manager of the USMNT was the trigger for this as he is expected to play an influential role extending beyond the senior team.
- US Soccer: Quote Sheet: Jurgen Klinsmann Introduced as Head Coach of U.S. Men’s National Team
MLS
- J.R. Eskilson: MLS Academies Distance Themselves From The Pack
Player Development
- Chris Sulley: Youth Development – Best Practice in Euro Professional Football
- Whitecaps Residency developing Canada’s future stars
- Former MLSers thrive in club academy coaching roles
- HexagonalBlog: Klinsmann’s hire goes much deeper than the national team post
- Doing Something Right in Spain: It Appears Spain Is Just Better Than Everyone Else
Tourneys
- FIFA U20 World Cup: Home Page for the U20 World Cup
News and Views – A Late Wednesday Post
MLS
- Vancouver v New England: Draw in foul plagued match
- Climbing the Ladder: Domestic/Foreign Minutes Played by Team
- Fake Sigi: New York attendance problems: conspiracy or fact?
- MLS_UK: Diary of an MLS Convert(East) – Diary of an MLS Convert(West) – Week 4 of Glenn Williams’ brilliant series.
- J Hutcherson: What College Basketball Showed MLS
The Business of Soccer
- The Yanks are Coming: For Love of the Game… I Mean, The Money: Why Soccer Shares the NFL’s Labor and Financial Predicament
- Chris Savino: Supporter loyalty programs translate into additional revenue for MLS
- England: Football League Clubs take 26% Revenue Cut Under New Sky Deal
Interesting Reads
- David Hills: Said and Done
- The Guardian: Jay DeMerit’s Watford Dream and a Friend in Need Make Compelling Film
- The Independent: Warner in new World Cup ‘ticket scandal’
Tournaments
- UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid, Schalke, Man U and Barca win 1st legs in quarterfinals
- Copa Libertadores: Liga de Quito draw 1-1 at Independiente, Santos wins
- CONCACAF Champions League: RSL, Monterrey in Finals
- US Open Cup: SKC over Houston – DCU down Philly
- CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying US U-20′s Fail to Qualify for World Cup
Friday News and Views
MLS
- Vancouver: #1 overall SuperDraft pick Omar Salgado has been granted a waiver by FIFA and will be eligible to play before his 18th birthday. I saw Omar play during preseason in Arizona and he looks to be the real deal. Whitecaps fans are in for a treat.
- Ginge: MLS Apparently Institutes Gestapo-Like Tactics Against Supporters
- Maria Burns Ortiz: Major League Soccer is Poised to Overtake the NHL as the 4th Most Popular Professional Sports League in the U.S. – This piece has made the rounds already, but it’s here in case you missed it. Of course, it’s tough to fully support the proposition in the article title when hockey has 41 home games vs 17 in MLS.
- On Football: Why the Ortiz Post(see above) is an Example of Misleading Averages
- MLS UK: Two New Entries in the ‘Diary of an MLS Convert’ Series
- Guardian: MLS Football Quiz – I find it interesting that the Guardian is running this. Wonder if our friend, Glenn Williams MLS_UK website has anything to do with it?
- Stategy: 3 defenders a thing of the past?
Interesting Reads
- BBC: Cracking Coaching’s Final Frontier
- Game Intelligence: The Quiet Revolution: Russian Football’s Ominous Rise – Don’t know why the author chose the adjective ‘Ominous’ to describe the improving football in Russia.
- Best Eleven: Explanation of FIFA Rankings Point Calculation
Tournament News
- Copa Libertadores: Velez, Flu and Catolica victorious
News and Views
MLS
- MLS Talk: Why the English Find MLS a Strange Experience – In some ways the comments are more interesting than the main post.
- Tactics: New York Red Bulls Have Infinite Potential If They Clear A Couple Speed Bumps
- Tactics: Portland and Vancouver
- Missing Players
- A few changes since my initial post on this subject. The Guadeloupe friendly v Racing Club de Lens has been canceled, so Stephane Auvray will not miss SKC’s match v Chicago. Also, Chivas USA had three players called up to their respective national teams and they will miss both the next MLS match and a US Open Cup play-in match.
| FIFA Dates | |||
| Mar 25-27 | |||
| MLS | US Open | ||
| Colorado | Cummings | 3/26 – CHV | |
| Chivas USA | Boyens, Moreno, Umana | 3/26 – COL | 3/28 – PTL |
| Houston | Taylor | 3/25 – SEA | |
| Sporting KC | Kamara, Thomas | 3/26 – CHI | |
| Los Angeles | Donovan | 3/26 – RSL | |
| New York | Agudelo, Coundoul, Miller Marquez, Ream, Richards |
3/26 – CLB | |
| RSL | Alvarez, Johnson, Soborio | 3/26 – LA | |
| San Jose | Stephenson | 3/26 – FCD | |
| Vancouver | Boxall, DeMerit | 3/26 – PHL | |
Interesting Reads
- David Hills: Said and Done
- Jason Davis: Bin Hammam to Take on Blatter for FIFA Presidency
- CONCACAF: The new(and old) World Cup Qualifying Process
- Howard Hamilton: Don’t Expect a CONCACAF-CONMEBOL Merger Anytime Soon
- Soccer by the Numbers: Destroying the Soul of Soccer, One Statistic At a Time
The Business of Soccer
- UEFA: Platini Announces Agreement on Centralised TV Rights
- Manchester Utd: Manchester United’s parent company announces record £104.6m loss
News and Views
MLS
- Week 21 attendance report and more
- A review of DP performances
- Seattle Buys a Team in Tanzania
- A demonstration of class and honor in Toronto
- Jason Davis: Puts in words what I’ve been thinking about FC Dallas
- J Hutcherson: League or Champions League, where to focus
- Vancouver Takes 1st Pick In SuperDraft
Just hanging around this weekend, I created this table breaking MLS into 4 geographical divisions and the intra-divisional team records.
| W | D | L | Pts | |
| I-95 | ||||
| NE Revs | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| RBNY | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| DC United | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Philadelphia | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Central | ||||
| Columbus | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| KC Wizards | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| Toronto | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Chicago | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| MidWest | ||||
| Dallas | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Houston | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| RSL | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Colorado | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Pacific | ||||
| LA Galaxy | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| SJ Quakes | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Chivas USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Seattle | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Around the World
- USSF D2: Weekend Review
Interesting Reads
Player Moves
News and Views from Mon Jul 5
Starter
MLS
- Nkufo to Join Sounders FC on July 13.
- Form and All Star Voting.
- Last Chance for All Star Voting.
- Nowak’s tactics: Genius or madness?
- Vancouver Whitecaps embrace MLS transition.
World Cup On Field News and Updates
- FIFA
- ESPNSoccernet
- Goal.com
- The Guardian
- SI
- Uruguay vs Holland Preview.
- Uruguay fired by ‘shameful’ criticism of Luis Suárez handball.
- Referees and the quarterfinals.
- The Stars Who Had Great Club Seasons But Disastrous World Cups.
Non Game Specific Football World Cup Stories
- After Suárez’s World Cup handball, is it time to make the penalty fit the crime?
- Uruguay and the ‘Real Hand of God’.
- What does it take to win the World Cup?
- Huge Tourist-Driven Event Sparks Increase in Tourism.
- World Cup in South Africa draws attention to Santos, a soccer team dedicated to inclusion.
- Global Workplace Productivity Not a World Cup Goal.
US News and Views
- US Soccer Fans, It’s Time to Declare Your Independence.
- Previews: US Open Cup Quarterfinals.
- Defender Frank Simek signs with English League One club Carlisle United.
Not World Cup News
- Jersey deal a measure of success for Canadian soccer.
- James Perch has signed with Newcastle United.
- Sidney Govou Signs With Panathinaikos.
- Middlesbrough signs striker Kris Boyd on a free.
- Clemente Lisi: US Soccer and South Africa.
- FIFA And France Football Combine Player Awards.
- Tom Dunmore: The End of Independence For The Ballon d’Or: A Missed Opportunity For Global Awards.
- The World Throws Up: On how not to read soccer as symptom .
- English Clubs agree to release players for European U19 Championship.
- Florent Malouda: Off field champion.
- Maker of Goal-Line Technology System Renews Effort to Persuade Soccer Board.
- Nigeria Reverses Ban, Team to Disband.