David Villa is ready to retire but many players battle with financial and emotional problems once they have stopped playingI prefer to leave football before football leaves me, David Villa said this week. Spains all-time top scorer once claimed he would play until he was 55 if he could. In the end he will make it to 38. For the past six seasons Villa has signed annual deals, delaying the inevitable, competitive as ever, but no more: he has announced his retirement. Over 19 years he has scored 390 goals and played 716 games; he has four left. Five, if Vissel Kobe reach the Japanese cup final. And then he will lead a new football club, founded in Queens, New...
The teams are decided for the post-season. But who will have the biggest say on the destination of this season’s MLS Cup?Josef Martinez (Atlanta United) Nothing in Major League Soccer is as thrilling as an Atlanta United game at their new Mercedes Benz Stadium home. Tata Martino’s men have scored more goals than any other side in becoming the first expansion team to make the play-offs in their debut season since the 2009 Seattle Sounders. Much of that attacking success has been down to Josef Martinez.The Venezuelan is United’s master of chaos, scoring 18 goals in just 16 starts. If Atlanta are to make a play-off run, keeping Martinez firing will prove critical. Of course, without the supply line of...
The World Cup winner reached 50 goals for NYC FC on Saturday, and he appears dedicated to lifting up both the league and his team-matesPlayer quotes within club-sanctioned press releases are notoriously bland. That is especially true when it is a Major League Soccer club rolling out a decorated European veteran.When New York City FC announced their first-ever signing in 2014, the summer before its inaugural season, David Villa hit on all the familiar clichés. Related: A decade on, did David Beckham's move to MLS make a difference? Continue reading...
The list of Major League Soccer’s most valuable player award winners is one of the most diverse in sports and this year’s two-horse race is no exceptionFirst a thought. Now that Landon Donovan has shaken off the proverbial dust from his Galaxy uniform and returned to action, the league should probably consider removing his name from the MVP award. After saying goodbye to the game in 2014, MLS respectfully renamed it in his honor, but now after his return it seems slightly odd for a trophy to be named after a player who, despite his great success in the past, is probably not better than the candidates who might receive it.Namesake notwithstanding, Major League Soccer’s MVP award is one of...