There was a time when US soccer was a storm of Rowdies and Cosmos, but now United is the name of choice. What’s going on?Once, pro soccer in the United States firmly embraced the country’s sporting culture. Teams that came to prominence in the 1970s in the North American Soccer League (NASL) had names that wouldn’t sound out of place in the NFL: the New York Cosmos and and Tampa Bays perhaps being the most notable. Cheerleaders roamed the sidelines, and even the foundations of the game – such as the offside rule and the draw – were changed to appeal to an audience accustomed to traditional American sports.But over the last 15 years, Major League Soccer has evolved from...
This was supposed to be a season of maturity for Major League Soccer, but as Portland’s 4-2 win over Houston showed, it still has some growing up to doInternational breaks in the Major League Soccer season, like the over-emphasized punctuation marks in a Victor Borge stand-up routine, are interruptions that take on a comedic effect. One could lament the nascent season’s loss of important players so that Canada can play a friendly against Scotland, or so the US can continue muddling through World Cup qualification. Laughing, however, is more enjoyable. One might as well embrace the opportunity afforded by the strip-mining of rosters for international matches to ruminate on the state of the league. The three-week marker in a 34-week...
The Minnesota United are off to the worst start of any expansion side in MLS history, but fellow debutants Atlanta United are acclimating just fineYou only get one chance to make a first impression. That’s rather unfortunate for Minnesota United, who have made the worst first impression of any expansion side in Major League Soccer history, conceding 11 goals in their first two games, including six in Sunday’s humiliating home opener defeat to fellow expansion side Atlanta United. Somebody did make a rather good impression at a freezing TCF Bank Stadium, though. Miguel Almiron arrived in MLS with a hefty reputation, even if few had watched much of the Paraguayan before signing with Atlanta. Now, however, there’s already enough evidence...
The Loons start their first season in MLS on Friday and their head coach believes loyal fans and tough conditions can forge a strong identityIn his first press conference the Minnesota United head coach, Adrian Heath, referred to his team as the “Newcastle of MLS,” as well as expressing his desire to find players who specifically wanted to play for the Loons. Now that he’s been in the job for a few months, Heath is able to see how that may play to his side’s benefit as they approach their first ever game in MLS, a meeting with the 2015 champions, Portland Timbers, on Friday night.“They’re some of those places that are out of the way,” Heath says about both...