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...
MLS has long been derided as a retirement home for aging stars. But some young English players are choosing to kickstart their careers in the StatesOver the last decade, Major League Soccer has attracted its fair share of British footballers. Since the league’s watershed moment with David Beckham’s acquisition, the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Jermain Defoe and Ashley Cole have taken their talents to North America.Of course, they all had one thing in common: their careers were in their twilight years when they made the move to MLS. It took a few years for Beckham’s superstar sheen to settle down enough for him to play quality football. Gerrard struggled to adapt to the league after his love affair...
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...
His move to Celtic might have fallen through, but the Timbers midfielder has nothing left to prove in America, and a fresh challenge would do him goodBrendan Rodgers was left confused by the first question posed over Celtic’s interest in Darlington Nagbe. Asked about a player called “Darling”, the Northern Irishman didn’t immediately process who or what he was being pressed on. It’s fair to say Nagbe’s name isn’t exactly renowned in Scottish soccer circles. Related: Seattle's triumph, and good riddance to Gerrard: the 2016 MLS season in review Continue reading...
The MLS newcomers announced a coach with a real pedigree, and fans should be excited. Plus, Portland look worried as Seattle find form at just the right timeEarlier this week, Atlanta United FC, MLS’s expansion team for 2017, made headlines as they introduced to the world their first ever manager. And what a pick it was: 53-year-old Gerardo Tata Martino arrives to America as one of the most experienced coaches to have ever graced Major League Soccer. Aside from his run with the Argentinian national team (just three losses from 29 matches, including reaching the final of the 2015 Copa America and the 2016 Centenario) and a topsy-turvy season with Barcelona, Martino also helped Paraguay reach the quarter-finals of the...