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MLS somehow made it through the 2020 season, which turned out to be fairly entertaining if often bizarre and quirky even by MLS standards. Theoretically, the delayed playoff structure for the 2020 season will make for the shortest offseason we've had in a while, but that's dependent on the 2021...

The new season is underway, so it’s time for a new thread! I think it’s increasingly clear that we are on the cusp of an exciting era for the USMNT. The cohort of players born from 1998-2002 seems like the strongest generation we’ve had since at least the 1979-83 cohort (Donovan, Dempsey...

Believe it or not, the 25th season of MLS begins tomorrow. My earliest memories of watching soccer are from the 1994 World Cup and it's mind-boggling that that was 26 years ago now. MLS has once again expanded in 2020, taking membership to 26 teams: Inter Miami and Nashville SC have joined the...

With Seattle's triumph over Toronto in MLS Cup, the 2019 season is officially in the books. The league now hunkers down for a long offseason, as a result of the schedule changes for 2019. It's nice that the playoffs weren't interrupted by the November FIFA dates as has been the case for years...

New season, new thread. As the Weak Generation ages into its late 20s, there are few veterans of USMNT note plying their trade in the top European leagues. On the bright side, there is a burgeoning group of youngsters who are breaking through at respectable clubs and starting to make a name...

With the transfer window about to officially open and the 2018-19 season having officially ended a while ago, it's time to start a new thread. There's no use in posting a mega-list right now with so many players' futures up in the air. Here's what's happened so far: Player Pos / Yr Old Lg /...

Qualifying starts tomorrow. There are two one-legged preliminary rounds in which the champions of the four lowest-ranked countries play for one place in the first qualifying round. All three games will take place in Pristina, Kosovo. Feronikeli (KOS) vs. Lincoln Red Imps (GIB) Tre Penne (SMR)...

I mean, it's entirely possible that goal difference will come into play if the US ties Sweden, but they probably don't need to celebrate their goals anymore.

The first WCQ draw of the cycle will take place at 11pm ET tonight, even though we still don't have confirmation of the actual size of the 2022 WC yet. FIFA is considering an even greedier plan to expand the WC to 48 — despite Qatar's lack of capacity to do so — by hosting games in some nearby...

In the same spirit as breaking out Revs discussion from the MLS thread, I thought it would be worthwhile to create a dedicated space for some topics that have heretofore been dumped mostly into the USMNT thread, as well as a few other places. I have to say, I'm feeling bullish about the US...

Based on some chatter in the MLS thread, there seems to be interest in a dedicated Revs thread. It's the hometown team for this Boston-based baseball message board, so here goes. Despite being a huge MLS guy, I have a long track record of being fairly negative about the Revs so if somebody...

The 24th season of America's very own domestic league kicks off on Saturday. Warts and all, MLS has long become my favorite league. For me, there's nothing like having a local league with local teams and local players. A few league-wide previews: SI (plus power rankings) Charles Boehm Matt...

The offseason tends to ramp up immediately after MLS Cup, so it's time for a new thread! Big-Picture Changes Against all odds, #SaveTheCrew has continued to progress. Haslam hasn't officially bought the team yet; there are new stadium plans being bandied about first. Nonetheless, nobody...

Let's start a new thread now that the long interregnum between WCQ and a permanent managerial hire has ended. After much irritation and angst, it's officially Gregg Berhalter. His background: Berhalter played HS soccer in the late 80s in north NJ. His HS classmate was Claudio Reyna, so they...

Der Spiegel is publishing a series of articles about...a lot of things it seems. Overview The latest revelations on attempts to establish a European Super League Infantino's successful attempts to shield Man City and PSG from FFP punishments. Infantino, ethics, FIFA politics

I was out to dinner with my wife and parents the other day and we started talking about the daughter of a family friend who is in the process of opening a bar in Boise. I mentioned a Fun Fact (tm) that I know, which is that Boise is the primary home of the US' Basque-American population. Asked...

Time for a new thread! The landscape of American players overseas reflects the current state of the USMNT: there are not a lot of established veterans in top leagues, but there are a lot of young players who have broken through or are threatening to do so. I'm not going to post a Big List...

UEFA's latest changes to its club competitions take place this year. It's not a dramatic overhaul, but the balance of clubs in group stage is tilted slightly more towards the big countries. The top three countries in the coefficients (Spain, Germany, England) now have all four entrants go...

The Guardian published an epic takedown of Fox's planned coverage for the World Cup. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/11/fox-sports-world-cup-coverage

There's another well-sourced WCQ post-mortem here that gets into the evolution of the USMNT locker room problems, among other things. To me what stands out is the triumvirate of guys who are totally incapable of acknowledging mistakes: Klinsmann, Arena, Gulati. Give me a leader with an ounce...