Friday Oct 22

MLS

• CJ Brown retiring
• Jaime Moreno's career in DC comes to a close
• Steve Davis' 5 Things
• Attendance v NBA/NHL in shared cities

Just for argument's sake, a 2011 conference proposal

Columbus	Chicago	Chivas USA
DC United	Colorado	Los Angeles
New England	Dallas	Portland
NJ Red Bull	Houston	San Jose
Philadelphia	Kansas City	Seattle
Toronto	Salt Lake	Vancouver

Conference winners and next best 5 teams in playoffs, seeded 1-8 based on points.

Schedule Plan A: Balanced, home and home vs all teams.
Schedule Plan B: 4 games vs Conference opponents, 1 each vs all others(alternating home games in alternate years). And yes, I do know that league has announced a 34 game schedule for 2011.

Interesting

• Liverpool:  John Henry's day, when he bought Liverpool  A good read

Tournaments

• CONCACAF: Champions League Results - Knockout draw on Nov 30.
• Asian Champions League Finals Set
• Copa Sudamerica
• CAF: Orange CAF Champions League(Africa) - T.P. Mazembe vs E.S.T. in final
• UEFA: Champions League
• UEFA: Europa League
• Digicel Caribbean Cup 

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Club Tourneys redux

MLS

• Klein, Lewis, McBride, Petke retiring
  
• Steve Davis' 5 Things 
• Wondo hat trick secures Quakes win over Chivas USA
• Andrea Canales on MLS and the CCL 

Interesting

• In Case You've Never Visited:  Zonal Marking 
• Best Headline: Liverpool traded to Red Sox 

Club Tournaments

• CONCACAF: Champions League Results - Toluca, Olimpia secure final spots in Quarters.
• Asian Champions League Finals Set
• Copa Sudamerica
• CAF: Orange CAF Champions League(Africa) - T.P. Mazembe vs E.S.T. in final
• UEFA: Champions League

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News and Views from Thursday Mar 11

Openers

• You may read how the DC United win at Santos Laguna is the first club victory for a US team in Mexico. When the feat is repeated in a game that means something, I'll make a point of it, but for now, so what.

• Word is out that the MLS players have voted to strike if no labor agreement is reached by March 25, the scheduled opening day. More meetings with the Federal mediator have been set, so again, it's wait and see. If you want to read every smidgeon or rumor, use Google or Bing.

MLS Preseason

• DC United beats Santos Laguna 3-2.
• TFC heads to Carolina Challenge Cup.
• LA defeats Puntarenas FC of Costa Rica.
• Houston/Chicago scrimmage relocated.
• RBNY/Miami FC scrimmage relocated.
• Timbers beat Sounders 1-0.

MLS

• ChivasUSA report.

Player Moves

• RBNY signs former TFC keeper Sutton.
• RBNY makes Carl Robinson move official.
• Eskandarian's career likely over.
• ChivasUSA signs Costa Rican international defender Michael Umana.

Interesting Reads

• Last week I linked to Goal.com's first post in a series called Where Would the USA be Without... when it addressed the Netherlands influence on football in the US. This week, it's Argentina.
• FIFA says costs preclude goal-line technology.

The Business of Soccer

• In the 4th post in the series on fan ownership of football clubs: the Bundesliga model.

Club Tournaments

• CONCACAF Champions League.
• Asian Champions League.
• UEFA Europa League.
• Copa Libertadores.

Around the World

• Drogba named African Footballer of the Year.

News and Views from Monday

Interesting Reads

• A little case study of the allocation process in MLS, using the recent activities of the Philly Union, RBNY and DCU as the example. Good stuff from Ives.
• Steve Davis on the state of MLS facilities.
• J Hutcherson on the CAF's treatment of Togo.
• Greg Lalas on the American player.
• Michael Lewis on the pros and cons of MLS v Europe for US players.

The Business of Soccer

• It appears as though Philadelphia Power and Light will enter into a 10 year, $20 million dollar stadium naming rights deal for the new home of the Philly Union in Chester, PA.
• Steve Goff on DC United's ownership and stadium status.

MLS News
With the expiration of the CBA, there is a flood of posts on soccer related sites. Here's a couple from writers that usually provide pretty good information and insights.

• Jeff Carlisle's: CBA Negotiations Still in a Delicate Position.
• Kyle McCarthy: Unity Faces Stiff Test as CBA Negotiations Enter Critical Phase.
• Preseason underway for Toronto FC.
• LA Galaxy open preseason camp.

Player Moves

• The European transfer window is now closed. With so many late moves being made, here is the transfer page from Sky Sports.
• Chivas USA is reported to have signed a loan deal for Salvadoran international midfielder Osael Romero.
• Steve Ralston has signed with AC St.Louis. He is the franchises' first player and will also assume assistant coaching duties.
• Former DC United draft pick Jay Needham is returning from Europe to play with USSF-D2 Austin.

After The Weekend

Title and Champions League Races in Europe

	GP	W	D	L	GD	Pts
EPL
Chelsea	23	17	3	3	38	54
Manchester Utd	24	17	2	5	36	53
Arsenal	23	15	4	5	32	49
Tottenham	24	12	6	6	20	42
Bundesliga
Bayer Leverkusen	20	12	8	0	29	44
Bayern Munich	20	12	6	2	25	42
Schalke 04	20	12	5	3	16	41
Bor Dortmund	20	10	6	4	5	36
Ligue 1
Bordeaux	22	15	3	4	22	48
Montpellier	22	13	3	6	5	42
Lille	22	12	4	6	20	40
Lyon	22	11	6	5	10	39
Serie A
Internazionale	21	15	4	2	26	49
AC Milan	21	12	5	4	14	41
AS Roma	22	12	5	5	11	41
Napoli	22	10	8	4	7	38
La Liga
Barcelona	20	16	4	0	40	52
Real Madrid	20	15	2	3	32	47
Valencia	20	11	6	3	16	39
Sevilla	20	11	3	6	9	36

Player Moves

• Hernan Crespo has rejoined his first Serie A club, Parma, from Genoa.
• Midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger has joined Italian club Lazio, leaving VfB Stuttgart.

MLS Preseason

• Kansas City preseason news.
• Houston Dynamo preseason.

The Business of Soccer
The Independent is reporting the the UEFA Champions League final has surpassed the NFL Super Bowl as the most watched sporting event.

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The US U-20 Women win the CONCACAF title and qualifies for the U-20 Women's World Cup.

Salvador Cabanas, the Paraguayan striker that was shot in the head in a Mexican bar last week has regained consciousness.

Egypt retains African title, defeating Ghana.

USMNT defender Steve Cherundolo will be out for four weeks with a shoulder injury suffered during practice with his club team Hannover of the Bundesliga. This is the latest in a series of injuries that has prevented Cherundolo from getting a sustained period of playing time.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement(CBA) between MLS and the MLS Players Union has expired. As reported earlier this past week, the two sides agreed to extend the negotiations. I've not added to the churn on the subject as nothing of note has been released to the public. For all the rumors, you don't have to look far in the soccer blogosphere.