The Great Lakes Not-So-Classic
The Great Lakes region is a sporting hotbed, and this year saw the resurrection of the Great Lakes Classic between Detroit and Cleveland in pre-season NFL football. But what if there was a trophy to recognize the best Great Lakes team in MLS?
The Bizarre Economics of MLS
The salary cap structure in Major League Soccer is unique in world football. Entry-level players regularly play alongside high-profile signings making nearly 100 times their salary, with both players often actually overpaid relative to their quality.
A Cascadian Regional League?
Coach Jürgen Klinsmann’s recent suggestion that his US men’s national team would benefit from an 11-month MLS season didn’t account for a northeast winter, but MLS sides could look to Brazil’s state leagues as an inspiration for more competitive games. The Whitecaps are currently playing out their preseason in Arizona, but imagine taking on Seattle and Portland in a regional Cascadian league instead?
CanMNT-eligible players to keep an eye on
News of Tesho Akindele’s Canada snub (update: cancel that) means he’s just the latest in a long line of players to reject our national team’s advances, but there’s hope for the future. Bryan Cristante may be a long-shot for Canada’s MNT, but other eligible players like QPR’s David Hoilett could help on the road to the 2018 World Cup in Russia (update: and he will).
Canada at the World Cup – Brazil 2014
Canada’s bid to make this year’s World Cup may have stumbled in Honduras in 2012, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t any Canadian content in Brazil this summer – one linesman and a couple of Canadian-raised players all featured in the 2014 tournament, including a Scarborough native who started Saturday’s third-place match.
Copa América 2016 – how can Canada qualify?
Thursday saw the official announcement of the long-rumoured Copa América Centenario, a one-off tournament in the US to commemorate the South American football confederation’s centennial year in 2016. The 10 participants will be joined by 6 North American nations, and Canadian soccer fans were left wondering what their team had to do to get in…
When West Ham nearly won the NASL
West Ham United – second place in the American top division. That’s what happened in 1969, when the flagging NASL imported foreign sides to take up the summer season. West Ham took up the name and colours of Baltimore, with World Cup champions Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters all turning out for the Bays…
Toronto FC: a discarded MLS XI
Until owners MLSE funded several big-money signings this past off-season, Toronto was a revolving door of mediocrity. At last count, the club had given MLS minutes to over 150 players in just over seven seasons. Such was the team’s shotgun approach, you can form a playoff-ready XI from former Toronto FC players still active in MLS like Joao Plata, Matias Laba and Maxi Urruti.
Canadian coaches abroad: the round-up
There’s a small group of coaches with Canadian roots working abroad, from the glamour of top divisions to lower tiers across the globe. For his part, Canadian-born Dwight Lodeweges was recently in the headlines when hundreds of SC Cambuur fans demanded his immediate resignation as manager…
Toronto and Spurs, new link-up, one goal: a Top 4 finish
Toronto FC’s big-money signings are expected to lead the Reds’ playoff charge this year, but expectations of easily qualifying for the postseason are likely unfounded. A reasonable target for the Reds in the Eastern Conference is one that Jermain Defoe can relate to – a top 4 finish.
Major Ligue Soccer 