Report: Lampard Move from Chelsea to LA Galaxy Is “Done Deal”

The Frank Lampard transfer saga seems to be over as the Chelsea midfielder is reported to have a done deal in place to move to the Los Angeles Galaxy in the summer.Goal.com reported on Thursday night that the 34-year-old midfielder has a tentative agreement in place to join the Galaxy this summer. Lampard has been the topic of transfer speculation over the past month with Chelsea willing to let the club legend leave this summer. The England international would replace David Beckham as a big-name England international playing in the Galaxy midfield.Lampard would be the latest club legend to leave Stamford Bridge with Didier Drogba leaving for Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua this past summer. The Blues have installed a transfer policy focused on bringing in young players over the past few transfer windows, a policy that has seen Lampard being placed on the bench more often than he is used to this season. With young talent that includes Ramires, Oscar, Eden Hazard and others in the Chelsea midfield, the Blues have sought midfielders that will be roaming the pitch at Stamford Bridge for years to come as replacements for Lampard. For Major League Soccer, this is a huge capture for a league that was looking ...

Andrew Farrell: Everything You Need to Know About the Top Pick in the MLS Draft

The New England Revolution traded up with Toronto for the No. 1 pick in the MLS SuperDraft. It gave up the fourth pick and allocation money, but the move was well worth the price. The Revolution selected Andrew Farrell with the pick, who saw action as a midfielder and defender during his senior season at the University of Louisville. Farrell is one of the most complete college players in the nation, and his versatility, speed and pure talent make the 20-year-old the perfect selection for a club already talented at the midfielder position, but needs help at defender. According to mlssoccer.com, scouts believe Farrell is still getting better. He has “all the tools” and, when he finds a position, will mature into that position with some tuning. He’s fast, athletic and “extremely gifted.”Farrell was named a First-team NCSAA All-American in 2012 and was also the 2012 Big East Defensive Player of the Year. He led a Louisville defense that allowed just .62 goals per game that season, and added four goals and nine points on the year. New England made the right selection in Farrell, both because of his talent level and readiness to start immediately for a club needing ...

MLS SuperDraft 2013: Complete Round-by-Round Results and Analysis

The New England Revolution provided the first surprise of the 2013 MLS SuperDraft by making a trade with Toronto FC on Wednesday to acquire the top pick. It sets the tone for what should be an exciting draft day around the league.  This season's class is highlighted by defenders Andrew Farrell and Walker Zimmerman along with midfielder Carlos Alvarez. All three players possess terrific upside and should hear their names called early in the draft.The draft is now complete. Below are the full results.   Round 1 Results Pick Club Player Position 1 New England Revolution Andrew Farrell Defender 2 Chivas USA Carlos Alvarez Midfielder 3 Toronto FC Kyle Bekker Midfielder 4 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Kekuta Manneh Forward 5 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Erik Hurtado Forward 6 Colorado Rapids Deshorn Brown Forward 7 FC Dallas Walker Zimmerman Defender 8 Montreal Impact Blake Smith Midfielder 9 Columbus Crew Ryan Finley Forward 10 Seattle Sounders FC Eriq Zavaleta Forward 11 Colorado Rapids Dillon Powers Midfielder 12 Real Salt Lake John Stertzer Midfielder 13 Houston Dynamo Jason Johnson Forward 14 Sporting Kansas City Mikey Lopez Midfielder 15 San Jose Earthquakes Tommy Muller Defender 16 Toronto FC Emery Welshman Forward 17 D.C. United ...

Toronto FC Trade No. 1 Overall Pick in MLS SuperDraft to New England Revolution

In a bold trade with Toronto FC, the New England Revolution have attained the No. 1 overall selection in the the MLS SuperDraft. The official website for the Revolution reported the news, and added that the Revolution gave up the fourth overall selection and an amount of cash that was not identified. It is a nice coup for the Revolution to make this kind of jump in the draft order without having to give up extra picks. The draft is on Thursday at the Indiana Convention Center. ESPN's SportsCenter will televise the first pick at 12 p.m. ET. This is the first time in the 18-year history of the draft that the Revolution will make the first selection, and they will undoubtedly be hoping for the kind of success they found when they made their previous highest selection. That came in the 2002 draft, when they selected second overall and took Taylor Twellman, who went on to become the club's all-time leading scorer. With the No. 1 selection, the Revolution can't afford to do anything but take the best player available. In this case, Andrew Farrell, a defender from Louisville, appears to be the smart choice. The Revolution have had good success drafting defenders, and Farrell appears to be a can't-miss ...

MLS SuperDraft 2013: Elite Talent Sure to Shine Brightest in Pros

With the MLS SuperDraft tomorrow, it's time to look at which drafted players will shine the brightest in the professional ranks. Below are just a few players who can make a difference in the MLS.  Ryan Hollingshead, MF, UCLA Ryan Hollingshead was the 2012 Pac-12 Player of the Year after scoring three game-winning goals and leading the great Bruins team in points. He finished third in the conference in points. The true senior excelled in both phases of the game and will add tremendous value to whichever team selects him.  Kofi Opare, D, Michigan Kofi Opare is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States. Playing at Michigan, that could come in handy. More importantly, though, he was a key member of the U-20 USA team. His improvement as a collegiate player is evidenced by his increased impact at the offensive end throughout his career. At 6’2”, 200 lbs. he possesses the size to compete at the MLS level. His experience will no doubt come in handy as a rookie.  Carlos Alvarez, MF, UCONN Alvarez is expected to be drafted with the second pick by Chivas USA, as intimated by Kyle McCarthy here. Players selected second in any sport ...

MLS Schedule: Pros and Cons of MLS’ Unusual Schedule

The MLS schedule is always a topic of conversation upon its release. But forget Rivalry Week, adopting an international calendar seems to be the only matter worth discussion. For some, MLS has been justifiably scrutinized from this particular perspective: A series of unique decisions have impeded the league’s credibility internationally. There is no single table. A playoff system determines its champion, and all 19 teams must carefully operate under a salary cap. These are the decisions the football elitists have scoffed at for 17 years. The decision to operate from March to December—as opposed to August through May—is just the latest installment of tiresome vitriol aimed at MLS’ direction.  Now, the skeptics do provide rational consequences of a non-international calendar.  Fox Soccer analyst Eric Wynalda shared his position on MLS’ unique schedule at a National Soccer Coaches Association of America forum last year: “They made a big spiel, man. They said, ‘This is a business. Major League Soccer is a business.’ Okay, last summer, $2.2 billion dollars was spent in six weeks in the transfer market. Our inclusion in that was negative $11.4 [million], because our schedule doesn’t fit in with the rest of the world.”Of course, a non-international calendar has ...

Sporting Kansas City Is Right to Terminate Agreement with Livestrong Foundation

I was wrong.Back in August, I wrote a piece about Lance Armstrong and Sporting KC and said, at the time, Armstrong's troubles didn't affect the club. Boy, was I wrong.On Tuesday, both the Livestrong Foundation and Sporting Kansas City moved to terminate the naming rights deal announced on March 8, 2011, but their stated reasons were different.According to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com, the foundation claims Sporting KC still owes them $750,000 of the $1 million it was set to donate in 2012 under the terms of the agreement.Livestrong CFO Greg Lee says the team wasn't living up to its end of the deal:While we don't talk about the specifics related to any of our partners, part of my role as the chief financial officer is to ensure compliance by our corporate partners. We strive to be great partners ourselves and expect the same from those we do business with. If a partner is struggling to meet the terms of our agreement, we do everything possible to reach a fair and reasonable compromise. If no compromise can be reached, as good stewards or our brand and mission, we have no choice but to ...

MLS SuperDraft 2013: Date, Start Time, Live Stream, TV and More

No, the MLS SuperDraft doesn't come with the sort of hype that surrounds the NFL or NBA version. Heck, even the MLB and NHL drafts are fully televised. With Europe in the midst of the January transfer window, the MLS SuperDraft even gets overshadowed by its own sport.But hey, we’re not going to ignore it here, folks. If you were looking for ways to watch the event, wanted to see the draft order or even were hoping to brush up on a few of the top prospects, we’ve got you covered. No, Andrew Farrell may never move the needle as much as, say, Andrew Luck, but he could make Toronto FC fans very happy if he ends up being the top pick. That’s all that really matters, right? Where: Indianapolis, Ind.When: Thursday, Jan. 17 at noon ETWatch: OK, this is where things get interesting. You can watch the very first pick live on the ESPN SportsCenter at noon ET. After that, it's time to stream—the rest of the draft will be broadcast on ESPN3, ESPNFC, MLSsoccer.com and YouTube, as well as individual team sites.Got all that? If not, all the viewing information you need can be found here. Draft Order Pick Team 1 Toronto FC 2 Chivas USA 3 Toronto ...

Seth Sinovic Is MLS’s Most Underrated Player: Here’s Why

Sporting Kansas City's league-leading defense features the 2012 MLS Defender of the Year in Matt Besler and Goalkeeper of the Year in Jimmy Nielsen. Defender Aurelien Collin was also voted to the MLS Best XI.While Besler, Collin and Nielsen rightfully garner a lot of the attention surrounding a season where the team allowed a league low 27 goals, a GAA of 0.79, they weren't the only people standing between MLS offenses and the back of the net.Defender Seth Sinovic is part of Sporting KC's homegrown contingent, one of six players on the roster from the Kansas City metropolitan area. The Rockhurst High School graduate signed with the club in May 2011 after spending the 2010 season with the New England Revolution.Sinovic made his club debut on May 25, 2011, in a 5-0 win over the Revolution in a US Open Cup qualifier. With starting left-back Roger Espinoza getting ready to leave for a month for duty with the Honduran national team, the club needed to find someone to hold down the fort, so to speak.Sinovic said at the time he felt comfortable going out there after having played with the Revolution:Obviously losing Roger is a huge deal for us. He's ...

2013 MLS All-Star Game to Be Held at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park

It's time to shine those soccer cleats, Kansas City.In a press conference at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park (LSP) on Thursday afternoon, MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced the 2013 All-Star Game will be held in Kansas City. The game will be played at 7:30 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, July 31.Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes will coach the MLS squad against an opponent to be announced at a later date.It wasn't exactly a surprise, though. It's not that anyone from the league or the team said anything. Ticketmaster, on the other hand, went live with a page listing tickets for sale on Wednesday. I can't imagine Garber was very happy about it.This game is a big deal for the team and the city. As with the MLB All-Star Game last year, MLS is helping shine a spotlight on Kansas City. While the television viewership won't be as big, there is still a significant audience for the game and an equally significant opportunity to further prove, as Kansas City, KS mayor Joe Reardon said during the press conference, that Kansas City is a soccer town.Ask anyone who has attended a game at LSP and they will all tell you the same thing. The atmosphere ...