Manchester City Ownership Group Reportedly Eyes MLS Expansion

Will the storied New York Cosmos franchise make a resurrection in Major League Soccer?  Although a New York City-based expansion team is set to enter the MLS and be based near Flushing Meadows, it will not be called the Cosmos.  That iconic name is being revived in the newly reconstituted, but lower tier, North American Soccer League. Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan is reportedly the frontrunner to purchase the newest MLS franchise, which would create a natural rivalry with the New Jersey-based Red Bulls.  The New York Times reported that the sheik, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, has entered the final stages of acquiring an MLS franchise.  Franchise expansions fees are expected to fetch $100 million. Sheik Mansour's Abu Dhabi United Group already owns the English Premier League's Manchester City Football Club, which it bought in 2008 for $385 million.  Prior to the purchase, Manchester City was in dire straits.  The ownership group quickly turned things around.  The club qualified for the Champions League and won the FA Cup in 2011, and a year later won its first Premier League title in ...

MLS Wednesday Wrap: Goals, Recaps and Interesting Stats

Week 11 of MLS started Wednesday with some beautiful goals and late drama throughout six matches. Four of the six were decided by one goal.  The only match with a larger margin of victory was Houston's 4-0 drubbing of DC United. Thierry Henry added another gem of a finish to his portfolio with an athletic overhead game-winning goal as the Red Bulls nabbed their fourth-straight victory.New York is now tied atop the Eastern Conference table with the Houston Dynamo.Two Western Conference road teams earned three points over Eastern Conference opponents with heart-stopping late goals and, in one case, a massive penalty save from the best goalkeeper in Major League Soccer, Nick Rimando.The San Jose Earthquakes did what they seem to do just about every single match: Come from behind and win with just minutes to go. Sporting Kansas City faithful got to see a goalscoring machine return from an adventure abroad. Begin Slideshow

MLS Week 11: Complete Schedule and 5 Things to Watch for This Weekend

The bigger the number, the higher the stakes in MLS Week 11. Who will answer the bell when their feet are put to the fire? Ironically enough, it hasn’t been Chicago. Not this season. A full slate of midweek matches turned MLS on its head. The New York Red Bulls and Houston Dynamo share the top spot in the Eastern Conference. FC Dallas stands alone in the West—salvaging another point at home, thanks to some superb diving from Blas Perez. But there’s no time to dwell. The turnaround is quick in MLS. Another full slate of matches await 18 teams this weekend. So, what warrants your attention in Week 11? Read on to find out.Begin Slideshow

MLS: Most Overvalued and Undervalued Players in the League

This week, Major League Soccer’s players’ union released the players’ salaries for 2013. The list contained two numbers for each player, their base salary, as well as their guaranteed annual compensation. The base salary is exactly what it sounds like. The guaranteed annual compensation is each player’s base salary, plus any signing bonus they may have received, annualized over the length of the contract. For our discussion, we will be using their base salaries only. Using numbers broken down by Liviu Bird at the blog Sounder at Heart, the average salary for a goalkeeper in MLS is $85,504, the average salary for a defender is $110,661, the average salary for a midfielder is $128,631 and the average salary for a forward is $220,943. Using those numbers as a basis, who are the most overvalued and undervalued players in MLS?Begin Slideshow

How Would the Best MLS Teams Fare in the EPL?

Trying to gauge how the best Major League Soccer teams would fare in the English Premier League is an academic question, but one that’s worth looking at just for fun. Deciding the “best” MLS teams is an exercise in itself, but to keep matters simple, I selected the L.A. Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo, the two teams who battled in the MLS Cup final in 2011 and 2012. Here are the factors I considered:   How many points would it take for an MLS team to avoid relegation? The “magic number” for avoiding relegation in the EPL is generally considered to be 40 points. Looking at the past five seasons in the EPL, that number is pretty close to the center of the dart board. Here is what it took to finish in 17th place and avoid relegation in each of the last five EPL seasons. 2011-12            37 points          QPR 2010-11            40 points          Wolves 2009-10            35 points          West Ham 2008-09            35 points          Hull City 2007-08            36 points          Fulham   How do L.A.’s and Houston’s squads match up? Again, this is an impossible question to answer, but in an attempt to take an unbiased look at the squad ...

Week 10 MLS Power Rankings

Fans of Major League Soccer had to wait until the final match of the weekend to see two of the league's marquee clubs square off. Houston took care of business at the Home Depot Center by beating the Los Angeles Galaxy by a goal. Elsewhere across the league, two four-goal draws highlighted the Saturday slate of matches, while Sporting Kansas City scored four goals of their own at home on Sunday.Find out where your favorite MLS club landed in this week's edition of the power rankings. Begin Slideshow

Robbie Rogers’ Potential Return Could Give MLS Chance to Prove Progress

Robbie Rogers says he could come back to Major League Soccer this year. If he does, his return will give the league, its players and even its fans a chance to put into practice all the enlightened talk that surrounded his big announcement from just a few months ago.And if that happens, then the real work can begin.Rogers, a former Columbus Crew and U.S. national team midfielder who turns 26 next week, in February revealed on his website that he is gay. His announcement predated that of Jason Collins, and it coincided with Rogers' retirement from professional soccer after an injury-plagued spell with Leeds United in England.It also produced a stream of positive reactions from the American soccer community, led by MLS commissioner Don Garber. I am proud to be part of a sport that has been so supportive of @robbierogers. I admire his courage and hope he stays involved in the game.— Don Garber (@thesoccerdon) February 16, 2013 Said L.A. Galaxy center-back A.J. DeLaGarza (per LAGalaxy.com), who played with Rogers in college at Maryland: "He is one of the nicest kids that I've ever met. He's a great player and coming out is brave of him. To live like ...

Best and Worst from MLS Week 10

MLS Week 10 taught us that there is more to life than the final score. It’s a lesson by which Toronto FC will need to start living.The New York Red Bulls continued streaking in Week 10. Saturday's 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew was the team's third consecutive victory. Tim Cahill's signature header in the 80th minute lifted New York to a four-way tie for first in the Eastern Conference.Real Salt Lake also found the win column on Saturday. Joao Plata's assists propelled the Claret and Cobalt to a 2-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps.But Cahill and Plata did not make the list of best and worst from MLS Week 10. Read on to find out who did.Begin Slideshow

Sporting KC Celebrates Cinco De Mayo with Win over 10-Man Chivas USA

Sporting Kansas City threw its own Cinco de Mayo party at Sporting Park on Sunday afternoon. Led by a brace from forward Claudio Bieler, Sporting KC defeated Chivas USA 4-0 in front of a capacity crowd of 18,811. It was the club's 21st consecutive sellout.It was evident early on that Chivas had come to play a physical match. In the first minute, Sporting KC defender Mechack Jerome played a long ball forward for Bieler. Chivas defender Joaquin Velazquez brought Bieler down from behind just outside the 18-yard box and was shown a yellow card.Chivas got a little lucky in the 12th minute. Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy made a bad clearance that fell to Bieler. However, Bieler's first touch failed him and he was unable to take advantage of an empty net.That, however, was one of the few times Chivas got a break to go their way.Sporting KC's first really good chance of the match came in the 18th minute. Graham Zusi made a nice run up the left wing and put the ball across the face of goal, but just out of reach of an onrushing Jacob Peterson, who would have only needed to make contact with the ball to ...

MLS Weekend Wrap

Only 14 Major League Soccer teams took to the pitch this weekend, but they more than made up for the lack of fixtures on the schedule with seven exciting matches. The weekend kicked off in San Jose and Philadelphia simultaneously, with the two matches on opposite coasts finishing with the same result. In Columbus, the eyes of the nation were on the Eastern Conference showdown between the Crew and the New York Red Bulls, which was a match that saw plenty of late fireworks. In the two nightcaps out west, the Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake had to wait until the second half to send their respective home crowds into an uproar.The two Sunday matches saw the Houston Dynamo finally defeat the L.A. Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City unleash four goals at home. Here is a comprehensive wrap of each of the seven matches played in MLS this weekend.Begin Slideshow