Seattle Sounders Hiring Garth Lagerwey Could Be Their Biggest Offseason Signing

The Seattle Sounders have reportedly landed one of the top free agents in MLS. Real Salt Lake general manager Garth Lagerwey will join the Sounders, per ESPN's Taylor Twellman (h/t MLSSoccer.com) for the 2015 season. If this comes to fruition, it will be a massive coup for Seattle. The details of Lagerwey's deal with the Sounders, as well as his official title, are unknown at this point, per Brian Straus of Sports Illustrated. Straus claims that he'd replace Adrian Hanauer, who has been the club's sole GM since their inception. In fact, it appears as if Hanauer wants Lagerwey because he's trying to find a new stadium for the Sounders, according to Twellman (h/t Jeremiah Oshan of Sounder at Heart). Hanauer has done fantastic work in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle is arguably the soccer hotbed of the United States. It also helps when the professional team never misses the playoffs and has won five major trophies. However, Lagerwey has been equally, if not, more impressive as a general manager. Real Salt Lake has won an MLS Cup and the club is the only side from the U.S. to reach a CONCACAF Champions League final. RSL is also a model of consistency with regard to ...

Ranking the Top 50 Players in MLS in 2014

Thanks to the performances of many world-class stars, Major League Soccer experienced one of its best seasons to date in 2014. Not only did the likes of Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan and Thierry Henry shine bright this season, but plenty of young players broke into the spotlight for their respective showings on the pitch.  With the season now over, it is time to take one final look back and rank the top 50 players from the 2014 campaign.  Players were ranked based on statistics from regular-season play, impact on their respective side, intangibles and postseason performances if applicable.  Here is a look at our comprehensive ranking of the 50 best players to step foot on an MLS pitch this season.Begin Slideshow

10 MLS Stars Who Would Not Look out of Place at a Big European Club

Despite surviving 19 seasons and enjoying a very successful 2014, Major League Soccer has a serious perception problem. MLS points to surging ticket sales as an indicator that the league is flourishing and has bigger, better days ahead of it. "Major League Soccer finished its 19th season with the highest attendance in league history," wrote Empire of Soccer's Ryan Brister. "The final average crowd of 19,149 marks the first time that MLS has cracked 19,000 fans per game for an entire season. It probably won’t be the last time." All true. But as any professional sports franchise owner will tell you, television is where the real money is. And the popularity of MLS in person is not translating to television ratings. "This season, an average of 141,000 viewers tuned in to MLS telecasts on its main channel, NBC Sports Network, a 26% increase over last season, though audiences were one-third larger than the overall average when matches followed telecasts of the English Premier League," noted Matthew Futterman in The Wall Street Journal. Why aren't American viewers tuning into MLS when they apparently like Premier League soccer? Take one guess. In ticking off the various challenges MLS has going forward, Futterman cited "the league’s level of play." He did ...

Examining New York City FC’s and Orlando City SC’s Biggest Needs

New York City FC and Orlando City SC beefed up their squads in the expansion draft on Wednesday, Dec. 10 and also executed a few trades. However, the MLS season doesn't start until March, so they both have plenty of time to add more players.  The two teams each have a couple of positional needs which will be examined in this piece.   Orlando City SC The most important trade for Orlando was to acquire Aurelien Collin and Amobi Okugo which gives them two proven MLS players in key positions. They now respectively have an established center back and a player who can play as a holding midfielder or on defense.  Orlando is set with their goalkeepers. Tally Hall will be injured for the first few weeks of the season, but that's why the club picked up Donovan Ricketts in the expansion draft. The Jamaican is an experienced, formidable MLS starter even as he approaches 40. Heath Pearce is a valuable addition, but he struggles in the air and with his tackling, so Orlando's brass could sign an upgrade to play alongside Collin. Youngsters like Tommy Redding could eventually become starters, but for now it may be best to try and find someone else. Eighteen-year-old Tyler Turner and Rafael Ramos ...

10 Players Who Would Be Brilliant, and Viable, Additions to MLS in 2015

Identifying an exciting addition to Major League Soccer is a complicated exercise. The player needs to be very good, preferably with name recognition. But he can't be too good, or the thought of having him leave his current situation to play in MLS would be absurd. In so many ways, Landon Donovan was the perfect MLS star. He was a transforming talent for the Galaxy and had great moments for the United States men's national team. But while he played in Europe, he never established himself as a star there such that returning to MLS would be too much of a drop in level to make sense. Now Donovan is gone. Some of the players listed in this piece could go a long way toward filling the star void Donovan left in MLS. Some would just be intriguing additions to the league. Judge for yourself whether these players would consider making the move to MLS now, and whether they would have an impact if they did.Begin Slideshow

Progress Report on Orlando City Squad Following MLS Expansion Draft

Following a few years of play in the lower divisions of American soccer, Orlando City will join Major League Soccer in 2015.  The Lions may not have the fancy association to a European club like fellow expansion side New York City FC, but they have potential to be a real contender in the Eastern Conference in 2015.  Managed by Adrian Heath, Orlando has a marquee designated player in Kaka, and it has built up a solid spine in the last week.  Before we analyze the roster of the club, here is a look at who will be playing for the Florida-based side in 2015:    Goalkeeper The Lions aren't messing around went it comes to the goalkeeper position, as they have brought in two league veterans to man the space in between the pipes.  Tally Hall is the younger of the two 'keepers, and he should be around for the long term. However, the 29-year-old former Dynamo player is in the process of rehabbing a torn ACL. With that in mind, Orlando City picked Donovan Ricketts with the No. 1 pick in the expansion draft. The 37-year-old Jamaican has played for three clubs in MLS over the last six seasons with Portland being his latest home.  Ricketts will be ...

Ranking the 5 Best Defenders from the 2014 MLS Season

The 2014 Major League Soccer season was all about the impressive attackers who took to the pitches across North America. But there were a few defenders who stood out in a year dominated by goalscorers.  While it may have been a down year for both full-back positions, plenty of center-backs enjoyed successful seasons for their respective clubs. All five of the players we rank on this list are center-backs who proved to be game changers for playoff-bound clubs.  Here's a look at the five best defenders from the 2014 MLS season. Begin Slideshow

Progress Report on NYCFC Squad Following MLS Expansion Draft

With less than four months remaining until the start of the 2015 Major League Soccer season, expansion side New York City FC is beginning to mold its roster.  Before Wednesday's expansion draft, the sister club of Manchester City only had a few players on its roster, including Frank Lampard and David Villa. Now that Jason Kreis' side has had the chance to bolster its roster through the expansion draft, it is time to take a closer look at how the roster is being formed. Here is a list of the current players who have been acquired by New York City FC over the last year:    Goalkeeper Kreis opted for experience in net over the summer, when he signed Josh Saunders on a free transfer. Before joining up with NYCFC, Saunders spent time with the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake.  Saunders has never been a consistent No. 1 'keeper in the league, but he does bring a good amount of experience with him to the pitch.  It appears as though Saunders will have a chance to mentor a young player at the position, as the club acquired Ryan Meara on loan from the New York Red Bulls, per Soccer by Ives' Ives Galarcep:  Meara is a prospect with ...

MLS Expansion Draft 2014 Results: List of Picks for Orlando City FC, NYC FC

The 2014 MLS Expansion Draft took place Wednesday, as new franchises Orlando City FC and New York City FC were given the chance to add 10 players each to start finalizing their rosters for the 2015 MLS season.          Orlando won the right to the first overall pick and selected veteran goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts from the Portland Timbers. New York moved for Real Salt Lake's Ned Grabavoy to add some physicality to its midfield. Below is the full list of selections: TSN's Luke Wileman reports Lovitz' tenure with NYCFC was shortlived: With just three minutes permitted between selections, the pace of this year's draft was furious. Both clubs came in with a clear strategy, and it quickly became clear the mock drafts of numerous pundits were close to spot-on. Ricketts wasn't a particularly flashy selection for Orlando, but the veteran will add a ton of experience to the squad and compete for the starting position from Day 1, as shared by MLSsoccer.com's Darrell Lovell: People had been mocking Grabavoy to New York City for weeks, making for arguably the least surprising selection of the entire draft. The 31-year-old midfielder is a smart and reliable player and should combine well with stars Frank Lampard ...

2014 MLS Expansion Draft: Best Values Available for New York and Orlando

On Wednesday, Major League Soccer's two expansion teams, New York City FC and Orlando City SC, will partake in MLS' expansion draft. Each of the current 18 MLS teams were allowed to protect 11 players on their current roster with the remaining players on each team available for selection by either expansion team. However, picking players in the expansion draft is not as easy as simply selecting the most talented players, as each of the new teams will have to abide by MLS' salary cap rules. The object of the draft is to pick the best players at the lowest price. Using 2014 salary numbers provided by the MLS Players Union, and the average league salary by position (calculated last season by Liviu Bird for the blog Sounder at Heart), here are the best values available in Wednesday's draft.   Defenders Looking at back-line players, there are several good choices available. The 2013 league average for defenders was $110,000. One of the most appealing, despite his above-average $165,000-per-year salary, is the Houston Dynamo's Corey Ashe. Ashe is an experienced and talented defender, who helped the Dynamo win three conference championships. However, since the arrival of DaMarcus Beasley, Ashe has become surplus to requirements in Houston. Ashe is also a ...