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 ...

Ranking the 5 Best Midfielders from the 2014 MLS Season

After taking a look at the top forwards from the 2014 Major League Soccer season on Tuesday, we shift our attention to the league's best midfielders.  Most of the star midfielders this season turned in impressive attacking displays week after week, but there were a few players who turned games around with their defensive qualities as well.  Two of the midfielders ranked in the top five left the league on a high note after announcing they would not return to their respective clubs in 2015.  Here's a look at the five best midfielders from the 2014 MLS season. Begin Slideshow

LA Galaxy Make Landon Donovan Tribute Video to Mark Retirement After MLS Cup Win

Landon Donovan retired a champion after winning the MLS Cup with the LA Galaxy on Sunday, and the club has marked the occasion with a tribute video."This is the end of an era," the video begins, and it charts a great career, which saw him join the Galaxy in 2005.As the MLS champions won their fifth title, it actually marked Donovan's sixth (he picked up two with the San Jose Earthquakes before winning four with LA Galaxy).A fine way to bow out, and a fine video to pay some respect to the best American player of his generation.[YouTube, LA Galaxy]Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

MLS Expansion Draft 2014: Date, Start Time, Format, Rules and Schedule

The MLS will have its first expansion draft since the 2011 season on Wednesday, December 10, with Orlando City SC and New York City FC each having 10 selections to help build their rosters ahead of the 2015 campaign. The rules for this year's draft don't deviate much from the previous ones, but they remain relatively complicated nonetheless. In this article, we'll provide a layout of the draft schedule and basic rules as provided by the MLS. All rules are courtesy of the MLS and can be accessed by clicking here.   Date and Start Time The draft will take place on Wednesday, December 10 and starts at 2 p.m. ET.   Format and Schedule Each team will have 10 selections and will alternate making picks. Orlando won the right to select first. As a result, the schedule looks simple: Each of the existing 18 MLS clubs had to submit a list of 11 protected players by Friday, December 8, and the MLS is expected to make the list public before the start of the draft, via Opta's Ben Jata. At the time of writing, the list had not yet been made public: Orlando and New York will make their 10 selections based on the list of unprotected players. Once ...

Ranking the 10 Best Forwards from the 2014 MLS Season

One of the reasons why the 2014 Major League Soccer season delivered a ton of excitement was the play of the forwards across the league. Due to the strength in numbers at the position, the Golden Boot race was one of the fiercest in league history. In the end, it took a record-tying season from Bradley Wright-Phillips to win the scoring title.  Some of the top scorers this season were also some of the league's biggest names, as Robbie Keane, Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins finished as three of the top seven scorers.  Here's a look at the 10 best forwards from the 2014 MLS season. Begin Slideshow

Landon Donovan: Revisiting MLS Legend’s Bundesliga Failure

Walking out on the Bundesliga is probably the last thing on Landon Donovan's mind after retiring as a champion following Los Angeles Galaxy's 2-1 win over the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer's cup final. What prompted Donovan winning six MLS Cups and culminating in #ThanksLD, a tribute to a legendary career in the United States?  Unfulfillment in the Bundesliga. Playing as if he was the second coming of Bert Patenaude, Donovan had tangible upside to American superstar basketball player Kobe Bryant, according to then-United States U17 manager John Ellinger. "The level of athleticism is similar," Ellinger said, per Jeff Piasky at Boys' Life. Kobe ambitiously bypassed college to play in the National Basketball Association, drafted in 1996 by the Charlotte Hornets and traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Three years later, Donovan's elite speed and elusive dribbling enabled him to generate separation at will from opposing markers, which entranced then-Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Michael Reschke. Leverkusen—the second-best team in the German Bundesliga—prised Donovan away from the United States on a contract valued at around $400,000.  "We seldom offer a young foreign player such a contract [like the one Donovan received]," Reschke said, per Marc Spiegler at Sports Illustrated. "But in 21 years working with young players, I have rarely seen such strong potential." A cogent feeling of vindication must have flowed through Reschke while he watched Donovan run ...

Predicting the Future for Thierry Henry and Robbie Keane

Thierry Henry says he has played his last game for the New York Red Bulls, and after an MVP campaign, Robbie Keane is likely to receive offers from a number of clubs.So what is next for these two MLS stars?Bleacher Report's Janusz Michallik joins Ryan Bailey to discuss what the next step will be for these two strikers.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Robbie Keane Schools Journalist After Scoring the Winner in 2014 MLS Cup Final

Robbie Keane doesn't tend to hold back in interviews these days, and having scored the winner for LA Galaxy in the 2014 MLS Cup final, he was on good form in the post-match interview.Keane was quizzed on chances he'd missed earlier in the match and replied:I only missed one chance, so it wasn’t that bad. Jesus, you’re trying to kill me here, we just won the championship and [I] scored the winning goal. You’re on about the miss I made.Keane, 34, has been at the Galaxy since 2011.[H/T Balls.ie]Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com