First Person View - MLS All-Star Game: The Future Looks Bright (All Youth Teams for Each Conference)

    With everyone suitably aflutter for this evening’s All-Star Game between MLS and AS Roma, I figured I’d kill an hour or so in the process of updating my club roster database – yes, that is something I do (for posterity) – by looking at what the teams may look like if restricted to young players.

    Some have wasted time fretting over the highly-publicized, commercial exercise that is the MLS All-Star Game – did they pick the right players? Who will win? What does a win or loss mean for the league? – But relax; it’s just a bit of fun.

    So - with the caveat that this is a very unscientific process based solely on my own observations and that I will not be investing the time to produce actual stats - what would the game look like if East played West and players had to be 24 year of age or younger.

Beyond POV-FS - Ashtone Morgan – Defensive Troubles or Room to Grow? at Waking the Red

    New post looking at Ashtone Morgan’s early season struggles is up over at Waking the Red.

    Check it out.

A Quick Glimpse – Canadian Notes on Will Johnson, Gershon Koffie, TFC Kit Launch and the U-20’s

Notes on Will Johnson, Gershon Koffie, the TFC Kit Launch and the U-20 Loss to the USA

From a Different Point of View – 4th Week of March Edition

Some Things You May Have Missed From the Last Week

Book of the Month – Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King by Philippe Auclair – Chapter One – I Am The King! I Am The King!

    The House hewn of the grandfather’s hands, on the rocky hill of dubious history; a traitorous affection for Cruyff’s Ajax; a getaway to a hut on the Mediterranean with Jacques Cousteau.

First Person View - Scholes, Pogba, and Morrison – Clarifications

    It was brought to my attention that the previous piece was a little obtuse, so let me clarify. For future reference, posts tagged with “Thoughts?” tend to be incomplete ideas on which I’m currently musing.

Thoughts? - Scholes, Pogba, and Morrison

    It was quite a shock to see Paul Scholes return from retirement and take the field for Manchester United on Sunday. While some would claim that it is indicative of United’s lack of transfer funds - which it is, but would a winter acquisition have time to adjust anyways – and that both Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison, having been overlooked for first team action yet again, should consider moving on when their current contracts come to an end.

Thoughts? – Changes to the DP Rules

     MLS announced age-ranged designated player cap hit reductions designed to encourage more youthful signings. Designated players between the ages of 21 and 23 will see their cap hit fall from the standard $335,000 to $200,000, while those 20 and under will be further reduced to $150,000.

     While this should help combat the stereotype of an older player coming over to North America for one last payday and could potentially garner the league some transfer money in the future, there are a few questions that must be asked, namely which players will the cash be splashed upon and will they grow in MLS?

Foresight – MLS Round 22 Weekend

Four questions to be answered this weekend in MLS.

MLS Weekly Review - Weekend Round 21 – Of Youth Movements, Nightmare Defending, & Golden Balls.

     The weekend fixture list saw nine matches result in thirty-one goals, two draws, four red cards and only a single team was kept off the score-sheet.

An Interesting Development

     The first wave of MLS players who grew up as fans of their club have started cropping up around the league.  They include Seattle’s Lamar Neagle, Columbus’ Aaron Horton, Chicago’s Pari Pantazopoulos, and Steven Emory in Colorado.

Thoughts? - Wenger, Wilshere & England

    Arsène Wenger’s decision to pressure the England set-up into not calling Jack Wilshere to the UEFA U-21 European Championship – kicking off today in Denmark today – is just the latest in an ongoing battle between Club and Country.