Player
The New York DP carousel continues to turn. According to a new report from Brian Lewis at the New York Post, the long rumors linking former FIFA World Player of the Year Kaká to the Red Bulls are still very much a reality.
"He wants to play in Red Bull New York," his agent is quoted as saying. "But in the future. Not now."
The price tag would be a steep one – initial estimates top off around $10 million – but his entrance into the league would immediately make him one of the most high-profile players ever to wear an MLS jersey.
The Seattle Sounders currently have three Designated Players under contract – Álvaro Fernández, Fredy Montero and Mauro Rosales – but Germany is abuzz with the news that FC Kaiserslautern midfielder Christian Tiffert is on his way to the Pacific Northwest.
Rumors in recent weeks have linked Fernández with a move to Deportivo Cali in Colombia, and those rumblings are starting to make more sense as a DP slot would have to be cleared for Tiffert to be added to the Sounders roster.
That seems to be almost a certainty at this point, with agent Richard Motzkin confirming Tiffert's imminent arrival.
CORRECTION: D.C. United has not yet clinched Carolina Challenge Cup championship. I apologize for the confusion. #MLS
— Andrew Wiebe (@AndrewWiebe_MLS) March 3, 2012
So who makes way for Tiffert? Will Fernández move on? Will Montero finally get a move to Europe? Is this the right move by Sigi Schmid?
Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
The rumored deal that was set to send Seattle Sounders Designated Player Álvaro Fernández to Colombian side Deportivo Cali has fallen through.
That's the news according to this report in Colombian daily El Pais, which now claims that the club is looking elsewhere for attacking help.
Fernández addressed the situation only yesterday with the Seattle Times in this blog post.
When it's splashed all over the cover of Spanish sports daily Marca, we've got to take notice.
Here's what the headline says: "Red Bull gives Kaká wings" (thus the photo).
The rest of it: "The team from New York wants the Brazilian. The player appeals to the US league. ... But it would pay half [his salary]. Yesterday he didn't travel to Oviedo with Madrid. Saturday is d-day."
On Saturday, the Red Bulls also play in Montreal (7 pm ET, MLS LIVE).
PHILADELPHIA –– It doesn't get much more prestigious than Manchester United and Chelsea in back-to-back years, but that doesn't mean the MLS All-Stars don't have an opinion about who they'd like to take on come 2013.
Asked to provide their ideal opponent for next year's game during Tuesday's press conference ahead of Wednesday night's AT&T MLS All-Star game (8:30 pm ET, ESPN2), Landon Donovan, Dwayne De Rosario, Thierry Henry and coach Ben Olsen all went in different directions.
Olsen kicked things off with an uncoventional choice, drawing laughter from those in attendance as he chose his own side, D.C. United.
De Rosario, for his part, didn't talk specifics, saying that he'd simply be happy playing the reigning European Champions each year, an idea which happened to work out for this year's event.
Donovan, meanwhile, pulled at purist's heartstrings, putting his support behind tiki taka and Barcelona, while Henry couldn't resist the opportunity to get Arsenal's name out there as a potential opponent.
What do you think? Make your opinion known in the poll below.
Cette semaine, votre Coup Franc hebdomadaire (à écouter ici) est, à votre demande, plus long de quelques minutes afin d’approfondir certains sujets. Au menu :
- Notre invité Sébastien Le Toux parle de son transfert inattendu à New York, de son rôle dans sa nouvelle équipe et de la liberté qu’il y reçoit, de la situation de ses deux anciens clubs (Vancouver et Philadelphie, où il est parti en mauvais termes avec Peter Nowak), ainsi que de la possible suite de sa carrière en Europe.
- Débat sur l’évolution de la MLS au cours des dernières années. Quels sont les principaux progrès qu’elle a effectués ? Quels sont les avantages et les inconvénients du plafond salarial ? À quel championnat étranger peut-on la comparer (voir le classement de l’IFFHS) ? Quel est l’apport des anciens joueurs aujourd’hui entraîneurs ? Comment la MLS peut-elle conserver ses vedettes, de plus en plus convoitées à l’étranger ? Grâce à quoi fera-t-elle son prochain grand pas en avant ?
- Vancouver se sépare d’Eric Hassli (voir le geste des supporters en son honneur) mais Martin Rennie gagne pour le moment son pari suite à la victoire contre San José (revoir le penalty aussi controversé que décisif).
- Revoyez aussi le troisième but de Houston contre Montréal, image de la semaine d’Antonio Ribeiro.
Des discussions hautes en couleurs auxquelles nous vous invitons à participer en ligne, que ce soit par courriel (coup.franc@MLSsoccer.com) ou sur Twitter (@CoupFrancMLS).
L'émission Coup Franc est aussi disponible sur iTunes.
It seems that Everton's Tim Cahill is on his way to New York.
Things may have just gotten a whole lot bleaker for the rest of the Eastern Conference in their quest to chase down the Red Bulls, as it appears that the Australian international is on a verge of a transfer to the Big Apple club.
According to a report from Everton's offical website, the 32-year-old will be heading to the United States to join RBNY within the next couple of days. The Red Bulls declined to comment at this time, and would not confirm the report.
Cahill found the back of the net 68 times in his 278 appearances on Merseyside, and 24 times in his 55 caps with the Australian national team.
Everton have reached agreement with the MLS for Tim Cahill's transfer to New York Red Bulls: http://t.co/TmQanB6r
— Official Everton (@Everton) July 23, 2012
UPDATE: The Red Bulls have put out a statement regarding the move:
HARRISON, NJ (July 23, 2012) – The New York Red Bulls released the following statement today regarding midfielder Tim Cahill:
"We are aware of Everton’s statement regarding midfielder Tim Cahill and our club. However, we have no comment at this time regarding him or any other non-New York player."
Roy Lassiter isn’t the only one with Wondo envy.
Former Golden Boot winner Taylor Twellman – who once made his own assault on Lassiter’s single-season scoring record – thinks the San Jose Earthquakes star is going to get it done as well.
But the former New England Revolution man still thinks it’s going to take a herculean effort from Wondo.
“I didn’t even know what the record was in 2002, to be honest with you,” he told MLSsoccer.com of his own haul a decade ago that ultimately came up four goals short of the record. “Twenty-seven is a ridiculous amount of goals. It really is ridiculous.”
Twellman also finished one goal behind Carlos Ruiz for the scoring title that season. But he can’t help but wonder what would have happened if the circumstances in New England were just a little bit different.
“I would’ve absolutely loved – and I always wondered what it would have been like – to play with a target man,” he said. “Somebody like Brian McBride, where he’s more the target and you can be the second striker.”
That’s the difference, he believes, this season for Wondo, who is benefitting from the hard work in the box of big men like Steven Lenhart and Alan Gordon.
Twellman never had that kind of partner during his eight-year MLS career, spending most of it alongside Pat Noonan – productively, it must be said. Twellman's 101 career regular-season goals has him ranked at No. 6 on the all-time list.
But just humor his fantasy here for a second: a front-line duo of Twellman and McBride in their prime? Who on earth could stop that one-two punch?
Wednesday's matchup between Vancouver and LA witnessed David Beckham’s sixth goal of the season, a personal MLS best for the Galaxy superstar.
Back with Manchester United in the 2001–2002 season the Englishman scored 11 goals in 28 games, his personal best. With 13 games remaining for the Galaxy, he’s on pace to pass his career single-season scoring record. For his career, Beckham scores an average of every 440 minutes, or every 5 games. This season he has scored an average of every 234 minutes, or every 3 games. He has a very real chance of surpassing his career mark.
Rank your top Beckham goals here.
If you haven't already, give this morning's OPTA Spotlight on Danny Koevermans and his contributions to Toronto FC over the past year a quick read.
Here are some diagrams (the first a plot of the result of each of his shots this season and the second a map of his shots on target) that show how Koevermans has scored each of his nine goals in 2012. As you can see, he's almost exclusively been a poacher that relies on proximity to goal rather than pinpoint finishing to be successful.
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
