It’s always a drag when work gets in the way of your retirement dreams.  On Wednesday as millions of us were travelling to Thanksgiving dinner, the Montreal Impact selected ten players left unprotected by their fellow MLS clubs and, for the most part, their picks were quality and unremarkable.  However, their first pick has sparked a little of an MLS firestorm.

The Impact used their first pick of the expansion draft on Dynamo captain Brian Ching, a former U.S. national team player who had expressed a desire to retire in the burnt orange.  Despite the fact they left him unprotected, Houston reacted with offense and shock at one of their big-name players being selected and began a media campaign aimed at getting him back.  Ching, for his part, has expressed his unhappiness with the situation and his disdain at playing for Montreal.  All of this soap opera-esque drama needs a quick Q&A to walk MLS fans through the situation, which has yet to be resolved.  Here is a rundown of the situation (Chinggate 2011?) as it stands:

Why did the Impact use its first pick on Ching?

On the surface, this was a very strange pick by Montreal.  Brian Ching still has a few more miles left in his tank, and is one of the more well-known players in MLS, but he has not been a truly impact player for a few years plus is now injury-prone.  In the MLS Cup he was a nonfactor.  So why choose him?  Simple: Montreal and Jesse Marsch knew that Ching did not want to play for them and could extract some value from the pick.  According to The Sporting News, that value would have to be a player or draft picks (since Houston allegedly does not have allocation money) and Montreal is shooting for the stars: Andre Hainault for Brian Ching straight up.  While that is not the deal that will ultimately be done, I suspect Montreal may end up with some good value here.

But there may be a larger, more nefarious strategy in play here.  Jeremiah Oshan notes that the Montreal picks in the expansion draft seem rather vindictive (my phrase).  The Ching selection is one of a couple that seem aimed at tweaking other clubs and taking valuable either home-town or much loved players.  Interesting hypothesis, and one that would really help the Impact begin with a “bad boy” reputation.

Why doesn’t Brian Ching want to play for Montreal?

Ching has seemingly settled on finishing his career in Houston, although the unprotected status and selection by Montreal may complicate that.  You can’t blame a player for wanting to finish his career with a franchise where he’s found success and a bit of fame.  But as Ben Chew notes, the reason may be deeper than that.  Impact manager Jesse Marsch was an assistant coach to Bob Bradley during the 2010 World Cup cycle when Ching was one of the last cuts made before South Africa.  So there may be some personal animosity there that when Ching made it clear that he would not play for Montreal if selected, Marsch may have added to that bad history by selecting him.

Who is at fault here and how will it end?

As I mentioned above, Montreal will ultimately be the winner here as they will extract from Houston a quality player and draft pick in all likelihood for Ching and possibly allocation.  That said, the “blame” for this controversy can be spread far and wide.  Houston took a gamble on leaving Ching unprotected and should not be surprised that Montreal took him in the draft, as they have a right to do.  Ching is slightly to blame, as he should have been less emphatic that he would never play for Montreal, making his selection a good target for a larger trade.  And if Marsch is playing the “evil genius” game, while he technically did nothing wrong, he certainly is at fault for trying to push a bad-boy image.  Overall, though, Houston certainly has to look in the mirror and accept that they gambled and lost with this situation.

As the U.S. men’s national team struggled through yet another 1-0 loss in an international friendly, Twitter was afire with criticisms of the team and the new boss.  The most damning criticism might have been this: that the team played like a Bob Bradley coached squad.  Harsher words have never been said!

However, we have to acknowledge two facts before we can delve into some solutions for the Klinsmann crew.  First, these 1-0 losses mean nothing if the U.S. qualifies for the 2014 World Cup without any major missteps.  Second, the inability for the U.S. to make progress against any level of competition is disconcerting, regardless of the reasons why.

So is it time to panic?  I will give a cautious no (although the friendly on Tuesday could change that analysis).  We know this team’s strengths (Tim Howard) and weaknesses (holding/central midfield) but also know that Klinsmann has not yet fielded this team in a competitive match with his optimal line-up (Dempsey AND Donovan with Holden).  That said, there are some trends that have become apparent to many U.S. fans that need to be examined and discussed before they become deep-seated problems with this team.  In no particular order, if you are reading Mr. Klinsmann please consider my suggestions for your team*:

Let Michael Bradley see the field

Would we be seeing more Michael Bradley if his name was Michael Jungmann or Michael Hernandez?  Probably not, as I don’t think Klinsmann is so petty as to bench Bradley because of his dad.  But the problems in midfield are apparent: our holding and central midfield options who have played so far have not done a good job of breaking up the oppositions’ attacks nor setting up the U.S. attack.  To be blunt, it is not easy for a non-superstar non-European to make a Serie A squad so the fact that Bradley is playing for Chievo is a testament to his potential.  We’ve seen that his passing while not perfect is good and he has an eye for picking out his teammates moving forward, while being adept enough defensively to at least pass as a holding midfielder.  He needs to see some more playing time for this team, period/full stop.

Experiment with the formation

The knock on Klinsmann’s hiring was that during his previous managerial stops, he was not considered the strategic mastermind.  Maybe this is the case; while the U.S. hasn’t fallen back into the tried-and-true 4-4-2 there’s something to be said about not conforming to the new in-thing.  A 4-3-3 is an exciting formation (personally my favorite) as is a diamond 4-4-2, but if the personnel don’t fit why not go a little more unorthodox.  Acknowledging that it may be a few years before the U.S. has a pool of world-class strikers, why not try the mythical, Jonathan Wilson-loved 4-6-0?  Or maybe the (gasp) 3-5-2 to allow players like Chandler to roam the sidelines and provide cover to the midfield?  Again, this could backfire, but maybe thinking outside the box could lead to some unexpected positive results.

Stop thinking Landon Donovan is Wayne Rooney

While the France match didn’t feature the usual number 10, Klinsmann has shown that he is increasingly curious about the idea of having Landon Donovan play as a withdrawn forward, kind of in a Wayne Rooney-esque position where he can create chances for open teammates while still getting his own chances to score.  The problem with this idea is that this is not Donovan’s game; this type of role needs a player with almost supernatural instincts who can pick out just the right pass and right player, or decide to make the play on his own.  Donovan, while extremely talented, is not this type of player.  When he does return to the USMNT fold after the MLS Cup, Klinsmann needs to return him to the wing or figure out another way to use him besides being the anchor.

End the Kyle Beckerman/Michael Orozco Fiscal Experiments

The dedication to players such as these gives the head coach’s critics some major ammunition.  I am a huge Beckerman fan, but he looks out of place on the national team and has struggled against better competition with his passes from the back.  This is a no-no from his position.  Additionally, when we have seen Orozco Fiscal play, he has been woefully over-matched.  I know we want to give players multiple chances, but there are players who deserve another look and players who need no more looks.  While every coach has these types of players he is inexplicably loyal to, that does not mean they are above pointing out.

*I acknowledge the fact that some of these suggestions are contradictory (like experimenting with a 3-5-2 while asking Donovan to play on the wings).  However, each recommendation should be taken on its own as it is unlikely Mr. Klinsmann will adopt all of them.

While I realize that the above graphic may be a bit misleading (MLS has already stated their 2012 season will begin in early March), February start dates for the league may not be far off. In a surprisingly candid statement to the media today at a training session for tomorrow’s match vs. Ecuador, Jurgen Klinsmann aired his personal concerns about the way our pro leagues stack up with the rest of the world.

From AP/Fox Soccer:

Klinsmann had already made big changes since replacing Bradley on July 29, and more are ahead. For instance, he wants to eliminate the two-to-three months off that Major League Soccer players get each year.

”The big challenge is for MLS overall, how can they stretch that season into a format that is kind of competitive with the rest of the world?” he said. ”Right now it’s not competitive. If you have a seven-, eight-month season, that’s not competitive with the rest of the world.”

First off, this is very interesting to hear Klinsmann open up about these beliefs. His predecessor, Bob Bradley, rarely spoke out of turn about any qualms he had with our domestic league. When Klinsmann was hired, there was speculation that USSF President Sunil Gulati may have given Klinsmann the promise of more latitude to assert influence when Gulati offered him the coaching job. This type of statement, in a relatively stunning fashion, appears to put pressure Commissioner Don Garber to at least consider this feedback and what MLS could do to accommodate.

The timing of this statement is also very interesting. The US just defeated Honduras 1-0, earning Klinsmann his first victory as Coach. If there’s ever a time where US Soccer fans were ready to give Klinsmann their full support, it is now. It’s not just the result, either; the style of play in the recent friendlies has been a more creative, attacking style than we’ve seen for awhile under Bradley. This may have been the perfect time to throw an opinion out in the open, to gauge the response across the board. Klinsmann does have his detractors, pointing to his troubles managing Bayern Munich; supporters, however, seem optimistic thus far with the German coach’s progress in the National Team.

Add to this the logic of Klinsmann’s statements, and the way he’s applying this to his selections for the National Team. For a player in the Barclays Premier League, barring any bans or injuries, a player competing in every match would see 38 league matches in a season. For the top teams, you get UEFA Champions (or Europa) League, which adds 6-10 matches. The domestic Cups also allow teams another 2-4 matches, and that’s not counting return legs in the case of a draw in an FA Cup match. So for a team like Arsenal, a player could see 45 or more matches counting all competitions.

Compare that to MLS. This season, MLS clubs played 34 league matches, 4 fewer than in England. CONCACAF Champions League only allows 4 American teams per season (and one Canadian team) to get those extra half-dozen matches. There is only one “traditional” domestic Cup competition, the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. There are no return legs in the USOC, and the recent setup dictated that the lowest 12 teams in MLS face each other, effectively cutting out 6 teams with only one match played. Now, 10 teams make the MLS Cup playoffs, which does add matches, but it adds only a match for most teams in the playoffs. Perhaps this is one explanation for why Klinsmann has seemed to prefer players in European leagues in his recent lineups.

Is an extended schedule feasible going forward in a Spring-to-Fall league setup? By my estimation, MLS would have to start the season about 2 weeks early and maybe sprinkle in two extra midweek matches. That would put the start of the season in mid-to-late February. I don’t see this as a problem. The main argument is that bad weather would hurt attendance. From what I’ve seen, most MLS crowds are resilient, and even if the stadium is 60-75% full for those few matches early on, it serves the purpose of getting these pros more opportunities to play. Additionally, for World Cup years, this eases any desire to accommodate a midsummer break. But at some point, one would have to consider a synchronization with the Fall-to-Late Spring FIFA calendar, something the world governing body has requested in the past.

Regardless of what the impact might be, I think Klinsmann’s candor is refreshing, and may be the perfect contrapuntal voice for US Soccer at the moment. He is a guy who has played and coached on some excellent European squads. He garners respect, and it’s easy to believe he possesses a good barometer for advancing the sport in our country. It doesn’t mean throwing out everything that has been instituted by Major League Soccer. Garber has recently indicated he would like to unbalance the schedule. You could have an unbalanced schedule while still extending the season. Klinsmann made no assertions about other hot-button issues like finances, the fall-to-summer schedule, or the US soccer pyramid. What he has done is show that we have a National Team Coach who will speak his mind if he feels it may improve our chances on the world stage; for my taste, I think that’s a great quality for a coach to hold.

Former MLS and U.S. men’s national team coach Bob Bradley was appointed today by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) to coach their senior men’s national team.  Bradley, fired by the USMNT this summer, had been rumored for months to be taking over the Pharaohs but was just today confirmed finally as the head coach.  This is Bradley’s first coaching opportunity outside of the United States; at various times in the past fifteen months he had been linked with Fulham, Aston Villa and Santos Laguna.  Bradley follows in the footsteps of a fellow USMNT head man, Steve Sampson, who took over the Costa Rican national team after his disastrous U.S. national team stint.

While Bradley’s spokespeople have not commented on the hiring, EFA spokesman Azmy Megahed told the Associated Press that Bradley is expected to arrive in Cairo this weekend to finalise the deal. “All is good. Bradley will be here on Sunday to sign the contract,” Megahed said.  Terms have not been disclosed.

During the interview process, Bradley had taken a veiled shot at American soccer, telling CNN Arabic, “The Egyptian team is well qualified to be a dangerous opponent, but it only lacks some organisation on the field. The Egyptian player is a talented one unlike the American who depends mainly on his fitness.”  Bradley reportedly beat out former Colombia coach Francisco Maturana, former Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac and ex-Montenegro manager Zoran Filipovic for the head coaching job.

The Egyptian job is certainly a challenging one, as the team has recently fallen on hard times.  The Pharaohs won their third straight African Cup of Nations in 2010, but failed to qualify for the 2012 tournament; it was the first time in 33 years they did not qualify for the tournament.  Historically, while the team has had success in the continental tournament, it has only qualified for two World Cups with the most recent being the 1990 Italian edition.  The team is mostly composed of Egyptian league players, with the biggest names being Borussia Dortmund’s Mohamed Zidan and Sunderland’s Ahmen El-Muhammadi.  The roster is older and many of the upper youth team players have yet to catch on internationally, yet Egypt still has a FIFA ranking of 34.

Qualifying for the World Cup, especially with the rise of Ghana, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast, will be a challenge for the Egyptians but not impossible.  Currently, the Confederation of African Football is in the group stage, with Egypt in a group with Guinea (68), Zimbabwe (86), and either Comoros (175) or Mozambique (103).  If Egypt finishes first, they move to the third round with the nine other group winners, where they will play five two-legged knock-out ties.  The five teams with the highest point totals advance to the World Cup.  This is a long way of saying that as long as Egypt takes care of business (like they should) they have a great chance of making the 2014 World Cup, which would go a long way to restoring Bradley’s international reputation.

What do you think of Bob Bradley’s new job?  Is it good for U.S. soccer that an American coach is managing outside of CONCACAF?

As the US prepares for its critical quarterfinal Gold Cup match tomorrow at RFK, Bob Bradley appeared calm and focused at the pre-game press conference when discussing his team’s progress during the Gold Cup.

“The Gold Cup all along has been circled as the championship of our confederation, an opportunity to qualify for the Confederations Cup,” said Bradley.  He added, “we’ve played against some very very good teams and that helps us move in the direction we want.”

The match, which is sold out, will be the 18th time that the US and Jamaica have met in international play and the first time Bob Bradley has managed against them. Jamaica advanced by winning Group B in dominating fashion while the US enters this match with many questions about its team and its head coach. In what some are calling a “must win” for Bradley, he was surprisingly nonplussed.  ”In any tournament, you can’t mention [the word] championship… what we have to do is do our homework on Jamaica”

This will be the third time the two nations have played in the Gold Cup with the U.S. holding a 2-0-0 advantage.  In fact, the U.S. has never lost to Jamaica (9-0-8) nor has it ever lost in the Gold Cup quarterfinals in regulation (5-0-1 with the only loss coming to Columbia on penalty kicks).  But in a tournament where the U.S. has already lost for the first time in group play and struggled against CONCACAF minnow Guadeloupe, the team cannot take any opponent lightly.  Especially a team with such known talent: Jamaica has more MLS players (7) than the U.S. national team (6).

With Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey away at family weddings, it was up to captain Carlos Bocanegra to give a players’ perspective at today’s press conference.  But his comments were pretty straightforward, emphasizing the team was excited and ready to face Jamaica.  When asked about Dempsey’s availability after a long flight, Bradley stated he would be evaluated just like any other player in terms of match fitness before the match.  I asked about the team’s overall health and fitness; some starters have now played four matches in two weeks plus travel across the U.S.  Bradley responded that the team was overall fit and he was happy with their health.

Bradley’s right that the key for the U.S. is containing Jamaica’s speed.  The U.S. has not faced a team as fast as the Reggae Boyz in the Gold Cup and the teams with speed they face they have struggled.  For the U.S. to win, it needs to maintain good passing lanes, convert on its chances, and maintain their assignments on defense.  Do that, and they will extend their undefeated streak against Jamaica while reestablishing some momentum to a possible Panama rematch.  Lose, and the vultures circling over the national team will become even more apparent.

My name is Robert Hay, and I am a fan of Freddy Adu.

That statement has for years been quite controversial, as the young American has been the center of much discussion of the failures of American soccer.  We hype them too young!  We don’t develop our own talent!  Don’t let players like Agudelo and Bunbury get Adu’ed!  No one who plays in the Turkish (or Danish or Swedish) second division deserves media coverage!  If he truly cared about his career then he’d play in the states and turn down the easy paycheck!

While the spotlight had turned away from Adu for a while (save for a wonder goal here or there) it has now turned right back on him with today’s surprising announcement that Bob Bradley named him to the U.S. Gold Cup roster.  Even on my list of people I’d bring (where I suggested starting Teal Bunbury and having Bill Hamid handy) I never even considered adding Adu, figuring he needed to climb back in good graces to consider being picked.  I guess he was more in favor than I had thought.  Adu made the cut for the team over Teal Bunbury (who is the next big thing along with Agudelo), Edson Buddle (who’s actually performed in MLS and overseas) and Herculez Gomez (who has played well in the Mexican league).  So why Adu over these gentlemen?

• Adu is still very young.  It may be hard to believe but the midfielder is just old enough to order a drink in the United States.  Regardless his country of origin, he is still a prospect that can be molded into a very good player.
• You can’t teach athleticism.  Even though players like Buddle are more accomplished, Adu is more physically gifted.  If you (and by you I mean Bob Bradley) teach him to use that athleticism, then he becomes the complete player he was always supposed to become.  But people have been saying that for years.
• He has played his cards correctly.  Not getting playing time in Greece and numerous other countries, plus not receiving attention from Bradley, Adu could have called a friendly reporter and ripped USSF, American soccer, and Bradley.  But he didn’t.  He took Bradley’s advice to simply get playing time, moved off the radar in the Turkish second division, and played well.  He’s scored 4 goals in 11 appearances (including this one), and Bradley watched many of his matches over the Internet.  Adu played his cards right, and is getting rewarded with another chance.
• Adu’s career in international play is more than impressive.  As a reminder, he has played in three FIFA U-20 World Cups and captained one of the teams.  He has almost seventy international caps at multiple levels and has led national teams at the highest level.  You don’t just throw away that kind of experience.

Ultimately, Freddy Adu may not play that much and may just be anther body.  But the success of this pick and a few others will be judged by the results in the Gold Cup; failure will cast a poor light on Bradley and Adu.  The two are inexplicably linked.

A few other thoughts:

• I am glad that Chris Wondolowski was included in the squad.  This team needs a forward who can score, no matter what, and that’s what Wondo does.  He deserves another national team chance.
• There is a lack of German and Swedish influence on this team.  Despite speculation that David Yelldell would be the third keeper, Bradley went with Nick Rimando.  And Timothy Chandler was a major exclusion from this team, an absolute surprise considering the hype he was getting after his last call-up.  A guy I would have started, half-Scandinavian Mixx Diskerud, was also not invited despite his season being over. Alejandro Bedoya was another surprise exclusion despite his club season being over.
• Robbie Rogers has at times played well for Columbus and almost carried them offensively.  But he would not have even been the best pick from MLS – I would have taken Kyle Beckerman or Brek Shea to provide more defensive cover.

Photo by C.A.M. Stephans

By now you have probably heard the Bob Bradley deadline of May 23 to announce his call-ups for the U.S. National Team. This is a critical call-up, as not only will these players play in the 2011 Gold Cup but also in the friendly versus Spain.  As such, Bob Bradley will likely go the opposite of Camp Cupcake and take a veteran lineup to Foxborough.

But should he?  What should be the goals of the US Men’s National Team, June 2011 edition?  I’d argue the following should be the goals of Bob Bradley’s squad, in this order:

1. Win the Gold Cup and punch the ticket to the Confederations Cup
2. Begin finding the players for the 2014 World Cup
3. Not embarrass the country in the Spain match

In order to do this, Bob Bradley should bring a mix of veterans and up-and-comers, and in the process take a few gambles with this team.  Here are my suggestions by position for Coach Bradley, as well as a few predictions of who he will actually bring.  Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments section:

Keepers He Should Bring: Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, and Bill Hamid

Keepers He Will Bring: Howard, Hahnemannn, and David Yeldell

Until he proves otherwise, Tim Howard is the #1 keeper for this team and that will not change during the World Cup. The #2 keeper should be someone with experience who can step in during an emergency, so Hahnemann fits that profile as he transitions from Europe to MLS.  Brad Guzan is seemingly on the outs with Bradley plus scheduled his wedding for the end of this month.  Bradley could go with David Yeldell to continue the German connection but could again give Dominic Cervi a chance to earn a place on the team, despite the fact he can’t even get a start for his club team.  One day Howard will be too old to play for this team, and the US needs to begin planning for that now.  The final spot should go to a young stud who should begin to be groomed to be the next Tim Howard; the two MLS candidates right now are Sean Johnson and Bill Hamid, with Hamid getting the call due to having a better season so far.

Defenders He Should Bring: (starters) Tim Chandler, Oguchi Onyewu, Clarence Goodson, Carlos Bocanegra, (bench) Steve Cherundolo, Zak Whitbread, Tim Ream, Jonathan Bornstein, Chad Marshall

Defenders He Will Bring: (starters) Cherundolo, Goodson, Onyewu, Bocanegra, (bench) Chandler, Bornstein, Ream, Whitbread, Eric Lichaj

The backline is up in the air, but you can bet Bradley will go conservative here.  The U.S.’s biggest problem has been conceding early goals, so Bradley will likely thwart this by throwing out a veteran lineup.  My thought is that the Gold Cup is put up or shut up time for two U.S. defenders – Tim Chandler and Gooch.  Gooch is coming back from injury and it’s time to see if he can be an international starting defender before 2014 qualification.  Tim Chandler took the soccer scene by storm with a good showing against Paraguay; now’s a good time to see if he can maintain the hype.

Midfielders He Should Bring: (4-2-3-1) Michael Bradley, Jonathan Spector, Landon Donovan, Mikkel Diskerud, Clint Dempsey, (bench) Benny Feilhaber, Brek Shea, Alejandro Bedoya

Midfielders He Will Bring: (4-4-2) Donovan, Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Dempsey, (bench) Edu, Feilhaber, Bedoya, Jonathan Spector

I have always been a believer in the U.S. playing with 5 midfielders, with Bradley and Spector alternating between making advancing runs and playing back in the holding role.  Donovan and Dempsey are locks to start but the U.S. needs someone with vision and talent to make the right pass to get the wings and forward the ball in scoring chances.  Although young, Diskerud has shown flashes of this ability and he should get a chance now.  If nothing else, a call-up binds him to the U.S.  On the bench, Brek Shea has shown the ability to be a world class midfielder, with FC Dallas’ recent good run of form showing how good Shea can be.  Bradley, however, will probably fall back into the comfortable 4-4-2 and keep his standards in the midfield.  The bench for Bradley will also be experienced, with players we’ve seen before who have specific talents for specific scenarios.

Forwards He Should Bring: Teal Bunbury, Jozy Altidore, Chris Wondolowski

Forwards He Will Bring: Altidore, Juan Agudelo, Herculez Gomez

Let’s be ambitious.  If Bradley plays a 4-2-3-1, he needs a lone striker type, something Altidore is not.  He is talented enough to make the team, but he needs a second forward up front with him.  Agudelo could be that guy, but he is in danger of over-exposure and over-use this year.  Let’s see if Bunbury is as good internationally or better than Agudelo.  In the same vein, let’s give Chris Wondolowski one more chance.  The guy can score in MLS, so let’s see if he can do the same for the national team.

After a midweek tease, the MLS slate is full this weekend with all but two teams playing on Saturday.  For those looking forward to a little Friday night soccer, there will be none so you’ll just have to wait for Saturday night’s glamorous TV lineup, which includes the renewal of the U.S. leg of the Cascadia Cup rivalry.

Now for the other stories catching our attention this week:

• Marcos Mondaini received a four game suspension and a $1,500 fine for his aggressive tackle on Real Salt Lake’s Javier Morales.  The suspension is much less than Brian Mullan’s, but the league deemed the tackle as one to prevent a scoring chance, while Mullan’s “showed utter disregard for his opponent’s safety.”
• The Washington Post ran a front page story this morning on DC United’s situation at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.  There were no great surprises to MLS or DCU fans, but the prominent placement may help the team in its efforts to build a new home.
• Speaking of DCU, Steven Goff of the Post broke the news that Bob Bradley will be in attendance at the DC-Colorado match tomorrow night.  While there are other American nationals like Dax McCarty and Anthony Wallace there, this is likely Charlie Davies casting call for a Gold Cup spot.
• Speaking of Bob Bradley, over 50,000 tickets have already been sold for the USA v. Spain friendly at Gillette Stadium on June 4, and organizers expect a record crowd for the region.
• Our parent site announced the news a few days ago that possible FA Cup champion Manchester  City will extend their U.S. tour to play the LA Galaxy July 24 at Home Depot Center.
• The Colorado Rapids injury list grows, as the team announced that Omar Cummings will be out 2-4 weeks with “an ankle”.  Caleb Folan is also out this weekend, but Conor Casey is expected to return.
• MLS in Minnesota?  Don Garber’s considering it (sorry Miami/Cosmos/Las Vegas/San Antonio fans).
• If you like fan bases tweaking each other and stirring up regional rivalries like I do, this billboard in Dallas will make you laugh.

Deadline deals are some of the most exciting in sports, and this one looks to be no different.  MLS announced today that Benny Feilhaber, most recently of AGF Aarhus, agreed to a contract with the league late Friday night and will be made available to the teams via allocation order.

Feilhaber had received playing time for AGF Aarhus, but as a second division Danish team Feilhaber was not receiving the exposure to top-flight soccer he may have hoped he would receive.  In addition, despite playing in the most recent World Cup, his spot on the U.S. national team has been threatened by a few younger players like Mikkel Diskerud.  Receiving regular playing time in the United States in a better league in front of Bob Bradley is a good way to remind him and American soccer fans that is a world-class player.

So where is Feilhaber going to play?  The first three teams in the most recent allocation order are Chivas, Philadelphia, and New England.  The Goats recently turned down an opportunity to sign English winger Jason Barton to possibly maintain their chance to sign Feilhaber.  He played his college soccer at UCLA, so it would be kind of a homecoming for him.  But Chivas has declined to discuss acquiring him until after Saturday’s match, and there is some question how Feilhaber would fit into Robin Fraser’s system.  The Union have already said they are not interested in acquiring Feilhaber, but whether that is a smokescreen is unknown.  New England already has an attacking midfielder in Shalrie Joseph, but could certainly accommodate him in the starting XI.

Regardless of where he plays, this is a great acquisition by MLS.  The league should be a place for U.S. national team players and prospects who are maybe just below the top European leagues (and who knows maybe eventually compete with the top leagues).  Grabbing players like Feilhaber not only makes the league more viable, but helps make those USMNT players more visible to American soccer fans.

In his short but impressive coaching career, Jason Kreis may be approaching heights unseen by an MLS coach.  This weekend he essentially fielded a backup squad that handled an undefeated Revolution squad.  RSL is in the CONCACAF Champions League final and is the prohibitive favorite to win a second MLS Cup in three years.  Also an impressive player, Kreis is compiling the sort of record and experience that, if he were coaching in England, would make bigger clubs take note.  Now may be the time to ask – is Jason Kreis the right MLS manager to make the leap to the European coaching ranks?

MLS head coaches have in the past been rumored to be ready to take the next step to Europe.  Octavio Zambrano was a head coach in Moldova and Hungary but has now returned to the U.S.  Both Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley were rumored candidates for English jobs, with Bradley supposedly being considered by both Aston Villa and Fulham in 2010.  But neither were actually hired despite high-profile victories at the international level and winning MLS Cups.

So before we address whether Kreis should be that coaching pioneer, we need to address what impact MLS coaches going to Europe would have on the league. We spend much time and energy debating whether MLS players should make the jump and how that affects the league, and the general consensus is that the best players benefit from European playing time while those who are good MLS players might benefit more from staying in the U.S.  Where that line is drawn is where the debate is.  This season we are beginning to see the benefits of the exporting of MLS players: the league is getting players back in return.  Not only are the Beckhams of the world coming to America, but loanees like Simon Dawkins are coming over.  Dawkins, on loan from Tottenham, has given the ‘Quakes a scoring option besides Chris Wondolowski.

Would exporting coaches be the same?  Not quite, but there would be some similarities.  MLS currently imports Europeans who have played in Europe and in American leagues (Steve Nicol) and now is beginning to bring in new coaches from specific systems (Aron Winter).  If American head coaches began to be viewed as possible managerial candidates in Europe, then I think the best young coaches would begin to be poached by European clubs.  But this experience would be good for these MLS head coaches and allow them to expand their strategy and tactics beyond the North American viewpoint.  Having someone like Jason Kreis go to the Championship, for example, would allow him to immerse himself in different football philosophies and learn the latest trends overseas.  When he returns to MLS or is named USMNT head coach, he has a more diverse viewpoint to construct a winning team and improve the quality of MLS or the national team.

So if we agree this is a good thing, than who would be the best coach to make the jump?  The obvious answer is Bob Bradley, since he is the best known American coach/former MLS manager around.  Ideally, though, he is unavailable until after the 2014 World Cup.  Kreis right now is the hot name in MLS, possibly adding numerous trophies to the Real Salt Lake trophy case.  But he has few roots to any league outside of MLS, having played his entire career in the states and having not coached elsewhere.  I can imagine many teams would hesitate to hire someone with just MLS experience.  So is there a successful MLS coach with international experience that would catch the eye of a European club looking for something different?

There are a few actually.  The obvious answer is Bruce Arena, but at age 59 he may be too old for clubs to want to take a chance on.  A younger choice is Dominic Kinnear at age 43.  Kinnear played a bit in Scotland when he was younger as well as a year in Mexico, so he does have some international experience.  He has been a success in MLS, winning two MLS Cups with the Dynamo.  If I were a club in the Scottish or Irish Premier League, or lower levels of the English game, Kinnear is the type of head coach I would consider hiring if I wanted to garner a little attention and try something different.

If you expand the list to consider internationals who are currently coaching in MLS, then there are several viable candidates to leave MLS in the future.  I can’t believe Steve Nicol won’t get an offer back in England at some point, especially if he is successful in rebuilding the Revolution this year.  Aron Winter is being groomed for bigger things and he could return to the continent if he is able to successfully construct a Total Football Toronto.  Colorado’s Gary Smith could be in line for another job as well, especially considering his Arsenal connections and the fact that his owner now is a major player in the EPL with his majority ownership in Arsenal.

So what does the future hold for MLS coaches?  I think it will be a while before American/Canadian born head coaches are viewed as viable coaching candidates in Europe.  Over the next few years we will see foreign-born MLS coaches return to Europe (or Central and South America), showing bigger leagues that MLS is a good league for coaches.  And as bigger-named American stars retire from playing and enter coaching, it will be easier for European clubs to justify their hiring to fans as more than a publicity stunt.  Within the next 10-15 years we will begin to see the export of American head coaches which will lead to an improvement in MLS and the national team.  And it will give the best MLS coaches a chance to show that they are good managers anywhere, not just in North America.