The League Soccer

 It's busy international season for the US National Teams. The U20 World Cup group stages have ended and the boys are BUZZING! The U20's went 3-0-0 in group play and didn't concede a goal. The standout players in group play have been goal keeping phenom Gaga Slonina, midfielder Diego Luna, center back Brendan Craig, and forward Cade Cowell. Rokas Pukstas and Kevin Paredes are set to join the squad for the knockout rounds to add to an already stellar group.  The U-20 World Cup being such a big event with so many eyes you have to wonder if some of these players land transfers, especially if their good run of play continues. Could Brendan Craig find a similar transfer as Paxten Aaronson, who also wasn't playing a ton at Philadelphia then made the jump to the Bundesliga and found minutes right away. Could Luna or Cowell find their way to Europe? A couple of interesting one's are Slonina and Jonathan Gomez, both who have already moved to Europe but will be looking for a ...

 What a wild eight days of soccer it has been here in the States. We had midweek MLS action last week, rivalry weekend, and then midweek US Open Cup games. It made for a ton of soccer watching, which I will never complain about.  First I want to talk about St. Louis City SC playing host to Sporting Kansas City. The crowd was absolutely great (as has been the case for every St. Louis home game) and Bradley Carnell's side looked like they were geared up for a big rivalry game. Peter Vermes' side, not so much. St. Louis made Kansas City play their game. They let SKC control the ball for most of the game and they were vicious on the press.  First I want to point out one of the best players in the game that isn't getting a ton of credit, Njabulo Blom. He was fantastic in the midfield for St. Louis. He dispossessed Ghadi Kinda on a play that directly led to a St. Louis goal. He was just everywhere and causing havoc. Secondly whatever Bradley Carnell is doing defensively is work...

 Parity: it's something the league is built on. There are roster rules and salary cap structures that would've confused Einstein himself. It's all meant to achieve what we are seeing in Major League Soccer's 2023 campaign: pure and insane parity. I had no idea when I started doing these weekly power rankings how hard it would be at this point in the season. I've always said I'm not going to do my power rankings based solely on the standings. Which makes doing a bottom five this week EXTREMELY hard.  In the East 7 points separate 3rd place and dead last. There's a little more separation thanks to atrocious starts from the Galaxy and Sporting KC, but it's only 10 points between 3rd place St. Louis and last place Kansas City. It's not like there's an Arsenal or Man City running away with the Shield. Clubs have done a better job than ever balancing competitions and everyone (except LAFC) seem to be prone to runs of poor and excellent form. So here...

 It has been reported that Anthony Hudson favors taking mostly the same squad to the Nations League final four and the Gold Cup to build squad continuity. Since several of our European players have struggled to find the field consistently, it's not the worst idea. I think keeping the core together and rotating a few players in and out would be the best thing to compete in both tournaments. For this roster construction I'm assuming injured players CCV, Tim Ream, and Tyler Adams are out for both competitions. I would assume all three would be sure lock roster players and almost guaranteed starts if healthy.  Nations League and Gold Cup Roster Goalkeeper (3): Matt Turner (Arsenal), Zak Steffen (Middlesboro), Ethan Horvath (Luton Town) Other than adding Gaga or Chris Brady to integrate them into the squad this should be a lock. These three are competent keepers playing at a high level.  Center Backs (4): Auston Trusty (Birmingham City), Mark McKenzie (Genk), Miles Robinson (A...

 There is a ton of soccer going on right now. MLS clubs are currently competing in CCL, US Open Cup, and League play is ramping up. On top of all that, there have been rumors that MLS is set to announce the newest expansion team at an unbelievable fee of $500 million.  The rumored city is San Diego, which I think will both geographically and sporting wise be a great fit for the league. It does present an interesting conflict with the USL-Championship side San Diego Loyal, whose co-owners include Landon Donovan and DeAndre Yedlin. I hope the Loyal stay. More soccer is never a bad thing and the rivalry would be fun. I hate that St. Louis FC folded after the announcement of St. Louis CITY. I think some markets can have two thriving teams and I believe San Diego to be one of those markets.  Half of a billion dollars for an expansion fee is absurd. Expansion fees have become so much a part of the MLS business model that I only think MLS will quit expanding when people quit pay...

 Again life has been busy, but I am committed to getting my power rankings out each and every week. Before we get into league talk there have been some devastating USMNT injuries over that last little while. Tim Ream broke his arm over the weekend against Fulham, Cameron Carter-Vickers was ruled out for the rest of Celtic's season, and Malik Tillman and Alex Zendejas left their respective games with injuries. That's our two best center backs and two guys that were likely going to log a ton of minutes between Nations League and Gold Cup. Our depth and quality will be tested dramatically this summer.  However the most important injury may be to our most important player, Tyler Adams. If watching Leeds defense spiral as they fight to stay above the relegation line, it's glaring how much they miss Tyler Adams. You could suppose Kellyn Acosta, James Sands, or Aidan Morris could step up in the two CONCACAF tournaments this summer. Even if those guys play well you are replacing a ...