MLS ready to welcome back ex-USA star Robbie Rogers

By FOXSoccer.com

Robbie Rogers is a man in high demand.

Rogers, who earned 18 caps for the United States men’s national team, announced his retirement from soccer after officially coming out gay in February. Earlier in the week, Rogers trained with the Los Angeles Galaxy prompting many to speculate a possible comeback to Major League Soccer this season.

During an event at Columbus Crew stadium on Thursday, Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber expressed his desire to see Rogers back in MLS.

“We’d love to see Robbie back in the league — regardless of announcement he made in February,” said Garber. “He has to figure out his future, and I hope that future is going to be in Major League Soccer.”

Mar

From the Champions League (Lionel Messi’s wonder strike against Milan) to the CONCACAF Champions League (Djimi Traore’s rocket vs. Tigres), we saw a lot of wonderful Goal of the Month nominees this week.

Check them all out at once, and don’t forget to use the twitter hashtag #GOMonFOX whenever you see a great goal!

Mar

Former Liverpool player Djimi Traore scored one of the best goals you’ll see in the Seattle Sounders comeback win against Tigres on Tuesday night.

It doesn’t get much better than this, folks. Our jaws are still on the floor.

Feb

The now infamous “Harlem Shake” videos have been making the rounds on the internet this month, and it has finally reached the Crystal Palace cheerleaders. These ladies never miss an opportunity to jump on a meme bandwagon!

Although, these lovely ladies were not the first in the soccer world to shake it up. Check out the Seattle Sounders:

Nov

Five Points to Watch: MLS Conference Championships 2nd Leg

By: Kyle McCarthy

Two teams will book their places at MLS Cup by the end of Sunday. Houston and Los Angeles hold the advantage heading into the pair of second-leg affairs, but D.C. United and Seattle will hope to overturn their current deficits on home soil. Here are five points to watch ahead of the decisive affairs:

1. Health concerns create questions: A stretch of four or five games in the span of three weeks takes its toll. D.C. United is in the worst shape at the moment (Chris Pontius’ groin injury is a bitter blow, while Brandon McDonald and Marcelo Saragosa must also recuperate quickly), but there are also concerns in Houston (Calen Carr, Ricardo Clark, Adam Moffat and Jermaine Taylor), Los Angeles (Edson Buddle, A.J. DeLaGarza and Juninho) and Seattle (Leo Gonzalez and Mauro Rosales). A season-ending encounter isn’t the ideal time to test depth, but the circumstances afford few other choices at this juncture.

Nov

Five Things to Watch: Western Conference Championship 1st Leg

By Kyle McCarthy

Seattle travels to Los Angeles to open the Western Conference championship on Sunday night. Here are five points to watch ahead of the enticing first leg encounter at the Home Depot Center:

1. Will Mauro Rosales feature?: Seattle coach Sigi Schmid all but ruled out his creative lynchpin after the 1-0 victory at Real Salt Lake on Thursday night. If Rosales isn’t able to shake off his hamstring knock in time for the first leg, then the Sounders must find some alternative way to create opportunities for Eddie Johnson and Fredy Montero.

2. It is time for Christian Tiffert to shine: The German midfielder assumed Rosales’ station on the right flank without contributing his usual influence on the game. Tiffert possesses the ability and the pedigree to turn the match at this level. Now would mark a pretty good time to start doing it with a decent ball or two from the right side.

Nov

We conclude our recap of the best goals from Major League Soccer’s 2012 season with this special gem from The Emerald City.

Seattle Sounders defender Patrick Ianni scored a great goal on a flying volley against Sporting Kansas City back in June.

Congratulations, Patrick. You take FOX Soccer’s prize for Major League Soccer’s goal of the 2012 season.

Nov

Five things to watch: NY Red Bulls vs. DC United, RSL vs. Seattle Sounders

By Kyle McCarthy

The Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy booked their places in the conference finals on Wednesday, while two more teams will join them Thursday night. Here are five points to watch as DC United visits New York (series tied 1-1 on aggregate) and Real Salt Lake hosts Seattle (series tied 0-0 on aggregate):

1. Dealing with Athena’s remnants: Poor weather forced MLS to postpone Wednesday night’s match between DC United and New York. The conditions shouldn’t be an issue on Thursday, but the state of the field could pose significant problems for both teams. The surface at Red Bull Arena does not rank among the best in MLS in ideal circumstances. This scenario certainly does not fall under that heading.

2. Mental and physical hurdles: It isn’t easy to prepare for a match on consecutive days. Keep an eye on potential strains and tweaks as players work their way into the encounter. Also worth noting: United, in particular, wanted to play Wednesday night. Will the lag time diminish that ambition?

Nov

Number 2 on our 2012 MLS Best Goals countdown belongs to the Seattle Sounders’ Freddy Montero and his thunderous strike from 35 yards out against the Galaxy.

No doubt the best long-range strike of the season, but if not Montero, then who netted the Goal of the Year?? Find out tomorrow!

Nov

Five things to watch: Seattle Sounders vs. Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake visits Seattle Sounders Friday to kick off the semifinal round. Here are five points to watch ahead of the first leg at CenturyLink Field:

1. Will Eddie Johnson play?: Johnson suffered a left adductor strain in the 1-0 defeat at Los Angeles on Sunday night. Seattle coach Sigi Schmid hasn’t ruled him out of this match, but he probably won’t feature from the start. If Johnson isn’t in the lineup, then Seattle loses its most direct option up front and turns into a side that must operate more intricately in the final third to score goals.

2. If Johnson can’t play, then how will Schmid replace him?: The veteran boss isn’t short of options. Sammy Ochoa offers the physical presence (if not the speed) Johnson usually provides. David Estrada and Steve Zakuani present options to stretch the Real Salt Lake back four. Mauro Rosales supplies ingenuity if he slides up from his usual spot on the right side of midfield. All four players represent viable choices to fill the void. It is up to Schmid to figure out how to best use the pieces available to him.

3. Fullbacks versus wingers: The key tactical matchup likely involves Seattle’s wide players against RSL’s fullbacks. RSL boss Jason Kreis asks a lot of Tony Beltran and Chris Wingert. They usually assume much of the defensive responsibility against the wide players with RSL’s narrow diamond midfield (admittedly, Will Johnson scurries about to provide additional support). The fullback duo must get their positioning and their spacing right to keep Seattle from moving quickly through midfield and piling on the pressure.