Pre-Christmas Roundup

A few items as we head into the Christmas holiday...and all those Boxing Day matches!

Don't know what to give your loved one? How about a massage?

Will Manchester United put a little Pep in their step?

With the new NASL breakaway league making all the noise, we've all forgotten about what's left of the USL. The PDL announced their alignment today and there are a lot of teams in that league.

According to Ives, Jermaine Jones' rehab at Schalke isn't going so well. Sucks for all the USMNT supporters.

Do you ever wonder what MLS coaches do during the offseason? Sounders FC goalkeeper coach, Tom Dutra has been in Hoffenheim, Germany learning from 1899 Hoffenheim. Check it out, it's an interesting read. He also got to see Jens Lehmann's bathroom break that ODB told you about.

Finally, here are the 30 players that Bob Bradley called into the January training camp.

Tuesday News

I'm way too tired to come up with anything clever so I'm going to just give you the news.

New England Revolution defender Jay Heaps is retiring. I guess he was just holding out for that first USMNT cap.

Canada will be at the World Cup. Maybe Ireland can figure out a way to get there too.

The NASL is growing by the minute.

Martin Vasquez is tipped to be the new Chivas USA coach.

Jermaine Defoe knows how to score.

The Generation Adidas boys are touring South Africa.

Have a holly jolly Christmas! Seriously, you need to go window shopping.

News From This Weekend

I admit it. I'm a slacker. I was too busy living it up during MLS Cup weekend that I didn't get around to giving you all the juicy footy news you crave. So instead of reinventing the wheel, I'm giving you links to the news that you need to know.

You probably already know this, but Real Salt Lake are the 2009 MLS Champions.



Wednesday is the expansion draft for the Philadelphia Union. Each team's protected players list came out today and here are the players left unprotected.

MLS announced the Generation Adidas graduates.

The USL Breakaway teams are forming the NASL...minus the Sounders and Earthquakes. But what about the Cosmos?

Long time DC United midfielder, Ben Olsen is retiring.

Jermaine Defoe and Tottenham went off on Wigan to the tune of 9-1, causing the Wigan players to refund the ticket prices to the fans. You can see the highlights here.

Did you know that David Beckham has asthma? I didn't.

Apparently, Freddie Ljungberg is a fan of Hawaii, but not MLS pitches.

I attended the MLS Supporters Summit on Saturday where Commissioner Garber discussed expansion, naming Montreal and David Beckham's option to own a future team as teams number 19 and 20 to round out the league.

I ran into Preki on Sunday, who happens to be the new coach for Toronto FC.

Oh Danny Boy and I definitely had some adventures and made some good connections to make this blog even better in the future. Stay tuned for more tales from MLS Cup 2009.