Graham Parker – Football Scout

Sigi Schmid had more to lose than prove in ill-fated second stint with LA Galaxy

Taylor Twellman explains why Sigi Schmid’s exit from the LA Galaxy could shake things up in the search for a new U.S. national team coach.

A certain infamous politician recently made a point of reminding his supporters that they were about to get tired of winning. It was hard not to think of that sentiment on hearing the news that Sigi Schmid, the winningest coach in MLS history, who’d succeeded the second-most winningest coach in MLS, Bruce Arena, was stepping down as LA Galaxy coach to be replaced by the third-most winningest coach, Dom Kinnear.

And looking at that list, it’s perhaps fair to ask the question, “What have you won…

Wayne Rooney must show he has enough left to revive D.C. United

ESPN FC’s Taylor Twellman explains why the onus is on D.C. United and not Wayne Rooney to make his potential move to Major League Soccer a success.

The first thought on hearing that Wayne Rooney has signed with D.C. United is: “There’s 32, and then there’s 32.”

Rooney has looked his age for some time now. While he was never much of a natural athlete even as a 16-year-old man-child, Rooney is now twice as old as he was in that moment he burst onto the scene for Everton, and he has played a lot of soccer in the interim.

Other players have made successful jumps to MLS at this age. David Beckham, Thierry Henry and David Villa all arrived in…

NYCFC put faith in CFG institution in replacing Patrick Vieira with Domenec Torrent

Paul Mariner and Mark Donaldson assess Patrick Vieira’s move to Nice, his impact at NYCFC and what new coach Domenec Torrent will bring to the club.

Crisis? What crisis?

At any other club, an internal appointment to replace a marquee manager who has suddenly departed midseason might be regarded as an embarrassing climbdown. For City Football Group and New York City FC, moving Domenec Torrent across from his position as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City to take over for Patrick Vieira as head coach at the sister club is a statement of belief in the CFG way.

Footballing history is full of dedicated assistants who never transitioned…

NYCFC put faith in City Football Group in replacing Patrick Vieira with Domenec Torrent

Paul Mariner and Mark Donaldson assess Patrick Vieira’s move to Nice, his impact at NYCFC and what new coach Domenec Torrent will bring to the club.

Crisis? What crisis?

Footballing history is full of dedicated assistants who never transitioned…

How ‘Messi and Friends’ led Northwestern’s all-time leading scorer to chase his dreams in Iceland

Matt Eliason’s dream of playing professionally appeared to be over, until a chance appearance in a friendly with Lionel Messi changed his life.

Thierry Henry laconically flicks a cross toward the penalty spot, to where Matt Eliason is waiting to chest it down. Cushioning the ball perfectly into the air, Eliason throws his body back and catches the falling ball sweetly, as his leg whips around over his head. The net bulges. On the other team, Lionel Messi can only look on in wonder.

If it sounds like a your-name-here dream for the Matt Eliason character, it was, sort of, though in many ways the reality of what followed that fantasy moment…

How the LA Galaxy will help Zlatan Ibrahimovic combat MLS’ infamous travel challenges

Zlatan Ibrahimovic speaks exclusively to ESPN about his move to MLS, playing under Jose Mourinho and whether or not he’ll play with Sweden at the World Cup.

LA Galaxy’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic took former Brazil striker Ronaldo on a tour of the club’s training complex and introduced him to the squad.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic does spectacular entrances. We knew that long before he crashed home the spectacular long-range shot that introduced him to LA Galaxy fans in his first game.

But as the Galaxy prepare to set off on their first big road trip of the year, with successive visits to Houston, Dallas and Montreal, we may now be at the moment where the novelty of Ibrahimovic’s arrival will truly set into the day-to-day grind of a grueling MLS season.

Watching how Ibrahimovic handles the forthcoming…

Bradley Wright-Phillips’ goal-scoring prowess makes him one of MLS’ very best

Bradley Wright-Phillips talks New York Red Bulls’ preseason preparations, motivations ahead of this season and more.
Bradley Wright-Phillips has been here before.
Having hit a league-record-equaling 27 goals in 2014, Wright-Phillips could have been forgiven for expecting a little respect. Instead, he was popularly painted as the fortunate beneficiary of Thierry Henry’s genius, and even slighted for his efficiency in “only” scoring the amount he did. The thinking was that Wright-Phillips would struggle without Henry.
Instead, he has thrived, becoming the first MLS player to manage a second 20-plus goal season and…

Bradley Wright-Phillips’ goal-scoring prowess makes him one of MLS’ very best

Savarese equipped for unique culture of Portland after Cosmos reign

Giovanni Savarese says he’s eager to earn the respect of Portland fans after being introduced as the Timbers’ next coach.

When the Portland Timbers unexpectedly parted ways with Caleb Porter this offseason, the immediate popular discussion outside of Portland was that this was a story about Porter story, not the Timbers.

The subsequent speculation linking Porter with the vacant U.S. job tended to glide over the fact that the Portland Timbers are a very particular organization within MLS. Their leadership understand they are as much a cultural presence within the city as a footballing one, and their coaching requirements…

The good, the bad and the ugly of the 2017 Major League Soccer season

Sebastian Salazar and Herculez Gomez reflect on Toronto FC’s MLS Cup triumph and possible redemption for Altidore and Bradley.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber sits down with Taylor Twellman for a comprehensive conversation about the future of MLS.

Toronto FC capped off a 2017 season in which it set an MLS record for most points in a single season, won the Canadian Championship and secured the Supporters’ Shield by lifting MLS Cup on home soil on Saturday night. With the campaign now in the rear-view mirror, Graham Parker picks out the good, the bad and the ugly of the 2017 Major League Soccer season.

The Good

The final was the kind of dominant display we’d been waiting for from Toronto during these playoffs, restoring that feel of inevitability…

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