Amid a power struggle in the Western Conference of MLS, Alejandro Moreno reveals how the top six will look entering the MLS Cup Playoffs.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Sporting Kansas City signed a quartet of its All-Star players, including long-time star Graham Zusi and defender Matt Besler, to multi-year contract extensions on Tuesday.
Midfielders Roger Espinoza and Ilie Sanchez also signed extensions, ensuring that four of the club’s most popular and important players will remain its foundation for at least the next couple years. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Besler and Zusi joined the club in the 2009 draft, and quickly became…
Adrian Healey and Taylor Twellman reveal and discuss the U.S. team to face Costa Rica and Honduras in World Cup qualifying.
HOBOKEN, New Jersey — At this point, it’s fair to say that the Graham Zusi-to-right-back experiment is, well, no longer an experiment.
Before this season, Zusi spent the bulk of his 248 appearances at both the club and international levels in midfield. But one of the exceptions came last season when Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes saw a favorable matchup against the LA Galaxy, and put Zusi at right-back. He liked what he saw, especially with Zusi’s ability to get forward, and tried it…
Go behind the scenes with Sporting Kansas City’s equipment crew for a look at the work they do during training.
“Benny said that?” Sporting Kansas City coach Peter Vermes asked.
“Benny wouldn’t have said that in 2013. So either we’ve brainwashed him, or it’s something that he really believes.”
A day earlier, Benny Feilhaber had ascribed Kansas City’s consistent success, at least in part, to a commitment to team defense. That even Feilhaber, who arrived four years ago as a stereotypically attack-minded playmaker, sees it that way is testament to just how deeply Vermes’ principles have taken root.
Sporting…
M’Gladbach and U.S. midfielder Fabian Johnson left his side’s Europa League match against Schalke after just 16 minutes due to injury.
Former U.S. forward Herculez Gomez goes position by position to reveal his depth chart for the USMNT’s qualifier against Honduras.
ESPN FC’s Steve Nicol reviews the current USMNT squad and has difficulty finding room for new U.S. citizen, Dom Dwyer. Fabian Johnson has been ruled out of the United States’ upcoming World Cup qualifiers with a hamstring injury, and Graham Zusi will take his spot in Bruce Arena’s squad.
Johnson came off in the 16th minute in Borussia Monchengladbach’s Europa League game on Thursday, four days before he was supposed to report for U.S. duty.
U.S. Soccer confirmed Johnson’s injury on Friday, hours after Gladbach said he would be “sidelined for an unknown period of time” with a pulled muscle in his thigh.
Zusi,…
A couple shots went just wide, but the U.S. couldn’t find the back of the net against Serbia in their first match of 2017.
FC’s Ian Darke and Taylor Twellman share their takeaways from the draw between the U.S. and Serbia as well as their standout performers.
U.S. head coach Bruce Arena was pleased with his side’s performance against Serbia despite the match ending scoreless.
Bruce Arena’s return to the sidelines with the U.S. Men’s National Team came in the form of a friendly against Serbia at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. With the stakes just a bit higher than in a usual January camp friendly, the Americans ended the day with a slightly dispiriting goalless draw.
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A wave of enthusiasm swept in with Bruce Arena, as the one-time USMNT boss returned to the job after Jurgen Klinsmann’s dismissal, and there was at least some evidence of it on the field in San…
USMNT coach Bruce Arena talks upcoming friendlies, Clint Dempsey’s health, CONCACAF and qualifying for the World Cup.
The United States are deploying in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Graham Zusi starting at right-back and Greg Garza back in the lineup in Bruce Arena’s return to the sidelines for the national team in a friendly against Serbia.
Arena, 65, is back at the helm for his second time around after replacing Jurgen Klinsmann in December after the German was fired as manager. Arena had previously managed the team from 1998 – 2006 including overseeing the team at two World Cups.
Check out the #USMNT Starting…
Bruce Arena tells ESPN FC’s Taylor Twellman he has enjoyed working with the players in camp with the U.S.
In many ways, Bruce Arena’s version of the United States men’s national team will look similar to the squad that took the field during 2016. Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Fabian Johnson, Christian Pulisic and a few others are surefire starters, while another handful of players are locks to make the game-day roster. But that doesn’t mean there’s not room for new faces or changes to the depth chart.
Here are 10 players who could dramatically improve their national team standing in 2017.
The Newcomers:…