Yes, I fully understand that there are top leagues around the world that are head and shoulders above the MLS. I also understand that soccer has been a tough sell in this country. I also realize this makes for an even tougher sell for the future of the sport if it is the only sport in the US that serves as a feeder to other more prestigious and better leagues. Especially in Europe.

The growth of soccer will hit a wall if the best league in the country cannot keep and attract top talent and is instead welcoming being seen as a farm or minor league here in the US as it already is in much of the world.

Gonna be a long year for SKC

Ah haha. What is your doom prediction. Missed playoffs?

You should find a new sport. All of these teams buying mls talent? They all sell their best players to better clubs. Some of them are quite new to the top league. Stoke is basically midtable mediocrity defined.

But transfers are a fact of life in the game. If you don't sell players, they'll leave for a free and with the club getting nothing. In a lot of leagues around the world the players and club have a tacit understanding that the player will sign a new contract and the club will let them go if any offer comes along. It protects the club and the player. Ajax has acted like that for years now.

People here just expect the same heavily unionized, bargained leagues that we have for our other sports. That's fine, but it doesn't work that way for soccer. Until mls can start making TV money, it'll be like this. Even then, there are tons of leagues in the world growing along with mls. In Brazil, Asia, and so on. There's no ten year plan to being a top league. Just embrace the club culture and have fun

Nope not after 35 years of watching the sport and waiting for it to catch on. I think there are two different issues here. One is how the sport operates worldwide. The other ihow it grows and operates in the US. I foresee an unhappy convergence as the MLS starts losing star players on a regular basis.

Listened to preseason action and it was nice.to see Mikey Lopez draw a foul that led to a goal.

How many leagues in the world are selling leagues? Pretty much every single one of them. If the expectation is that MLS compete with the financial clout of the BPL and La Liga, well we're not there and may never be. Leagues with 80 more years of history are sellers and with the currently necessary handicaps of single-entity and a salary cap, we can't really expect MLS to punch with the big boys yet.

I don't see any problem w/ the way the league is heading. I'm perfectly content to watch an ever increasing level of domestic play. Despite the dilution of expansion, I think the level of talent on teams is incomparably higher than it was in the early years. A consequence of this is teams in "better" leagues coming in for our players. I'm proud that MLS has players of that quality and has began to overcome the stigma in Europe that it's simply a retirement league.

Zusi and Besler both make the cut for the Honduras US Mens National Team game. Good stuff.

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION (World Cup qualifying Caps/Goals) – Detailed Roster

GOALKEEPERS (3) : Brad Guzan (Aston Villa - 5/3 SO), Tim Howard (Everton – 22/9 SO), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire – 0/0)

DEFENDERS (9) : Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City – 0/0), Carlos Bocanegra (Racing Santander – 31/5), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City – 5/0), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana – 0/0), Timmy Chandler (Nuremberg – 0/0), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders – 0/0), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy – 0/0), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim – 3/0), Michael Parkhurst (Augsburg – 3/0)

MIDFIELDERS (8) : Michael Bradley (Roma – 19/5), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo - 0/0), Maurice Edu (Bursaspor – 9/0), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04 – 5/0), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht – 12/0), Jose Torres (Tigres – 9/0), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim – 4/0), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City – 3/0)

FORWARDS (4 ): Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar – 17/6), Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur – 26/10), Herculez Gomez (Santos – 6/2), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders – 11/10)

Cauldron just released the opening day scarf available for order.

https://www.kccauldron.com/cauldron-...ning-Day-Scarf

https://www.kccauldron.com/images/pr.../OpenScarf.jpg

Also Episode 9 of Kick The Ball has been released. http://kicktheball.us/

https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net...68729015_a.jpg

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/soccer-...162819729.html

The road to the World Cup begins in earnest for the United States on Wednesday in an environment that, at least on paper, could scarcely be more hostile.

According to the U.S. State Department and reports from humanitarian groups, San Pedro Sula, the second biggest city in Honduras, is the most violent place on earth. The conclusion is derived from data that shows a homicide rate of 159 deaths per 100,000 citizens, with widespread thievery, drug-related violence and social unrest rife just four years removed from a bloody military coup.

Such a setting is a simple reality for the USA, for whom the good fortune of being in a relatively weak section of soccer’s global map brings an enhanced chance of reaching the World Cup in Brazil next year, yet also a series of tourist trials along the way.

Teams in the CONCACAF region that encompasses North and Central America and the Caribbean are no strangers to various forms of perfectly authorized skullduggery, plus annoyances such as erratic refereeing and less than pristine playing conditions. For example, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s players will know that their road games will be patronized by crowds fully prepared to hurl verbal hostility, often in venues and at kickoff times designed to provide maximum discomfort for the visitors.

Wednesday’s clash has been switched to mid-afternoon local time to ensure the temperature is at its highest, an advantage for the Honduran locals, with most of the Americans plying their trade in the chillier climes of Europe.
A presidentially decreed national day will ensure a packed crowd clad in Honduras’ light-blue colors, interspersed with a tiny pocket of hardy and loyal USA supporters.

The road has to start somewhere, though, and despite San Pedro Sula's nefarious reputation, things won’t get any easier as the U.S.'s campaign progresses throughout this year.

Visits to the lions’ den of Mexico City, to notoriously difficult Costa Rica and its awful playing surfaces, and to Panama, follow. A trip to Jamaica won't be all palm trees and cocktails either, with the Americans having been defeated there in the preliminary qualifying round that had little meaning and served only to cull a bunch of weaker teams from contention.


"Every continent has its tricky parts and difficult environments and San Pedro Sula definitely has its own difficult environment, but those are challenges that players need," Klinsmann told reporters. "They need to go through those games, they need to prove themselves and they need to find ways to get the job done.

"I will always welcome these opportunities, these matches, because that's what it's all about, going to these places that are not your home, cozy environment and proving a point. The players are ready for that."
As is generally the way, the wider American sports public has paid little attention to the side since its round of 16 defeat, under former head coach Bob Bradley, in the 2010 World Cup.

Expectations for next year then, will largely be dictated by how much difficulty Klinsmann's charges have in negotiating this round. Some signs, such as exhibition victories at Italy and Mexico, have been positive. Others, such as the Jamaica debacle, less so.

Personnel-wise, only Mexico has a stronger roster in CONCACAF than the USA. With Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley having developed into genuine stars, accompanied by an overall solid corps of players, the Americans are formidable.

However, Landon Donovan's future involvement still remains a mystery, with the USA's most recognized player stuck in a kind of mental limbo as to what he wants from the rest of his career. Donovan has not made the trip to Honduras, but may be back soon.

Even so, with three of the six remaining CONCACAF teams guaranteed to reach the World Cup and a fourth bound for a playoff, USA fans will expect a relatively stress-free campaign, though Klinsmann is taking nothing for granted.

"There is no easy way, not for Mexico, not for the United States, not for anybody," he said. "You have to get your points, you have to win your games and you have to get the job done. You have to go into every game with the expectation that it's going to be difficult, that it will challenge you to the limits. That's our approach."

Predictions (finishing order):

1. Mexico: The class team in the region and reigning Olympic champion. Having seemingly conquered its previous habit of nagging inconsistency, Mexico is not just looking to cruise through this phase but make deep inroads at the World Cup itself.

2. United States: Should have little trouble qualifying, but mixed results under Klinsmann has split opinion on this team's true potential. Home form should be enough to comfortably clinch a spot in Brazil, but some early results on the road would ease any jitters.

3. Honduras: Could give the Americans a tough time and will like their chances of reaching a second straight World Cup. Not packed with skill but not afraid to grind out a result either and will be a force to be reckoned with at home.

4. Jamaica: Fourth place does not guarantee a trip to Brazil, merely a do-or-die playoff (likely against New Zealand). Such an outcome is a valid goal for the Reggae Boyz, who finally have a team capable of reaching the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

5. Panama: Patches of talent but probably not strong enough to put together a serious bid for a top-three finish, though capable of an upset on their day.

6. Costa Rica: A sorry shadow of its former position as one of the best teams in the region. Qualification cannot be discounted, but a poor start and a meek capitulation looks more likely on recent evidence.

Sweet, scarf looks awesome and the podcast has kept me sane during commutes.

You going to Johnny's @ P&L to watch tomorrow?

I will be...stop me and say Hi if you recognize me.

More great content from KickTV.

US vs HONDURAS — 2014 World Cup Qualifying in the Murder Capital: The Hex

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I'm at work. Really wish I could see this game. Have they announced the starting 11 yet?

Am hearing it is Howard; Chandler, Cameron, Bocanegra, Johnson; Williams, Jones, Bradley, Zusi; Dempsey, Gomez