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Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Eric Kronberg will undergo sports hernia surgery on Tuesday in Los Angeles and is expected to miss up to eight weeks while recovering. Kronberg, 28, allowed five goals in four appearances in 2011, his sixth MLS season, and is the second-longest tenured player on Sporting Kansas City’s roster after being drafted in the fourth round of the 2006 MLS SuperDraft.
Kronberg to Undergo Sports Hernia Surgery | Sporting Kansas City
With regard to the name change, as much as it disappoints me as a "Wizards" proponent is that I don't think the "Wizards" would have had the off field success that "Sporting" did this year. As much as I love the name, it is kiddy, and it does have the Wizard of Oz connotation to people when they here Kansas and Wizard in the same sentence. The Sporting name gave the front office an almost clean slate to work with for the 2011 season. Sure the stadium was a big selling point, but do people think the same success in the stands occur with the name Wizards? I don't think so.
I actually really like this pick. Harrington is an underrated defender that just battled a lot of injuries this past year in Kansas City. He's a little pricier than most of Kevin's picks but I view him as a guy that mainly just needs a change of location to get his career back on track. This would be that kind of move for him.
Sporting KC has done a good job of marketing the team and creating a great following for the team. They've created the Membership site, which is still being developed, but certainly has the best of intentions in place. The next step I'd like to see the team put out is season review DVDs. And I'd like to see step up and make this happen. The 2011 season for KC is one that I think many fans would like to relive. From the rebranding announcement one year ago today, through the draft and preseason in Arizona, to the extended road trip, to the home opener, the long and beaten run, to the loss against Houston in the Eastern Conference final. Sure it's not the ending that we all wanted, but the whole season is one I want to relive over.
"Collin, at the end of the day he’s a psycho and that is good for our team because you need those types of guys inside the white lines and on your team and you want to play with them." - Vermes on the unique value that Aurelien Collin brings to his side
We felt that this would give our mock draft at least some sense of realism. Going off these lists, SB Nation World Soccer Editor Kevin McCauley will play the part of Montreal Impact general manager and pick the 10 players he think would get the expansion team off to a solid start. Our Mock Expansion Draft will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern and be streamed live right here. SB Nation Soccer contributor Drew Epperley will also provide some post draft commentary.
"I think the comments were appalling," Beckham said. "I think a lot of people have said that. I don't think the comments were very good for this game. I have no power with who goes and who stays within FIFA, and I don't wish to have that, but there obviously is and has been racism throughout soccer and life. "Especially being around the England team, being around the FA, the FA do a lot of work with kicking racism out of the game, and I think they've made huge strides in the last 10-to-15 years, but it's still there and it can't be swept under the carpet and it can't be sorted out with just a handshake. That's not the way of the world, and that's not how racism should be greeted."
Soccer By Ives: MLS Cup Notes: Beckham rips Blatter, Davis replacement candidates & more
Enter Brad Davis, our pick here at SB Nation Soccer for the 2011 MLS MVP. You can try to talk away the season that Davis had for the Houston Dynamo, try to convince yourself that De Ro's goals or Shea's versatility are enough to take the award away from Davis, but you're being foolish. No player was more important to the success of his team than Brad Davis was to the Dynamo this season and if you can't see it, you've got team colored blinders on.
SB Nation Soccer MLS Awards: Brad Davis Wins Our MVP - SBNation.com
Other contenders would include the first-year Galaxy, the second-year D.C. United, expansion Chicago in 1998, Kansas City in 2000, Houston's back-to-back champs in 2006-07 (following San Jose's Supporters' Shield in 2005), and the Columbus Crew in 2008.
GALAXY: Best MLS team of all time? - Soccer Blog - ESPN Los Angeles
Instead Klinsmann wants to fashion the U.S. in a different mold. He wants to press the opposition high in its half, play with more possession and maintain a more attacking mindset. Against France, the U.S. was criticized in some quarters for being overly defensive-minded. However, there was actually a marked difference in that the team pressed France high up the field as opposed to defending deep as it often did under his predecessor Bob Bradley. Offensively the U.S. faltered in possession against France, but against a weaker opponent, Slovenia, the U.S. showed it can at times play with a more fluid attacking approach and utilize a vantage point higher up the field, as opposed to relying on the open spaces that counter attacks typically provide.
Edwin Van der Sar enjoying his retirement; U.S. team musings - Jen Chang - SI.com