Commissioner Don Garber revealed that MLS has reached an agreement with Brian McBride, during Thursday nights All Star game. The details will be announced tomorrow afternoon by MLS. The deal took longer than expected because Toronto FC had the first claim to McBride’s rights and negotiations with Chicago Fire, who McBride wants to join, had stalled. It appears MLS have successfully stepped in and reached an agreement and the details will be released tomorrow. McBride returns to Major League Soccer after successful four year tenure with English Premier League club FulhamCheck back tomorrow for all the details on McBride contract with MLS, and the details of the deal between Chicago Fire and Toronto FC.

According to The Red Card, Chicago Fire forward Calen Carr will miss the remainder of the season with an ACL injury suffered during the D.C. United game on Tuesday. Carr had started to feature in the Chicago first time just before the injury, after struggling to make the starting lineup. The injury comes at a bad time for Chicago, as forwards Andy Herron and Tomasz Frankowski are both currently out injured, leaving only Chad Barret, Chris Rolfe and Patrick Nyarko as the Fire’s forward options. Carr was drafted 10th overall by Chicago in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft, and has made 58 appearances to date. It’s always sad to see players get injured, everyone here at ASR wishes Calen a speedy and safe recovery. What do you think? Looks like Chicago could use Brian McBride more than ever.

Rating: 3(Likely)

According to multiple sources the Kansas City Wizards are targeting former Wizards and Fire forward Josh Wolff. Wolf made 80 appearances scoring 27 times between 2003 and 2006 with the Wizards before moving to 1860 Munich. At Munich Wolf scored 2 goals in 34 appearances and did not have his contract renewed. The 31 year old striker has 52 caps for the US National Team, and could be interested in a return to Kansas City. KC manager Curt Onalfo has coached Wolff during his time with the National Team and is very fond of the striker. The Wizards are one of the lowest scoring teams in MLS this season and have been very clear that they are looking to upgrade their attacking options.What do you think? Would return to KC be a good move for Josh Wolff? for the Wizards?

It’s been a busy day for United States Men’s National Team manager Bob Bradley, already calling up Danny Szetela, Chris Seitz and Drew Moor. Bradley has also decided to call up Chicago Fire trio John Thorrington, Chad Barret and Chris Rolfe. While Rolfe(6 caps) and Thorrington(1 cap) both have previous national team experience, Barrett will be hoping to earn his first cap, having been capped at the U-23 level. Bradley still has 4 spots available for more call ups. Who else would you like to see?

Hello Fans!

Well it definitely has not been the best couple of weeks for the team.  Two losses, and on top of that an embarrassing loss at home (I won’t try to sugar coat it).  Needless to say, all of us are not pleased with the past two results.  Obviously the Chicago game was a rough one for all who were involved, be it a fan or a player.  I am not going to sit here and try to make excuses for our poor performance.  I don’t think there was one person on the field who was the least bit pleased with their performance that game, and how could any of us have been pleased.  In a game that was talked about for a while (and blown a bit out of proportion by some fans and media) we simply did not show up.  Plain and simple!  A loss at home is always tough to swallow, but be it against a rival and a butt whooping…I can’t think of a worse case scenario.  About the only thing you want to do after that game is forget about it.  There are clearly many things we can take from that game; mistakes we made and lack of concentration.  However, at the end of the day every guy on the team knows that performance was terrible and we have to do much, much better.  So we have to put it in the past, and make sure that we do not have a repeat performance.

Last week we were in Houston, a place that especially in June, is not a very fun place to play at.  It was another hot and humid night, and even though Houston was missing some key players, they were still able to field a solid team capable of getting a result.  Although we were missing some key players ourselves (JP, Dave, and Claudio), we still had plenty of experience and talented players on the field to at least grab a point from that game.  It was not the prettiest of games, but it was a game that we were definitely in a good position to get at least a point.  We had talked all week about how Houston’s main strengths are their competitiveness and their set pieces.  Needless to say, conceding a goal on a play that we discussed during the week in practice was frustrating.  Give credit to them, they were aware of us turning our backs, and quickly put the ball back in play.  Next thing we know, the ball is in the back of our net and we find ourselves down 1-0.  Like I said earlier, I am not going to try and sugar coat or make excuses for why we lacked concentration at that particular moment.  We, as a team, simply have to do better and limit the small mental mistakes that we are making, and costing us precious points.  

Tomorrows game presents us with another good challenge against a team who is having their troubles with injuries, but have got great results in their past few games.  Having said that, I believe that we have more then enough experience, speed, and skill to win this game.  We just need to do a better job of possessing the ball; knowing the right times to attack, and the right times when maybe it is not on to go forward right away and just keep the ball.  I think sometimes we try and force the ball forward to quickly right after we have won it from our opposition.  More times then not, the opposition is most vulnerable when the ball is first turned over (because they have committed numbers forward and some players may be caught out of position).  However, sometimes it is simply not on.  You may not have the lane to pass the ball, or there may not be enough players forward to take advantage of the other team.  Soccer is a balancing act of patience (keeping possession) and urgency (knowing when to attack the opponent at speed).  If we can do a better job of balancing the two, I think we will find ourselves back in the win column.

On a lighter note, I would like to send a big CONGRATULATIONS to Dave Van Den Bergh and his wife for the birth of their new baby boy, Max.  Both Dave’s wife and son are healthy and doing great.  I know they are both happy and relieved that it is over with.  Although, you can already tell that Dave is not getting as much sleep as he was.  Guess that goes with the territory!  

Well, I really hope to see you guys out at the game tomorrow.  I know it is a weekday and many of you work, but we really do appreciate all of your support and we are eager to show you that our last two games are behind us and we are back to our winning ways!

As always, here are some of your questions:

Hello Hunter, what positions do you think need most strengthening in  

the RBNY squad? I know the popular opinion among fans would be Left  

footed defender, and center attacking mid, would you agree?

-Melanie K

Melanie,

It is no secret that the positions we are probably the thinnest at would be left footed defender, left footed midfielder, and now with the move of Jozy I would say forward.  Those are three areas that I would think are possibilities for us to improve in during the upcoming transfer window.

Hunter, who’s your pick to win the upcoming Euro 2008 tournament? Have

a dark horse pick?

-Steven J

Steve, 

My favorite to win would be Italy…and dark horse, the Swiss.

Hey Hunter, there are lots of rumors about Jozy slacking in training  

a little bit, what is your opinion? Think he’s doing alright?

-John K

John, 

Well needless to say, I think if you have been reading anything on the Internet today you have seen that Jozy has been sold to Villarreal.  Needless to say, he will not be with us much longer and I only wish him the best.  Definitely a dream come true, and I am excited for him.

Hunter, do you ever play pickup games on the side for fun? or are you  

a little sick of soccer during your off time?

-Carey F

Carey,

I don’t usually play soccer in my off time.  I get quite a bit of soccer in every other day!  Although, I have been known to play soccer tennis with my friends occasionally.  That’s as close as I get to playing soccer in my off time.

  Do you have any questions, comments, mixtapes or anything else to say to Hunter? Send them to Hunter@americansoccerreader.com  

Following a 5-1 loss to Chicago last Sunday, the New York Red Bulls head to Houston to face-off against the Dynamo. After having their five game unbeaten streak snapped in embarrassing fashion, New York will be looking to take advantage of a significantly weakened Houston side that will be missing numerous significant players. Star midfielder Dewayne DeRosario and goalkeeper Pat Onstad will be away on international duty with Canada as they play Brazil, and defender Eddie Robinson faces a one game suspension after picking up two yellow cards in Houston’s 2-2 draw with FC Dallas on Wednesday. The Dynamo, sitting on eleven points after ten matches, lie in fifth place in the Western conference, although they are only three points behind first place Los Angeles. 

There is no doubt that New York will be looking to improve defensively after surrendering five goals to Chicago, and will certainly be aided by the return of midfielder Seth Stammler from injury. Stammler’s tenacious tackling and ball-winning prowess was certainly missed last Sunday. Talking about Chicago midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Claudio Reyna said, “Without blaming anyone, every time I turned around I couldn’t believe how much time he had. Juan (Pablo Angel) and I sat at halftime and said we never have time like that. He just seemed to be running into spaces and didn’t really know why he was so open at time. Pace isn’t his thing and he was getting wide open on the ball.” Stammler is excellent at closing out passing lanes and establishing control of the midfield, while also providing support to the backline. 

Two notable absences will be Claudio Reyna, who will not make the trip west due to a hamstring injury, and midfielder Dave Van den Bergh. Van den Bergh will miss his second consecutive game, as his wife is scheduled to give birth to the couple’s second child in the coming days. 

Another intriguing combination to keep an eye on is the Red Bull’s strike force, which has struggled to establish itself this season. The duo of Juan Pablo Angel and Jozy Altidore was predicted to be one of the most prolific goal-scoring pairs in recent MLS history, but early injuries have plugged up the expected deluge of goals. Juan Pablo Angel has suffered from an underwhelming offensive supporting cast, as well as opponents becoming more familiar with him and marking him tightly with double teams. Red Bulls officials have also started to become concerned with the attitude of Jozy Altidore, who seems to be a bit distracted by all of the attention he is receiving from high profile international clubs. The team has also been suffering from an effective third option up top, but will be reinforced by the return of Columbian striker Oscar Echeverry. Considering the talent of this group, it is not a question of if the goals will begin to flow, but when. 

 DC United announced Friday that 24 year old defender Jeff Curtin has officially announced his retirement. Curtin was picked up in the waiver draft after being wavied by Chicago, who drafted him in the 2nd round of the 2006 MLS Superdraft. Curtin made 3 appearances for the Fire, scoring one goal, after spending 4 years at Georgetown University. Curtin did not make a first team appearance for DC, and his older brother Jim currently plays for Chivas USA.

Rating: 2(Possible)

According to multiple sources out of MLS and England, Brian McBride is in advanced negotiations with the Chicago Fire and may join the team as early as July. The 35 year old Striker is a Illinois native, and has previously played for the Columbus Crew in MLS. McBride has spent the last 4 years at English Premiership side Fulham, scoring 32 goals.

Rating- Confirmed

Goalkeeper Dominic Cervi is on trial with Scottish super club Celtic. The 21 year old goalkeeper was drafted by the Chicago Fire, but rejected their contract offer. Cervi has been capped by the United Stats U-23 team during Olympic qualifying and was the 12th overall pick in the 2008 MLS Superdraft. 

The 22 year old Paraguayan defensive midfielder has signed with the Chicago Fire after a drawn out negotiation process. Chicago placed a discovery player claim one day before the New York Red Bulls, which mean’t they had first refusal for Marmol if he reached an agreement with MLS. Marmol had been training with the Red Bulls over the past few weeks. Marmol reached an agreement with MLS. Marmol is regarded as a very promising player, and this is surely bad news for Red Bulls fans. Update: Marmol has left RBNY and will be traveling to Chicago Fire to make a final decision on whether or not he will officially sign with Chicago. The first reports we received were a bit premature, although it looks very likely Marmol will sign.