Good afternoon folks (and Good Morning on the West Coast). It has been a slow day on SBI as I try to catch up with some projects and also as I finally sat down and finished off the most recent Q&A session (which was the largest to date). Eddie Johnson and the MLS collective bargaining agreement were the big topics in this session as readers offered up a pretty diverse range of questions. I'm not saying all my answers are right, but here's hoping I can help inform you and lead you in the right direction when it comes to...Ives Galarcep

Hello all. It is time for your latest installment of Your Questions Answered. This is the second of four parts of the most recent Q&A session.There are plenty of topics covered, from the U.S. World Cup 2010 team to MLS expansion to the Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls.Let's get started. Here are some more of your questions answered:MARK- Will Juan Pablo Angel be a Red Bull in '09? IVES- I say yes. It's been a frustrating year for him, but with the new stadium set to open and the team having plenty of money and a DP spot to use, I think Angel will be convinced to stay.---------------------------- DCU Fan- Who will be the head coach of DC next season? Will it still be Soehn, or do you see someone else in the position?  read more »

Good afternoon folks. I'm sure some of you thought you would never see the Q&A return, but I did finally find the time to finish answering the last round of questions from January. I have stated it before but I will say it now. All future Q&A sessions will take place on Friday and the answers will be posted on the following Monday. As for the last round of questions, here they are, the rest of your questions answered: LUIS- Any news on clint mathis? IVES- Mathis made his first appearance for Greek club Ergotelis two weeks ago and last...Ives Galarcep

First off go here and read this article then come back and read what follows below. You may even agree or have friends or colleagues or listen to certain radio shows , that would agree with the above article. It is not often that we post an editorial, we usually only do when it is something we feel strongly about. Usually on a subject like this we'd stay quiet but because this was posted on one of our partner sites, we felt need to respond and debunk some of it. If you disagree with our view or theirs feel free to post in the comments below. Basically the article is supposedly a list of four things which will propel MLS to a high status among leagues in world club football. It seems written from the point of view of someone who watches a lot of English Premier League football but knows little about a) the sporting landscape of America, b) the climate of regions such as the northeast in the winter, c) the history of the league or prior ones that failed. He asserts: " If these four goals are accomplished, soccers popularity in the US would rise, and more money would be invested into the league. This would likely be followed by more TV contracts, and marketing opportunities. The US Premier League would eventually become one of FIFAs major entities." Basically, we believe there is no easy recipe for MLS to get to where the author wants it to be, which coincidentally he renames the US Premier League. Authors like this one do not realize there likely is not a quick and cheap solution nor is it likely that there is a quick and expensive one either for the "problem" of MLS not being in its 13 year history as big as leagues that are 100 years old. The only thing that will move MLS along are two things, time and money. It is doubtful that 10 years ago it would have been possible, despite the amount of money spent, for us to be where we are now. What allowed that was an organic growth of the game in this country on all levels. What he writes is not all bad. He makes good points but like we said, they're a bit misguided. His words are in red italics. So we will be brief in addressing them. If you wish to read the whole article it is available here and remember you can give your opinion in the comments below. 1. American leagues must be on the same timetable as world soccer: As of now, the MLS season does not coincide with the worlds major soccer leagues. This must be changed. World soccer is from later summer to spring, while the MLS runs from spring until summer. American soccer cannot not elevate its status being separate from the world like this. We often hear this and in a perfect world or one with a LOT of global warming this would make sense. It is not just he who thinks this. Many in MLS and US Soccer including US National Team manager Bob Bradley would like this to happen. Aside from his reasons, the fact is that soccer is played at a higher pace in cooler temperatures and apparently that's what is important to this guy and many Americans fed a steady diet of English Premier league. No one doubts that this is an ideal thing But the biggest question is whether fans would show up. Here are pictures of Wednesday night's US Open Cup play-in match featuring San Jose away to Real Salt Lake, April 30. Complete with snow and a FIFA approved orange ball. Thanks to RSLBoz for the pics. We are always looking for more RSL content here.  read more »

Good afternoon folks. Apologies for the lack of posts this morning but I have been at Red Bulls training at Giants Stadium. Some interesting tidbits from here that I will post in a bit.What I was able to get done today was the rest of the Q&A session from a few weeks ago. It took a while but I was able to polish them off today.So here they are, they rest of your questions answered:---------------------ADAM- Any idea how serious NYRB will take the Carolina RailHawks game, considering it's their last game before MLS?  read more »

Hello all. Apologies for the lack of posts this morning but I was finishing off the last of the most recent Q&A and also working on a piece for ESPN.com on my picks for the MLS All-Star game Starting XI. First things first. I definitely wanted to answer the remaining questions from the last Q&A so I could clear the way for another Q&A session later today (stay tuned for that). Now, without further delay, here are the rest of your questions answered. -------------------------------------- TOM - As shown v. Spain yesterday (and continually in MLS) U.S.-bred players are not adept at holding possession and passing the way it is done in Europe and S. America. All too often we see a "JUST KICK IT" mentality. Is there a new generation of U.S.  read more »

Hello all. Apologies for the lack of posts this morning but I was finishing off the last of the most recent Q&A and also working on a piece for ESPN.com on my picks for the MLS All-Star game Starting XI. First things first. I definitely wanted to answer the remaining questions from the last Q&A so I could clear the way for another Q&A session later today (stay tuned for that). Now, without further delay, here are the rest of your questions answered.Ives Galarcep

We're almost at the end. For those of you waiting for the final portions of the most recent Q&A, here is the next to last batch of answers. I will look to knock out the final questions for this afternoon so keep an eye out for those. For now, here are some more of your questions answered: ----------------------------- LEGOLAS H- Concerning the lack of fit and skilled strikers for the US national team, are Brian Ching and Taylor Twellman out for World Cup qualifications? Are Eddie Johnson and for that matter Jozy Altidore the only real options for strikers? IVES-...Ives Galarcep

Good morning all. It is a seriously slow day on the American soccer front. MLS coaches are traveling around trying to land players before opening camp next week (and before the January transfer window closes). There should be some big news emerging later this week as contracts get signed and the new crop of MLS talent prepares to come aboard. For those of you who had forgotten, I never did complete the final Q&A session on the old Soccer By Ives site. I'm sure some of you gave up on hearing answers to them but I refused to just forget...Ives Galarcep

Good morning everybody. Let's start the day off with a little Q&A. I was able to knock out some more of the questions of the most recent Q&A and am hoping to tackle another portion of it for the afternoon.For now, here are some more of your questions answered:NICK- Ives, what are the mini banners "DP Coming June 2008" about on your site and other soccer sites?IVES- I'm not at liberty to say but it will come out soon enough.--------------------MARKSPENCE02- What do you think about the FC Dallas potential hire of Schellas Hyndman?Outside of The Bruce, do college coaches succeed in MLS?IVES- I've stated repeatedly that I think it's a mistake.  read more »