U.S. Remains 27th in Latest FIFA Poll

The U.S. remained in 27th in the latest FIFA poll, one that saw 146 of 209 teams hold steady from the last ranking. Here's a more detailed look at the rankings:

TOP TEN

1) Germany - 1725 pts
2) Argentina - 1538 pts
3) Colombia - 1450 pts
4) Belgium - 1417 pts
5) Netherlands - 1374 pts
6) Brazil - 1316 pts
7) Portugal - 1160 pts
7) France - 1160 pts
9) Spain - 1142 pts
10) Uruguay - 1135 pts

Canada, U.S. Set U-20 Rosters

The U.S. and Canada both announced their rosters today for the upcoming CONCACAF U-20 Tournament and both are well-represented by young MLSers. Here's a rundown of who your MLS reps are, and what they've done in the league so far. First, the Americans:

Matt Miazga - Defender - New York Red Bulls - 8 appearances, 6 starts, 1 assist
Tyler Turner - Defender - Orlando City SC - No MLS experience
Kellyn Acosta - Midfielder - FC Dallas - 28 appearances, 20 starts, 1 assist
Romain Gall - Midfielder - Columbus Crew - 3 appearances
Bradford Jamieson IV - Striker - LA Galaxy - 2 appearances, 1 assist
Tommy Thompson - Striker - San Jose Earthquakes - 13 appearances, 8 starts

And the Canadians:

Marco Carducci - Goalie - Vancouver Whitecaps FC - No MLS experience
Samuel Adekugbe - Defender - Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 5 appearances, 2 starts
Manuel Aparicio - Midfielder - Toronto FC - No MLS experience
Louis Béland-Goyette - Midfielder - Montreal Impact - 1 appearance
Marco Bustos - Midfielder - Vancouver Whitecaps FC - No MLS experience
Kianz Froese - Midfielder - Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 1 appearances
Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé - Midfielder - Montreal Impact - 5 appearances, 3 starts
Jordan Hamilton - Striker - Toronto FC - 1 appearance

Weekly Top Tens - 1/5/15

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE LEADING SCORERS

1) Sergio Agüero (Argentina) - Manchester City - 14

1) Diego Costa (Spain) - Chelsea - 14 

3) Charlie Austin (England) - Queens Park Rangers - 12

4) Alexis Sánchez (Chile) - Arsenal - 10
5) Wilfried Bony (Ivory Coast) - Swansea City - 9

5) Papiss Demba Cissé (Senegal) - Newcastle United - 9

7) Robin van Persie (Netherlands) - Manchester United - 8

7) Graziano Pellè (Italy) - Southampton - 8

7) Wayne Rooney (England) - Manchester United - 8

7) Diafra Sakho (Senegal) - West Ham United - 8
7) Saido Berahino (England) - West Bromwich Albion - 8
7) Eden Hazard (Belgium) - Chelsea - 8

5 Thoughts for Sunday - 1/4/15

1) The big news in MLS this weekend is that the legendary Steven Gerrard, of Liverpool and English National Team fame, is coming to MLS. The New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC have been previously been linked to Gerrard, but the LA Galaxy appear to be the frontrunners at this point. Gerrard, who turns 35 in May, is just shy of 500 appearances for Liverpool with whom he's played since 1998. He also logged 114 CAPs for England scoring 21 goals including one against the U.S. at the 2010 World Cup. And yes, he'd probably be the perfect fit to replace Landon Donovan.

 

2) We're less than a week away from the start of the CONCACAF U-20 Championship. The tourney kicks off on January 9th with the U.S. grouped with Aruba, Guatemala, host-nation Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Panama. The U.S. opens with Guatemala on the 9th. A number of MLS players expect to be appearing in the tournament, but the final rosters aren't expected to be posted before tomorrow.

3) DC United keeper Bill Hamid, the reigning MLS goalkeeper of the year is rumored to be drawing interest from Europe. Hamid has been the starter for DC for the last 4 seasons, but posted career numbers for United in 2014 setting highs in saves (110), shutouts (10, and wins (14). If DC were to lose Hamid, they still have Andrew Dykstra who backed up Hamid in 2014 going undefeated in 4 starts. DC already lost Joe Willis this offseason in a trade with the Houston Dynamo. With just 2 keepers on their roster and the Champions League quarterfinals looming, expect DC to add another keeper before the season starts.

4) The Chicago Fire continue to make moves this season most recently signing Brazilian defender Adaílton. Chicago has already added African strikers Kennedy Ignoananike (Nigeria) and David Accam (Ghana), Trinidad and Tobago National Team midfielder Joevin Jones, and ex-Galaxy midfielder Michael Stephens fresh off his stint in Norway. On the heels of a 6-win season (that included a record-setting 18 ties), it's no surprise that the Fire are looking to shake things up a bit.

5) 17 year old Arsenal midfielder Gedion Zelalem became a U.S. citizen this week after several years with the German Youth National Team. U.S. Soccer has already started the process to make him eligible to play for the U.S. Men's National Team. Here are some highlights of him with Arsenal.

One For the Road

So I didn't mention this guy the other day when talking about top offseason acquisitions partly because he's headed to an expansion team in Orlando City, but let's talk a little bit about Bryan Róchez. One of the youngest designated players in MLS history, the now 20 year-old Honduran helped lead Honduras's U-20s to a gold medal at the 2013 Central American Games, already has 6 CAPs for the Honduran Senior National Team, was the Liga Nacional de Honduras's second leading scorer during the 2013-14 season while scoring 20 goals for Real C.D. España, and he'll be a member of Honduras's U-20 Squad in the upcoming CONCACAF U-20 Championship. 

In parts of 3 seasons in Honduras, Róchez amassed 30 goals for Real España. He also scored in the Group Stage of this year's CONCACAF Champion's League in Real España's 1-1 home draw with Municipal (Guatemala).



Now with a chance to play alongside a big time playmaker in Kaká, Róchez, a natural scorer, should have no shortage of opportunities. Keep an eye on him during the upcoming CONCACAF tournament. Honduras is grouped with Cuba, Canada, Haiti, Mexico and El Salvador.

MLS Ironmen

How many MLSers started every game last season for their respective clubs? Eight. And of those eight, only three of them weren't goalkeepers. Here's the complete list:

Keepers

David Ousted - Vancouver Whitecaps - 12-8-14, 13 shutouts

Jon Busch - San Jose Earthquakes - 6-16-12, 6 shutouts

Luis Robles - New York Red Bulls - 13-10-11, 6 shutouts

Stefan Frei - Seattle Sounders - 20-10-4, 9 shutouts

Steve Clark - Columbus Crew - 14-10-10, 8 shutouts

Field Players

Bobby Boswell - DC United - Defender - 1 goal 3 assists

Giles Barnes - Houston Dynamo - Midfielder/Striker - 11 goals 5 assists

Raymon Gaddis - Philadelphia Union - Defender - 0 goals 2 assists

Robles also started every game in 2013 for New York.

Designated Player List Heading into 2015

Happy New Year, Everyone! Here's a rundown of the league's designated players as we head into 2015. For kicks, I've broken them up into four categories:

The U.S. Men's National Teamers

Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes - 25 CAPS, 9 Goals
Clint Dempsey - Seattle Sounders - 110 CAPS, 39 Goals
Omar Gonzalez - LA Galaxy - 24 CAPS, 0 Goals
Michael Bradley - Toronto FC - 91 CAPS, 12 Goals
Maurice Edu - Philadelphia Union - 46 CAPS, 1 Goal
Eddie Johnson - DC United - 63 CAPS, 19 Goals
Matt Besler - Sporting Kansas City - 23 CAPS, 0 Goals
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City - 28 CAPS, 3 Goals
DaMarcus Beasley - Houston Dynamo - 121 CAPS, 17 Goals
Jermaine Jones - New England Revolution - 48 CAPS, 3 Goals