SoccerTalk with Paul Gardner

By Paul Gardner In the second part of Paul Gardner’s discussion with Sunil Gulati, the recently re-elected U.S. Soccer President, Gulati answers questionsabout key issues facing American soccer as he begins his second four-year term. PAUL GARDNER: You took office with what seemed to me a serious conflict of interest situation over yourwork for the […]

By Paul GardnerThe annual meeting of the International Football Association Board — IFAB, the group that makes and unmakes soccer’s rules — can hardly be calledone of the sport’s glamour occasions. But it is a highly important one, for the decisions made are quite likely to have a profound effect, for better or worse, on […]

By Paul Gardner When Bob Bradley led the Chicago Fire to the 1998 MLS championship he set down a marker for first-year expansion clubs in the league: they didn’thave to be doormats. So far, no one has repeated his success. Rather the opposite. In 2005, Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake were the expansion teams, and […]

By Paul Gardner The long-ball game — banging the ball from the back as far forward as possible — has long beenassociated with the English style. But I’d say it is less prevalent now than it used to be. The influx of a huge number of foreign players into the Premier League has altered the […]

By Paul Gardner How interesting. Jesse Marsch is to go straight from being an MLS player to being an assistant coach on the national team. Obviously, he has nocoaching experience (though, for whatever it’s worth, he does have a USSF “A” license). And he has virtually no experience of the international game. His playing experience […]

By Paul Gardner The further that soccer moves into the celebrity area, the more distasteful things get. And already I’m in trouble. That word “distasteful” that seemedto me, moments ago, to be exactly the word I wanted, now suddenly looks old-fashioned and rather naive. Of course, what else, I’m thinking of the behavior of the […]