ESPN contributor Austin Lindberg on Friday published a startling statistic about England's Premier League: in the past 20 years, there have been an astonishing 215 head coaching changes. That's 54 percent of coaches in the 20-team league replaced, or 10.76 every season since 1995/96. As Lindberg notes, the most volatile coaching market in America, the NBA, falls nearly 20 percent short of the coaching turnover rate that has been established by the Premier League since 1995. So, why the discrepancy?

Who wants to take over for erstwhile Mexico coach Miguel Herrera? Presumably, lots of high-profile coaches -- after all, the job pays well, and with a likeable personality and a couple good showings in big tournaments, you could even become a celebrity in the country, earning extra money on the side shilling products in TV commercials or even swaying the masses in political elections through your Twitter account. Herrera certainly enjoyed his run as head coach of El Tri, and so could you! Just don't punch anyone.

It's hard to know what to make of Miguel Herrera's firing as head coach of the Mexican national team. On the one hand, he absolutely deserved it if it is true what was alleged: you can't punch people, no matter what they say about you, your tactics, what you look like, your family, whatever. Moreover, in the state of Pennsylvania, where the offense occurred, second-degree (meaning non-consensual) battery (often confused with assault) carries with it a maximum prison sentence of two years for the perpetrator, or one-year if it is deemed third degree. All fine and good, but the FMF's …

In the midst of all the Gold Cup hoopla this past weekend, you might have missed that far away in St. Petersburg, Russia, the preliminary draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup took place on Saturday. A couple of important things happened: the USA received a kind draw in the First Round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying; FIFA's executive committee decreed that Russia will remain host of the tournament despite the recent U.S. FIFA indictments and Swiss-led investigation into the voting process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups; and Russian President Vladimir Putin and FIFA President Sepp Blatter resumed …

Sure, it was a game that didn't really matter, but it was also a game that nobody really wanted to see, either. Despite the appearance of the U.S. men's national team in the Gold Cup third-place game against Panama on Saturday, Fox Sports decided to keep the match on its also-ran station, FS2, opting to show Nascar on FS1, instead. Meanwhile, the stadium, the Philadelphia Union's 18,500-capacity PPL Park, was only about two-thirds full. But then again, what did you expect? This is America, after all. We're not into third-place games.

According to reports in England and France, Manchester United on Friday accepted a 45.9 million-pound ($71.1 million) offer from Paris Saint-Germain for winger Angel Di Maria, a player whom the Red Devils bought only last year for a British record 59.7 million-pounds ($92.5 million). If other reports are to be believed, Di Maria's transfer could set off a chain of events that might see two of Europe's biggest stars-Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic-also change clubs before the end of the summer.

Off The Post can count on one hand the number of times he's watched an entire game while already knowing the final score. Most soccer people refuse to do this, and for good reason: the passion that you feel for the game is completely drained, and every touch, tackle and hopeful forward run has this weird air of futility about it. It's a little bit like reading yesterday's news after you've already seen the headlines. So, why bother, you ask? Like the many Chelsea fans that packed into to Red Bull Park to see the Blues' defensive shambles against the …

If you've been following the news, it looks as though Chelsea legend Didier Drogba is about to move to MLS. The only question seems to be whether the Ivorian striker will head to the Chicago Fire or the Montreal Impact. According to Canadian radio station TSN, the Fire has the priority to sign the 37-year-old, but Drogba apparently prefers Montreal, where, of course, they speak his native French.

As you might have heard, Spanish treble winner Barcelona is in Los Angeles preparing for the first game of its International Champions Cup tour across the USA against Major League Soccer champ LA Galaxy. The game, which will be held at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday night, is sold out-in fact, according to some reports, it's expected to break the 2015 attendance record for men's soccer on U.S. soil. However, as you may or may not have heard, Barcelona's two biggest stars, Lionel Messi and Neymar, who also happen to be two of the world's very best players, will not …

Following last Wednesday's U.S. Senate panel hearing on corruption in international soccer, British investigative journalist Andrew Jennings, who was invited to give testimony at last week's hearing, has given an interview on the "Soccer Morning" show with Jason Davis in which he calls for American soccer fans to demand the ousting of U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati and CEO Dan Flynn from office. During the Senate hearing, Jennings said that the U.S. Soccer "had to know" about the illegal activities of, for example, former U.S. Soccer, Concacaf and FIFA exec Chuck Blazer, who has been an FBI informant for …

As it turns out, David Beckham may yet get his MLS stadium near the water-although the Miami River might not be exactly what the former Los Angeles Galaxy star had in mind. Nevertheless, some 18 months after Beckham announced his intention to bring professional soccer back to Miami, the former England captain and his group of investors on Friday finally reached a "tentative agreement" with mayor Tomas Regalado on a site for a privately-funded 25,000-capacity soccer stadium: Marlins Park. "This is a milestone," the mayor declared Friday following a meeting with Beckham investor and Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure. Indeed, it …

Despite the recent on-field success of both the men's and women's national teams, it hasn't been a great summer off the field for the U.S. Soccer Federation. Following several scandals involving high-profile players from both the men's and women's teams, U.S. Soccer on Wednesday was asked to testify at a Senate subcommittee hearing tasked with examining corruption inside FIFA and its subsidiaries, which includes both CONCACAF and U.S. Soccer. However, since FIFA declined to send anyone to the hearing, and most of CONCACAF's top brass is waiting to be extradited to the U.S. on corruption charges, the subcommittee focused mostly …

The U.S. men's national team might have topped the "Group of Death" at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, but by most accounts, Jurgen Klinsmann's men largely failed to impress despite amassing seven points from three games in a group containing Honduras, Haiti and Panama. The U.S. will play either El Salvador, Cuba or Guatemala, which it hammered 4-0 five days before the Gold Cup began, in Saturday's quarterfinal, depending on how the final round of games in Group C pans out on Wednesday. Meanwhile, just about everyone who covers soccer in the U.S. has noted how poorly the team defended in …

As it turns out, Raheem Sterling knew exactly what he was doing. The England international on Tuesday successfully forced through his transfer from Liverpool to Manchester City for 44 million pounds ($68.8 million)-a record for an English international-, plus an extra 5 million ($7.8 million) should he meet certain targets (which, at these prices, he absolutely should), thus avoiding the protracted transfer saga that many, including yours truly, thought would be on the cards, given the cantankerous circumstances.

Has there ever been a stranger send-off for a club legend than goalkeeper Iker Casillas' parting of ways with Real Madrid? In a bizarre press conference, the 34-year-old, who makes way for the expected arrival of Manchester United No. 1 David De Gea, announced on Sunday morning that he was leaving the club he joined as a nine-year-old for Portuguese giant FC Porto. However, in stark contrast to the send-off Barcelona gave to its club legend, Xavi Hernandez, who departed at the end of last season, Casillas made this announcement all alone, in an empty stadium.