An under-20 world championship without Brazil, Germany, Ghana, Spain, Russia, England and the Netherlands?

I developed, last MLS season, the habit of watching all of Atlanta United's games. Not as a fan of the club, but as a fan of the vibrant soccer that they played.

Manchester City has won the FA Cup. With a resounding 6-0 wipe-out of Watford.

Jan Vertonghen, Tottenham's Belgian defender, is worried. "I think we have to change the way we defend," he says.

The various shades and intricacies of VAR continue to intrigue -- and, yes, disturb me.

While MLS Commissioner Don Garber has been getting himself into trouble for not being tough enough in his condemnation of neo-Nazis -- criticism that he does not deserve -- disturbing soccer-related nastiness has been re-surfacing in England. Nastiness that arrived at a wretched climax (we must hope that this is as bad as things will get) over the weekend during a game between Aston Villa and Birmingham. A second division game in which Jack Grealish, the Villa captain, was attacked on the field by a fan. Probably you have seen the video, so no elaborate description ...

The disappointment -- flop, really -- of the first 2019 MLS weekend was obviously the trite showing of Atlanta against D.C. United.

At issue: Did Harry Maguire foul Son Heung Min? Or was the tackle quite legal, and Son took a dive?

Sean Dyche. Coach at Burnley, in the English Premier League. He's having a difficult season, down at the wrong end of the league.

When the new coach takes over a team that is going through a rough patch, you can be pretty sure that he will crack the whip.

I recently watched a fantastic soccer occasion, one that must, I'm quite certain, have set all sorts of records.

The game had been, well, not bad. Quite good, actually. Two late goals had given West Ham United a 2-1 win at Southampton.

Sigi Schmid, who died on Christmas Day at age 65, will be remembered by a great many people for being an outstanding coach.

The whoops of joy emanating from Atlanta to announce the signing of Frank de Boer as their new coach should be recognized for what they are -- sheer piffle.

It has been my opinion for some 20 years or more that what American soccer needs is a hefty infusion of Latino talent and Latino ideas.