Twice in recent weeks we've had top English Premier League coaches suggesting changes to the rules of the game. First it was Alex Ferguson -- the longest serving EPL coach -- who criticized the sometimes mystifying criteria that referees use when deciding how much extra time to add at the end of each half of a game.

It is my considered, indeed cherished, opinion that anything in soccer that makes life more difficult for defenders is worth a try. Anything within the rules of the game, that is.

D.C. United's interest in Akron University coach Caleb Porter (now aborted by Porter's veto) ... what was that all about? Was it a desire to do something daring, to break free from the network of coaches who tend to get recycled in MLS, to show that a new approach was necessary?

By Paul GardnerWithout much hesitation, I'd say that the weekend's Akron vs. North Carolina NCAA Division I semifinal was probably the best college game that I've seen. And that's in nearly 50 years of watching. I put that probably in there, because there are some ifs and buts to be considered. Firstly: I'm using the criteria of college soccer to judge the game -- I'm not comparing it with youth soccer generally, or with, say, the Under-20 World Cup.

There is good refereeing, there is just plain refereeing, there is bad refereeing -- and then there is Howard Webb. The Englishman, much favored it seems by the UEFA and FIFA powers that be, was in action again yesterday, in the Dynamo Kiev vs. Barcelona game.

The annual Ballon D'Or vote for the world's best player is one of the very few of these rapidly multiplying awards that has managed to hold my interest year after year.

Those of you who are bewildered by the proliferation of soccer academies might want to take a look at a book published recently in England -- "Every Boy's Dream" by Chris Green (A&C Black, London). There is a great deal of intriguing material in its pages as Green wends his journalistic way through the successes and failures, the joys and despairs of the youth development system in England.