Manchester City's shootout victory over Liverpool in the Capital Cup was what we now almost expect from grand finals -- disappointing, short on good soccer, miserly on goals.

Right at the end of Vancouver's preseason game against Chicago there was a coming-together of players. That's a term that has been cropping up in ref-talk lately. It denotes a collision but -- possibly -- it shades the meaning slightly. A collision carries the suggestion of hard contact, something, if not violent, then certainly forceful.

While awaiting the latest changes to the rules (the IFAB will announce them at the beginning of next month), I have been amusing myself trying to decide which has been the best and which the worst of the changes made during the past 25 years -- since 1990. And which change I would make, were I in charge of the rules, to improve the game.

Bruce Arena's signing of Nigel de Jong is a shameful episode. The most experienced American coach of the lot, with so much to admire about him ... what can have possessed him?