Breaking down Michael Bradley’s comments, by the numbers: Do Canadian refs really favour American teams? 15 Sep 2014 Well, the only thing to do is crunch the numbers; to sift through all of the matches in 2014 — both MLS and NASL — and isolate all the games where a Canadian referee has watched over a meeting between a Canadian-based side and an American-based side.
The circus comes back to town: TFC gets weird again and undoes a few months of goodwill 1 Sep 2014 Oh, hell with pussyfooting around it. It was more like trying to watch a long-term alcoholic try to stay sober, despite being surrounded by temptation.
Leiweke’s departure: Toronto soccer supporters can’t be blamed for fearing for the future 21 Aug 2014 And the question will be, if Leiweke is chewed up by the Toronto sports cauldron, who could take the job without being a well-paid yes-man? Thanos, maybe?
Ignorance isn’t bliss 25 Jun 2014 Issey Nakajima-Farran’s soccer career has taken him around the world. England. Japan. Australia. In 2014, he made the decision to come back to Canada — and to make Toronto his home. But, less than two months after he signed with the Reds, he was traded to Montreal — and he’s wondering if coming to MLS was the right choice, after all...
Issue 2 of Plastic Pitch: An in-depth look at Canada’s 2026 World Cup bid 18 Jun 2014 The second issue of Plastic Pitch, out today, features a 16-page section on Canada's bid for the World Cup.
The anticlimactic final: Montreal wins Canadian title 5 Jun 2014 If you were to review the finale of the 2014 Amway Canadian Championship, you might liken it to the final season of Dexter. The bizarre final episode of Seinfeld.
Jekyll-and-Hyde Impact gets vital away goal in Toronto 29 May 2014 This teams goes from “off” to “on” so often, it’s like the soccer version of a strobe light. It’s not as if this team goes from good to bad from game to game; you see the Jekyll-and-Hyde transformations at least a few times per game.
The Issey Nakajima-Farran trade: The kind of transaction MLS needs to avoid if it wants to be a world-class league 16 May 2014 If MLS wants to attract talent from abroad to boost the league, it must eventually understand that strictly following North American practises — such as trading a player just a few weeks after he’s been offered a contract — don’t sit well in the global soccer marketplace. MLS must compete for talent with leagues that regularly pay for their players’ accommodations and transportation, and who guarantee a player will be settled for the length of his contract.
Playing the Field 17 Mar 2014 In 2007, BMO Field opened its doors as Canada’s national soccer stadium. The feds, the province and the city all kicked in money to make the dream of a soccer stadium a reality. Later, the artificial turf was ripped out and replaced by green, green grass. But, as deal with the CFL Argonauts inches closer and closer to completion, we wonder: Is a truly soccer-specific stadium a myth in a multipurpose world?
The law of diminishing returns 17 Mar 2014 In 2013, the chance of a Canadian player getting first-team minutes with an MLS side was only slightly better than it was in 1996. We looked at every minute played by all Canadians who have ever been in MLS employ; we found that, over the last four years, the first-team minutes granted to Canucks by MLS coaches have been in steady and serious decline...
