The defending MLS champion Galaxy are still stumbling through a historically bad season. But the question remains, why?
The Club World Cup has shown MLS the cost of capping ambition
Inter Miami’s defeat to PSG wasn’t just a mismatch, but a reminder that MLS can’t compete globally while playing by different financial rules
Even for a tournament that produced a 10-0 scoreline, Paris Saint-Germain’s dominance over Inter Miami to reach the quarter-finals of the 2025 Club World Cup was overwhelming. In an especially one-sided first half, the Major League Soccer side failed to muster a single shot on target. Lionel Messi had just 14 touches against his former side who scored more goals (four) than Inter Miami completed passes in the attacking third (three).
Nobody expected anything different. This is a PSG outfit that scored five past Inter Milan in the Champions League final only a few weeks ago. They also opened their Club World Cup campaign with a 4-0 thumping of Atletico Madrid that further highlighted the strength of Luis Enrique’s team. Inter Miami were the sixth side to have lost to PSG by four goals or more this season. They are not unique.
Continue reading...Lionel Messi remains MLS’s highest-paid player at more than $20m per year
Messi’s salary more than the payroll of 21 MLS teams
Complete MLS salary figures released on Wednesday
Lionel Messi is the highest-paid player in Major League Soccer for the third straight year with total annual compensation of $20,446,667 – an amount greater than the entire payroll of 21 MLS teams.
Messi’s base compensation is $12m the Major League Soccer Players Association said on Wednesday. His total figure covers his MLS deal, which runs through the 2025 season, including any marketing bonus and agent’s fees. They do not account for any additional agreements with the team or its affiliates, or for any performance bonuses.
Continue reading...‘Proud and excited’: QPR appoint Julien Stéphan as head coach after Cifuentes exit
Frenchman coached Rennes and Strasbourg in Ligue 1
QPR say he has a record of creating ‘world-class talent’
Queens Park Rangers have appointed the Frenchman Julien Stéphan as their head coach. The 44-year-old’s arrival comes a day after Martí Cifuentes officially left, having been placed on gardening leave after the penultimate game of the Championship season. Stéphan has worked in Ligue 1 in two spells with his boyhood club, Rennes, with whom he won the Coupe de France in 2019, and one with Strasbourg.
“I feel very proud and excited to join QPR,” Stéphan told the club’s website. “QPR is a historic club with strong values and passionate fans, so I feel honoured. I wanted to come here because I know there’s a lot of passion around the club and around the team, and I feel very lucky to discover that.
Continue reading...Middlesbrough appoint Rob Edwards as head coach on three-year deal
Boro fill role left by sacking of Carrick earlier in June
‘It’s something that’s not lost on me, how big this is’
Rob Edwards has been confirmed as Middlesbrough’s new manager, their eighth since relegation from the Premier League in 2017.
“It’s a real privilege to be given the opportunity to be head coach of this great football club,” said Edwards after long-running negotiations to finalise the 42-year-old’s three-year contract and composition of his coaching staff were finally concluded. “It’s something that’s not lost on me, how big this is, how important this is and what it means to people. There is an amazing fanbase here.”
Continue reading...Newcastle fail with £45m Elanga bid and step up pursuit of £40m-rated Trafford
Nottingham Forest extremely reluctant to sell Elanga
Goalkeeper Trafford was also wanted by Howe last year
Newcastle have had a £45m bid for the Sweden right-winger Anthony Elanga rejected by Nottingham Forest but hope to succeed where they failed a year ago by signing the Burnley and England goalkeeper James Trafford.
Eddie Howe has long admired Elanga but, as first reported by the Athletic, Forest are extremely reluctant to sell. They also appear uninterested in a potential part-exchange deal involving the Newcastle left-winger Harvey Barnes.
Continue reading...Club World Cup: Inter Miami validates the Messi project, but proves an exception to the MLS rule
Major League Soccer sent three teams to the Club World Cup. Only Messi's Miami made it count.
Brilliant Lionel Messi free-kick leads Inter Miami past Porto at Club World Cup
Argentine’s 68th free-kick goal secures three points for Miami
Win is MLS’s first in expanded Club World Cup
Palmeiras tops Al Ahly in other Group A match
Lionel Messi connected on a free kick in the 54th minute to propel Inter Miami to a 2-1 victory over FC Porto in a Group A match of the Fifa Club World Cup on Thursday afternoon.
After Porto struck first on Samu Aghehowa’s penalty kick in the eighth minute, Marcelo Weigandt assisted on Telasco Segovia’s game-tying goal in the 47th.
Continue reading...As Club World Cup hands out riches, a plan is needed for those left behind | Nick Ames
With the top-level juggernaut careering away the majority of Europe’s clubs need help and should be better rewarded for players they develop
While a dozen of Europe’s elite clubs were chasing the American dream, 170 of their less garlanded peers gathered for a barbecue next to Lake Geneva. They had converged on Uefa’s headquarters to attend the qualifying round draws for next season’s continental competitions; Tuesday night was time to get together, perhaps to speed-date representatives of the team you had been paired with or simply to cut loose before a labyrinthine summer spent journeying in search of league-phase football.
Borussia Dortmund were slugging out a goalless draw with Fluminense while the meat hit the grills, but “Club World Cup” is a dirty formulation in Nyon’s corridors of power. Any available screens showed action from Uefa’s own Under-21 Championship and alternative sources of entertainment roamed the pastel green lawns. A caricature artist did the rounds, stopping at the table occupied by Aleksander Ceferin and putting his pencil to work.
Continue reading...‘A no-brainer’: Rubén Sellés takes reins at Sheffield United after Wilder exit
New manager ready to helm ‘ambitious project’
Wilder expresses ‘great regret’ at his departure
Sheffield United have appointed Rubén Sellés as their new manager after Chris Wilder expressed “great regret” over his departure from Bramall Lane. Sellés was swiftly named as Wilder’s successor on Wednesday evening with the Spaniard signing a three-year deal at the Championship club.
The 42-year-old former Southampton, Reading and Hull manager said: “When we first heard about the possibility of coming here, it was a no-brainer for us to join a club with this kind of history and with a mission to move forward and try to be even more competitive. This is a very powerful and ambitious project. It was very important at the start of the conversations that everyone is on the same page.
Continue reading...Premier League opening fixtures: Liverpool host Bournemouth, Arsenal at Manchester United
Thomas Frank’s Spurs start at home to Burnley
Sunderland face West Ham, Leeds host Everton
Liverpool will kick off their Premier League title defence with a home game against Bournemouth on Friday 15 August, on an opening weekend when Manchester United host Arsenal.
Thomas Frank’s first match as Tottenham’s manager will come on the Saturday at home against promoted Burnley, and Sunderland’s return to the top flight also begins at home on 16 August against West Ham. The third newcomers, Leeds, have the Monday night slot for a clash with Everton at Elland Road.
Continue reading...San Jose Earthquakes Owner Hires Bank to Sell MLS Club
San Jose Earthquakes owner John Fisher has hired an investment bank to sell his MLS club, according to multiple people familiar with the billionaire’s plans. An official announcement is expected sometime on Wednesday. Fisher, who owns and recently relocated MLB’s Athletics from Oakland, has retained Moelis & Co. to run the process. The move comes …
Rob Edwards poised for Middlesbrough manager’s job after impressing owner
Former Luton manager in line to succeed Michael Carrick
Steve Cooper and Danny Röhl were also in the running
Rob Edwards is poised to take charge at Middlesbrough after impressing the owner, Steve Gibson. Only an unforeseen 11th-hour hitch will prevent the 42-year-old former Luton manager being in charge when Boro’s players start pre-season training at the end of June.
Edwards will replace Michael Carrick, who was sacked when the team finished a disappointing 10th in the Championship, after seeing off strong competition from the former Nottingham Forest and Leicester manager Steve Cooper and the Sheffield Wednesday head coach, Danny Röhl. It is understood Edwards ranked high on Gibson’s shortlist in 2022 when Carrick took over.
Continue reading...Pulisic vs Pochettino? Coach fires back at USMNT players + MLS’ Club World Cup Achilles heel
The boys react to Mauricio Pochettino’s fiery words for the players missing from his roster. Is there officially a rift between Pulisic and Pochettino? They also recap the USMNT’s 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago and what the major takeaways are from their Gold Cup win. Christian and Alexis then recap the opening weekend of the Club World Cup. Inter Miami and Seattle Sounders both failed to win their opening matches, are MLS salary cap rules holding them back? Later, Christian and Alexis react to the major transfer news and rumors.
MLS teams enter Club World Cup with a chance to make an impression, good or bad
The league will relish the long-awaited chance to go toe-to-toe with the world, but they may not love the result
The beach clubs of Dubai and Ibiza may be a little quieter this summer, at least when it comes to their headcount of European soccer stars. The off-season has been intruded upon by the Club World Cup with the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Inter in the United States for this summer’s expanded tournament, which kicks off this weekend. Wayne Lineker and Salt Bae may get lonely.
European enthusiasm for Gianni Infantino’s latest harebrained scheme is low. The $131m bounty for winning the tournament has incentivised clubs at boardroom level (see Real Madrid spending many millions extra to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold in time to play), but players may not be as driven on the pitch. European fans may not even watch – the tournament is being broadcast in the UK on Channel 5, a network known more for daytime reality TV repeats than live soccer. It’s being streamed worldwide on DAZN, a platform with wildly varying adoption levels across the globe.
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