Ives, you're killing me. I've got the bar exam Tuesday. I can probably do both. (SBI-Where better to prepare for the bar, than at a bar? Haha.)

I think this is a good trade for the Red Bulls. With Angel and Henry who they are and Lindpere and Richards playing well there was little room for Kandji. Whereas Ballouchy can put pressure on Tony Tchani as an attacking midfielder in the diamond that Hans Backe wants to play. Perhaps most importantly, Backe likes Ballouchy, which will give him an extra confidence boost. The Red Bulls still have Henry, Angel, Ibrahim, Chinn, Agudelo, and Chirgadze (sp) as forwards. And they will likely bring in Luke Rodgers over the off-season and probably a replacement for Ibrahim. As Ives has pointed out many times, he really isn't good enough to keep around. You really have to be impressed with the way Ritchie Williams, Hans Backe and Erik Soler have acquired players from all over to build a new team so quickly. Its also good for Kandji. He just turned 25 and it doesn't look like he is going to get playing time with the Red Bulls that he needs to reach his potential before he starts getting old in soccer years.

I think I just found my x-mas present for my brother. Nice work.

I agree with you, definitely. I think Bradley will be as good as O'Brien and Reyna, but I don't think he is there yet, and his partner in center midfield, whoever it may be, is not on the same level. Also, McBride is much better than our forward options. I like Altidore, but he is very inconsistent. Also, regardless of how good a player he really was, Mastroeni was very good in 2002.

Isn't funny that Frankie Hejduk with short hair is creepy? It seems backwards.

I was really hoping they would do this. I know what I am doing after work. Gonna need some beer.

I think if Gerrard-Lampard is the central midfield pairing it has the potential to create a couple great chances for the US. Even if Gerrard is told to play more defensively eventually the two of them will get caught forward together at the same time. And if it is tied in the second half and the English start getting nervous looking for a goal the two of them will definitely start cheating further and further forward. Not getting scored on early is obviously important in every match, but I really think England is prone to nerves because of the expectations.

I graduate next year and I'll fight you for that General Counsel position. This is an odd amount of lawyers for one soccer thread.

No word, but he was conspicuously absent from the Chivas-Red Bulls game Saturday night without any explanation.

Guys, The World or Soccer with an American Voice simply means any news soccer related from around the world from an American's perspective.

Not gonna be able to follow, but I predict 2-0 DCU. They get the first goal off a defensive blunder and the second on a counter when NY goes for the equalizer. So pretty much the Chivas game now that I think of it.

Riquelme to NYRB. That would be sweet.

A fully fit and in form Bullard would start beside Bradley in the center. Bullard was knocking on England's door when he was playing well last year. I'm not saying an England squad player is an automatic starter with the US. He would be the creative center midfielder the US really lacks.

Not Ives, but here's my recommendation. They are still advertising everywhere, including national television, but there is no reference to the next game or what is happening with the Red Bulls. Clearly they are trying to draw new fans, fans who don't know or don't care enough to check a schedule. I would recommend that they end each commercial they are already paying for with an 3 second insert with the date and time of the next home game. Also, they should switch some of the photos of players in public transportation hubs for schedules so people waiting on a train can wait while looking at the Red Bulls schedule.

We should have an over/under on tonight's attendance? How about 3000?

I think FC Dallas should be put on three year probation. If you can't average over 10K by the 2012 season then they are going to move the club. A decent size metro area without major sports to compete with like Raleigh.

Countdown on "post removed by moderator"

According to the old mlsnet website, the following internationals have some form of citizenship/green card so they don't count as internationals for MLS rules: Bouna, Boyens, Borman, Richards, Sinisa, & Kandji That means with Nielsen and Rodgers they only have eight internationals: Sutton, Miller, Robinson, Lindpere, Angel, Salou, Nielsen, & Rodgers. With the new guys they have a roster of 29 players. Three injured reserve (Albright, Mendes, and Goldthwaite) and two home grown (Agudelo and Chirgadze) don't count towards the standard 24. I think that explains the packed roster.

I feel like you need to scream das bundesliga angrily.

Agreed. Nowak really put the wrong line-up out there.

Is it just me, or does Zach Thornton look like he is about to murder Nate Jacqua with the ball in the lower left picture above?

MLS and MLSPU has a conference scheduled at 1pm today. Grant Wahl (on twitter) thinks that a deal is imminent.

I thought being waived means they go into waivers for a limited time (48 hours) during which any team can tell the league that it is interested in claiming him. At the end of the waiver period, the team closest to the top of the waiver/claim list that is interested gets him (and may have to compensate DC), and if no team is interested he goes into true free agency. My understanding of the waiver/claim list was that it is identical but separate from the allocation list, therefore Philly, then NY. NY would be better off taking a chance on Szetela over Sinisa or Sassano, but I don't know his salary.