MLS Commissioner Don Garber (left center) and MLS Players Union Executive Director Bob Foose (right center) shake hands after the joint announcement from the federal mediator’s office in Washington, D.C.(Jose Argueta/MLS)

There will be no players strike happening anytime soon. Major League Soccer and its players union agreed to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement on Saturday. The sides agreed to a new five-year deal.

The deal was reached just a few minutes before the teleconference today.

Many of the details have no been made except for the length of the deal and one vital piece regarding free agency.

There will be no free agency but instead what is being called (for now) a player re-entry draft. Basically it will help out of contract players be able to move around the league a little easier.

Once more details come out I’ll post them here.

A positive sign ahead. A teleconference has been called today for 1PM ET to discuss the CBA with Don Garber, Bob Foose, and mediator George Cohen. The AP is reporting that is will be a new five year deal.

I’ll have more later on the new details of the CBA.

Gotta give FC Dallas credit for this one…having their front office staff take on the mega-awesome band Muse in a pickup game is very cool.

Birahim Diop is one of the many new players for Kansas City this year. (Getty Images)

Even with all the strike talks for Monday (or Tuesday…or whenever) I’m still going on with some 2010 season previews for Major League Soccer. Today I wanted to center my focus around the moves in and out that hav been made with the league this year.

As some of you know I’ve been doing my best to keep track of these moves with my offseason player movement page listed above. Each club has made some moves this winter, some definitely more than others. Now the question comes into mind of which moves were good, bad and which will pay off in the new season.

The United Nations comes to Kansas City

Looking at what the Wizards have done this winter makes some folks giggle. Of the newcomers eight of them are from out of the country. You have three Englishmen (Ryan Smith and Craig Rocastle, Korede Aiyegbusi), a Canadian (Teal Bunbury), a Frenchman (Stephane Auvray), a Scandinavian (Jimmy Neilsen),  a Colombian (Pablo Escobar), a Moldavian (Igor Kostrov), and a big guy from Senegal (Birahim Diop).

I guess those guys really like BBQ or something. Amazing that KC was able to get that many international players to come there. Now comes the question of whether all this change really will pay off. Last few clubs that did a massive influx of foreign talent (though Bunbury and Aiyegbusi were drafted so I kinda won’t count them in this here) didn’t fare too well from what I recall. Maybe KC is the team that bucks that trend in 2010. Continue Reading…

Last night I was a guest on the Major League Soccer Talk podcast with Richard Farley. Guests on the show were myself along with Bruce McGuire from duNord. We discussed everything CBA related and at the end we talked a little about the year ahead.

Enjoy, this was my first time on MLS Talk. (I know my audio sounds a bit low…just blame a three-year old iPhone for that.)

Most of you should know by now I’m a big supporter of the Jared Montz podcast.Well today we get an early treat as Montz has sent me his podcast a bit early to put on here. His guest today is Philadelphia Union midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi. I keep forgetting that Miglioranzi has been around the league for nearly 10 years.

You can subscribe to the Jared Montz Soccer Podcast for free in iTunes by clicking here.

Enjoy!




Here’s a nice new Red Bull Arena ad, featuring Jeremy Hall. (H/T to the Vipers Nest)