Michael Parkhurst in his new uniform. (via FC Nordsjaelland)

Talk about someone wanting to go to Europe at any cost. Now former New England Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst is set to join Danish club FC Nordsjaelland today.

The most interesting part of all this came out about his contract with the Danish side. He is set to make roughly as much as $250,000, plus bonuses and incentives according to Steve Goff. Last year in MLS, Parkhurst made $148,000. It shouldn’t have been much of a stretch for the Revs to bump up his salary for 2009 but this shows me just how badly Parkhurst wanted to go abroad.

“I just felt like with me being the age I am, and being out of contract, that if I ever wanted to try and make it in Europe, this was the time,” said Parkhurst. “Now that I’m still young and have the opportunity to do it, I felt like it was something I needed to do to further my career.”

“It could be a good steppingstone for me.”

As much as I hate to see a great young player in MLS leave, I have to tip my hat to them for trying their hand elsewhere. I’m sure Parkhurst will make us all proud over in Denmark and I wish him the best. Now the big question comes up for New England, who is going to replace Parkhurst?

Michael Parkhurst is as good as gone from MLS, but who is will join him? (Getty Images)

I think it is safe to say that it is open season right now for foreign clubs to pick apart MLS talent in preparations for the upcoming transfer window.

Lots of rumors are swirling around who will go where and for how much. A lot of transfers unfortunately will probably cost MLS more due to the lack of possible transfer fees as some players are out of contract. But they could make up for it with some young stars that are looking to move on from the league.

Defenders are at a premium for the taking right now. But so are some young talent that we’ve been saying would be ripe for the picking for a while now. There is also now some veteran players in the league that could see their chances elsewhere increase in the coming weeks.

Again, loads of rumors and only so many will come true. Even with the amount of possible players leaving it always means the door will be open for more to come in. From what I’ve seen so far there are plenty of possible players to join the league this winter in transfer deals.

Let’s just look at this at a player-by-player case: Continue Reading…

Three awards were handed down today by Major League Soccer. Goalkeeper of the Year as well as both team and individual Fair Play awards.

Chicago Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch was voted the 2008 Panasonic Goalkeeper of the Year. New England Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst was named the winner of the MLS Fair Play award, and the Revolution earned the MLS Team Fair Play award, recognizing the MLS club with the fewest disciplinary points during the 2008 regular season.

Busch had a stellar year thanks in some part to having an injury free year and a strong defense in front of him. The 32-year old started and played every minute (2,700) of all 30 regular season games for Chicago. He led the club to a second place finish in the Eastern Conference (13-10-7) and ranked first in MLS in shutouts (10), was tied for second in wins (13) and second in goals against average (1.10).

Busch is also up for Comeback Player of the Year award. Continue Reading…

A lot of end-of-season awards in Major League Soccer are just as tight as the playoff race. I’ve been tracking the Rookie of the Year and MVP races for some time now but I figured I would weigh in on all the awards for once since we are in the final few weeks of the season.

MLS MVP Award:

1. Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Columbus Crew: His club may be playing well without him but his numbers still make a serious case for MVP this season. He should be back soon, which can only mean his soccer IQ on the field will enhance the Crew even more here.
2. Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy: 19 goals in just 21 games. I think that may be all I need to say here. Earlier I thought his production wasn’t enough for the MVP this year but I am thinking otherwise now.
3. Shalrie Joseph, New England Revolution: He and his club may be stumbling but that should all work itself out once the Revs clinch a playoff spot.
4. Darren Huckerby, San Jose Earthquakes: If this were a half-season MVP I would probably have a tough time picking between Schelotto and Huckerby. Both have been stellar in the second half of the season. Huckerby has only been here for a half season, just think what he can do for a full year.
5. Juan Pablo Angel, New York Red Bulls: He’s forth in goals this season in the league but I don’t think that will be enough to get him this award this year.

Others in the discussion:

Javier Morales, RSL; Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Chicago; Kenny Cooper, FC Dallas; Jamie Moreno, DC United; and Sacha Kljestan, Chivas USA.

Continue Reading…

A lot has been made of the players this summer who have left Major League Soccer for higher wages in Europe. I figured since today was a slower news day I would take a look at the next group of guys that could potentially cash in on a move across the pond.

Feel free to give your thoughts on a player listed here or bring up a name that isn’t being talked about that could see a move across the pond.

I will do this in a couple different sections too. Players who could go now or have tried and players who are more in line to be the next Brad Guzan or Maurice Edu.

Players Who’ve Tried:

1. Kenny Cooper, FC Dallas: We all know Coopers attempts this summer to go to either Rosenborg or in Cardiff City. FC Dallas said no way to any and all transfer fees, even the really nice ones like Cardiff’s $4 million offer. I think we all know his name will be thrown out again come winter, even though his club has a couple options left on his contract AND they are still actively working to get him a new deal.

2. Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy: We’ve heard him say he wants to try his hand at Europe once more. I would say if this whole deal with Bruce Arena falls apart you could see him throw his name out a bit more. But in all reality he is a whipped man at home and he doesn’t appear ready to leave his wife and TV star Bianca Kajlich behind just yet. I think its more of a thing if her TV career falls in the tanks, you could see him go. For me its a ‘never-say-never’ kind of thing with Landon and Europe.

3. Taylor Twellman, New England Revolution: He tried to leave and it didn’t happen. Sort of like what Dallas did with Cooper. Said no way and good day. I think Twellman’s injury status this season and the Revs quality play may help him out if he still wants to leave this winter. The Revs know they can win without him, but the biggest question will be if anyone still wants him. I’m sure they do but it may not be as high of a value as it could have been back in January.

4. Shalrie Joseph, New England Revolution: The man should be in the big-boy leagues but he isn’t yet. He nearly went to Celtic at one point and I would not be shocked to see him try to go once again if he isn’t happy. If the right deal comes along you could see Joseph land a nice contract with a good team in Europe. I think that’s what he is waiting on if he still has European aspirations.

5. Pablo Mastroeni, Colorado Rapids: He wants to go after this year and he will. It is just a matter of where. I’d kind of love to see him get traded this year to an actual contender and see him get a MLS Cup before he goes. Continue Reading…

Happy Monday to all here as we are a hours away from the international summer transfer window opening back up for all clubs to trade parts, find new and exciting and whatever else those clubs do with the transfer window.

But before an influx of new talent comes into Major League Soccer I wanted to spend a little time looking back at the homegrown stuff here in the States. More importantly the homegrown talent that comes out of the college ranks and what not through the league’s SuperDraft.

I am mainly looking at old drafts and thought it was worth a mention to take a look back at the last few drafts to see not only how clubs did but the players that have moved on to bigger and better things through the league. Also to talk about the players who were picked high and ended up as duds (there are more than you’d think).

For the most part the MLS SuperDraft finds us about 10 good players and about 30 or so not-so-good players. Some last in the league, others don’t make it, and some head for Europe before the first kick of their rookie season. I think the draft will continue to go on in the future but with fewer rounds before long. Once the homegrown talent from youth academies kick in we will mainly see college players go through this process. And most of those won’t come with a high profile either in my best estimate.

I’m only taking us as far back as the 2005 MLS SuperDraft. I feel like in this now-expansion era of MLS soccer, that’s a solid starting point for discussions like these. Not to mention most of those players by now are either hits or misses.

As always feel free to pipe in your own thoughts about these past drafts below.

Continue Reading…

I figure since I am going on vacation next week and the deadline is rapidly approaching for my All-Star ballot to be turned in I would post about it today. Feel free to take a stab or three at my picks with some of your own. Who knows I may change my mind before I send this in to the league if one of you gives me a good enough reason to do so.

By now you should all know the set up for the roster; a keeper, three defenders, five midfielders and two strikers.

Just comment below or send an email with your picks.

Keeper: Matt Reis, New England – I considered a couple guys for this but I can’t see any other way to not go with the Rev’s most consistent player this season. Reis kept them in games they could have easily lost, helped them win games and has made save after safe this season. Continue Reading…