Yes I fully understand that a professional soccer club should beat a team of college players every time out on the pitch, but forgive us here in Philadelphia for feeling exciting about the Union's 5-0 win over a very good University of North Carolina Squad this weekend.

The game more than the win itself, simply means we are another step closer to the regular season and for soccer fans here in the tri-state area, it is a concept that at one time only existed in conversation.

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunion!

Union Head coach Peter Nowak and his club has been in North Carolina for almost two weeks and it’s clear that the team is starting to jell.

Yesterday’s game was highlighted by the hat trick performance of Frenchman and former Seattle Sounder, Sebastien Le Toux. Philadelphia’s other two goals came off the boots of mid-fielder Shea Salinas and the youngest member of the roster, 17-year-old Jack McInerney, the seventh overall pick in this year’s MLS Super Draft.

The Union are in North Carolina until Feb. 16 and are expected to return to the Philadelphia area to continue preparation for the March 25 season opener at Seattle against the Sounders.

In other MLS Exhibition games this weekend: 

Philadelphia   

5

University of NC    

0

Sebastien Le Toux 3 goals

UCLA

0

LA Galaxy

4

Former UCLA Bruin Michael Stephens

Scores 2 goals

University of Tulsa

1

FC Dallas

7

Atiba Harris 2 goals, David Ferreira 2 goals

Breck Shea 3 asst

Columbus Crew

1

DC United

0

Devon McTavish own goal.

Southern Methodist

0

Houston Dynamo

4

Dominic Oduro  2 goals,Cam Weaver 2 goals 

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As a season ticket holder, I am not 100% thrilled to know that I have to wait until June 27 to watch my team play in its new soccer specific stadium, but then again ,that’s just me being a spoiled brat.

No I take that back, it’s like me, having to wait four months to open a  birthday present I know I really want but can’t wait to open.

Unfortunately, said stadium, Union Field in Chester, Pa. is a few months behind schedule and will not be completed in time for the start of the 2010 MLS (Major League Soccer) season.

By the way, it looks like the team is also close to signing a naming rights deal with Allentown-based energy company Pennsylvania Power and Light; Hello PP & L Stadium.

With that said, I am still very excited about the upcoming MLS  season, because my team, the expansion Philadelphia Union will make their League debut. Can’t wait.

A quick look at the team's recently released schedule reveals that the Union will play 17 nationally televised games, which is pretty impressive for a 30 game regular season.

So while I wait for the new stadium to open, I will use my season tickets to watch
the team Apr 10 game against D.C. United and the May 15 game against FC Dallas at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles.

Philadelphia Union
2010 Season Schedule

Mar. 25: at Seattle, 9:30 p.m.
Apr. 10: vs. D.C. United, 6 p.m.
Apr. 15: at Toronto FC, 7 p.m.
Apr. 24: at New York, 4 p.m.

May  1: at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
May  8: at Real Salt Lake, 9 p.m.
May 15: vs. FC Dallas, 4 p.m.
May 29: at Houston, 8:30 p.m.

June  5: at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
June 10: at Kansas City, 8 p.m.
June 27: vs. Seattle, 5 p.m.

July  3: at Chivas USA, 10:30 p.m.
July 10: vs. San Jose, 5:30 p.m.
July 17: vs. Toronto FC, 3:30 p.m.
July 21: at Colorado, TBA
July 31: vs. New England, 3:30 p.m.

Aug.  5: vs. Columbus, 8 p.m.
Aug.  8: at FC Dallas, 7 p.m.
Aug. 11: vs. Real Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 14: vs. Colorado, 4 p.m.
Aug. 22: at D.C. United, 2 pm.
Aug. 28: at New England, 7:30 p.m.

Sept.  4: vs. Kansas City, 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 11: vs. Chicago, 6 p.m.
Sept. 18: at San Jose, 10 p.m.
Sept. 25: vs. Chivas USA, 4 p.m.

Oct.  2: vs. Houston, 4 p.m.
Oct.  7: vs. Los Angeles, 8 p.m.
Oct. 16: vs. New York, 6 p.m.
Oct. 24: at Columbus, 4 p.m.

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Fourteen years of having Major League Soccer’s league office monopolize all player negotiations and signings is enough.

Fourteen years of depriving the LA Galaxy, DC United, the Kansas City Wizards, and other MLS teams from freely having the chance to at least attempt to acquire world class players in their prime like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, or Lionel Messi, is enough. MLS club team fans want their teams to have a fighting chance, to have the freedom, to do all they can to get any player in the world that they want.

Like Commissioner Don Garber likes to say, MLS is an American league managed in an American way.

Freedom is the American way.

Since its inception in 1996, MLS, the U.S.'s first division men’s outdoor professional league, instituted a single-entity setup allowing the league office to negotiate and sign all players and to impose a salary cap.

The initial reasoning spouted by the league was the single-entity structure provides stability by imposing cost control, preventing the clubs from engaging in bidding wars to sign the best players leading to high-dollar player contracts, ballooning expenses, debt, and eventually, bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy was indeed the eventual fate of the defunct North American Soccer League (NASL), a league that featured legendary world class players like Pele, Beckenbauer and Cruyff and operated in the '70s and early '80s. The NASL was and continues to be held up as the “poster child” of what not to do by MLS executives and its ownership group.

Slow, steady growth was prescribed. "Slow and steady" wins the race was, and continues to be the philosophy at MLS Headquarters.

But how long should the single-entity structure continue?

Fifteen years? Thirty years? Sixty years? One-hundred-twenty years?

As long as the League can get away with it is the pragmatic answer.

The League’s single-entity setup is currently being challenged on two fronts, the MLS players’ union collective bargaining negotiations and by the potential competition from a second division faction of team owners supported by a major international marketing company.

The collective bargaining negotiations between MLS and the MLS players’ union are currently at an impasse. American soccer star Landon Donovan of the LA Galaxy said:

“The league shutting down MLS in February would do real damage to the development of the game in the United States and to our efforts to prepare for South Africa. It is difficult to understand why the owners would take this course, when all we are asking for are the same rights enjoyed by other players around the world, not just in the biggest leagues, but in leagues of all sizes.”

FIFPro, the international organization working in conjunction with the MLS players’ union, asserted that MLS refuses to abide by FIFA’s regulations on the status and transfer of players.

FIFPro charges player contracts are routinely terminated by the MLS League Office during its term, almost 80 percent of players in MLS do not have guaranteed contracts; MLS operates as a cartel in that every player’s contract must be entered into with the league instead of his club; the contract of virtually every player in the league contains multiple, unilateral one-year options that may only be exercised by the league; virtually any player in the league can be transferred to another club within the league without his consent even if such transfer is international, such as a transfer from an MLS club in the United States to or from an MLS club in Canada; and that there is no freedom of movement for any MLS player to any other MLS clubs when his contract expires.

In fact, even if a player’s contract is unilaterally terminated by a club during its term, that club continues to hold such player’s rights and he is prohibited from signing with another club in the league.

The current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on February 1, 2010.

FIFA, the world’s soccer governing body, is not eager to pressure the US Soccer Federation, and in turn MLS, because it wants to do all it can to foster the growth of professional soccer in the United States and it believes that this will be achieved by siding with the league’s management group.

By supporting the MLS management over the MLS players’ union, FIFA believes it is acting in the best interests of American soccer. In other words, FIFA believes the League’s claim that, if the MLS single-entity setup is dissolved, the League will eventually go bankrupt.

There are no good guys and bad guys in this equation. It’s not personal, it's business.

From a business perspective, both parties, the League and the players, must realize that the single-entity structure cannot and should not last much longer.

The League has reached stability. With its 14 years of existence, MLS no longer can claim to be a startup. Its a mature business with a solid business model ready to join the world's international community and play by the same rules.

It is time to allow the clubs to set their own courses. It is time for each club and its ownership group to individually and independently compete and find creative ways to sign the best players they can with the budgets they can afford. MLS needs to trust its club teams and realize that they will not make the same mistakes that the NASL committed. They are too smart to repeat the same mistakes of the past.

The MLS league office will try to pacify the MLS players’ union at least for this year and buy time to live and negotiate the single-entity structure another day. A short-term deal with the understanding that the single-entity setup will be dissolved would be a good compromise for now just to ensure there is no player lockout.

That is, in essence, what the U.S. Soccer Federation recently did with two second division factions, the USL and a new entity also called the NASL (not related or affiliated with the old NASL). The USSF brokered a one-year deal whereby the competing factions decided to cooperate, play in a unified tournament, and resolve their differences later.

The New York Times reports that USSF and MLS officials were concerned that the new NASL, backed by a major international soccer marketing company, “would import players from South America and in essence become the anti-M.L.S. by allowing teams to sign players without worrying about a salary cap or a single-entity setup."

Here, again, we see MLS—with the support of the USSF—doing all it can to protect its single-entity structure.

Savvy, knowledgeable and astute USSF President Sunil Gulati will surely find a way to make everything work. The Columbia University professor of economics is the only American soccer executive who wears all possible “soccer hats”—he is also affiliated with MLS as president of Kraft Soccer for the New England Revolution, serves on the FIFA organizing committee for the Confederations Cup, and on the CONCACAF executive committee.

As usual, Sunil will find a way to work with all stakeholders, find common ground, secure compromises, and make things work.

The single-entity setup cannot and should not last much longer, Sunil.

The league is no longer a start-up. It has reached stability. It is ready to run.

As an economist, Sunil lectures about the virtues of supply-side economics, but he does not practice it in MLS. Supply Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and you will see MLS demand surge.

MLS fans are tired of waiting until all the teams have built their own stadiums and for the entire structure to be in place, all the eyes dotted and the tees crossed. MLS fans are tired of waiting until the ownership group begins to see their club franchise values escalate and to salivate profusely at the prospect of selling the clubs to foreign buyers at very handsome profits. That process takes much too long.

Break up the single-entity setup now, ultimately, because MLS fans deserve soccer of much better quality than what we are getting.

The time is now.

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Just a few short weeks ago, Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber announced that the league's championship match, MLS Cup, will remain at a neutral site for the 2010 season.

That news comes after league officials volleyed with the idea of moving the game from the neutral site to the home stadium of the higher seeded team playing in the championship match.

"Following a detailed review and careful analysis of both options, we have elected to continue with a neutral-site format for MLS Cup 2010," Garber said. "We believe this format will provide an exciting environment for our fans while also allowing the necessary planning time for our key constituents. We will continue to assess the possibility of playing MLS Cup at the home stadium of the higher seeded team in the future."

Major League Soccer is currently evaluating candidate cities and host venues for MLS Cup 2010 and will announce the eventual host site during the first quarter of the year.

The Home Depot Center in Carson, California has always been an easy option because of its size. With a seating capacity of 27,000, it is the largest soccer-specific stadium in MLS. The Home Depot Center has actually already hosted three MLS Cup Games. 

Well, say hello to my little friend, Red Bull Arena. Rebuilt in the classic style of many of the football stadiums worldwide, Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey will not only seat 25,000-plus, but thanks to its state-of-the-art translucent polycarbonate and aluminum roof structure, every seat in the stadium is covered from inclement weather as well.

Now granted, there are bigger, non-soccer-specific stadiums that could host the MLS Cup; RFK Stadium in D.C. and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, accommodated over 57,000 and 61,000 respectively when they hosted the Cup.

Even last year’s title was decided at Seattle’s Qwest Field when over 47,000 showed up to watch Real Salt Lake beat the L.A. Galaxy.

Hey, don’t get me wrong—I’m all for trying to get as large an attendance as possible for the championship game, but those big oversized American football stadiums don’t quite get you as close to the action. At Red Bull Arena, the seats have been moved closer to the pitch—21 feet from touchline to the first row. Now that’s what I call getting in the game.

Listen, if you’ve been following my Bleacher Reports, then you know I am also a Philadelphia Union season ticket holder, and while I am very excited about sitting in my seats with my two sons to watch the Union this season, I fear the league will look at Chester’s 18,500-seat capacity and not even think twice about having an MLS Cup game there.

I hope I’m wrong, but if I’m not, that short drive up to Harrison, New Jersey to watch the Union play in the MLS Cup would be just fine by me. 

By the way, Red Bull New York has already inked a three-year agreement with the Big East Conference to host its annual men’s soccer championship semifinal and final at Red Bull Arena. 

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After a great 2008-2009 season in which Everton finished fifth in the English Premier League and were able to get to the FA Cup final by beating sides such as Liverpool and Manchester United, Everton have had an abysmal season with seven losses at the halfway point of their Premier League season.

So far this year, Everton have found themselves flirting with trouble by remaining close to the relegation zone as recently as early December before a solid run that included draws against Tottenham and Chelsea, which helped Everton get into 11th place in the Premier League table.

But now that Landon Donovan has now joined Everton on a 10-week loan, the question for the Toffees will be: Will Landon Donovan save their season?

In the next 10 weeks, Everton will have fixtures at Arsenal, home against Manchester City, home against Sunderland and Wigan, at Liverpool, home against Chelsea and Manchester United, and away at Tottenham along with their Europa League knockout stage two-legged fixture against Sporting Libson.

Without question, these are going to be the 10 weeks that will tell us if Everton will make it into the Europa League again for the fourth consecutive season under David Moyes.

So far in his tenure in European football, Donovan has had little success in his time with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga and has mainly succeeding in his play with the San Jose Earthquakes and Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer.

This move is Donovan's first-ever move to the English Premier League, and he is using his time with Everton to help him keep fit for the World Cup in June for the United States.

But for Everton, Donovan will truly be the key if they are going to attempt to get a Europa League spot due to their terrible injury problems that they have suffered so far this season, and they find themselves 11 points behind arch-rival Liverpool to get that final Europa League spot.

So with this in mind, can both sides accomplish their goals with Donovan with Everton for the next 10 weeks?

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With the first selection in the 2010 Major League Soccer (MLS) Super Draft, the expansion Philadelphia Union select....

Don't mean to keep you hanging here, but we won't officially know the answer to that scenario until January 14th, when the Union partake in the teams first ever Super Draft. Not only does Philadelphia have the number one overall pick, but they also have the top pick in each of the ensuing three rounds, unless of course they pull the trigger on any trades.

Based on the teams current roster which consists of two keepers, three defenders, three midfielders and three forwards, my guess is that they will use that first pick to select a forward, especially considering that one of their current forwards is 30 year old Venezuelan Alejandro Moreno, formerly of the Columbus Crew.

From a draft stand point, the Union could not have picked a better time to be involved in the selection process with some calling this one of the most impressive draft classes MLS has ever seen.

So with forwards in mind here is a look at the top five up top, beginning with the player Philadelphia will probably select with that first pick.

1.Danny Mwanga (Oregon State). A Congolese born striker scored 14 goals this past season as a sophomore and was named Pac-10 player of the year. At 6’-2” Mwanga has a mouth-drooling combination of speed and size and is considered a very dangerous player around the 18. Last year he was honored as Pac-10 Freshman of the year after scoring four goals on 23 shots, and during his sophomore season at Jefferson High School in Portland, Oregon, Mwanga scored 50 goals in nine games.

2.Teal Bunbury (Akron) . Like Mwanga, Bunbury has good size and speed and has a reputation of having a nose for the goal which by the way he inherited from his father, Canadian soccer Hall of Famer Alex Bunbury, who also played with the Kansas City Wizards. Teal’s selection in next weeks draft would make him the first son of an MLS player to play in the MLS. This year at Akron he was the nation's leading goal-scorer with 17; he was named Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. Teal by the way is one of nine brothers.

3. Andre Akpan (Harvard). Considered to be the best all around forward in this years draft. Has the tools to step in and play at the MLS level right away. Big and strong with great footwork. Doesn’t have break away speed but has a knack for getting his head on the ball off the cross.

4. Andrew Wiedeman (California). A quality goal-scorer with a maturity that will allow him to step in and contribute immediately.

5. Austin Da Luz (Wake Forest). Da Luz is considered one of the most skillful players in the draft, one who can add depth in a playmaking role.

By the way, all MLS teams will get a chance to take a pre-draft look at the above players when they join a contingent of 62 college seniors at the MLS player combine later this week in Fort Lauderdale.

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Once again the Philadelphia Union front office reached out to its fan base today, this time with a little holiday cheer. Impressive for a team that won't play its first game until next year.

The soccer club's actions are extra impressive because the team has always kept its fans in the loop with just about every step it takes. From the announcement that the team was coming to Philadelphia, to the groundbreaking for the new stadium, to the team naming ceremony and even a recent meet the player’s party, the fans have always been included, and for that we thank the Union.

No, I do not have a mouse in my pocket, but when I say we, I speak on behalf of all those S-O-B's out there who can't wait for the team to play its first game.  Of course if you didn’t know by now, S-O-B is a synonym for the teams fan support group, Son’s of Ben, or as the team affectionately calls us, the founding members.                                                          

Check out the note emailed to the fans today from Union President, Tom Veit. Oh and make sure you click on the link below to watch the holiday video greeting from some of the Union Players.

Dear Founding Members,

On behalf of the entire Philadelphia Union organization, I’d like to wish you a very happy and healthy holiday season!

What a year 2009 has been. We began the year without an identity, technical staff, players and many of you who are now part of our extended Philadelphia Union family. If you think 2009 was exciting though, just wait until 2010. The culmination of years of hard work will finally bring us to our inaugural season in just a few short months, including First Kick on March 25th against Seattle, our Home Opener on April 10th against D.C. and our stadium opening along the banks of the Delaware River in Chester, PA.

With the first step of the expansion draft completed, the final pieces will quickly come together between now and First Kick. The January transfer window should bring quite a bit of excitement and the MLS SuperDraft on January 14th will be a great opportunity for everyone to come together to welcome our new draftees. Before we know it, we’ll be into our first season standing behind our Team Manager Peter Nowak and his squad as they take the field.

Our players really enjoyed meeting many of you at our Player Welcome Party and now they’ve created a holiday greeting for your viewing pleasure. Please CLICK HERE to watch it.

We look forward to seeing you in 2010—a historic year that we’re all sure remember for a very long time!

JUNGITE aut PERITE,

Tom Veit
President
Philadelphia Union

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The MLS expansion Philadelphia Union continues to lay the groundwork for a long-term commitment to the soccer-rich communities here in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern Jersey, and Delaware.

With a solid fanbase already in place, and a soccer-specific-18,500 seat stadium nearing completion, the team this week announced its partnership with Reading United AC (formerly Reading Rage) as their exclusive minor league affiliate in this area.

“As the Major League Soccer club in the region, we have a responsibility to help grow the game and teach our young supporters the proper way the game is played,” said Philadelphia Union Team Manager Peter Nowak. “Our technical staff will work closely with the coaches at YSC and Reading United AC to ensure everyone in the program has the best insights to the game we can provide.”

“As we enter our 15th year of minor league soccer here in Reading, we’re taking our game and our serious commitment to soccer in the region to another level,” reflected Reading United AC General Manager Art Auchenbach. “We are excited about our affiliation with Philadelphia Union on a multitude of levels. Of course, fielding a first rate club on the field remains our top priority. Our mission is to help train young players, while setting the standard for a local, club-neutral program. And that is consistent with what Philadelphia Union is already doing.”  

Collectively, this means a new era of growth and development for soccer throughout the area. One goal will be to groom young talent in Reading to prepare them to advance to Philadelphia Union and MLS.

"We are pleased things came together so seamlessly, with the leadership of Reading United AC,” said Philadelphia Union CEO & operating partner Nick Sakiewicz. “Our goals and aspirations, from the grassroots on up through our first team, are very complementary. There’s a commonality of purpose, to do things right, on the pitch and off. We look forward to a long and successful partnership to help grow the game at all levels here in Berks County.”  

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What began as the one of the most questionable decisions during the formation of the Major League Soccer might be the catalyst the league needs to find its place in the international community.

Many people criticized the MLS' choice to depart from the synchronized schedules of most of Europe to play the bulk of their season during the United States' summer months.

But the choice may allow for a symbiotic relationship between America's domestic league and its counterparts overseas.

Putting aside MLS' other issues (league structure, labyrinthine rules governing eligibility and transfers, contract rights, and ownership problems), the league may have gotten it right as far as season timing is concerned.

Starting, stabilizing, and finding a niche in a saturated American sports market is a difficult, if not impossible, undertaking.

There's an NFL Super Bowl at the end of January/beginning of February, college basketball's March Madness, June playoffs for the NHL and NBA, the World Series in October, and college football throughout the fall. And this is without considering events in the smaller sports, such as the Triple Crown, that runs throughout May.

It doesn't leave a whole lot of room for an American Soccer League.

But the MLS was able to slip itself into the American sports landscape at just about the perfect time to milk the most out of its domestic audience, and, perhaps, offer something to the international community.

The season begins Mar. 25, close to the third round of March Madness. For most, the opening will come and go without much fanfare. That's not a bad thing. The players will be rusty and tentative. They'll need a couple of weeks to reach match-fitness and gain familiarity with their new teammates. It's not time to attract new fans. It's a time for the players and the league to get its collective feet underneath itself.

The finale is the more important date.

The MLS playoffs and the MLS Cup commence in November, right in the middle of the college football season, which is a subtly smart choice.

It avoids the World Series (the only time most casual fans watch baseball) and the beginning and end of college football (when the sport has its highest ratings). It sneaks games in when there's nothing else for the football fan to watch.

Even if a person has no vested interest in a soccer team or the game itself, most sports junkies will watch—or at least turn to a championship game between commercials.

And this past final, with Beckham, Donovan, and a World Cup this summer, plus a penalty shootout (one of the most exciting endings to any sports competition, even if it has little to do with a team's soccer prowess), couldn't have been more entertaining if it were fixed.

This is how domestic fans are won.

However, the MLS' strength of schedule isn't its conclusion. The attraction is in the summer months, when little else is available.

Until July, baseball is boring, and, for many, it remains that way until September, when pennant races get close.

It also avoids the beginning and end of most European leagues (for reference, the English Premier League begins in August and ends in May), and thereby can quench the thirst of soccer fans addicted to those leagues, just so long as the observer does not mind the change in skill level between the differing leagues. The MLS can suck the viewer in with such an advantage.

The bonuses keep on coming.

Overseas, the MLS gets airtime as, at least for a few months, it doesn't have to compete with the European leagues.

That's not to insinuate that, over time, Europe will be glued to American soccer, but in pubs and bars across that continent, when nothing else plays at 10 in the morning, Kyle Beckerman's dirty hair flops in front of bleary-eyed barflies on small televisions in the corner of a few establishments.

While insulated American sports analysts will criticize the MLS for being one choice among many in the international soccer market, real fans can be proud that an American league has the potential to be on a television somewhere outside of America at some point in time, even if it is at six in the morning.

Because the key isn't to be the EPL, or La Liga, or Seria A, it's to be a choice on one of the 20 televisions in an international bar, and the MLS's timing...those bleak summer months...gives the league its best chance.

Finally, the schedule timing may allow players to move to Europe in a smooth manner. The MLS, American media, and American fans must come to accept that the goal is not to be the greatest league in the world.

First, because Europe has already proven that the top league in the world changes constantly based on the movement of money and players.

Secondly, because most Europeans will not come to America to play soccer.

That's not a bad thing either.

The MLS is not ready to compete directly with leagues that have had more time, more money, more fans, a stronger reputation, and to some, a geographically more appealing environment.

It's in the MLS's best interests to complement these other leagues, rather than compete against them (of course, in the end, all the leagues are competing for a finite number of fans, resources, and money, that's why I used the word "directly" previously).

Creating a beneficial relationship—a partnership—with as many European leagues and teams is in the best interests of the MLS.

Strong business relationships encourage players to stay in the MLS, knowing that one day, there's a good chance that a European team will come calling. Experienced coaches, scouts, and businessmen are exposed to the MLS, players, and teams. The pull of resources does not remain one way.

Eventually, the MLS reaps benefits from the successes of its European counterparts. Because, as I mentioned before in this article, soccer is international business.

This is unlike any other sport in America.

Essentially, there is one giant league, and it's played on all the inhabited continents of the world. Almost every country has one domestic player worth a million dollars waiting for just the right contract with just the right club at just the right time.

No one's dreaming of playing soccer in America the same way a Cuban baseball player may be lying awake at night planning an escape in a makeshift raft to the shore of Miami in order to play in Major League Baseball.

That's never going to happen, and that's fine.

It's fine because not every player is dreaming of playing in one single league, be it England, Spain, Germany, Italy, or France. These players are dreaming of playing somewhere.

It's different for every one, and while one may dream of Liverpool Red, another of Madrid White, there's some kid somewhere dreaming of starting a career in the gold, blue, and red of Real Salt Lake (I hope).

This is the major difference between soccer and the other American sports, and the MLS has to find its place in this international community.

Like a small-time club in baseball, the MLS has to use its limited resources to its advantage. It doesn't have the money and reputation of other leagues, but that doesn't mean that it can't survive, let alone thrive.

All it needs to do is make smart choices. Spend money wisely. Create an impeccable reputation. Offer a strong product.

Its scheduling is one example of this approach.

Hopefully, there will be more smart choices made in the future.

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Now that it appears that United States National team star Landon Donovan has left the Los Angeles Galaxy for Goodison Park to play for Everton, it now is a great time to look at what Donovan will bring to Everton once he joins in January.

For those people who don't know that much about Landon Donovan, here is a quick biography of what he has done in his career to date.

Landon Donovan started to make a name for himself in the 1999 Under 17 World Cup, where he helped the US National team to finish in fourth before moving to play for Bayer Leverkusen.

Donovan got his first chance in the 2002 World Cup to make a name for himself in US soccer, which he was able to do as he scored two goals in the World Cup, and was named as the best young player in the World Cup.

He also has scored more goals than any other player in the history of the United States National team with 42, and has been the face of the US National team for the last decade.

Donovan is also arguably the greatest player in the history of Major League Soccer, where he has led the San Jose Earthquakes to an MLS title in 2001 and 2003 and has the most goals in MLS playoff history.

And Donovan is the teammate of David Beckham on the Galaxy, whom Donovan criticized in Grant Wahl's book The Beckham Experiment , which was part of the reason why Beckham got such a terrible reception to MLS after leaving for a loan to Milan early in 2009.

Now Donovan will join a Everton side that are just three points out of the Premier League's relegation zone, and he will join fellow US international Tim Howard on an Everton side that believed that they could have finally made it to the top four in the Premier League this season.

Now with this transfer, Donovan will hopefully make a bigger impact than with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, and will show the world that he could make a major impact outside of MLS, which is a perfect situation for him.

For Everton, this will prove to be a great move if Donovan gets regular playing time as he will be a major difference maker for the Toffee's during the beginning of the new year.

And this will be great for the US National team and of course for US manager Bob Bradley, as Donovan will get playing time with a top club in Europe in order to condition for the World Cup, and it will be a great time for Donovan to show us what he is capable of.

Finally, this has the potential to be a great move for everyone involved, as Donovan will now get a chance to play football on one of the greatest stages in the world for a side that is ravaged by injuries and be in top condition for the World Cup next year, where he will have to face some of his Premier League foe's on the pitch.

This is probably Donovan's last chance to show us that he can succeed outside of MLS, and hopefully he will do so.

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