Europe - Time to Wrap Up & MLS - Time to Clean Up

As Man U appear to wrap up a 19th title, AC Milan, Porto, and Dortmund have all clinchedtitles in their respective leagues, with Lille and Barcelona waiting in thewingsto lift their trophies. Man City clinched the last Champions League spot in England, making the only worthwhile matches in England involving West Ham, Wolves, Wigan, Blackburn, and Blackpool, aside from those involved with the Championship Playoffs, with QPR now avoiding point deductions and Norwich pushing out the other teams for 2nd.

It is in this point that I have questions for the FA about the proposed point deductions: When Faurlin joined in 2009, why would investigations have not have started then? Why also would you tack a point deduction on after a team had believed that they had clinched the 1st place position/promotion? Asthis controversy fades because of the lack of any point deduction and the controversy of Qatar buying FIFA votes, the MLS is running into its own controversy, more related to that of player conduct.

Colorado Rapids midfielder Brian Mullan and Chivas USA forward Marcos Mondaini, amongst others, are coming under attack of MLS fans for near-season ending injuries to Seattle's Steve Zakuani and RSL's Javier Morales, respectively. Watching these challenges are not for the squeamish, and the punishments are not either, with Mullan receiving a 10 match ban.

One must consider what else can be done to prevent these kinds of tackles, which you may have noticed are occurring on playmakers of teams. It is strange to look at this and see that Red Bulls' DP Thierry Henry has yet to be fouled in 6 games. This point aside, should the MLS enact rules similar to that of the NFL to protect offensive players from hard fouls?

MLS Draft(s)

Dear MLS,

I am writing to you to let you know that to even the most devoted of supporters of your league, all of these drafts do not make much sense. I have no concept of why they are there or what good they do. Does Dax McCarty want to play for FC Dallas, Portland Timbers, DC United, or none of these three teams? It seems as though he has no say in where he is going to play next season. To me this is a step towards the lessening of building fan loyalty and player loyalty like we love to watch week-in and week-out in the European leagues (with exception of Serie A, and I'm directing this at you Zlatan Ibrahimovic). Players should be allowed to leave a team if they feel as though they are not getting enough play time or not fitting in the system of the coach, but they should not be pawned around to various teams.

I am especially upset at how Red Bull legend Juan Pablo Angel can say that he is not interested in playing for New York next year, and suggest a move abroad, and then the LA Galaxy to pick him up because he is out of a contract. What has this done to the thousands of Red Bull fans with "Angel" on the back of their kits? Undermined respect in the league.

Sincerely,

Sam McFarlane,

Supporter of Soccer Everywhere (except Qatar)

Building off of the 3 drafts that the league has already conducted, the best teams in the league have already set up youth academies to cut down on the spending of signing a star college player or a reject at another first 11. See if you can wrap your head around these updated rosters. In just recently checking this page, they have since discontinued the ever-popular Facebook comments at the bottom of the page. I noticed only because I vented my frustration on the topic similar in tone to the above mock-letter.

Equally confusing to me is why Chivas USA have made off-season moves before they have hired a new coach. This new coach is probably going to be as successful as last season's coach, when they could've made some real moves like DC United did. Toronto FC continues the ongoing saga between their loyal supporters and their emperor of an owner. They have yet to make a real signing this offseason, which makes many think that they are waiting for a Robbie Keane or someone of the sort. After Mista failed to produce anything for them for the remaining games he came on this season, I would advocate TFC just getting a more solid midfielder to help DP DeRosario do everything for this team.

I read recently this week that no team with a DP has ever won the Cup. The asterisk here is that Schelloto for the Crew only became a DP after they won the Cup, under Zigi Schmidt. As DP's helped LA and NY become crowned the winners of their conferences, they failed to impress against teams that may have made more of an effort to win the MLS Cup. I believe this is an argument for the Supporter's Shield and Conference Title to be more important and give a first-round bye, although the play-offs have now been revamped completely.

Thought I would sign off with this video: In it, Schalke 04 FW Klass Jan Huntelaar is having some fun with FC Utrecht FW Ricky Van Wolfswinkel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTnpv8csOIw&feature=related

Van Wolfswinkel's Revenge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MycGdoFGJOk