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If you have an opinion, complaint, or just feel compelled to write about the state of soccer in the Midwest, USA or the World, send your comments to mike@mysoccer.com. There is also a mysoccer.com online forum to provide an outlet for your opinions.

For more recent opinions and comments, check out the mysoccer blog.

On American soccer fan support - a guest editorial
Just who do we think we are? One thing is for sure; the vast majority of European-Americans are descended from a long, ancestral line of people who risked everything they had to pursue dreams residing in the unknown.

View from overseas: US exit with lessons to learn and experience gained
The men's national team left Germany with many ifs, buts and maybe's. However, in the cold light of day they cannot have any complaints about their exit from the world's greatest show on earth.

View from overseas: US find their mettle
After a deluge of overreaction and misguided criticism, the US national team took the opportunity on Saturday to prove their credentials at the Fritz Walter Stadium in Kaiserslautern.

View from overseas: US taught a lesson in the fine art of football
The Men’s National team received a harsh lesson in the realities of soccer circa 2006 in Gelsenkirchen yesterday. Where the Czech Republic were fleet of foot the US were flat, and of greater concern, while the former European Championship finalists displayed mental sharpness and dexterity the US were slow and ponderous.

View from overseas: World Cup preview
Our England-based correspondent Andrew Rogers files his predictions for the FIFA 2006 World Cup.

View from overseas: Wisconsin native sparks Watford ascension to Premiership
Jay DeMerit of Green Bay Wisconsin made a significant contribution to his side’s play off final victory as North London club Watford FC reached the EPL this weekend. The Hornets maintained the upper hand through out the 90 minutes of a pulsating contest at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

View from overseas: Much a Roo about nothing
The past week in English football has been as frenzied as I can remember. While I'm sure our beef has been passed fit to eat by the EU, I have a sneaking suspicion that we have become a nation of mad cows. Of course I jest, but the news may have reached you that this week has been one of the most violent the in the gulf region. However, the biggest story in the last 7 days is that a 20 year old from Liverpool has broken his foot.

View from overseas: Game too far for courageous US U-17’s Men’s National Team
The US U-17’s Men’s National Team suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of a technically proficient and confident Czech Republic team in the final of the Ballymena Tournament in Northern Ireland.

View from overseas: Confidence growing in US soccer
With the announcement that the LA Galaxy are to share a strategic alliance with Chelsea FC, US soccer can give itself a well deserved pat on the back for developing a soccer product that can draw such admiring glances and courtship. Recent transactions, innovations and comments involving Red Bull, Chelsea and David Beckham, represent proof if ever there was any required as to how far US Soccer has come in recent years and an indication to what direction it is headed in.

View from overseas: To dive or not to dive?
Cheating, an infamous enterprise that elicits shock and horror when exposed, and in this instance, because the words fell from a $38 million striker, sparked a week long media debate.

View from overseas: Mourinho: artist or artisan?
Few would disagree with the assertion that Chelsea's Jose Mourinho is special, very special indeed on the landscape of English football, but of his credentials which ones define him as being out of the ordinary?

England head to the World Cup with hope and conviction
Well, England has the best economy in Europe, will host the Olympics in 2012 and are home to a football league with a global audience of over 600 million. Yet, when it comes to their World Cup campaigns, one is left with the distinct impression that the nation wants rather than needs.

Local media offers hypocritical coverage of MLS All-Star game
After returning from a wonderful, soccer-filled weekend in Washington, DC, I picked up the local, Sunday paper to see what sort of coverage had been given the MLS All-Star game. I was pleasantly surprised to find a terrific picture of match MVP Marco Etcheverry on page two of the sports section (although they spelled his first name "Mark") along with a good-sized story. At first I thought perhaps the success of the US in the World Cup was showing its affect by opening a few eyes at the Herald Palladium. But it was the predictable headline and story lead that clearly established that paper's negative, unbalanced and hypocritical view of the day's events.

Old labels don't fit in "New America" says Garber
As the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan comes to a close with Sunday's final between Germany and Brazil, MLS Commissioner Don Garber offers the following thoughts on the state of American soccer.

Jack Warner, CONCACAF President looks past election year politics
Now that FIFA has re-elected Sepp Blatter as its President, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football calls for focus on football, not politics.

TheCrew.com webmaster irked at AEG exec's remarks
TheCrew.Com FanSpeak is a special feature that appears at The Crew's official website from time-to-time. On February 26, 2002, the sport of soccer in America took a major leap forward with the groundbreaking of an expansive Carson, CA complex which will include a 27,000 seat stadium to house the Los Angeles Galaxy. Thursday, TheCrew.com published this critique of MLS and AEG executive comments which boasted the significance of the proposed venue.

Jeff Agoos: preparing for the World Cup
Jeff Agoos, a veteran of training camps leading up to the World Cup finals in 1994 and 1998, talks about the unique dynamics of preparing a team in a World Cup year, and what the players will face in the next six months

Something to cherish - THE BALL!
With the end of another year, I find myself growing increasingly impatient with the lack of progress we're making on the soccer fields of West Michigan. I'm not talking about a lack of progress in terms of participation. Each year more and more kids are playing this wonderful game. It's the quality of the soccer being played that troubles me.

For the sake of soccer, watch the World Cup on TV
In spite of what you might be thinking after reading the headline, this commentary will not be about TV ratings. Although certainly, a large viewing audience in North America would help our sport gain the sort of sponsor and media support it needs. And no, I don't have stock in Disney, the parent company of the ABC, ESPN and espn2 networks preparing to air every single match of France '98. My plea has to do with the quality of soccer played on the fields all across the USA.

Encourage the risk takers
With the growth of soccer in our area, one might think the quality of play would be rising steadily. It's certainly not a lack of athletic talent. We have plenty of kids with great potential, but we seem to be unable to develop good athletes into good soccer players.

Coaches -- do you empower your players?
From my days as a rookie, recreational league coach a decade ago to the present, I've been climbing a coach's learning curve that shows no signs of flattening out. I've been on a similar learning curve in my professional life. At work, my experience has taught me a lot about managerial styles -- some good, some bad, and others in between. I'm still climbing that curve too. I've found an interesting similarity between soccer and the work place when it comes to managerial styles.

Winter weather spoils HS tournament. What can be done about it?
Those of us who've spent a few Novembers in Michigan, know very well how cold it can get. I can recall many times, suffering the ridicule of my fashion conscious family for wearing a snowmobile suit to those soccer playoff games. But my goal was to stay warm even if I looked so un-cool.

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