LAFC will introduce former United States men's national team defender Steve Cherundolo as their next manager on Monday, ESPN reported.
Cherundolo, 42, replaces Bob Bradley, who left the team after his contract expired at the end of the 2021 season. Bradley was later named the head coach at Toronto FC.
Cherundolo managed the Las Vegas Lights, LAFC's USL Championship affiliate, last season.
On Saturday, West Bromwich Albion and Orlando City confirmed that 21-year-old striker Daryl Dike was headed to the Championship side on a four-and-a-half-year deal for a transfer fee of $9.5 million.
Dike again joins forces with French manager Valérien Ismaël, who was Barnsley's boss last campaign when Dike scored nine goals in 19 second division appearances while on loan. Orlando is also in line to receive performance-based bonuses and 20% of any future sale.
Liverpool raced to a 2-0 lead after 26 minutes at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, only to watch Mateo Kovačić and Christian Pulisic bring Chelsea level before halftime in a match that finished 2-2 and gave Manchester City a 10-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
Such has been City's relentless pace that both Chelsea and Liverpool entered knowing that a draw was as good as a defeat, and the Reds had to navigate the match without Jürgen Klopp on the sideline because of COIVD-19.
In 2021 and soon-to-be 2022, it’s officially cool to believe in the USMNT again.
The two years after the disaster in Couva against Trinidad and Tobago was a gray, murky time period with nothing to show for it. In 2019 the Americans lost both games against foe Mexico, including the Gold Cup final. Several months later Canada defeated the U.S. in Concacaf Nations League play and it felt like everything was falling apart for this team.
After being linked with Inter Milan, Sampdoria, Ajax and Wolves, it looks like one club has distinguished itself as the clear front-runner for signing Ricardo Pepi this January.
As reported by the only guy that now reports this sort of thing, Fabrizio Romano, the 18-year-old USMNT phenom is on the verge of moving to the Bundesliga from FC Dallas with Wolfsburg currently leading the race.
Wolfsburg is 13th in the table because of an attack that's generated only 17 goals in 17 matches. Lukas Nmecha and Wout Weghorst both have six goals and no other player has more than two.
The FIFA rankings are nonsensical 75% of the time and only truly matter for seeding of group stages at the World Cup. Three out of every four years these rankings mean squat, but in 2022 they matter a whole lot. The top seven teams and host get the most favorable seeds during the World Cup draw. FIFA has released the December rankings and the USMNT sits at its highest ranking to end a calendar year since 2005.
The U.S. is ranked No. 11. One spot above Germany.
Christian Pulisic is in a bit of a form slump heading into the holidays with only one goal in his last 11 appearances. An inconsistent number of starts can be attributed to the poor form with only four of those 11 appearances being starts. Another issue comes in the form of a question. What position does Pulisic play?
Soccer fans have a different circadian rhythm than others. They're up early to see what's going on in Europe, they're in bed late to follow along with Liga MX, they reach an emotional peak on Wednesday afternoons and frequently block off entire month-long periods in the summer for international festivals of footie. It's a delicate balance, but the 2022 soccer tournaments calendar is a disruptive year with the Qatar World Cup falling between Nov. 21 and Dec. 18.
Here's all the major action between January and December of 2022.
The debate over who should be the USMNT's starting striker will continue into 2022 despite Ricardo Pepi's recent heroics in front of goal. The 18-year-old was quiet on Saturday night in the national team's 1-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina (a match The18's David Moore likened to "cruel and unusual punishment"), and Gregg Berhalter will be closely monitoring the FC Dallas striker's competition abroad.
The Phenom Guy/LeBron James Of Soccer/Soccer Superstar/Center Midfielder/Captain America/Teacher's Exchange Program Standout/Top Player In The Premier League/Most-Watched On Chelsea FC Team/Favorably Compared With Messi + Ronaldo/Finest Soccer — Or "Football" — Player In The World, Christian Pulisic, went 90 minutes for only the third time this season against Wolves at the Molineux on Sunday, but the 23-year-old couldn't provide the magic in a match that finished 0-0.