MLS

Major League Soccer has been something of a taboo subject for football fans around the world for many years now. It's often regarded as an oddity within the world's game due to the fact that the American conception of football is so different to our own. 

It's as if they've been cast off from the rest of the footballing landscape, free to do as they please until they're ready to come around. Now, it seems as though America has finally got around to embracing the world’s game. The real question is, can they now compete with the other elite leagues across the globe?

2016, you scoundrel! First, we had the trauma and ecstasy of Lionel Messi’s short-lived retirement. Now, we have this: Landon Donovan is set to end his retirement to return to the LA Galaxy for the remainder of the MLS season. 

Giovani dos Santos’ year-long exclusion from the Mexican national team is all the more baffling when you consider his form of late. Perhaps Juan Carlos Osorio simply preferred giving youth a chance for El Tri’s meaningless qualifiers against Honduras and El Salvador. Or, he might still be salty over dos Santos’ decision to reject a call-up for the Copa America Centenario.

Carlos Ruiz played his final match for Guatemala on Tuesday night, the 36-year-old striker hitting St. Vincent and the Grenadines for five goals in Los Chapines 9-3 victory. Unfortunately for Ruiz and Guatemala, it still wasn't enough as they were eliminated from 2018 World Cup contention, resulting in Ruiz's international retirement.

Christian Pulisic seems to be the name on the lips of every American soccer fan following his brace against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The young American soccer player is being described as a potential future great. Yet, for most USA fans, the likelihood of seeing Pulisic in action is slim to none — unless you’re planning on taking a trip abroad.

On Friday, the Seattle Sounders released a distressing statement concerning Sounders and USMNT forward Clint Dempsey. The 33-year-old will be undergoing medical evaluations for an irregular heartbeat over the coming days, missing Seattle’s match against Portland on Sunday and the United States’ September World Cup qualifiers against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.

After over seven years serving as the only MLS manager the Seattle Sounders had ever employed, Sigi Schmid and the club agreed to part on mutual terms following a bottom of the league start to the 2016 campaign.

Schmid, a two-time MLS Cup champion as manager of the Columbus Crew, left the Sounders with rumors of dressing room unrest having made his role untenable in Seattle. One big name mentioned in the fallout was USMNT captain Clint Dempsey.