Major Link Soccer: Recuperating from Monday

Seattle

Many of the Sounders are drawing parallels between the 3-0 loss on Monday night to the LA Galaxy with the 5-0 loss to the New England Revolution in May. Of course, following the Revs game, the Sounders went on a seven-game unbeaten streak (including a couple of Open Cup wins as well).

The shaky back line will hopefully be a bit better for Saturday with Leo Gonzalez looking to be ready.

Schmid says expectation is that left back Leo Gonzalez should be able to go Saturday at San Jose.

— Don Ruiz (@donruiztnt) July 29, 2014

Schmid had no update on Chad Marshall's condition after training today.

— Don Ruiz (@donruiztnt) July 29, 2014

Marshall was in a car accident this past weekend and was experiencing back spasms.

MLS

Chivas USA are having a rough go this season and coach Wilmer Cabrera had no problem talking about how bad it is. Players reportedly wore the wrong cleats in the first-half of a 3-0 loss.

"That's pretty sad, but that's our reality," Cabrera said. "That us at this professional level telling players to change their cleats; you've got to wear studs for this weather or you're going to slip. They slipped like two or three times, and it caused problems in concentration. Then, at 2-0, the game is over."

MLS expansion to Miami seemed like a sure thing when it was first announced. Since then, David Beckham and company have had trouble securing the land for an arena, and according to commissioner Don Garber, unless the arena is downtown, MLS won't be taking its talents to Miami.

FC Dallas have traded veteran midfielder Andrew Jacoboson to New York City FC for NYCFC's third-round 2016 MLS SuperDraft pick. Jacobson was announced as the team captain this season and came to Dallas in a trade with the Philadelphia Union in 2011.

The LA Galaxy traded Kofi Opare to DC United for the third spot in the MLS allocation ranking. Opare was drafted in the second round of the 2013 SuperDraft.

Real Salt Lake has a good chance to increase its national profile on Wednesday with a rare nationally televised game on ESPN2. The fact that RSL is playing the New York Red Bulls probably helped land the broadcast. It'll be the only nationally televised game for RSL, as opposed to six for the Red Bulls.

Europe

Tim Howard will be pulling double duty this upcoming season after NBC Sports picked him as part of the broadcast team for Premier League games. Howard is scheduled to work up to 10 games while working around Everton's schedule.

Juventus forward Carlos Tevez's father was kidnapped on Tuesday in Beunos Aires and released unharmed after eight hours. Tevez reportedly paid a ransom of $400,000 according to Argentinian TV.

Blackpool are up to 12 contracted players!

World Cup

New-old Brazilian national team coach Dunga is busy trying to kill all the fun before it even starts.

Argentinan national team coach Alejandro Sabella has decided to step down from his position. Sabella started the job in 2011.

The Guardian continues to tear down the Qatar World Cup with another article detailing the horrendous conditions of the migrant workers.

Soccer on TV