Major Link Soccer: Klinsmann is greedy

Seattle

The UW Men's soccer season begins this weekend when the Gonzaga Bulldogs come to town, giving the Sounders a chance to scout their next three draft picks/homegrown players. They'll be attempting to build on the success of last season without former stars like Cristian Roldan and Darwin Jones.

The aforementioned Roldan was revealed by Top Drawer Soccer as among the best young players in the league today, judged by them to be roughly on the same level as Erik Torres.

Prospect XI has a profile page for long time Sounders Academy contributor Jordan Schweitzer, currently playing at Denver University but "it is expected (the Sounders) will offer him a Homegrown contract after the 2015 college season."

MLS

Fans of the Philadelphia Union have the opportunity to name their new USL team, and many options have been brought to the table. Bethlehem Steel is probably going to win (even over Bethlehem Blue Steel) but my personal favorite is TLVIAALATFIAUMWAHOSEWNPFFPPWTTWTOTCOPP FC.

A former MLS first-round pick is trying to become an NFL kicker, in a rare situation where the back-up plan will pay way better than the first. Josh Lambo made some clutch kicks in a preseason game for the San Diego Chargers, giving him an opportunity to make the team as a walk-on.

U.S. National Teams

Last week we linked that Toronto was trying to convince Jurgen Klinsmann to let them keep Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley through the rest of the year, rather than having them report to National Team duty. But it isn't looking good for them (or for us) because Jurgen wants EVERYONE to come in (playoffs be damned!)

World

I hesitated to even link this, but Sepp Blatter (which autocorrect refuses to let me spell correctly, presumably out of spite) did an interview with the BBC and of course continued to peddle the idea that he isn't a corrupt sociopath. At this point, it's truly crazier to imagine that he has had nothing to do with the flagrant culture of purchasing wins and bribing for advantages which FIFA has become, then to think of him as some normal guy just doing his job. If tomorrow there was empirical evidence released proving that Blatter had nothing to do with any of the corruption in FIFA, it would blow everyone's minds. And then he'd be immediately fired for incompetence.