Photo by ISIphotos.com
Good afternoon folks. I’m at BMO Field, where the MLS All-Star team went through its final training preparations. All the players were in attendance today except for Houston’s Dwayne DeRosario and Pat Onstad, who are playing for Houston against D.C. United tonight.
There are plenty of tidbits to get into so let’s get started:
When informed that the Galaxy had received a $1 million bid for him, Edson Buddle expressed some surprise, admitting that he didn’t know anything about it. Another source confirmed for me today that an offer has been made by a Scandanavian team (Norwegian club Rosenborg is the leading suspect) and there is definite interest in Buddle from European clubs.
Will the Galaxy actually sell Buddle? A source tells me the club has no interest in moving Buddle this season, so no, don’t expect Buddle to go anywhere. When asked about possibly leaving MLS soon, Buddle said he was interested in going to Europe one day but that now may not be the time.
"I feel like I still have someting to prove here," Buddle said.
When asked about how tough it was bouncing around from New York to Toronto to Los Angeles two years ago, Buddle’s response was one that should help generate some strong responses from opposing fans in a few markets.
"The good thing is that they were all good franchises," Buddle said about the New York Red Bulls, Toronto FC and the Los Angeles Galaxy. "If it was a team like Kansas City or Colorado or (Real Salt Lake) I would have been a little nervous."
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When told about rumors of a potential move to West Ham United on Tuesday, Galaxy forward Landon Donovan laughed off the suggestion, saying it was news to him.
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When asked if he would consider returning to Argentina to play for River Plate, Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel said he would love to. Could it be his next destination? His current Red Bulls contract is up after this season so a move back to River next year shouldn’t be completely ruled out.
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One interesting rumor someone here passed along surrounds Toronto FC forward and John Carver doghouse resident Jeff Cunningham. Apparently Toronto FC has two connected locker rooms with one side for senior team members and another side for reserve team players. Apparently Cunningham has been moved to the reserve team locker room. Yes folks, Cunningham is officially the Milton Waddams of TFC.
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David Beckham answered the usual stale questions about MLS and life in the states. Someone really should just print up his answers to these questions and hand them out so we don’t keep hearing them over and over.
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If you’re curious about a potential starting lineup for the MLS All-Star team, here is a best guess for what the squad will look like:
————Angel————Donovan—————-
———————–Blanco————————–
Cooper—————————————Beckham
———————–Joseph————————-
Bornstein——Conrad—-Brennan———-Hejduk
————————Reis—————————-
It may seem crazy to start Cooper on the left but I seem to recall him seeing time in a left forward role for FC Dallas last year (and he and Donovan could certainly flip-flop). I think it’s a safe bet that Dwayne DeRosario would have been in the starting lineup if not for the whole Houston-DC weather cancellation debacle, but if the Houston-DC game is cancelled again tonight (would you be surprised?) then I think DeRosario starts on the left.
That’s all for now. Please feel free to share your thoughts on these news tidbits, as well as on the lineup you would like to see, in the comments section below.