According to reports, the 33 year old midfielder was being pursued by several European clubs, but will remain in Major League Soccer. Ljungberg will become Chicago’s second Designated Player, joining recent acquisition Nery Castillo. The Fire also recently traded Justin Mapp to Philadelphia, a move that gave them some additional salary cap room.

There is also a possibility Seattle will offer Fredy Montero, who has been attracting interest from several European clubs, a Designated Player contract to remain at the club. This is something we’re told the club are still considering, nothing concrete yet. Make sure to stay tuned to WSR for the latest developments.

No details yet on the trade itself, we’ll update accordingly as we learn more.

UPDATE: MLS have now confirmed the move.

Noone made an appearance during Philadelphia’s friendly match against Celtic FC. Details of the signing were not disclosed.

Philadelphia also announced that goalkeeper Brian Perk has been waived. Perk, 21, was drafted 49th overall in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft by Philadelphia, making appearances in two friendly matches.

WSR's Ray Curren thinks it's time for Freddy Adu to return to Major League Soccer.

The kid was a prodigy, Francesca said, and he was going to become the face of American soccer sooner rather than later. Francesca was only repeating what he’d heard elsewhere, and what common sense dictated, a 14-year old that can start professionally is on his way to stardom.

By now, you know I’m talking about Freddy Adu, who scored the next day at Giants Stadium for DC United (in a 3-2 loss to the MetroStars), and played in all 30 games in 2004 for DC.

It’s been all downhill for Adu since, sadly, on a seven-year odyssey that’s taken him through Real Salt Lake, Benfica, Monaco, and mighty world powers Beleneses and Aris. Today, it was announced that Swiss club Sion, after bringing Adu in for a trial, has chosen not to sign him, leaving Adu without a club and, surely, without much confidence, either.

We could go on all day about how Adu has failed and why he’s failed and who’s responsible for his failing.

But one thing is clear to me: It’s time for Freddy Adu to come home to Major League Soccer.

There are people that think he might not succeed here, either, but – while I don’t think he’ll be a star – I think he can contribute.

He’s only 21 years old and he will be coming back to MLS with his proverbial tail between his legs, but let’s not kid ourselves about the quality of play here. It’s getting better, sure, but it’s not anything like he faced in Europe, even in Portugal and Greece, two very underrated leagues and miles ahead of MLS.

Unfortunately, where Adu didn’t really develop is where MLS really needs help, as a playmaking midfielder.

But with the pressure off, at least temporarily, in a place like New England or even back at DC United, I think – in time – he’ll be a contributor.

I would compare him to a guy like Eddie Gaven, also projected to be a big star (although not as big as Adu) when he signed with the MetroStars at the age of 16 in 2003. Like Adu, Gaven got off to a great start, but his play tailed off and after three years in New Jersey, he was traded to Columbus.

He was a contributor – if not a huge contributor – for the 2008 MLS Cup champions, but over the last couple of seasons, Gaven’s play has slowly risen, and this season is one of the shining stars for the Crew, runaway leaders of the Eastern Conference.

Gaven doesn’t turn 24 until October. Adu just turned 21 last month.

The time has come for Freddy Adu to swallow his pride, do the right thing, and come back to MLS.

It’s not as bad as you think, Freddy, it’s really not.

Call your buddy Eddie if you have to.

The two friendly matches against Tottenham and Manchester City produced our best performances in several months.  Even against KC we didn’t produce the same multitude of quality chances, and we looked good after Henry went off.  I can’t figure out why we were playing so much better, we were up against much better opposition and Backe sent out some of our second-string players.  Perhaps the players are rising to the level of Henry as I suggested above, or maybe they’re just not as bad I had thought.  A particularly nice surprise was the form of Dane Richards, who has a knack for playing well in meaningless games.  His pace is very dangerous against adventurous fullbacks and he works much better with the quicker front line of Henry and Kandji.  Kandji has looked particularly good since coming back – so much so that he’s been linked with both Spurs and City.  He looks the best bet by far to play as the third attacker, in behind Ángel and Henry, and we may get our first look at the teams in that system this weekend against Houston.

We beat the Dynamo in a fair game with a cracking finish back in June as Juan Pablo scored the winner with a brilliant free-kick in injury time at Red Bull Arena.  We were better than Houston, but not of a totally different class – Ángel in particular was off-form before his late heroics.  The Dynamo are in very bad shape at the moment, they haven’t won a League game since late May and are sitting second-bottom of the Western Conference.  Brian Ching scored in the All-Star Game against Man United, but he’s been far from his best this year and was pretty quiet in the reverse fixture at RBA.  If we play anywhere near as well as we did against Spurs or City, we should win this match comfortably.  However, we were still fairly wasteful in front of goal during the Barclays Challenge games, a recurring feature of our season and one that must be brought to an end if we are to become real contenders for MLS Cup.  This is Henry’s MLS debut, and a lot is expected of him – if not a goal, at least a solid contribution.  Juan Pablo should be back as well, so this will be as potent an attack as we have, now it’s time to see them deliver in a real match.

The 24-year-old Boston Breakers midfielder has turned out to be one of the hottest rookies in the WPS this year. She leads the entire 2010 WPS Draft class with four goals. The 16th overall pick (second round) has played in 12 games for Boston, which includes seven starts. Her goals to shots on goal percentage (four goals on 12 shots on target) is only second to Sky Blue rookie Brittany Taylor, who has scored one goal in her three shots on frame.

Angeli is second on the Breakers in goals scored (two behind Kelly Smith), and as far as the 2010 rookies that came out of the draft, she’s ahead of first-round draft picks Kelley O’Hara (three goals in 10 games for FC Gold Pride), Casey Noguiera (two goals in 17 games for Chicago), teammate Lauren Cheney (two goals in 14 games), and Taylor (one goal in 15 games).

“I don’t really focus much on rankings because I know that I’m just trying to stay in the moment and stay focused on what we’re doing right now and enjoy it while it’s lasting,” Angeli said after Wednesday’s training session at Harvard. “I credit my teammates a lot. They give me good balls, and I just do the easy work of putting it in the back of the net. I try to help my team in any way I can.”

Angeli, who is currently considered in the front running, along with Gold Pride defender Ali Riley, for 2010 WPS Rookie of the Year, scored her first WPS goal June 13 in a 2-1 loss to Sky Blue FC. Beginning July 11 in a 3-1 win over the Atlanta Beat, Angeli scored in three straight games. Her next game, Angeli scored the game-winner against the Freedom, and in a July 21 loss to Gold Pride, Angeli scored her fourth goal of the year and became the first WPS rookie this season to score in three straight games. Three of her four goals have come at home, and that’s where Boston plays Saturday against the Freedom.

The Freedom come into Saturday’s game with a 4-6-5 record and are stuck in the worst winless streak in WPS history, having not earned three points in 10 games. They also have had trouble against Boston. The Breakers are 2-0-1 against Washington this year, and last year won the season series, 2-1-1. Boston has never lost to Washington at home.

The Breakers (5-6-4)  jumped all the way up to third place with their 3-1 win last weekend over Chicago and remained there Wednesday night after Philadelphia beat Chicago and Atlanta topped Washington in a midweek WPS doubleheader.

Boston (19 points), Sky Blue (18 points), Washington (17 points), Chicago (17 points), and Atlanta (16 points) all face their most critical stretches of their seasons. Boston will remain in third place with a draw or win Saturday, but if Atlanta can score a victory over Gold Pride Sunday, and Boston draws with Washington, the Beat will move into third-place tie with Boston. A Washington win and Atlanta loss puts the Freedom alone in third place and Boston in fourth place.

“I think we go into every game with the same attitude, just performing the best we can,” Angeli said, noting the significance of Boston’s stretch of seemingly must-win games in order to stay in the playoff picture. “They’re definitely important, and we’re excited to keep the ball rolling.”

Breakers notebook:

Boston will sport a new look Sunday, wearing pink jerseys as part of PUMA’s Project Pink initiative to create awareness of and raise funds for the fight against breast cancer. There will be five WPS matches that will feature the pink kits, and the jerseys that Boston players wear Saturday will be auctioned off in the main concourse area (100 percent of the proceeds will go to the Boston chapter of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of the American Cancer Society).

FC Dallas have traded Anthony Wallace to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for two future draft picks.

Wallace was acquired by Dallas in the first round of the 2007 MLS Super Draft and went on to make 15 appearances for the club, including 11 starts. The young defender has earned caps with the U-17, U-18 and U-20 U.S. squads.

The New England Revolution announced the signing of forwards Ilija Stolica(left) and Robert Linck(right) Friday.

“Our goal during this transfer window has been to bring in attacking players,” Revolution Vice President of Player Personnel Michael Burns said. “With Ilija, we’re getting a proven, veteran player who we’re expecting to come in and make contributions right away. Roberto is a younger player who we’re optimistic can help us during the second half of the season, as well.”

Stolica, 31, joins the Revolution from Montegero’s FC Budocnost. Stolica previous played in Belgium with Sint Turidense(2005-2008) and R.A.E.C. Mons, before joining OFI Crete for the second half of 2008-2009.

Linck, 21, comes to New England from Romanian club CSM Ramnica Valceam where he played during the 2010 season. Known as “Betu”, Linck played collegiately at Irvine Valley College in California after coming through the Gremio(Brazil) youth system.

But I’m a stubborn chap, and I don’t think Roger Johnson, Scott Dann, Stephen Carr, and Liam Ridgewell can match the defensive magic they had last year (or stay healthy as much). So, while I’m not predicting a drop or anything, I think things will be much tougher for Birmingham the second time around:

15) BIRMINGHAM CITY

2009-10 standing: 9th

Gaffer: Alex McLeish (4th season)

Best new signing: Nikola Zigic – Well, you know what the Serbian is going to bring to the table, don’t you? Size and more size. If you watched Birmingham last year, almost all their set pieces involved playing the ball to the far post and having someone put the ball back into the “mixer” to finish it. Someone with more time on their hands than me can figure out how many times this worked for Birmingham last season (I’m guessing 10. Seriously). So Zigic will be that guy at the back post, but can he do enough else so as not to slow down the Birmingham counterattack?

Biggest loss: Joe Hart – I mentioned the back four, but Hart played in 36 of 38 league games last year, and helped organize those guys as well. Ben Foster seems like an adequate replacement, but can he fit in as well as Hart did last season? He’s got big shoes to fill.

Key player: Roger Johnson – You could probably put Scott Dann in this mix as well, by the way. Johnson – who was one of only two field players to play every minute of every league game last season (Tyrone Mears of Burnley was the other) – was a little-noticed signing from Cardiff before the season, but was on almost every pundit’s Best XI team by May. Johnson, Dann, and the rest of the defense proved that – especially on the defensive end – sometimes organization can be much more important than talent.

Random fact: When McLeish set a record that many people thought would never be broken by naming the same starting lineup for the ninth straight league game against Manchester United (8 hadn’t been done since 1997), it was also the 100th straight contest that Sir Alex Ferguson had fielded a changed side. A little difference in squad depth, no?

Bad news:
It’s hard to see the things that came together for them last season repeat themselves. They were amazingly healthy and only lost two games at home despite managing just 19 goals (exactly one per game). That’s a lot of pressure to put on a defense, and I think it took its toll as the season came to a close. It’s also hard to see how Zigic will be integrated by McLeish with Cameron Jerome and Christian (Chucho) Benitez still around. I can’t imagine he will go with three strikers, so which one takes a seat? We shall see.

Good news:
McLeish pretty much brings back the same club (especially on the defensive end) that worked so well together last season, and has added Zigic and may add another player or two before the transfer window closes. Despite not having the names of the “big” clubs, the back four may be the most cohesive in the league, especially at home, where Birmingham conceded only 13 goals (only Tottenham and Manchester United allowed less – 12) in 2009-2010. Barry Ferguson and James McFadden were very solid, if not spectacular and can certainly be counted on game in and game out in the Premiership.

Outlook:
It’s entirely possible that I’m underestimating McLeish and Birmingham again. As I said, I’m stubborn. They defend extremely well (and relatively cleanly, Birmingham had the second most yellow cards in the EPL, but only one red card), and Jerome and Benitez don’t need too many chances at the other end. They are better than the teams we’ve previewed already, and shouldn’t have too much trouble staying up.
But they don’t have the depth or the quality to compete with the teams at the top of the table, and did extremely well to finish where they did last season. I think it will be a step back, but not big enough to fall into the Championship abyss, a league their fans are all too familiar with and – at the end of the day – will be happy to avoid for the time being.

Three 6 Mafia had it right when they claimed that “It’s hard out here for a pimp.“  You see, it’s easy to be a ho.  Teams like DC United, Chivas USA and New England they just lie there on the bottom and keep collecting people’s money.  It’s hard to be the pimp.  And over the first half of the MLS season the LA Galaxy have been the biggest pimps in this game.  So it was quite interesting to see, not one, but two shocking results this week that the Galaxy directly contributed to.

The 4-1 CONCACAF Champions League match and the 5-2 All Star Game are the kind of results that could really impact LA’s season.  Everyone knows that Bruce Arena has an ego the size of Carnie Wilson’s undergarments, but can even The Bruce rebound from what has to be one of the most embarrassing 24 hours of his career?

However there is an old basketball adage that if a team loses by 1 point it’s the coaches fault, but if a team loses by 10 points it is the players’ fault.  The meaning of which revolves around the idea that coaches can make the small tweaks that win a close game, but if your team doesn’t even show up, there is nothing a coach can do short of suiting up and playing the game himself.  (Is this why Bob Bradley wears track suits?)

So the question now appears to be, where does the blame lie when a team so full of talent and swagger loses big at home to a second division side in a very important regional tournament?  I think the burden falls upon the players in the Galaxy loss to the Islanders.  This is a Galaxy team whose depth has already been tested during the World Cup stretch and therefore are a squad that 1-25 should be ready to play whatever role is asked of them.  So you can make the case that Arena perhaps should have started Gonzalez and Ricketts, yet there is no reason to believe that Leonardo and Saunders shouldn’t have been able to complete the task asked of them.

The blame lies with the players.  I was there, and I watched as Eddie Lewis dropped his head and failed to run back to cover after giving the ball away in his own end in the second half.  I was there, and watched as pass after simple pass failed to find their intended target.  I was there, and watched as Leonardo headed the ball clear up the center of the field rather than away to the sidelines.  These are mistakes no coach can take the blame for, especially when over the course of four months that same team has proven themselves capable of fixing every mistake made Tuesday night.

Now assessing blame in the All Star Game?  That is a different matter entirely.  I feel Bruce Arena made a number of poor choices which affected the outcome of the game.  The principle of which was his starting defense.

However, at this point I find it unfortunately necessary to have to place this disclaimer: Yes, I know its an exhibition that doesn’t matter in the long term.  I understand that.  But my feeling is that if you are going to, as a league, schedule a game to showcase yourself then you should take it seriously.  Not going-in-studs-up seriously but at least you should structure your team in the best possible way to be competitive.

Now back to the defense.  If you are Bruce Arena and you just rested both your best defender in Omar Gonzalez and Goalkeeper in Donovan Ricketts for the Puerto Rico match the night before, they both made the trip to Houston, and both are going to play 45 minutes on the night, why wouldn’t you play them together?  And likewise if you have Olave and Rimando both at your disposal why would you not pair them together as well for 45 minutes?

Arena instead went his own direction.  The result of which was the worst flop in Houston since Tracy McGrady.

Enough with all this analysis, this is Hatin’ From Hollywood, shouldn’t there have been a dick joke by this point?

Sinkers and Floaters:

- Worst part about Manchester United Preseason tours in warm weather?  Constant threat of catching glimpses of Sir Alex’s wrinkled bean bag due to short shorts.

- Don’t fear Tally Hall if your career as a goalkeeper doesn’t work out it looks like you have a great opportunity to work as a matador.

- Attention people that criticize LA’s attendance Tuesday night but don’t live here.  You have no idea what getting to the HDC at 7:00 on a Tuesday requires from a human being.  It’s the price we pay to live somewhere that matters in the world.

- Worst crime against eyeballs at the HDC Tuesday night was not committed on the field but in the seat next to me:

Seriously guy?  You’re gonna wear Mandals in public?  And not just Mandals but with Mandals with socks?  And not just Mandals with socks, but Mandals with black socks.  Why the black socks?  Are those your church Mandals or something? Reserved for only your finest going out affairs?  Attention “Oldies” the only acceptable sandals to be worn in public don’t have heel straps and definitely are  never to be paired with foot hosiery.

From My Twitter Stream:

-Best thing about Ching goal? After scoring it, he acts like he’s been there before. No over celebration. Class…

-Hmmmm Donovan wearing light blue against Man U? Perhaps Don Garber is trying to hint subtly to Mancini…

-You can almost hear the All Stars thinking, “Oh, this is what pressuring the ball feels like.”

-Hey Bruce if you aren’t gonna start Omar tonight, can we go back in time and start him last night?