Deuce Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Promo from last Saturday's Impact-Fire game I was at: Great atmosphere/support, quality venue. And the game itself was quality, certainly refreshing to see good football after the Newcastle debacle earlier that day. MLS really is a nice little league, love that it's growing as rapidly as it is. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiroMole Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubaricho Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Hung with a bunch of those dudes before an Impact match a few years ago, quality group of supporters. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/sports/soccer/abu-dhabi-sheik-is-said-to-be-on-track-to-own-new-soccer-team-in-new-york.html?hp&_r=1& Mansour wants to use his New York team as a City developmental squad. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2317296/Manchester-City-want-advantage-MLS-link.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEMTEX Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 USA gonna give work permits to 17 year old Mancs? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nixon Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 There's that then also the fact MLS limits you to eight international roster spots. Might be able to get a handful of City youngsters to supplement a trio of DP's, but other than that it's all local produce. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Yeah, the club would be a mixture of City kids on loan, MLS vets, and American youngsters who could move-up to City at some point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 FWIW, it'd be like City's version of Chivas USA. And Chivas currently has 11 non-Americans on the roster. Each team begins with 8 international roster spots, but can trade them away/acquire more. EDIT: Chivas has 10, I was counting Agudelo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toon Hoser Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Star Wars Day at Real Salt Lake! http://www.realsaltlake.com/news/2013/04/real-salt-lake-host-star-wars-day-rio-tinto-stadium-Saturday Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEMTEX Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 They're not alone http://i.imgur.com/c8wBR4A.jpg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nixon Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 FWIW, it'd be like City's version of Chivas USA. And Chivas currently has 11 non-Americans on the roster. Each team begins with 8 international roster spots, but can trade them away/acquire more. EDIT: Chivas has 10, I was counting Agudelo. True. I think as we've seen though, it can be beneficial. Chivas were the pre-season whipping boys in all the previews yet they've actually played some really nice football this season. Of course the potential drawbacks are bad, but if a group is willing to meet the financial demands what can you do to stop them? If they're willing to commit $100million just to join the league, I'd expect a considered and meticulous approach to follow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 I don't think it would be a bad thing. Roster rules/FFP would be enough to ensure that the Sheikh's NY team wouldn't be the new City, buying players for fun. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nixon Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 I don't think it would be a bad thing. Roster rules/FFP would be enough to ensure that the Sheikh's NY team wouldn't be the new City, buying players for fun. I'd say the most interesting facet is people talking about them buying the Cosmos naming rights. In a backwards way I think it would be wonderfully fitting for the two sides to merge. Although in some ways putting the Cosmos in MLS destroys their heritage in the NASL. One funny addendum, the Cosmos media director - Jen Chang. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubaricho Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 $50m for a franchise is what Orlando City has been telling us. I also don't believe in just handing out franchises to anyone who can afford it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nixon Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 $50m for a franchise is what Orlando City has been telling us. I also don't believe in just handing out franchises to anyone who can afford it. Of course not. No one is saying that. The point is though, they already have a healthy standing in the game. They're willing to not just invest the startup fee but also three times that in a plush stadium (which will benefit the community whether they stay or not). I would agree that in some ways it is a concern given their potential motives, but ultimately there are a lot of upsides to this. The swing won't be significant enough to form a divided league like in England and in fact it might raise the quality of the overall game. You'll see teams become shrewder and appeal to bigger names to the point where all clubs will be able to attract guys like Thierry Henry (I consider him the best mix of talent/marketing). No league wants to become a feeder project for bigger clubs, but at present that isn't what's happening. They're proposing a partnership that will still see US Soccer as the major benefactor. For all the talk of it being centred around soccer, I've read reports that they're doing this to galvanise business links in the US. So from that perspective there's a strong chance they won't look to interfere in the league rules, but will at least demand an output that matches the level of Manchester City - all the while knowing they can't simply buy all the best players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliMag Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Timbers will win this year or next. Caleb Porter is THE best American manager there is. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubaricho Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 $50m for a franchise is what Orlando City has been telling us. I also don't believe in just handing out franchises to anyone who can afford it. Of course not. No one is saying that. The point is though, they already have a healthy standing in the game. They're willing to not just invest the startup fee but also three times that in a plush stadium (which will benefit the community whether they stay or not). I would agree that in some ways it is a concern given their potential motives, but ultimately there are a lot of upsides to this. Do a little research into Orlando City on OrlandoSentinel.com and see how much money they have already put up and the land downtown that they have already bought that will be used to build the stadium on, which is more than half-way financed by the owners of the club. If a franchise gets awarded to NY and not Orlando in the next few weeks it will be a huge travesty. We already average over 9k people for USL matches and our owners have put forth the money to make it happen. Beyond that, it's out of their control. If the NYC franchise wins it's politics and money exchanging hands. I'd love to see them give it to the Cosmos and for them to fucking flop on their face to teach them right for offering a franchise with no existing fan base. They should have to get in the old fashioned way of the best clubs in MLS - Portland, Seattle, and places like Montreal - who already had existing fan bases. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubaricho Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 On a much lighter note, how fucking awesome is this? http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2013/05/recap-eight-year-old-atticus-nets-four-goals-power-green-machine-past-timbers-10-9 This little dude Attitucs finds out he has cancer and his Make-A-Wish is to play on the Portland pitch against the Timbers. The club arranges it and 3,000 fans show up with custom made flags and banners for Attitcus. His team that he plays for (Green Machine) gets a day in the dressing rooms, real coaching by the Timbers squad, and gets to play against real Timbers players in real kits. He also gets a hold a slab of Timber up at the end. Really heart-warming stuff. They even came up with unique chants for him: ESPN's quick blurb on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va_1Mo6VgNc Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Timbers are a class organization with great fans. Cali, I think Mr. Arena would have something to say about anointing Porter the best American manager. Montreal beat the absolute crap out of Toronto in the second leg of the Canadian Championship semis last night. 6-0. This team is rolling right now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Hows old Diego Valeri getting on for them? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Hows old Diego Valeri getting on for them? He's doing pretty well, big part of an offense that's firing on all cylinders right now. Portland's midfield 3 of Will Johnson-Diego Chara-Diego Valeri has been strong all season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 I wasn't aware that Frederic Piquionne had signed for Portland. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Hows old Diego Valeri getting on for them? He's doing pretty well, big part of an offense that's firing on all cylinders right now. Portland's midfield 3 of Will Johnson-Diego Chara-Diego Valeri has been strong all season. He's a good player, should be playing in Europe IMO but I guess money wise the MLS is probably about as good as he'll get. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Interestingly, he's only on loan this season. As much as I love having players of his caliber in the league, it is nice to see them "graduate" to Europe. Some kind of vindication for MLS. Hope he makes a move at some point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Interestingly, he's only on loan this season. As much as I love having players of his caliber in the league, it is nice to see them "graduate" to Europe. Some kind of vindication for MLS. Hope he makes a move at some point. He's been and failed IIRC, generally players from SA don't go back twice but you never know. More like to stick with the US or even Mexico given the money on offer opposed to Argentina. He's always been a reliable 7/10 player in my time following Argie football. Lanus, his parent club are a rare bastion of stability which probably helps mind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now