Major League Soccer

I guess the playoffs/no relegation system means it probably wouldn't translate though

no relegation is how we are still stuck with TFC

Interesting article in light of yesterday's Qs&As on this thread:

http://www.soccernewsday.com/usa/a/145/integrating-north-america-s-soccer-leagues-via-expansion

assaulting a cop?! joey barton, eat your heart out haha

attn boxall, you asked and i linked to a BS thread, but i like this better: http://www.kckrs.com/a-very-kckrs-guide-to-summer-friendlies-in-america-and-canada/

By this point in the season, Toronto will be something like 0-25-0 in MLS play, so it will be hilarious when they beat Liverpool.

July 24th – Columbus Crew v. Stoke, 7:30 PM ET
Crew Stadium
Columbus, OH

Why we’re excited: We’re not.

same reaction from fans here for villa tbph

whoa: New York Red Bulls forward Juan Agudelo has been traded to Chivas USA for defender Heath Pearce, allocation money, and other considerations, Fox Soccer reported on Thursday.

twitterverse was convinced it was marquez, not agudelo, for a while there

good move for the kid imo, chivas needs a forward who is < 35 years old

http://i47.tinypic.com/2ir0ndl.jpg

horrendous refereeing for chi/pdx yesterday, just sad

Dan, I'm reading Soccernomics atm and they claim that competitive balance is bad for MLS 'cos it doesn't allow a couple of dynastic superteams to emerge which the rest of the league (and fans) can then hate. Is it true that there is no dominant team which the majority of fans loathe/disdain and love to see lose?

Is that in the new edition? I read the book when it came out but don't remember that part.

NY, LA, and Seattle get a lot of hate, but not really for being 'dynastic' b/c NY and SEA haven't won in the playoffs and LA has had periods of missing the post-season etc. It's more about money, crazy/stupid player moves and especially the perceived league bias in their favor. Ppl hated DC a lot (early dominance, 4 titles) but that has cooled down into a more regional-based disdain since they drifted into mediocrity.

Personally I like the league's parity as it allows for at least a little bit of surprise in which teams do well year-to-year & encourages smart team building rather than just letting Anschutz et al hose cash around to win. Would be nice if they lifted the salary cap a bit and got some of the better mid-level American players to stick around instead of going to Scandinavian leagues.

yeah, the new ed. It's part of their whole 'fans prefer competitive imbalance steev'

Brazil's very balanced too (eight different clubs have made the top three in the past four years). It seems to be a thing that takes a while to get bedded in, other than in France and to a slightly lesser extent Germany.

Bundesliga is often cited as the model for MLS, tho not in the realm where it really counts -- fan ownership.

ha so my soon to be local team the whitecaps actually lost to "the worst team in the world" tfc? damn.

"4 times canadian champions" tfc

MLS top 25 base salaries in 2012:

Thierry Henry, New York: $5 million ($5.6m overall)

Rafael Marquez, New York: $4.6 million ($4.6m)

David Beckham, Los Angeles: $3 million ($4m)

Robbie Keane, Los Angeles: $2.9 million ($3.4m)

Landon Donovan, Los Angeles: $2.4 million ($2.4m)

Torsten Frings, Toronto: $2 million ($2.4m)

Julian de Guzman, Toronto: $1.9 million ($1.9m)

Kris Boyd, Portland: $1.2 million ($1.5m)

Danny Koevermans, Toronto: $1.1 million ($1.6m)

Dwayne De Rosario, D.C. United: $617,000 ($663,000)

Fredy Montero, Seattle: $600,000 ($756,000)

David Ferreira, Dallas: $600,000 ($705,000)

Eric Hassli, Vancover: $550,000 ($790,000)

Shalrie Joseph, New England: $495,000 ($554,000)

Javier Morales, Real Salt Lake: $425,000 ($477,000)

Branko Boskovic, D.C. United: $409,000 ($545,000)

Freddy Adu, Philadelphia: $400,000 ($519,000)

Benny Feilhaber, New England: $400,000 ($446,000)

Conor Casey, Colorado: $400,000 ($400,000)

Juan Pablo Angel, Chivas USA: $350,000 ($600,000)

Alvaro Saborio, Real Salt Lake: $350,000 ($405,000)

Brek Shea, Dallas: $310,000 ($354,000)

Chad Marshall, Columbus: $310,000 ($341,000)

Hamdi Salihi, D.C. United: $305,000 ($487,000)

Alvaro Fernandez, Seattle: $300,000 ($367,000)

again, loltfc

lol Kris Boyd still exists

lol that he'll be playing for Jim's local rivals

one of the first things i saw when i arrived in downtown portland: tartan billboard with "welcome, kris" written on it.

you maybe through with the past, but the past ain't through with you

full list here

http://www.mlsplayers.org/files/May%2015,%202012%20Salary%20Information%20-%20By%20Club.pdf

and fuck kris boyd btw, fucker just completely fouled the shit out of everyone when the fire played the timbers

http://www.priory-antiques.co.uk/images/uploads/TASTE_OF_SCOTLAND.JPG

How good is Hunter Jumper? Great name, but I feel bad for the dude and his poxy salary.

Haven't seen much of him yet beyond the reserve squad. He seems like one of those classic American "hell of an athlete, questionable soccer player" types. Guess that's why we have Friedrich, Pardo, and Gibbs to teach the n00bs. Salaries are terrible all-round, I wonder why they keep some of the guys who are on like 100k+ and ride the bench.

The Fire player I'm most surprised by is the GK Tornaghi. Inter youth product, came up with Baloltelli and some other notables, spent time in the lower Serie leagues and then came here. He could start for a lot of teams in this league, and the only reason he isn't starting here at the moment is that Sean Johnson is a US nat'l team darling. He's worth a lot more than what he's getting.

Hunter Jumper could be a good name for a primitive yet hypermasculine society, where athletic prowess is valued more than harvesting vegetables.

Yeah, that place is called Texas, where he comes from.

Branko Boskovic, D.C. United: $409,000 ($545,000)

please don't re-up please don't re-up

from sounder at heart:

The league is paying $15.07 in salary for every person who attends a game (total salary over total attendance). That number has fluctuated between $12.89 (2007) and $17.71 (2010) over the previous 5 years. The mean cost per team per game is $139,145.41, up over $30k since ’07, but a little less than 2010, which was an expensive year for the league, with total salary expenditure jumping over $19 million. Since 2010, total salary costs have risen an additional $19 million, to just shy of $90 million. Of course, 3 teams have joined the league in that time, so the average team salary has only risen by 6.8%.

official usoc lol list: LA, Chi, revs, cbus, hou

dallas

rsl

~~~dear soccer gods in heaven above let portland be next~~~

nothing like traveling to a suburb of detroit to watch your team lose in a turf-floored pole barn

srsly the seattle sounders themselves could not have bought and paid for a better home field advantage

Oh right I understand now. Is the US Open Cup a big thing in your culture? Because that looks like a pretty epic night of shocks.

it's big in some scenes, not so much in others. since they gave a champions league spot to the winners it's been on the upswing though.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/30/us-open-lamar-hunt-cup-round-3

Ah great, thanks - I lap that stuff up. The comments are worth reading too:

Long Island away in 1997. An unlit field in Stony Brook, with Rhett Hartley heading in the extra time winner at dusk, off a Donadoni free kick.

slightly crepey of me to know this but I believe that commenter is a former ilxor

that might have been my first jaymc moment

thank u soccer gods

lol kris boyd misses a penalty that leads to portland getting knocked out by amateurs.

Current Roster
From news report[8]

Danny Barrera
Diego Barrera
Artur Aghasyan - scored goal in 95th minute of match vs. Portland Timbers, ensuring Cal FC's 1-0 victory[2][3][4][5][6][7]
Pedro Ferreira-Mendes
Paulo Ferreira-Mendes
Eder Arreola
Mike Randolph
Richard Menjivar
Derby Carillo (mentioned during match vs. Portland Timbers - 5/30/2012)
Cesar Rivera (mentioned during match vs. Portland Timbers - 5/30/2012)
Jesus Gonzalez (mentioned during match vs. Portland Timbers - 5/30/2012)

This shows the magnitude of it nicely I think.

kind of <3 that Cal are wearing 2010 Fire shirts