Major League Soccer

cool another team to automatically hate

Kinda hating the league itself over this one too tbh

why so? cos of yankees/MC bastard hybrid or...

btw is there any truth to carlos slim buying chivas and selling them to mls to be moved or dismantled or something?

This is a lot of it: http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/soccerusa/id/2441?cc=5901

Also one of the hard & fast entry requirements for the last, I don't know, 4-5 expansion clubs has been "have your own stadium" and NYCFC doesn't have a stadium at all, nor a deal in place to build one, or land, or anything. There's a very palpable sense that the league is pushing everything aside for that $100mil because each investment group (including, allegedly, those from clubs like Tampa that haven't existed in 10 years) gets a cut of the dough.

I've heard about the Slim/Chivas rumors, but that's based around the prospect of him buying Real Chivas and just discarding/selling Chivas USA. They sure as shit are doing terribly as-is, so I could see something happening. Lots of rumors of the league moving them to FL but they've already failed there once...

Additionally I unfollowed @MLS on Twitter because of their NYCFC spamming. It's a shitshow and really has made me think whether there aren't 15-16 teams in the league that are just sort of "there" to the league.

dang, fuuuucked up

Reports are saying Robbie Rogers to sign with the Galaxy and Mike Magee is going to the Fire in return. Any thoughts, Dan?

I think in the end it's a win for the Fire, having traded Oduro for Dilly Duka and Rogers' rights, which has now been played into Magee. Magee is a local guy, in the prime of his career, but he's a hard worker more than an outright scorer, which is what the Fire desperately need. I guess I'm glad Rogers will get to play again on his own terms. If Duka turned out to be worth a shit it'd be even better, but he hasn't shown a whole lot so far.

None of this changes the fact that in the first 1/3 of the season the Fire have 6 goals and that's what everyone is still talking about. They pissed away time doing this (and the Soumare deal) but none of those points dropped in 1-0 losses to crappy teams are going to come back as a result. :/

Also Soumare coming in means Arne Friedrich is likely to retire, it's just a matter of time.

Also LA fans are piiiiisssed about this, which does give me a twinge of pleasure. Magee was, if not their big offensive performer (although he has I think 7 goals this year, 3 of which were against the Fire) one of the club's most popular players. They put him in goal once, for fuck's sake.

*he was one of the club's most popular players

I'm really surprised you got a player and not a pick or two or a slot for an overseas player. I did not think the Galaxy liked Rogers enough to give up a legit asset, but I guess they feel he'll bring them enough on and off the field to make the sacrifice worth it. Magee should help make the rest of the season a bit more productive, and 11 points out of playoff position is recoverable this early on.

Sounds like Rogers got a good reception last night?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BM_SSIMCUAEfsko.png

oh dcu

they are so bad, can't believe olsen hasn't been fired

mike magee kickin' ass for the fire btw, scored in each of his first 4 games so far (2 league and 2 open cup)

they are so bad, can't believe olsen hasn't been fired

i have a feeling it's gonna be him (eventually anyway) and not dave kasper, which still won't address the real issues (cf the post's ugly rundown of their foreign signings since 2004)

a list, it should be noted, that doesn't include lionard pajoy

http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013/07/10/why-sports-teams-cant-regulate-speech/

smgdmfh forever at this bullshit

Well, that writing is terrible for one thing.

Yeah but writing aside the league's actions are the real problem.

You think I'm going to disagree with that? :) The league's actions have always been the problem!

Dragging my ass out to Frisco tonight to see FC Dallas take on Real Salt Lake. Only supposed to be 94º at the 8pm kickoff so the scarves will have some practical use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGd34TYOndc

fuck that guy

Americans' constant self-loathing obscures gains in MLS, U.S. soccer

tbqh i think that article is serious horseshit

or at least it's positing something single-entity about "american soccer fans" that's laughably absurd to anyone with the slightest level of exposure to mls/usmnt fan culture

anything with that many Lalas quotes is going to have a high horseshit factor

but I do think, at least based on my experience, there is an underlying truth to the self-loathing portion, maybe more "overly-realistic pessimism" than self-loathing

<q>there is an underlying truth to the self-loathing portion, maybe more "overly-realistic pessimism" than self-loathing </q>

absolutely, although you could say the same thing about supporters of the england or mexico national teams (or arsenal, or inter, or liverpool, etc) right now - it's neither unique nor particularly acute among americans imo

as far as NYCFC goes i had the same kneejerk reaction as everybody, but it's hard to argue that it isn't a necessary force for the overall quality and competitiveness of the league (which directly implies developing domestic talent at a higher level)

there is some real acute angst though, just look at this guy:

https://twitter.com/soccerreform

the entire concept of NYCFC irks me, 100% about money for the league owners/investors, dubious increase in quality or anything else (imo)

Reports saying the Crew were sold for $68 million (incl $30 mil for the stadium). Daaang.

I'm used to NBA dollars, is that high or low?

https://twitter.com/grahamruthven/status/362680959855898624

i like that dudes on twitter are actually asking this question

$68m is a record for an mls franchise and represents a pretty significant valuation for bigger markets - the owners of philly/vancouver/seattle/portland/montreal all paid in the $30-40m range to join the league within the last five years

Yeah the fact that they got that much in a 10+ year old stadium is kind of amazing, although on balance the $100mil that NYCFC paid for their franchise alone is another thing altogether.

Joek on twitter about the price just now: "Probably less b/c that tin can stadium would get hefty payout if it was recycled in Michigan"

i still have not gone to a scorpions fc game this season. the stadium is supposed to be dope tho.

There's a lot of people in Chicago wishing our owner would sell. :/

Dempsey to SEA

lol at EJ quote

As I said in the main offseason thread, it will be great when he gets pawned off to the Fire in a year or so a la Ljungberg and Fernandez.

24 teams by 2020. Speculation on best bets is that Orlando (current USL-Pro team), Miami (Beckham), Atlanta (Falcons owner), Minny (Vikings owner), and San Antonio (Scorpions) are at the top of the heap.

must read by Wahl on the Dempsey xfer: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130805/clint-dempsey-seattle-sounders-mls/

lotsa people, including long-tenured MLS writers, raising srs questions on how this went down

it's pretty crazy and rather weird, to say the least. Nice piece from Wahl.

Understood none of that, but wow at salary

the league rules make it completely confusing but here's the important part:

A source connected to Seattle with detailed knowledge of the deal said Seattle's owners are paying Dempsey's $24 million in salary (at least the lion's share above the normal $368,750 covered by the league), but the league is covering the $9 million transfer fee. (A league official disputed that characterization without providing details.)

so in effect the league will pay xfer fees for players going to clubs that it deems worthy/in the league's best interest, but the mechanisms by which this happens are very very very vague, leading to many to claim they're making it up as they go & won't do the same for all clubs

this guy kinda sums it up http://bigquestionshow.com/2013/08/05/here-is-the-big-hole-in-the-mls-rules-that-dempseys-transfer-has-uncovered/

also Steven Goff (highly respected Washington Post soccer writer) has been tweeting extensively on it: https://twitter.com/SoccerInsider

Ok. I picked that up alright but didnt know how unusual that was in the context of the franchise setup.

a USMNT player that wasn’t a big-money, TV-needle-moving type like Jozy Altidore or Michael Bradley

these guys must be 3 and 4 after landon and clint no?

xp it's not illegal or anything, they're fully within their rights to do it... but it also has made people start making comparisons to WWE

another take on basically the same thing: http://deadspin.com/how-mls-made-sure-clint-dempsey-landed-in-seattle-1030615076

would think howard would be a big score as a returning player, seen a lot of rumors about jermaine jones as well. jozy & baby bradley would definitely make waves

joz and bradley would be bigger gets imo simply because they are younger.
i like the mls as wild west no rules kinda place run by one guy. it kinda fits into its current place in history as a still somewhat fledgling league, about to take off