|
MLS News
|
|
Tuesday, 17 March 2009 16:10 |
|
Predicting the Major League Soccer champions days before the new season begins is an unenviable task.
Firstly, strict roster restrictions and salary caps guarantee a certain level of parity among the league’s 15 franchises.
Secondly, huge uncertainty exists around which players will be available for the entire campaign—flourishing performances can attract summer transfers to Europe, while American expatriates failing to make the grade abroad or nearing the end of their careers may be making the opposite journey.
Thirdly, MLS does not adjourn for international dates—this is especially relevant in 2009 with ongoing World Cup qualification and the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament taking place, as well as the U.S. team’s participation in June’s Confederations Cup.
Finally, as New York Red Bulls showed last year, anything can happen when it comes to the post-season play-offs.
Columbus Crew suffered three seasons of purgatory before rebounding to the top of the regular season table and lifting MLS Cup last year. Real Salt Lake fell agonisingly short of appearing in that final having also turned around three seasons of woe to mount a title challenge.
In this year’s Western Conference, I’m going for seasoned campaigners Houston Dynamo to reclaim their crown with Real Salt Lake as their closest challengers.
In the East, another Conference Final between Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire could be on the cards but with a different outcome.
Come November 22 at Seattle’s Qwest Field, I’ll take Houston to clinch their third MLS Cup in four seasons over Cuauhtemoc Blanco and his Chicago teammates.
Here is a look at this year’s title contenders, play-off hopefuls, and helpless stragglers. Source: Click Here
|
|
MLS News
|
|
Tuesday, 17 March 2009 14:36 |
Some freelance photographer decided to crack wise about our beloved Los Angeles Galaxy yesterday:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drew Carey
"I think the expansion team this year actually is the Galaxy and not us," the Seattle Sounders FC co-owner told reporters at MLS headquarters Monday morning. "I said that to all my Riot Squad friends. You're the ones scrambling to put a team together from scratch, didn't know who was playing for you day-to-day. ... They're coming from a big mess, they're the expansion team."
Well, for your information, Mr. Carey, you couldn't be more wrong. Expansion teams have happy fans who look forward to the season and have hope for the future.
Furthermore...yeah, he's absolutely right, as who would dispute, but saying it out loud isn't clever. Expansion teams don't have Landon Donovan, who goes from Bixby to Ferrigno when slighted. Yes, I'm aware that he's currently in year three of a playoff boycott. But unless Seattle's going to schedule their Galaxy games in Leverkusen, it's best not to stick a fork in that particular toaster.
Speaking of people wearing ridiculous shades of green, happy St. Patrick's Day.
Helpful phrases for today:
Erin go bragh - Irish go home
Slainte - Green food coloring causes HIV
Go n'eiri en bothar leat - We'd all be better off today if Patrick had driven out the Irish and converted the snakes
My family and I will be spending St. Patrick's Day the way it's traditionally celebrated - i.e., not being in Ireland.Source: Click Here
|
|
MLS News
|
|
Tuesday, 17 March 2009 07:39 |
It would be nice if Joan Laporta and the rest of the suits who run Barcelona FC could get their stories straight.
When last we saw this merry band of sportsmen, they were lamenting the fact that it was, sadly, going to be impossible for them to participate in Marcelo Claure's Miami MLS outfit.
They somehow never quite got around to explaining exactly what it was they were worried about losing, since they admittedly were offering to put up no money of their own.
With the blood barely dry on the shank they openly jammed into Claure's back—the poor guy had to read about it in the papers and hop on a flight to Spain to hear what the whole world already knew—here they are again.
This time though, it's Philadelphia that's the object of their desire. (I hope that link works, SBJ is funny sometimes.)
In fact, it seems that Laporta paid a visit to Nick the sack and the Philadelphia organizers, and was given a tour of the Chester digs, which isn't particularly remarkable except that it occurred just a few days before they pulled the plug on Miami.
What's even worse, apparently they're talking about actually investing money in the Philadelphia team rather than just lending them some coaches and trainers.
There's no word from Miami on just how Claure feels about this, but like most jilted lovers he was the last to know, and that's never a pleasant experience..
The Don helpfully tells us that Barca "are continuing to look at opportunities around the league."
Opportunities, he could have added, that are not in Miami.
Of course one problem with the Philly bid problem that people have been whispering about the for the last few months, is that their lead investor, wealthy financier Jay Sugarman, ain't quite so wealthy anymore.
Everyone is quick to note that Sugarman's Pile O'Cash extends far beyond his holdings in iStar, the company where, as CEO, he's watched the share value go from over 20 bucks to just under under two in the last 12 months.
But at the same time he's probably answering some rather pointed questions from the little woman about why the hell he's sinking all this dough into a soccer team right now, and rightly so.
Meanwhile, it appears that Barcelona didn't lose interest in MLS, just Miami.
By now you've probably heard that serial miscreant Kei Kamara of the Houston Dynamo has been suspended for two games, because of "comments" he made to an official after a preseason match from which he was ejected for another brutal assault on his favorite target, Nick Garcia.
(No word on what it was he said, but it must have been a doozy.)
Of course Kamara has a history of this kind of thing, including almost starting a riot during a friendly little scrimmage the Crew was having with a local Columbus adult open team as a combination leg-stretcher and PR opportunity.
Houston badly needs decent forwards, and Kei is undoubtedly talented, but the unhappy truth is that the guy is a ticking time bomb who either can't or won't grow up and learn some self control. Some guys never do.
You have to wonder if California Klinnsy is having second thoughts about packing Landon Donovan off to LA after the news that Miroslav Klose is going to be out for eight weeks, getting surgery on the ankle he tore up over the weekend.
We don't currently have any salient comments on the subject from LDo himself, but Landon swears he answers questions posted on his personal Web site, so you might give that a try.Source: Click Here
|
|
MLS News
|
|
Monday, 16 March 2009 22:37 |
|
In this final installment, I examine the case why the US needs not only American talent, but the Canadian talent (and more Mexican talent, for that matter) in order to achieve success amongst its global competition. If only the CSA would stop being so selfish….
Item #4 – US Soccer and the CSA must work together for the good of the game
FACT: The world’s strongest national associations and national team have strong professional circuits as well (or vice versa).
FACT: US Soccer (and CONCACAF, for that matter) needs the Canadian Soccer Association to be successful and Mexico to improve in order to be respected on the world stage.
Is it a coincidence that the world’s top ranked national soccer teams are from countries where the club competition is strong, well supported, and properly structured? Of course not.
According to the IFFHS, the top 5 leagues in the world, in order, belong to England , Italy(World Cup Champ), Argentina (Repeat U-20 Champ), Spain (Current FIFA No. 1, Euro Champ), and Brazil (three of past five World Cup Finals with two Wins).
The MLS is ranked 77th. The fact that four of the top five leagues are in countries with recent national team success speaks to a direct relationship between club system strength and national team success.
Another major difference between the top 5 and USA is the competition, geographically, around them. Using the average world rank of an associations national teams as a guide, the associations representing the top 5 teams, CONMEBOL and UEFA, are the No. 1 and 2 strongest in the world.
CONCACAF is No. 5, ahead of only the Oceanic region. Therefore, though the USA national team is ranked top 20 in the world, they will continuously face difficulty performing on the world stage due to the fact that that the teams that they face most often are among the world’s weakest.
USA was able to enter the top twenty partly due to the fact that they had significantly closed the gap with (and in fact overtook) Mexico.
However, the US now finds itself being the shark in an aquarium full of minnows, and many of its competitors lack the infrastructure and resources to close the gap with the regions new king.
That would be everyone except Canada. Mexico will be back as a regional power, but it will be the growth of Canada as a 3rd regional force that will give all parties the regular competition needed to improve one’s standing globally.
Pitifully however, while some Central and Caribbean Zone teams may arguable lack the resources, Canada, unfortunately, only lacks the organization and will.
Since the 1994 World Cup (of which the birth of MLS was actually a condition) US Soccer has done a great job of nurturing the club game within its borders, which has directly resulted in national team improvement.
The CSA meanwhile, ignorantly seems to expect success to fall out of the sky without any real effort (or coherent strategy). Sadly for the CSA, not every world sport is Hockey.
Now, in the defense of my national soccer body, geography and population does play a role in Canada’s inability to launch national professional leagues.
Thus, Canadian cities must rely on piggybacking US based leagues in order to support viable professional sport.
However, given this reality, the CSA has failed to realize that it is in its best interest to support, and lobby for the interests of professional soccer in Canadian cities.
For Example, the fact that only US based MLS teams are eligible for the CONCACAF Champions League is senseless. Canadian teams can only qualify through the Canadian Championship. Now imagine the day when Toronto FC wins the Supporters Shield, but loses the Canadian Championship.
The Reds will be left on the outside looking in while the 5th place (or worse) US based side takes their place. This nightmare scenario is in fact possible under the current allocation.
However, the CSA has yet to lobby CONCACAF or work with US Soccer to make MLS (and potentially USL) CONCACAF spots shared. Otherwise, what incentive is there for players to want to play for Canadian teams when the format is structured such that US teams have 2 avenues to qualification vs 1 for Canadian squads?
This effectively puts one foot in the grave for Canadian club football. These are the situations in which the CSA, as champion of soccer in Canada, needs to step in.
Given the fact that the geo-economic facts dictate that Canada must work with US counterparts in order to have viable professional sport, logic says that the 5 spots between US Soccer and the CSA should be split as follows:
1 held by US Soccer to the US Open Cup Champion
1 held by CSA to the Canadian Championship Winner
2 jointly held to MLS (with qualification open to Canadian and American teams)
1 jointly held to USL (with qualification open to Canadian, American, and Caribbean Teams).
CSA is doing the Canadian system a great disservice by not working harder for soccer at the club level in Canada, from seeking more equity out of the current CONCACAF arrangement, to championing USL and MLS expansion in Canada.
Based on the model adopted by US Soccer and proven overseas, national team success can come directly out of having top tier professional soccer. If the CSA doesn’t recognize this, US Soccer should think outside of the usual protectionist interests of national sport and encourage the CSA’s development themselves.
The success of rival national teams from Europe and South America dictate that it is actually in USA’s best interest to work closer with the CSA (temporarily of course) and help Canada out of the basement.
Source: Click Here
|
|
MLS News
|
|
Monday, 16 March 2009 16:35 |
|
As I sit here contemplating the future of my own clubs place in the league my mind turns towards the Premiership and partially the race for fourth spot.. The re-branding of the European Cup to the Champions League has made it one of the most desirable competitions to be associated with in World Football.
The 2008/2009 Premiership has been quite a remarkable season with clubs like Tottenham and Blackburn battling against relegation and Aston Villa pushing for their place in the Champions League at the expense of Arsenal.
Arsenal being one of the more successful clubs in England over the last 12 years under the stewardship of the “professor” Arsene Wenger are facing a revolt from some sections of there own support, as he has chosen not to strengthen his side with big money signings but has chosen to support his own youth academy.
When Wenger first arrived at Highbury he started to forge links with the French Football Federations academy in Clair Fontaine. He brought over prospects like Nicholas Anelka to help kick start a new generation of Arsenal youth using an ever growing web of youth scouts to pin point the most talented youngsters around the world and bring them through the Arsenal way and helping to create a more sustainable football club in the process.
This is not a new idea but I feel Wenger may have been influenced by the world famous Ajax Academy which has always had a reputation of developing some of the finest young talent in the game. The academies proudest day must have come on the 24th of May 1995 when Ajax, brimming with talent from there own academy, beat Milan 1-0 to capture the European cup.
But looking even closer to home, Manchester United produced a phenomenal crop of youngster at the back of the 90's which turned a couple of teenagers into household names. I can remember watching David Preece's testimonial and rather then the big new signings Andy Cole or Ryan Giggs, it was a bunch of youngsters like Beckham, Butt, Scholes and the Neville brothers that people remember now. No one that evening could have believed they would have produced not only the back bone of United but also for England.
You could also mention Harry Redknapp's West Ham team early in the new millennium with the like of Ferdinand, Carrick, Joe Cole, Lampard and Defoe, also another group of players who have since been split up and left for various large clubs through the league and still create a backbone for England.
But is Wenger right to follow this approach. Everyone knows he has an eye for talent and for picking up the lesser know players like Viera and Petit and turning them into a formidable force. With the credit crunch in fall swing and a new stadium to pay for Wenger is looking to create a sustainable club like an Ajax with talent on tap and with less need to spend large amounts.
But looking at two of their biggest rivals, both Manchester United and Liverpool are carrying huge debts that could mean a cut in spending for these clubs and looking more at their youth policies. So Wenger may be a little ahead of the curb trying to do the responsible thing rather than waste countless millions on players who could end up warming the bench or being sold on for a lot less then they were brought for. Robbie Keane being a prime example.
Like many fans I find the football Arsenal play mesmerising and I feel we are still not looking at the complete Arsenal, but I would say the future is exciting and with Arsenal reclaiming the top spot and with Eduardo and others back from injury, I could see Arsenal being a dark horse for the title next year.
I think one of the biggest players that backs up Wenger’s faith in his youth is Cesc Fàbregas, possibly the biggest find he has ever made. The midfield maestro has become a key component within the club and must be held up to every other Arsenal youth of what they can achieve.
But also Wenger’s youth teams exploits in the League Cup must bring real hope. No one could imagine a bunch of teenagers would take an experienced Sheffield United side to the cleaners by beating them 6-0. And with some fantastic youngsters on the way like Wilshire and Vela, this could save Arsenal some real money in the future.
Oh and one final point for all those Premiership clubs who are unhappy with there league position please take a look at my club Luton Town. This small club with a big heart who are currently rock bottom of the football league thanks to the FA were one of the original signatories who created the Premier League and all we have to look forward to is a bitter battle to stay in the league and should we fail we look forward to Non-league football. So no how bad you think you have it please look at it from our point of view.
Source: Click Here
|
|
MLS News
|
|
Monday, 16 March 2009 14:55 |
Climbing the Ladder has set up a poll about how YOU feel about MLS.
1. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Don Garber is doing as MLS commissioner?
Full disclosure - I hope to interview the guy at some point, so I've got some motivation not to answer this question with "Don Garber should be sent to The Hague as a war criminal."
That said - okay, look, nothing against Phil Woosnam, but just today, MLS announced that Volkswagen is still on board. So is Panasonic. The games are on two different national networks (I know, something Woosnam did not have as an opportunity). And yeah, he's got some big tests coming up that will make judgments a little premature - how he handles the CBA negotiations, how he handles this and the next round of expansions, etc.
Still - you'd rather have Bud Selig?
2. Do you approve or disapprove of the job ESPN is doing with their MLS broadcasts?
You know what, sure. Yeah. I like Harkes and Dellacamera. Okay, so they could go easy on hyping players that are certain no-shows. Okay, so they bailed out on Thursdays. They've learned a lot from mistakes in the past (although they need to bring back Waldo, today if possible, if not then certainly by South Africa '10). I also don't hate Julie Foudy nearly as much as the vast majority of you.
3. Two years later: Do you approve or disapprove of the signing of David Beckham?
Who?
4. Do you feel that MLS as a whole is too "traditional," too "Americanized," or just right?
Nicknames and playoff structure are dealt with below, which just leaves...well, the ownership structure is very Americanized, the rules on the field are the same everywhere...Oh, wait, sponsor names on jerseys. Too traditional.
5. For MLS teams, do you prefer "American style" nicknames (Galaxy, Rapids, Wizards) or traditional "soccer names" (United, FC, Real)?
American style, since a lot of the truly horrible ones have been weeded out, while we're still stuck with Real Salt Lake.
6. Assuming that it was feasible, would you prefer a multi-division MLS with promotion and relegation, or an NFL style large league with playoffs?
7. Which team has the nicest soccer-specific stadium?
Just going by TV on a few of these, but still HDC. I have no trouble believing that if I went to Rio Tinto or the Dickhouse, I'd fall in love with those places, but it's been five years now and I still love Victoria Street.
8. Which foreign signing will have the greatest impact on MLS this season?
None of the above. Someone like Christian Gomez or Blanco or Huckerby, signed in August.
9. Which American signing will have the greatest impact on MLS this season?
If the answer ISN'T Convey, then something went horribly wrong. Ty Harden, huh?
10. Who is the best MLS player at this moment in time?
You know what, I'm going to go with the crowd on this. GBS is the defending MVP, and until proven otherwise, that's the definition of the term. Sorry, Landon.Source: Click Here
|
|
MLS News
|
|
Monday, 16 March 2009 11:10 |
This week Major League Soccer, the United States of America's FIFA-sanctioned professional first division football league, kicks off it's 14th season.
Those of you who were around for the first opening week in 1996—who cheerfully handed over perfectly good money so you could watch perfectly awful soccer—will remember the almost deafening chorus of naysayers, know-it-alls, and nattering nabobs of negativity who assured everyone that the league was destined for the alphabet soup trash heap along with all the other ill-conceived leagues that had fallen by the wayside over the years.
We didn't much care back then, and we sure as hell don't much care now. For all it's warts, flaws, shortcomings, and arguments about schedules, formats, single tables, relegation, we have a collective message for the rest of the U.S. sporting world:
Bite us.
One of the many little side dramas of the recent expansion and stadium construction discussions has been the almost inevitable "concerns expressed" by some self-important ratty-assed local politician, that says Major League Soccer is a shakey proposition (they always bring up the NASL, as if they had the first clue about what happened there and why), and that investing in infrastructure to support it risks ending up holding the bag on some white elephant stadium that nobody but the local Drum and Bugle Corps will ever want to use.
One of the locals in Chester, PA went so far as to demand that MLS show him their books so he could see for himself whether this was a real, live sports league. And just the other day, some council member in Portland was whining about how she wasn't convinced that MLS has "a future."
Of course the flaw in this kind of thinking—besides the belief that there's a snowball's chance in hell that MLS will invite some idiot in to poke around at will in their filing cabinets—is that unlike any other league in the history of leagues, is that for MLS, the balance sheet is the next best thing to irrelevant.
Joe Roth, for an example, isn't investing his kid's college money in the Sounders, needing to show a profit from day one to keep him from hauling out his big old Rand McNally and start scouting around for another town he can move to. Neither is anyone else.
And that's the point that all of these people who've been boldly predicting the demise of the league for these many years have been missing and continue to miss: It's not going to happen because these guys aren't—as I keep saying until I want to scream—"buying a franchise" in MLS.
Rather, they're buying into MLS as a concept.
Almost all of us tend to forget that Roth and the others don't "own" a team. The closest any of the "owners" come is that they are 49 percent shareholders in the local branch of a larger corporation.
(In fact, the league was in jeopardy not so long ago, when Horowitz bailed on Miami and Tampa was contracted and two guys owned nine teams between them. If you weren't scared back then, it was because you weren't paying attention. But the inclusion of a dozen or so extremely rich partners, MLS became a very solid outfit. These are guys who don't run scared.)
We call these guys "owners" only because we don't know what else to call them. Initially they were called "Owner-Investors," but that wasn't particularly helpful. So a few years ago they changed the title to "Investor-Operators," which they apparently felt cleared the whole thing up.
And in truth a good deal of the iron-fisted control that MLS headquarters used to wield over virtually every aspect of team operations has gone by the boards, a movement which began when the MetroStars slapped down league VP Sunil Gulati (Ivan Gazidis' predecessor) for giving his pal Tab Ramos a huge raise and contract extension when the team wanted to waive him.
And as the thing has evolved, the teams have much more control over their rosters and their own front office and their own local operations than ever before. But only up to a point.
And that point is the salient issue, the one that makes stuff like that Forbes magazine survey of team-by-team profitability interesting but, in the end, almost entirely irrelevant: These guys don't much care. Collective results matter a lot more than individual ones.
Sure it's everyone's job to bring their operation into the black, but not in order to save themselves from having to fold or move to Oklahoma City or Milwaukee.
Rather, it's because each team's profitability enhances the league's profitability, and it's their interest in the league which matters, not whether FC Dallas shows an increase in concession sales this summer.
Some smart aleck at Forbes, instant expert Tripp Mickle at SportsBusiness Journal, or some sportswriter in Toronto can wax eloquent about how this team or that is making money and what a shame it is that some others—which they're usually delighted to name but I won't—lag behind in attendance or parking revenue.
Which is true and which needs to be remedied, but which also misses the point: MLS as a league has more value with an operation (for example) in Dallas, even an operation which may not be making money, than it does without it.
It's the league which matters to the shareholders, not this team or that. Developing the league as a whole is their goal. Sure owners like the Hunt brothers love showing up at MLS Cup wearing Nordecke scarves like the fans and hoisting the trophy. Who wouldn't?
But after the crowd goes home and the owners retire to whatever exclusive corner of L.A. they retire to, it's the welfare of the league that they talk about, not Guillermo Barros-Schelotto. Because at the end of the day, the other MLS owners quite literally "own" the majority of the Columbus Crew. Just like—are you paying attention up there?—the other 13 MLS teams own 51 percent of Toronto FC.
They're delighted as hell to see the turnstiles spinning away up there. It's their money too.
Which is how it's designed to work. Which is why it's still around. Which is why, at this point, it looks like it's going to be around.
In terms of expansion, I'm the first one in line to complain about how Jeff Cooper in St. Louis is getting a raw deal, but in reality the Board of Governors knows exactly what they're doing. They aren't looking for ridiculously wealthy deep-pocket partners because they're snobs or because the new guy always has to pick up the dinner check and they want to make sure he can afford it.
It's because they want, they demand partners who aren't terribly concerned about this year's P & L in whatever city they're running. Their eyes are 10 or 20 years down the road.
People don't usually remember that so-called "single entity" was supposed to be temporary, a short-term idea that would help the league get established without a bunch of franchise transfers, team foldings, and the other evils of free-for-all sports league ownership.
But nobody talks about it being temporary any more. It's about as permanent as it can be.
Toronto fans, and soon enough Seattle fans, moan and groan about how the single entity concept is outmoded and should be eliminated. What they're really saying is "our team could become the New York Yankees of MLS if you'd let us spend our money."
And they're right. Except that the damn league wouldn't be here without it.
(And of course single entity is why talk of promotion and relegation is utter nonsense; you can't cash Joe Roth's mega-million dollar check in March and then in October, when his team finishes in the bottom three, tell him he has to go play in USL1 again.)
And Seattle fans in particular need to be a little more circumspect with all this chest-thumping and "we're showing everyone how it should be done" stuff. All of thatis already annoying everyone before they ever kick a ball in anger. Everybody already knows. We've been here for 14 years.
There's talk these days about European leagues "looking at the MLS model," but what they're talking about is a salary cap. Which is fine, but U.S. sports leagues all have salary caps now and it doesn't prevent the Mets from trying to buy pennants. It's the league structure which makes MLS stable, not their salary budget.
The naysayers can blab all they want—and they will. But MLS is growing and doing just fine, and the ownership structure which everyone derides is the biggest reason why.
It reminds me a lot of the old saying about democracy: It's the worst possible form of government, with the exception of everything else.Source: Click Here
|
|
MLS News
|
|
Monday, 16 March 2009 08:00 |
|
The Recent Results: Toronto’s play last season reeked of a stench as bad as the notorious “red tide”. If you have never had the displeasure of experiencing such odors, I commend you for your luck.
In 2008, TFC finished dead last in the East, 13th in goals scored and 9th in goals allowed. Sure, it was only their second season, but they looked bad.
The Man in Charge: John Carver controls the Reds’ fortunes and he and Big Mo Johnston have been wheeling and dealing this offseason to make TFC into a contender. I like Carver but I wonder how he and “Trader Mo” are getting along.
The folks in Toronto love the team, but Mo makes so many moves I bet they sometimes wonder who is still on the squad.
On the Offensive: One person TFC fans know is definitely on the squad is Dwayne de Rosario, the Dynamo’s former star who TFC just acquired. DDR is Canadian and one of the most successful field generals in MLS history. The offense also features young star Chad Barrett, veteran Danny Dichio, and the enigmatic Amado Guevara.
For the Defense: While the addition of DDR will help the offense, TFC has not done a ton to cure their defensive woes. Sure, Jim Brennan, Marvell Wynne and Marco Velez are all good players (and Wynne perhaps a great one someday), but they are not stifling. Plus, the battle between keepers Sutton and Edwards has never been settled.
Movie They Resemble: Despite some question marks in the defense, I think TFC is poised to have their best season ever and possibly break through into the postseason for the first time.
Dwayne de Rosario is one of the most clutch players in MLS history, and so long as he brings his best to the pitch each week, the Reds will instantly be more competitive.
So, which movie do I think best exemplifies the 2009 Toronto squad? Well, it’s Red Dawn, of course. Unlike the movie though, TFC won’t be invading America to make us all commies, they will just be coming to kick our ass in soccer.
Source: Click Here
|
|
MLS News
|
|
Monday, 16 March 2009 07:20 |
|
Don Garber—comisionado de la MLS (y que aparece en la foto junto a un hincha de Portland)—dejó entrever hoy, en entrevista concedida al New York Times, que las ciudades elegidas para competir en la Major League Soccer a partir del 2011 serían Portland y Vancouver (parece que Steve Nash se saldrá con la suya!).
“En este ambiente económico, involucrarse en un mercado nuevo que no ha mostrado la energía y el entusiasmo de otros como Portland y Vancouver, por ejemplo, era demasiado arriesgado y no valía la pena.”
Garber añadió que “cuando tienes que reducir la decisión a dos ciudades, te inclinas por las que crees serán más exitosas. Al final de cuentas es lo más importante. Es ahí donde nos encontramos en esta carrera en la que estamos próximos a anunciar nuestros dos nuevos equipos.”
Q: Qué te parecen estas dos ciudades? O te da lo mismo mientras la liga siga creciendo? Source: Click Here
|
|
MLS News
|
|
Sunday, 15 March 2009 08:00 |
|
The Recent Results
OK, obviously I don’t have much to discuss in this section seeing as how the Sounders have no recent results. I will say this though luckily for Seattle, they are geographically next to the Pacific, so they will at least get to play in the weak Western Conference this year. I would much rather be stuck there than the beastly East.
The Man in Charge
Sigi Schmid has proven time and again that he is one of the best MLS coaches in the league’s history. He won two Supporters Shields and an MLS Cup in LA only to be tossed out on his ass because his brand of soccer wasn’t sexy enough. Last year, he completed the MLS Double with CMB while the Gals sucked. Who’s sexy now?
On the Offensive
Seattle will likely experience some growing pains worse than anything Kirk Cameron went through when it comes to the attack this season. Nate Jaqua is a big target up top, but he is reputed to be a chronic underachiever. Who else do they have? Le Toux? He’s unproven. Ljungberg? He’s injured. It could be a long season.
For the Defense
The Sounders’ defense actually doesn’t look so bad. Putting Keller between the posts helps a ton, but they have also procured some experienced guys like as Nathan Sturgis, James Riley, Tyson Wahl, Tyrone Marshall, and youngster Patrick Ianni. If I were Sigi, I might opt for a 6-3-1 formation for the first few games.
Movie They Resemble
OK, I was obviously joking there and I do not think Mr. Schmid should play six defenders for the Sounders. But, if I were him, I wouldn’t be afraid to tinker with a five defender set. After all, they are the new team.
So, for their movie, I am going to go with The New Guy.
Was it an awful movie? Yes.
Am I simply using it because it is almost 4:00 a.m. and I am trying to finish all of these previews in one night? Maybe. But that film does make sense if you think about it. Just like in the movie, the Sounders, as “the new guy”, are almost guaranteed to get their butts kicked this year.
All they can do is take their lumps and try to do better next season. The only other movie I even considered was Coneheads. I didn’t come up with it as a slight to Mr. Ljungberg, I simply was trying to find one movie (any movie) that Drew Carey had appeared in that people would have seen.
Well, he was in that one folks, as a passenger in a taxi. If you blinked during the film, you probably missed it though. Sadly, I have a feeling a lot of people will feel the same way about this Sounders’ season. It’s going to be fun (or at least funny), but ultimately forgettable.
Source: Click Here
|
|
