MLS Turns 21 - the 2016 season
- Thread starter Titans Bastard
- Start date
So, if they each score once, it's PKs? Interesting. Everyone does it a little differently, don't they.
Tosaint Ricketts has 54 caps for Canada, in case you were looking for a reason to feel a little better about the USMNT.
Win or lose he's going to have 54 Canadian caps and a hell of a Code Red from his teammates.
Giovinco off injured for Toronto - that's rough. Cheyrou coming on, which means Osorio will have to step up as a creator over the next 20 minutes.
Altidore put in some great work to create that last goal. Jozy has been on fire over the last few months.
That was pretty great. A Toronto-Seattle final will be a lot of fun, on paper at least. Giovinco, Altidore, Bradley, Lodeiro, Morris...
Montreal had a good run in the playoffs, but Toronto was the better team over the course of the year. The Impact have a lot of work to do over the offseason. Victor Cabrera and Ambroise Oyongo were their only two starters tonight under the age of 30.
Montreal had a good run in the playoffs, but Toronto was the better team over the course of the year. The Impact have a lot of work to do over the offseason. Victor Cabrera and Ambroise Oyongo were their only two starters tonight under the age of 30.
In Europe, the away goals rule continues into extra time. Under those rules, each team scoring once in extra time would have been a win for the away team.
Yesterday, MLS announced a change to its rules around how the league classified international players. Essentially, players in MLS academies and players in "CSA Approved Youth Clubs" who (a) are with the club prior to turning 16 and (b) sign their first contract for an MLS club or affiliate club will not count as internationals in the future.
The purpose of this is to appease Canadian soccer, which has long complained about the fact that Canadians count as international players for American clubs. The problem as I understand it is that according to US labor law, you can't privilege one group of foreigners over another group of foreigners by giving them special status. This rule change attempts to skirt around this law by saying nothing of nationality and focusing entirely on training location. The biggest beneficiaries will obviously be Canadian youth training at MLS clubs or presumably at other big Canadian youth academies like Sigma FC because they will count as domestics league-wide, but any non-citizens in American MLS academies will receive the same perk.
The purpose of this is to appease Canadian soccer, which has long complained about the fact that Canadians count as international players for American clubs. The problem as I understand it is that according to US labor law, you can't privilege one group of foreigners over another group of foreigners by giving them special status. This rule change attempts to skirt around this law by saying nothing of nationality and focusing entirely on training location. The biggest beneficiaries will obviously be Canadian youth training at MLS clubs or presumably at other big Canadian youth academies like Sigma FC because they will count as domestics league-wide, but any non-citizens in American MLS academies will receive the same perk.
It's also retroactive, so there are 9 current Canadian MLS players affected http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/sites/default/files/MLS - Canada Homegrown Grandfathered Players_0.pdf . They are all on Canadian teams but now have the option of playing for US teams but counting as domestic players.
The big caveat for foreign youth players using this rule is that, if they train as youth in MLS but sign their first professional deal overseas, if they subsequently come back to MLS, they'll need an international roster spot. Most Canadians won't go abroad unless they get offers from Europe. Are there ever any Mexican youth players who train at MLS, and then go play pro ball in Mexico? Who aren't already dual-national?
The big caveat for foreign youth players using this rule is that, if they train as youth in MLS but sign their first professional deal overseas, if they subsequently come back to MLS, they'll need an international roster spot. Most Canadians won't go abroad unless they get offers from Europe. Are there ever any Mexican youth players who train at MLS, and then go play pro ball in Mexico? Who aren't already dual-national?
This is also a boon to the proposed Canadian Premier League since those clubs would likely have "CSA approved youth clubs". Players developed there would have a more straightforward path to MLS.
Yeah, foreigners in American MLS academies and anybody in Canadian academies (including Canadians) will forfeit these benefits if they sign their first contract abroad.
I don't think this is a large demographic, but there will be a few guys like LA's Raul Mendiola who will benefit from this in the future.
I can think of a handful of other single-nationality Mexican players who jumped from MLS academies to Mexico, but none of them have made an impact in Liga MX.
Gulati met with USL and NASL yesterday in Atlanta. USL leadership also met with NASL owners individually.
USL applied for Tier 2 status so Gulati's meeting may have had to do with that.
There's also a mildly wild rumor that Carlos Slim wants to invest in Cosmos.
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Oscar Pareja wins coach of the year, narrowly beating out Pablo Mastroeni in the voting. Patrick Vieira a distant third.
I'm a big fan of Pareja and what Dallas is doing in general, so I like it. Colorado's turnaround in 2016 was remarkable, but Mastroeni was cleaning up his own mess.
I'm a big fan of Pareja and what Dallas is doing in general, so I like it. Colorado's turnaround in 2016 was remarkable, but Mastroeni was cleaning up his own mess.
Minnesota United signed their first two players today, both long-time veterans of the NASL edition of the team. LB Justin Davis and RB Kevin Venegas. It's about time, Atlanta already has eight players under contract
Word today is that the Carolina RailHawks are rebranding as North Carolina FC and will soon begin a push for MLS by laying the groundwork for an MLS-sized stadium. I don't know what their chances of making the expansion cut are, but I'm sad to see the continued proliferation of unimaginative Europoseur names.
DC has signed Steve Birnbaum to a contract extension, putting to rest questions about whether he would head overseas. I suspect he didn't get any offers worth chasing.
Atlanta United have signed 18 year old forward Brandon Vazquez from Tijuana. Vazquez is a big center forward who has been part of the current U20 cycle who I think is a nice signing for them. Tijuana has loaded up on South American veterans, so it's probably a wise move for some of the Mexican-Americans there to abandon ship to a place where they have a better chance at playing time. Along with current US U17s Andrew Carleton and Chris Gosling, Atlanta is assembling a nice array of young American talent. Hopefully they do a good job handling these guys.
DC has signed Steve Birnbaum to a contract extension, putting to rest questions about whether he would head overseas. I suspect he didn't get any offers worth chasing.
Atlanta United have signed 18 year old forward Brandon Vazquez from Tijuana. Vazquez is a big center forward who has been part of the current U20 cycle who I think is a nice signing for them. Tijuana has loaded up on South American veterans, so it's probably a wise move for some of the Mexican-Americans there to abandon ship to a place where they have a better chance at playing time. Along with current US U17s Andrew Carleton and Chris Gosling, Atlanta is assembling a nice array of young American talent. Hopefully they do a good job handling these guys.
I don't mind a Europoseur name per se, but it's depressing how uncreative the swiping is. At least in the last round of stealing European names, we got Sportings and Reals and such, now it's just an endless parade of FCs.
Can we get some Wanderers, Racing Clubs, Young Boys or something? Shit, I'd even settle for an AFC just to break up the recent "United FC" monotony. Or I'd love to see a team defiantly go back to the "sounds like an awkward fake sports team from a movie" model of American sports expansion.
Can we get some Wanderers, Racing Clubs, Young Boys or something? Shit, I'd even settle for an AFC just to break up the recent "United FC" monotony. Or I'd love to see a team defiantly go back to the "sounds like an awkward fake sports team from a movie" model of American sports expansion.
I'm still very disappointed that Sporting Kansas City named their USL team Swope Park Rangers and placed them in KC near the first team instead of establishing Topeka Benfica.
There have been rumors that Atlanta will spend big money (possibly as high as eight figures) to acquire Paraguayan attacker Miguel Almirón of Lanús. He's 22 and supposedly Arsenal were trying to sign him this past summer after the Copa America Centenario.
Atlanta seems to be hinting that it's happening.
Atlanta seems to be hinting that it's happening.
- The latest report on Miguel Almirón from Tenorio says it's a fee of $8.5m and will be announced soon. Atlanta is really not screwing around. I like to see clubs be aggressive in signing talented South Americans. More of these, fewer Gerrards, please.
- Still nothing firm or official about the fate of the NASL and its constituent clubs, but the rumors are getting grim:
- NYCFC has signed ex-Rev forward Sean Okoli. After unsuccessful stints with his hometown Seattle and with New England, he had a great 2016 for FC Cincinnati down in the USL, where he was league MVP and leading scorer.
Another update on the NASL/USL business.
It sounds like Rayo OKC (lol), Fort Lauderdale Strikers, and the NY Cosmos are going dark. I've seen Rayo speak of coming back in 2018 in another city, but it's just a ridiculous, hare-brained idea for a club that is in a Segunda Division relegation fight.
Edmonton seems strangely content to be homeless.
What it currently seems like:
To MLS, confirmed: Minnesota
To USL, confirmed: Ottawa, Tampa Bay
Likely to USL: North Carolina, Indy, San Francisco
Possibly to USL: Puerto Rico, Jacksonville, Miami
Going dark: Rayo OKC, Fort Lauderdale, NY Cosmos
No plan whatsoever?: Edmonton
It sounds like Rayo OKC (lol), Fort Lauderdale Strikers, and the NY Cosmos are going dark. I've seen Rayo speak of coming back in 2018 in another city, but it's just a ridiculous, hare-brained idea for a club that is in a Segunda Division relegation fight.
Edmonton seems strangely content to be homeless.
What it currently seems like:
To MLS, confirmed: Minnesota
To USL, confirmed: Ottawa, Tampa Bay
Likely to USL: North Carolina, Indy, San Francisco
Possibly to USL: Puerto Rico, Jacksonville, Miami
Going dark: Rayo OKC, Fort Lauderdale, NY Cosmos
No plan whatsoever?: Edmonton
Edmonton will probably sit for a year until Canadian Premier League starts, proposed for 2018. Or they'll go bust and a new CPL team will be created for that market. Ottawa has more money so they can do USL for a year and then decide to stay in USL or flip to CPL
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http://www.tampabay.com/sports/rowdies-to-pursue-move-to-mls-seek-fan-support/2305367 Tampa Bay Rowdies owner Bill Edwards trying to get in MLS for one of those #25 to 28 slots Garber talks about down the road.
Edwards got a positive editorial from the local paper, mostly because he'll fund the stadium expansion privately. http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-a-bold-plan-to-bring-mls-soccer-to-st-petersburg/2305500
The proposed stadium expansion looks nice 18,000 seats, and looks like it has room for more expansion. Right now it's just the 6,000 seats on the right
Edwards got a positive editorial from the local paper, mostly because he'll fund the stadium expansion privately. http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-a-bold-plan-to-bring-mls-soccer-to-st-petersburg/2305500
The proposed stadium expansion looks nice 18,000 seats, and looks like it has room for more expansion. Right now it's just the 6,000 seats on the right
I'm skeptical of this Tampa Bay push, mostly because Bill Edwards is kind of a sketchy guy with a long history of legal entanglements.
But still, it's a positive sign to see fairly serious efforts in a bunch of different markets - Sacramento, St. Louis, Detroit, San Antonio, Tampa, the Triangle, Cincinnati.
But still, it's a positive sign to see fairly serious efforts in a bunch of different markets - Sacramento, St. Louis, Detroit, San Antonio, Tampa, the Triangle, Cincinnati.
I'm more or less skeptical of any NASL or USL team not approaching 10k avg attendance
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I think it depends. For the more marginal cases, having a really strong show of support in the lower divisions helps your case. It proves that the interest is there. It's a real boon to Cincinnati, for example. Overall, though, the correlation between lower-division and MLS attendance isn't there.
The top three in attendance in MLS next season could easily be Seattle, Atlanta, and Toronto. (Seattle and Atlanta look like locks for the top three, Orlando is going to fall out of the top three when they move into their new stadium, and Toronto could easily overtake NYCFC after their strong showing this season.)
Seattle, Atlanta, and Toronto all had NASL/USL clubs leading up to their entry into MLS and all three drew flies. Even the hallowed Seattle Sounders drew less than 3.5k in the USL in 2008. It didn't matter, though. If a city like St. Louis has deep-pocketed investors and can come up with a downtown stadium, it's going to happen even though Saint Louis FC draws a little less than 5k. And I bet they'd be pretty successful, too.
A major part of that is the branding and stadium, though. Seattle and Toronto both do well in large part because they play in downtown stadiums and integrate well into their cities. (And similarly the mediocrity of the Revs support is largely a product of playing in a stadium halfway between Boston and Providence.) The USL predecessors of those franchises were not being run for the entertainment of a fanbase, but simply to get a reserve player pool up and running. And Atlanta will also take advantage of playing in a downtown stadium with all of the infrastructure and entertainment that entails, and they don't really give a s--- what the attendance of their USL reserve team is.
The USL teams of Seattle, Toronto and Atlanta were/are really just farm teams. And in fact Seattle and Toronto are still operating USL affiliates for the purpose of maintaining a reserve team. That is very different from an independent team that plans on joining MLS directly.
Agree on the downtown stadium factor. Based on recent public statements from Garber, it seems like MLS is especially keyed in on that factor these days. Suburban stadiums just aren't as conducive to building a fanbase, which is what we have seen in Boston, Chicago, Denver, and Dallas. Each market has other factors, of course, but Foxboro sure doesn't help.
However, I think you misunderstood what I was talking about with the NASL/USL teams. I am not talking about reserve teams in the USL, which are a phenomenon that did not exist until LA Galaxy II launched for the 2014 season. I am talking about independent clubs that existed in their markets before MLS came along. The Sounders debuted in MLS in 2009 with huge support. But the Sounders had played in 2008 in the USL (and for many years before that). Nobody showed up.
My perception of the expansion landscape is that MLS has an internal wish list. Those markets that are down the rankings need a strong lower division show of support to boost their chances. Those high in the rankings really just need wealthy owners and a good stadium plan. And those at the top of the rankings just need wealthy owners - thinking of NYCFC here.