The Soccer Thread

[CubInOK]

MLS players voted to strike if a deal isn't reached in the next 2 weeks.

This should give Landon Donovan another reason to want to stay at Everton.

Edited March 12, 2010 by CubInOK

[shnsajax]

Hope Landon is still in Liverpool. Edited March 12, 2010 by shnsajax

[wvcbxl]

Liverpool lose to Lille

 

Belgian international Eden Hasard (who just turned 19 in January) scoring for Lille. 8-)

 

Impressive 1-3 victory for Standard Liège away at Panathinaikos yesterday evening.

[shnsajax]

Strike could keep Donovan at Everton

[biittner77]

Anyone think that MLS could survive a prolonged strike? It seems like their position is similar to the Arena League. MLS can't really compete with Premere League Soccer in terms of quality just like the Arena League can't really compete with the NFL. There's a market for professional soccer on American soil but how patient will that fanbase be when they have better (in terms of quality) options available?

[USSoccer]

My take on the labor bit is that the old, bad MLS players who control the union are being incredibly stupid and shortsighted. They see the league finally beginning to turn a profit and move more towards being a 5th major sport and less of a niche sport, and are trying to take advantage of that for their own benefit. They're trying to get a form of free agency that would damage MLS's single-entity status and cause long term harm to a league that doesn't need any speed bumps.

 

Its a bunch of never-was's and has-been's playing chicken with the league right now, during a World Cup year. Idiots.

[wolf stansson]

Man, I'm torn. I honestly find myself agreeing with both sides. Not having free agency in a pro sport is ludicrous. Single entity is ludicrous. On the other hand, if they got rid of the single entity, there probably would be some teams that don't make it. Some of them with expensive, soccer-specific stadiums like Dallas.

 

It just seems like there needs to be some form of revenue sharing between the have's and have not's, but at the same time less restriction on player movement and ownership. If you pay for, develop and turn a prospect into a stud and then sell them to a European team, you should get the majority of the transfer fee. If you sign a contract for three years, it should be for three years, not three, one-year deals.

 

Basically I want it to be capitalistic but with serious regulation and sharing. When you realize how contradicting that is, it's easy to understand the impasse.

 

Basically at some point, MLS and SUM are going to have to cut the cord on these teams. It's just unclear whether now is the best time or not. What is clear is that a strike in a world cup year is [expletive]. Even that though, is unclear how damaging it would actually be. MLS has almost zero casual fans. In a strike the thing a sports stands to most likely lose is the casual fan, so if there are none, the die hards will most likely be back. A work stoppage would be damaging, but not devastating, imo. While thats a good thing, it's also an indictment in just how truly irrelevant MLS is.

 

They see the league finally beginning to turn a profit and move more towards being a 5th major sport and less of a niche sport

The problem is, MLS as a league still isn't profitable. Soccer United Marketing, which the league owns, is the profitable side of the ownership's business. Not only profitable, but wildly profitable in relation to MLS. I don't know how much MLS players deserve to get from that. It's not their product driving profits. It's the Mexican National team, the US national teams and European Clubs preseason tours. Joe Stiff from the [expletive] Kansas City Wizards who makes $18,000 a year to hold on to a dream has nothing to do with creating that income for the league. Why should he benefit from it?

 

It really is a murky mess. I hope they both come to some reasonable concession, because the reality is that I believe MLS is really important to not only the future of US Soccer, but really deserves a lot of credit for it's present, relative success. It hasn't produced any world class players, but it has produced some good talent that would probably not have made it in Europe. It gives 90 minutes to players who need it, it gives the reality of playing professionally to kids who otherwise wouldn't see it in their country. It's critical to the continuation of American players playing the sport at a high level. I think it's a huge part of the question, why hasn't a country with a population of 300,000,000 people produced a world class player. If MLS had been around, even in relative obscurity like it's present state, since say the 70's, I think we would have by now. Chad Johnson is the perfect example. Chad Johnson said if there had been a league that offered a realistic option for him when he was growing up poor in a non-soccer neighborhood, he would have played soccer instead of wide receiver.

[USSoccer]

Totally agree relative to SUM and MLS, but here's the thing:

 

There are some teams in the black now. Dallas excepted, it's the teams with SSS's and Seattle. The stragglers are the DCU's and Revs, who play in football stadia and don't control their revenue streams. It's those owners-the HSG and Krafts-who want nothing to do with loosening the movement within the league.

 

And there are no players in the league making just $18k unless they are developmental players. This labor unrest is all about players like Kevin Hartman and Vandenburg not being able to make high six figure salaries as free agents in perpetuity. The Generation Adidas players, the DPs and the senior internationals in MLS don't (or shouldn't) give a crap about any of the things that the Players Union want. They want extra money for the guys that never sniffed the NT and are in the twilight of their careers. And quite honestly, I don't have a lot of sympathy for those guys if they're willing to put their own short term interests ahead of representing the interests of their constituency.

 

The league offered to guarantee some contracts and change some rules regarding player movement, as well as a raising of the salary cap but the Union wants full blown free agency, which I don't think would be good for the league at this point in time.

 

The players are making this play about a decade too soon. That said, I doubt there will be a strike.

[wvcbxl]

If you pay for, develop and turn a prospect into a stud and then sell them to a European team, you should get the majority of the transfer fee. If you sign a contract for three years, it should be for three years, not three, one-year deals.

 

Stupid question of the day: I thought there were international rules about compensating previous clubs for development whenever a player was transferred before the age of 24? or are those UEFA rules only?

[wolf stansson]

The players are making this play about a decade too soon. That said, I doubt there will be a strike.

Gun to my head, I agree. I still see both sides of the argument. If the players can put their services to the highest bidder in free agency, it may attract more, better players, up the quality of the product which would lead to more consumers of the product. I think that's possible, but it's also more risky.

 

If you pay for, develop and turn a prospect into a stud and then sell them to a European team, you should get the majority of the transfer fee. If you sign a contract for three years, it should be for three years, not three, one-year deals.

 

Stupid question of the day: I thought there were international rules about compensating previous clubs for development whenever a player was transferred before the age of 24? or are those UEFA rules only?

I'm not sure. What I can tell you is that due to the single entity structure, from a financial standpoint these clubs aren't independent companies. They're basically branches of one corporation, so that helps them get around a lot of sticky labor and financial rules. What I'm guessing happens is MLS gets compensated for the development as well as the bulk of the transfer fee. They then decide how much they want to trickle down to the club to replace the roster spot vacated by the sold player. The rest they can keep under the nebulous title of "Operational Costs" which in theory goes back into the development of players league wide, new facilities and other day-to-day costs but in reality I'm not certain where it specifically goes. It's possible they've found a loophole and just haven't become big enough to draw attention to the situation.

[wolf stansson]

I just noticed this from the Davies update I posted earlier:

After the pool, I go to another gym where I get therapy for my elbow for the full thirty minutes. At twelve we have lunch and hang out with the guys. Ashley Cole and Mickael Essien are also here for their rehabilitation.

 

Where exactly is this rehab resort for rich footballers? If I ever blow a knee or something, that's where I want to rehab.

[shnsajax]

I just noticed this from the Davies update I posted earlier:

After the pool, I go to another gym where I get therapy for my elbow for the full thirty minutes. At twelve we have lunch and hang out with the guys. Ashley Cole and Mickael Essien are also here for their rehabilitation.

 

Where exactly is this rehab resort for rich footballers? If I ever blow a knee or something, that's where I want to rehab.

 

Is there a European Dr. James Andrews?

[wolf stansson]

Nice.

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=ap-acmilan-nesta&prov=ap&type=lgns

C Milan defender Alessandro Nesta may miss the rest of the season because of a knee injury.

 

The 33-year-old Nesta told ANSA news agency Friday that he has torn a tendon in his right knee, an injury that may require surgery. Nesta added that he’s “not sure if the season is over, even if I have surgery I could make it back before the season’s end.”

 

Perfect timing for Gooch.

[USSoccer]

http://www.3rddegree.net/2010/03/12/120-fahrenheit-why-i-think-a-strike-by-mls-players-wont-be-effective/

 

This guy does a good job explaining the issues

[shnsajax]

Jozy getting the start against Arsenal.

[Jon]

Anyone know a good place online to buy a US soccer t-shirt? Who are ya designs have a couple of decent ones, but the selection I've seen elsewhere is pretty terrible.

[shnsajax]

Dempsey starting against Untied today.

[Mark Priors Calves]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/14/david-beckham-injury-world-cup

 

Beckham tore his achilles today for Milan.

[USSoccer]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/14/david-beckham-injury-world-cup

 

Beckham tore his achilles today for Milan.

 

I feel badly for him. Beckham the footballer deserved a much better sign off from international football than this. The man clearly loves his country and the honor of playing for it. Sucks.

 

Also sucks for MLS too from a revenue standpoint, and from a USMNT perspective, as there's no way LD goes back to Everton on a loan again. LD will have to be bought.

[shnsajax]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/14/david-beckham-injury-world-cup

 

Beckham tore his achilles today for Milan.

 

I feel badly for him. Beckham the footballer deserved a much better sign off from international football than this. The man clearly loves his country and the honor of playing for it. Sucks.

 

Also sucks for MLS too from a revenue standpoint, and from a USMNT perspective, as there's no way LD goes back to Everton on a loan again. LD will have to be bought.

 

I feel real bad for him. Would have been a real honor to have been the 1st Englishman to play in 4 WC.

 

Whats the price going to be for Landon? $10 million?

[shnsajax]

Phil Brown is gone at Hull City.

 

Anyone see the Messi hattrick yesterday. He is kind of good.

[wolf stansson]

Final Friendly set v Socceroos.

http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Mens-National-Team/2010/03/US-to-Face-Australia-on-June-5-in-Roodepoort-South-Africa.aspx

CHICAGO (March 15, 2010) — The United States will play Australia on June 5 in Roodepoort, South Africa, one week before playing its first match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Kickoff at Ruimsig Stadium in suburban Johannesburg is set for 2:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET), and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

 

I like it.

[Guest]

Chelsea takes the Real Madrid path and is bounced from the Champions League, losing at home to Inter 1-0. Love it.

 

Drogba also got sent off late for appearing to stomp on a Inter player's ankle.

[TruffleShuffle]

Chelsea takes the Real Madrid path and is bounced from the Champions League, losing at home to Inter 1-0. Love it.

 

yeah this has been fun to watch those two cash cows bonk out early.

[Mark Priors Calves]

Porto and Brazil have a player one-named player, Hulk? Where have I been? This is fantastic.