USSoccer

Why the f is Nigel de Jong in this league?

Manchester United are awfully average. All that money, and so thin on the ground.

Lucky to not have conceded a penalty when he kicked Okazaki in the chest in the first half, but he made a bunch of really important covering runs to break up chances. I thought he played well overall.

Rodwell's miss was bad but LCFC should have put that game to bed multiple times over. West Ham next week is going to be a tough game for Leicester. If Spurs can hold serve today they might be able to make up ground next week. If Spurs lose today though it's over.

West Ham have been absolutely bent over by officiating in their last 4 games. Wrongly disallowed goals, incorrect red cards, bizarre calls and non calls alike. It's a shame .

Brek's two main issues are the fact that he's injury prone, and he's dumb. If he could ever put together a sustained run he'd be such a weapon for the NT.

Luis Suarez should have been tossed. Ridiculous.

Poorly is a bit much. Especially if it's Hope Solo complaining she's been treated poorly. If Tim Howard beat the [expletive] out of his nephew, got tanked and stole a team van with his wife he probably wouldn't get called up anymore. Oh FFS. None of Solo's issues have anything to do with what's being talked about here. Bringing that up is exactly what was wrong with Bedoya and Jozy's tweets. I'm explaining why they tweeted what they did and why they would be upset.

No, it's a revenue and union issue. The women generate a lot less revenue and get essentially subsidized by USSF in terms of base salary and the fact that USSF subsidizes nearly their entire professional league. They aren't getting paid less because they're women. The gap in bonuses are what they collectively bargained for and are based on revenues and the other benefits they already get but aren't being discussed because they don't fit the narrative that Kessler and the WNT are putting out there. So you do think they should just shut up and deal. Where the hell are you getting that from? I'm saying that USSF should fix the gameday bonuses, per diem and travel disparities to make them more equitable. I'm also saying that the matter is a hell of a lot more nuanced than has been put out there and that just saying "they're treated poorly and make way less than the men" is a overly simplistic way to look at it, and that the gameday stuff is not the only financial compensation the WNT get.

No. I said last page, the per game bonuses and per diem and travel expenses should absolutely be a lot more equitable. That should be easily fixed. But filing a lawsuit and going on a PR offensive while throwing the MNT-who collectively bargained those numbers just like the WNT collectively bargained theirs-under the bus was unnecessary and bound to piss MNT players off. I think it's childish to consider that being thrown under the bus. And it's also silly to criticize them for filing a lawsuit. The womens' team have been treated poorly and need to do what they can negotiate improvements while the iron is hot. Poorly is a bit much. Especially if it's Hope Solo complaining she's been treated poorly. If Tim Howard beat the horsefeathers out of his nephew, got tanked and stole a team van with his wife he probably wouldn't get called up anymore.

No, it's a revenue and union issue. The women generate a lot less revenue and get essentially subsidized by USSF in terms of base salary and the fact that USSF subsidizes nearly their entire professional league. They aren't getting paid less because they're women. The gap in bonuses are what they collectively bargained for and are based on revenues and the other benefits they already get but aren't being discussed because they don't fit the narrative that Kessler and the WNT are putting out there.

No. I said last page, the per game bonuses and per diem and travel expenses should absolutely be a lot more equitable. That should be easily fixed. But filing a lawsuit and going on a PR offensive while throwing the MNT-who collectively bargained those numbers just like the WNT collectively bargained theirs-under the bus was unnecessary and bound to piss MNT players off.

She said the men get paid to "just show up" while "they win championships". How is that not throwing the MNT under the bus? Because the entire point was about pay! She's saying that the men get paid for simply appearing....where the women don't. And that the women don't get paid for winning championships like the men do. She wasn't saying anything about the quality of the men's team. The women in the player pool do get paid for simply appearing on a WNT roster...because they get a set salary from USSF. Before any gameday bonuses. So they also get paid "for just showing up".

She said the men get paid to "just show up" while "they win championships". How is that not throwing the MNT under the bus? Because the entire point was about pay! She's saying that the men get paid for simply appearing....where the women don't. And that the women don't get paid for winning championships like the men do. She wasn't saying anything about the quality of the men's team. That was her implication and to say otherwise is silly. The whole point of those 5 doing press tours was to win a PR battle, which they've largely done. They've played on the success the WNT have had relative to the MNT when trying to compare their "pay" (and ignoring all of the relevant revenue/salary figures that destroy their argument-see my post last page). Instead of treating it like a collective bargaining issue like it is, they retained a bombthrower with an agenda, filed a public suit and immediately went on a PR blitz. They've framed it as a gender issue and used their success in contrast as evidence of the inequity. It's completely part of the conversation they started, and Solo's comments took aim at a group that has always been publicly supportive of the WNT, including issues related to their CBA and memorandum of understanding that the WNT has been playing under.

I get why the MNT would be mad about Wambach's comments, but Solo was arguing more that the women should be treated the same as the men, not that the men had done anything wrong. I don't think she was throwing them under the bus even a little bit. She said the men get paid to "just show up" while "they win championships". How is that not throwing the MNT under the bus?

Okay? And? Are you saying that Bedoya shouldn't have taken the cheap shot at her? I was simply pointing out that his point was to be a dick. And that's fine. If he wants to do that, that's his prerogative. But for him to then point to his friend almost having died in a drunk driving accident...well that's awful, but that's completely aside from the "foreign-born" joke tweet. I think the Davies reference was after he got a bunch of tweets at him flipping the eff out for daring to criticize Wambach in any way.

Why's that? Because one of them nearly died not-driving because a drunk crashed? That was kind of Bedoya's point as he made clear in subsequent tweets. Oh come on. He was making a petty joke about Wambach's criticism about foreign-born players being recruited for the US team. Okay? And? Are you saying that Bedoya shouldn't have taken the cheap shot at her? That Altidore shouldn't have taken the cheap shot at her and the white-trash starting keeper who's run afoul of the law more than any other MNT member combined? After Wambach insulted half the player pool and Solo threw the entire MNT program under the bus on national television?

Oh, trust me, so did I. I don't think the comments that Hope Solo made on Today or GMA about how the men just "show up" sat very well with the MNT, who in general have been nothing if not publicly supportive of the WNT in both on and off field matters. But Hope Solo is an idiot who didn't think through the consequences of suing the organization that stood by her. I'm certain she didn't think anything of throwing the men under the bus. I'd think USMNT members would be hesitant to crack wise about players involved in drinking and driving situations Why's that? Because one of them nearly died not-driving because a drunk crashed? That was kind of Bedoya's point as he made clear in subsequent tweets.

I laughed. Oh, trust me, so did I. I don't think the comments that Hope Solo made on Today or GMA about how the men just "show up" sat very well with the MNT, who in general have been nothing if not publicly supportive of the WNT in both on and off field matters. But Hope Solo is an idiot who didn't think through the consequences of suing the organization that stood by her. I'm certain she didn't think anything of throwing the men under the bus.

That is ice cold from Jozy.

If Daniel Sturridge wasn't amazingly selfish and lazy L'pool would have won 3-1. Spurs were lucky to draw.

This is all that matters. It would be dope to pay them equally as a gesture of respect and being ideologically right on gender pay equality. We all know they can afford it. If they don't want to be progressive about it culturally, they need to collectively bargain a transparent agreement based on real revenue so they don't have to be put in this position where they look as bad as every other dinosaur FA around the world even if they aren't. Also, people like Landon Donovan should sit this one out. Be boring and say you want the ladies to get their fair share. You aren't an economist so don't play amateur money realist when you're talking out your ass. Don't be "internet well, actually" guy. It's a bad look. Actually, I'm not so sure they could afford it given USSF's financials. There would have been a way for the Fed to save $2m a year in December of 2013 but.... Anyhow, back to this case. They pay the WNT members a flat salary: They also subsidize the existence of the NWSL. Without USSF, the NWSL isn't neal solvent enough. If USSF want to really play hardball, they could change the WNT appearance bonuses, etc to exactly what the men make, but remove the salaries and stop subsidizing NWSL. This would break the clique that threatens boycotts every single time a WNT coach calls up a new player at the expensive of a veteran, and would give them "equal pay" but remove all the salaries and ancillary benefits (maternity leave, nannies, etc). I'm not so sure the WNT want to go there. The guy running this lawsuit is the same counsel that represents NASL and would love nothing more than to find a way to break MLS's claim to being the US 1st division. I think he's using the WNT for his own ends vis a vis USSF and SUM (I think that's what his involvement is about), because beyond the superficial, the WNT don't actually have a case under EEOC. The things the WNT want are all part of collective bargaining and they've really escalated the issue far beyond what was necessary in hiring Kessler and going public with all the #equalplayequalpay nonsense.

Just to further expand on my point, the USSF's own budget projections for revenue between the WNT and MNT seem kind of bonkers and wrong. http://resources.ussoccer.com/images/160127-AGM-PDF-FINAL.pdf The conlcusions I reach from reading USSF's own stuff are: -The women's team is criminally underpaid in terms of matchday bonuses and that needs to get fixed. -The people doing these projections are dumb. -These projections are assuming the WNT win the Olympic tournament. Seems presumptuous. -The press framing around this issue is disingenuous and uses the successes of the WNT as opposed to the MNT along with ignoring the tiered salaries the WNT players get as a cudgel to beat USSF with. -SUM is a dark pit where profit gets lost and USSF is just begging for problems by not being more transparent with the relationship between SUM, MLS and USSF. That being said, if USSF wasn't stupid and didn't jerk the WNT around with respect to the turf fields and giving them a proper CBA, we wouldn't have this suit to begin with. Really, really poor leadership from Gulati to even let it get close to this point.

The WNT should be paid more, but even accounting for MNT expenses being a lot higher I fail to see how a team with 2 scheduled games this year projects to have that much revenue.

What's funny is the hypocrisy behind him whining about "disrespectful criticism". I wish someone had had the sack to ask him to reconcile that quote with his 10 minute rant against Bob Bradley in 2010 after the Ghana loss, or his stupid "getting harassed in the grocery store is the way players improve" comment from a couple years ago. He's such a clown.