I'd expect a club with 3 DP's to beat a team with 1 DP, especially in their own stadium. That said, I'm very disappointed with MLS and how this whole DP thing has turned out. If it isn't obvious, LA and NY would be the two most high profile, highly desired destinations for most potential, future league DP's. Yeah, sure ALL the clubs can have a DP but I'm sure places like Houston, KC, and Columbus are real high on the list of top foreign players wanting to come here. So no, it's not a level playing field despite the protestations of LA and NY supporters and it just makes what Houston has done in it's short existence all the more admirable as we just got our first this year. So I'm going to make a bet here. I bet that the 2nd NY team that MLS is putting together will have 3 DP's before we have our 2nd. On a side note, this homefield advantage for the highest seeded team is for the birds. I know Garber is concerned about filling seats but that's beyond ridiculous and I'd say that even if Houston was a number one seed. That needs to revert back to a rotating venue basis. Ok, off my soapbox.
Toronto? Montreal? Seattle? All of those teams have or have had multiple DPs. Where are Philly or Chicago's multiple DPs? Most would argue that those are more well known locations than HTX. LA and NY bot have multiple high-profile DPS but only one of them made it to the final. The other teams was ours.
That is one of the reasons why they are bringing a second NY team in the league and why they haven't moved Chivas USA. So they can funnel more DP's into the league.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but speaking of Columbus, I'd take GBS over Beckham or Donovan or Keane or Henry.
you cant leave out that first 6 years we existed in Roberston Stadium. if you had ever seen the locker rooms you would have understood why we never convinced a designated player to come to Houston. i'm optimistic going forward as all prospects get a tour of a completed BBVA and just not some model or blue prints. or a hope.
hey, I take offense to that-I painted my game room the exact same way as those dressing rooms. And I did it before I even went in there for the first time. Great minds think a alike I guess.
Good points. Facilities do make a difference. I'm confident that Everton's Finch Farm facility didn't cause any potential recruits to go elsewhere. I also agree that getting a DP for the sake of getting one doesn't make sense either. In one respect, I'm fairly sure that Houston has at least had the opportunity to bring in a "name" player who might have helped us but didn't fit into what Kinnear was trying to do on the pitch. Makes his acquisition of Boniek Garcia all the more brilliant. But yeah, that second team in NY? Watch how fast they get players you only wish were playing here.
It's not even about having DP anymore. It's this: The LA Galaxy are pursuing Kaka to replace David Beckham for the 2013 season. The only other MLS team being mentioned as possibly pursuing him is RBNY. How long will it be until the Houston Dynamo compete with the LA Galaxy when it comes to signing players THAT good and high-profile before the age of 31? Not saying we would be guaranteed to land them if we tried, but why not at least do things to where it's known that the Houston Dynamo are either interested or made an attempt at it? Regardless if we win or lose, Houston's never going to be a high profile city on the national scale unless big-time moves are made. We have the stadium, training facilities, market place, coaches, and supporters to build off of, and we have the money obviously too, so there really are no excuses anymore.
Who's to say we haven't tried. They might have just laughed us off or maybe we know we don't have the funds to pursue these aging superstars and so why bother.
So why did Garber bring up Stuart Holdens name on Saturday ,I really didn't catch the whole interview.
F* the rich get richer and the OrangeHeaded stepchildren keep on EAST BOUND AND DOWN! DYNAMO BE TRUCKING!
In response to questions about keeping US born players . . .mentioned they offered him a lot to stay but he was intent on going overseas.
It is my understanding that we've only been legitimately linked to two high profile DPs ever: the Hunchback of DF (which we passed on) and Mexico's Golden Child, who said coming to MLS was "beneath him". (In all fairness, I don't think he actually said that....might have been his dad.) Don't think Blanco would have been the right fit for us, even if we had known how successful he would become in the league, while Gio would have been a perfect fit (for him and us) at the time but we couldn't make it work. In both cases, AEG et al were willing to spend the money to make it happen.
For me, the only way that you'll stop LA, NY, NY2, etc. from getting these players is to either limit the number of DPs even more or to have some type of lottery for who gets the player like with the returning US internationals. In the 2nd scenario, there's no way you would've gotten Beckham, Keane, Henry in this league. Even those guys already in the league may think it is "beneath them" to play here, but it may be worth it to live in a city like New York or LA. For whatever reason, Houston the city is just not thought of by those guys in the same way those other places are. Those guys have played their whole careers in football cities such as London, Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, etc. Hate to try to generalize things, but I think we are still going to have our best success going after CONCACAF/CONMEBOL region players who may be more familiar with the city, climate, club, etc. Couldn't be happier with Boniek as a DP right now. Give us two more Hondurans (or players from any other country) with his impact on the field and we win the cup. And I think those players are obtainable, but it may take time. It won't shake out evenly for a while, but I do enjoy seeing how different types of players are going to different clubs. LA has the players coming from England, Montreal has those from Italy, Houston has one from Central America, etc.
In soccer it's about the money and the prestige. The Dynamo are still growing. Typically when players consider a team they put the location of the city a bit lower on the pros and cons list. Some of the best teams and players in the world are based in provincial cities. These smaller cities such as Manchester, Lyon, and Dortmund have housed some of the best players. I think that we are engaging in too much self-loathing about our city. It's really all about the money. I'd think that Houston or KC would be much more attractive to live in then Torreon, but the money is in Torreon and they have a very strong team.
Well, I agree that the city doesn't matter as much when you're talking about playing one of the top leagues in the world. It also matters less when the player is moving from a smaller league to a better league. But world-class (and former world-class) players moving from a top league in Europe to MLS are often weighing lifestyle issues. Moving to MLS isn't a step forward in their careers. So, other factors, like what life in a city in the US offers, figure more prominently. It's not the same analysis that they would've made earlier in their careers. While it's perfectly plausible that Houston or KC may be just what they're looking for in terms of lifestyle, it's more likely that they're thinking about LA or NY (and perhaps eventually Miami if MLS ever goes back there). I agree that we're more likely to get DP quality players out of leagues in Latin America (and the Caribbean) who may view MLS as a step forward -- and see daily life in Houston as pretty familiar and desirable.
It was specifically related to paying DP salaries to Americans and Wondo was mentioned in the prefacing remarks. The question was about keeping American stars in the states and Garber said something to the effect of "Well, Landon Donovan is an American DP, so it's not impossible to pay DP money to an American. We'd hope we could keep Graham, and we tried to keep Stuart Holden, for instance, but that wasn't possible." But he also noted that there is a "market" for players that MLS simply can't match. He didn't name anyone particular but the idea was that MLS wasn't about to start bidding wars against European leagues any time soon. Which we all knew already.
I think you're right about the declining stars from the Europa leagues probably looking for lifestyles. I'd hope that the Dynamo are not interested in the declining superstars, but are willing to pay for the hungry up-and-coming players from the new world. Liga MX teams have done well to attract very good players with good salaries, and we should be able to as well. The Houston Dynamo have recently had two players going to the England first division, and one going to the German first. That, mixed with a good salary should be enough to attract prospective young Designated Players to this Houston market. In the end, the owners will need to spend the money for the players.
The one thing I don't like about the current DP situation is the ability of a star to hand pick the city they wish to play in. In that scenario the rich stay rich on the backs of all the other teams. I really don't think AEG is the problem. I believe if a DP wanted to be in Houston, AEG would get them here. I think the problem is the perception of Houston and the summer heat. Once people get here the city surpasses their expectation and they fall in love with it (see Brian Ching), but it's the getting them here thing that is the issue.
It's not just about money here though. Players, even DPs, can negotiate with the league for salary so IF multiple teams want a player like Becks, or Henry, or Keane . . . they are able to pick their location. Hell even Boyd picked Portland (thankfully) over here for the same money. We have multiple issue: 1) Overseas coverage of MLS is all LA, NY and occasional Seattle and Portland. Other teams are not mentioned in the 30 seconds a week that MLS gets on TV in Europe. 2) Weather. Our climate is no where near desirable. 3) International cache - we have it in several business sectors but not on the same par for the families of these stars as Milan, LA, NY, etc. I agree with your earlier comment, staying in central and south america is going to be our sweet spot. I just don't think our coaching staff nor many in our ownership group have had contacts in many places down there until a few years ago. Yeah I know where Dom played but knowing a few former players is not the same as having a scouting network one can trust. Frankly, I know many are upset over the expenditure an LA has made versus Houston; I don't really care. Find me one more OBG up top and I will take our team against any super star laden team in MLS.