George John to Blackburn Rovers

He made one bad play (whiffed on a clearance) and made several good plays, covering mistakes made by both fullbacks. The times he was "beaten" were because of blown traps by Loyd.

i agree with your general drift.
just a few points...
the 'nsl' actually was the 'nasl' (notrh american soccer league). maybe you just made a typo.
one thing that can't be said is that mls has grown from the bottom up. the league was created on a drawing board, all the teams brought into being by the same people at the same time. that's top down in an essential sense.
finally on keane... yes, it's better for the league that he come to la. but the way la 'stays within the rules' raises an eyebrow or two, even if it's justified by the end it serves. according to the transaction wire, la 'traded' jpa to cusa for a third round pick. if that's jpa's current worth as soccer player (and many think it is), why in the world would anyone take him on as a dp? which suggests that la has to be paying that salary. at the least there should be clarity from the league that such a move is within the spirit of the 'three dp' rule.
i mean, rbny blew it by using a dp slot on frank rost. what if they now shipped rost to, say, chi while continuing to pay his salary and used the dp slot again to get a better goalie? how many such moves does the league want to see?
and let's toss into the consideration also the fact that the relationship btwn the galaxy and cusa involves a tenant/landlord aspect, making it something different from an arm's-length relationship btwn two teams.
so, without becoming paranoid, a little watchfulness should lead one to make certain observations.
finally, if it's a no-brainer that keane should join mls, it also might seem almost a no-brainer that john not depart at a crucial point of the competitive season.

It is a no brainer to me that MLS should do everything they can to ensure that George John or any other player would not leave a club competing for honours mid season. It doesn't reflect well on the league and I don't see why MLS can not hold out and ensure that the player only leaves at the end of the season. I doubt Blackburn or the player would of outright refused such a deal if the proper clauses, transfer price and wage adjustments were put in place.

You are also right about there being a possible conflict of interest or chance of collusion when more than one team has the same ownership in the same league. However I would say that is really a separate issue that needs to be addressed by MLS,
I don't think we should make the Keane deal the focus of that issue but if the Keane deal has brought that issue into focus then fine.
I guess the subtle difference is that this is not a LA issue but a MLS issue.

Yes I meant the NASL.
Regarding the ground up comment- it really comes down to semantics doesn't it?
What can be defined as ground up?
Does it have to begin as an amateur league?
I think for the purpose of this discussion it is fair to consider MLS ground up when compared with NASL.

Ives is now saying it's a done deal between Blackburn and the league and it's now up to John to agree to a contract.


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