I thought MLS Rules were in place to prevent "the NASL scenario"

Which ones are the haves and which ones are the have nots?

 

In Colombia, the top 8 teams qualify for a semifinal group stage with 2 groups of 4, with the two group winners meeting in a championship final. That's a playoff format.

 

Do you really think this would be a good thing?

Sometimes tribalism can go to far. It's a slippery slope when you start to exclude most international players IMO. What starts as perhaps an honest desire to enhance the national team can end in the views the of the Zenit supporters group that just announced "we see the absence of black players at Zenit as an important tradition" adding the removal of black players from the payroll "would allow Zenit to maintain the national identity of the club, which is the symbol of St Petersburg."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/dec/17/zenit-st-petersburg-fan-group

I'd much rather see MLS go just the opposite way. If a player is really good and he'll play for what MLS can pay, I would welcome him to MLS regardless of origin. I'd much rather have MLS be a melting pot of talented, motivated players than pay the same money to domestic players who, with no real competition, can just cash their checks because they can't easily be replaced -- and know it.

 

The Colombia format would only seem to work in a league that has pro/rel, wouldn't it? That way, those that failed to qualify for the championship round have something to play for in the meantime. Otherwise they are just twiddling their thumbs for 6-8 weeks.

Its tough to get by w/o playoffs when there aren't things to play for after you fall out of the title race (such as relegation or a Champions League place). You'll end up with 80% of the games towards the end of the season being meaningless.

 

Narrated by Matt Dillon that focused a whole lot on the celebrity of the Cosmos.

If you honestly think that documentaries are 100% factually accurate you are naive beyond belief.

Define what "matters". Because simple fact is that you're wrong. And you can add Scotland to that list as well. They have a split season where only the top teams play against each other at the end of the season.

And I guess Argentina doesn't matter as the two teams that win the Inicial and Final portions of the season have a playoff to determine the champion.

The K-League is one of the top leagues in Asia and uses a playoff.

 

Yeah, but the numbers are FUBAR to begin with because 12 million of the 15 million is being spent on 3 players.

Its not like that money is evenly distributed across the roster making LA or NY dominant in terms of top to bottom talent.

That slippery slope is more like a gradual incline that is imperceptible to the human eye.

 

History, though, has proven your concerns to be unwarranted. Parity will exist so long as the LAs and NYs have to rely on filling out the other 25 or so roster spots with players that make peanuts compared to the DPs. Combine that with the fact that having 3 DPs can eat up over 30% of your salary cap limit and you're going to struggle to put together winning teams over the long term (unless you can convince quality players to take less money to play for you.) Honestly, just look at the 3 biggest-spending teams: LA, which has won back-to-back championships (against the same opponent--and one that doesn't spend nearly as much money.) NY, which is stuck firmly in the middle of the mediocrity, and TFC, which has consistently been one of the worst teams in the league. MLS is well aware of the salary discrepencies that you're afraid of, and that's why you'll see them continue to use the salary cap to offset the advantages gained by spending huge money on designated players.

 

Guh, I'm not a big fan of our postseason, but I'd still take it over the Scottish format.

 

If Beckerman's market value is 500k then he should get 500k. So you're for suppressing wages and preventing players from getting their market value?

Beckerman is not a unique talent btw. There are dozens of players just like him available to MLS.

 

If there's a team in the world offering Beckerman $500k and he wants to play for that team, he should. He's partially responsible for his market value considering he's the one signing a contract.

 

You're right, and striking the appropriate balance between providing sufficient on-field upside to induce I/Os to make the investment in DPs, while at the same time not making that extra spending essential for teams to compete for a title, is the great challenge for MLS in the years to come IMO.

Selected with care, I think DPs are good for MLS. If teams feel the need to spend recklessly because they have to obtain them to compete, however, they could be very destructive.

 

What about free agency?

 

=Around the same time period, didn't PR get that far also?

 

What about it?

 

I'm just wondering why the league won't allow (real) free agency? Get rid of the ridiculous Re-entry draft.

 

(Bold mine)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-League

(Bold mine, but this has been debated recently as to how much importance there really is on this match)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_Primera_División

You would think, maybe next time you'll know what it is?

 

Because real free agency is a shot to the core of the single-entity system. It will never happen.

 

So now your issue isn't playoffs, it'smore than 6 team playoffs. Way to move the goalposts.

And again, the most popular soccer league in this country uses more than a 6 team playoffs. The top 4 sports leagues in this country, which are all in the top leagues world-wide, use more than 6 team playoffs. So why should MLS do something different?

 

I disagree. Say if Roger Espinoza would have been allowed to look at offers in free agency after rejecting SKC's offer. He has the offer from Europe which in the context of MLS would most likely mean that any team would have to make him a DP. He probably still ends up in Europe. Most players who are out of contract won't have a viable European/foreign offers. The Salary cap is still there and clubs will still have to abide by it. I think the competition between MLS clubs would not result in some slippery slope NASL endgame scenario but in creatively constructed contracts and incentives.

Of course being single entity; the league would have to approve of every contract and get the final say and have veto power if something crazy is going on.

Basically I'm saying every player should have the freedom of a DP in choosing there team out of contract. I know owners are scared about somehow opening the gates to financial hell; but most MLS players aren't worth much in the context of MLS for that to ever happen.