Other Teams [R]

Do you think any team on earth would take ibrahimovic?He is 30 year old plus, on massive wages.
Wages only inter, juve can take.And noone in europe rates him as high, like he is in serie a.

Well, Montolivo is going to be their creator next season... Who needs Ibra?

if we get zeman, I want to see 5-0 again.

Maybe Madrid if Higuain leaves? It would surely piss off Barca which is something they love.

Chelsea I think are going to spend huge this summer as well. Especially with Drogba leaving.

Zibra did say his next club wouldn't be in Europe and he loves America.

Donovan is rumored to go back to Everton permanently. Keane's deal is expiring and I think the Galaxy wouldn't mind moving him. We wont pay him €9m but with the new TV deal we can pay him a lot and we have the LA market on our side, which is attractive.

Saying all that I'm not sure I would want Zibra. I don't really see the point in having 3 marketable dp's any more. I think we should always have a player of beckhams exposure then the other two we should used the best system players available, not just an aging star.

Yes against Juve this time though.

No way can I see Ibra going to the MLS within the next year, he is still playing at too high a level. Someone like PSG would stump up the money to sign him and they are in the market for a world class CF.

People said the same thing about Beckham and this would be a similar deal, even though he's far less marketable. If he could break into an American market though he'd earn comparable money to any footballer in the world because Los Angeles > then just about every media market besides New York. It's why people have barely heard of Henry around the city but he still earns quite a bit from American sponsorships.

I don't think Zibra is that marketable though and I don't really want him to be honest. I was just repeating what he said recently.

Personally, I would not mind having someone of his quality in my team

Beckham when he moved to LA though was nowhere near the standard Ibra is currently playing at. Beckham was still capable (and I'm a huge Beckham fan, he's my second fvourite player of all time behind Totti) but Ibra at the moment can still be called the best player in Serie A.

When Beckham moved, although it was a surprise, the move made sense. Henry, given the stage of his career he was at, his move also made sense. Same goes with Keane. With Ibra, it wouldn't make any sense at the moment for, as you say, he won't be that marketable considering the huge wage he'll demand and he still has so much to give to top European leagues. If Ibra moved to MLS this summer he'd be the greatest player ever to play in that league by some margin (given that he is still at his best).

Anyone watching England vs ROW

Mike Myers, Will Ferrel, Gerard Butler, Edward Nortan, and Woody Harrelson are playing

The point on ibra is, he is highly rated in serie a..but not outside of it.
he is the difference maker in italy, but in other countries he isnt viewed the same. Hence why I just dont see anyone taking him, not even real madrid.

If you replace etoo with ibra back then, inter were never going to win the treble.The guy is slow, and not that good on counter attacks.He is good in dominating those little sides in seriea , no more.

Personally, I think Lavezzi is the best player in serie a.Not Ibra.

Yeah watching it beer in hand. What a goal by Serge!

I think the point I was trying to makes was that Beckham quite clearly had options, like Ibra and chose the Galaxy which ended up being the best financial decision of his life. He's still pulling plus €20m per year in sponsorships most that wouldn't exist if he didn't make the move. He's the first footballer marketable to Europeans and Americans, which we aren't likely to see for awhile. Maybe when C. Ronaldo is done in Europe and makes the move over when he's 30 or something. I think if we can get a player who sells in America and Latin America it would have the same, maybe greater effect at growing the league as well as bringing new money.

The only reason I suggested it was because Ibra himself said Milan would be his last European club and he loves America. My cousin met him in Los Angeles with his wife and kids, I think he spends some time here during the off-season. I agree Ibra would be the best player ever to come to the MLS and while it seems unlikely none of us know what his goals in life are, maybe he wants to live in America.

The only thing left unfulfilled for him is winning a CL title, would he get that at PSG? Doubt it, they should focus on winning the league first. If he went to England, say Chelsea or Citeh could he manage it who knows. I heard some rumors about Madrid but I think that's just paper talk. Putting myself in Ibra shoes (which is difficult because I can't fathom being such an egotist), looking at my options would I want to move to Manchester or London at 30 going on 31 to try and get that allusive CL title. For me considering all I've won a hell of a lot, I would consider my options outside Europe, but hey that's me add the ego on top of that and Zlatan may feel he needs that CL title to validate himself.

As for the MLS, I personally feel and I said so just yesterday we shouldn't be wasting DP money on aging superstars anymore. I understand players like Beckham or there's was rumors of Ronaldinho before he moved to Flamengo. Those I can understand because they print money. The others though, Keane, Del Piero, Inzaghi, Da Viao (even though I think thats a good singing for Montreal), Nesta, Zambrotta, Owen, etc. do any of these players do anything to improve the quality of the league?

By that meaning the league is built on slow growth, as the interest increases (which it statistically is), revenues will increase, commerical partnereships will get better, which intern will lead to the salary cap being raised and the quality improving because we can offer comparable contracts to top 5 leagues for players that aren't DP's.

The league has more potential then even our own citizens give it credit for, that goes for football fans as well. I think it can carve out a niche like the NHL. Highly committed regions of support with die hard fans. Attendances aren't astounding but it isn’t the problem, TV ratings are the problem. We get plenty of people going to matches but the MLS isn’t a sport with high numbers of TV viewers. Even considering the numbers of people watching European football. That’s only going to change with time, and it gradually is improving. We won’t see a significant jump for at least a decade but it’s getting better.

The overall point I don't see players like Del Piero really doing anything to help that effort, or any other aging/crock European star. So personally I'd like to see clubs change strategy and start offering that DP money to younger players with potential and we market them to be stars. Also increasing coaching budgets across the board. So young players from Europe, South America, Asia, etc. can come to America play for 3-5 years and get a big move to a top club. I think from a marketing standpoint we'd see more growth that way then the current accepted strategy, basically turning us into the Dutch Eredivisie. We might even get more neutrals watching our league because they want to see the next big thing, not the reminisce about the past. I watched more Ajax this season then I ever have because of Jan Vertonghen. Not saying clubs in America would become Ajax but I think if we focused on coaching and young player development I see no reason we could become like Udinese. I think a couple decades of that until the league gets on it feet where we can compete financially with European leagues is the best strategy.

It can be aruged for several people but Ibra this season will be included in any compiled list of Serie A's best players.

I think it is unfair to say he is not rated anywhere outside of Serie A. In Spain they appreciate how good a player he is (left Barcelona with a higher goal to game ratio and higher assist per game ratio than David Villa has achieved at Barcelona) but everyone realised he had to make way for Messi to move centrally.

He will find a club. Mancini knows him inside out, it wouldn't be out of the question for City to buy him. Aguero went missing for large chunks of the season, Balotelli still has big question marks over him, Dzeko looks like he will leave....

I always wondered why MLS doesn't make more of the South America markets. I thought maybe it was maybe stricter immigration laws or something along those lines? Compared to the relaxed immigrations ties Portugal has with Brazil Italy /Spain with Argentina etc.

One thing that I find really weird about MLS is the lack of away fans. It is only natural for a league in a country that size but it is a new experience for me to see teams play away from home often with no away fans at all travelling.

Excuse the MLS and American football fans who want to see their league develop and be competitive for trying to sign marketable players, which intern with increase the profile of the league. Beckham quite clearly had ambitions that exceeded being a footballer that not many European cities could provided, he wouldn't be making over €20m per year playing in Manchester or anywhere in Italy. It was mutually beneficial to both sides and I think 20 years down the road I think we'll look back at it being important for the growth of the league.

Side note, do you have a daily quota you need to feel by belittling someones opinion? I come here to have a debate not to be talked down to by mods. I've never approached you the way I routinely see you approach others on this board.

As I've already told you via PM but I'll repeat for the benefit of the board. It's no big deal, just took a little exception to the tone, but maybe I'm being too sensitive. Even though you can be a little blunt I think everyone here values your opinion and effort you put into maintaining the Roma section. Truce...

I never understood this either. Of course big name players sell t-shirts, but the MLS I think could very easily get young players with a lot of talent that are basically making peanuts and bananas at their current club. They'd be cheap and would get a lot more playing time here then South America, and also would be playing in some of the best facilities in the world. Juninho for the Galaxy is a perfect example of that.

And I don't think it's impossible to think Ibra would come to the states. Next year I think at least one spot will open up on the Galaxy, and it's just a matter of time until NY dumps Marquez. That's two spots both clubs are probably going to look to fill with European blood. In a league that's very physical like the MLS, I think Ibra would do very well here.

I also really wouldn't be the slightest surprised to see Cristiano come here later in his career as well. He seems to love life in LA

Most well known players seem to have a love for the USA. A lot of them them, like many people in general, love to visit the USA anyway but for most of them I think the USA is practically a haven were they can lead a somewhat normal life.

I remember Cannvaro saying he could go anywhere in the world, on any street and someone would call out his name and before long he'd be crowded in a street. Then he went on holiday to California (i can't remember the exact destination) and although there'd be the odd person that shouted out, he could walk the streets and the beaches in general without being pestered constantly, or drivers honking horns etc.

I've seen Klinsmann before he took the US job several times on the beach. Once I said something to him, basically I'm a Spurs fan, you are god etc. etc. Maybe not those exact words but something similar. You can tell he doesn't get that a lot in America because he wasn't bothered and he talked with us for like 10 minutes. When you meet footballers in Europe which I have many times, they're understandable quick with fans because they deal with it all the time.

It's hilarious the other times when I've seen him and people just pass him by not realizing they just walked by a legend. It is changing though because I know Donovan sometimes has to deal with fans at the beach.

Criscito out of the NT But he deserves all the bad if he has in fact done all that...

I just had a rant about aging stars coming to the MLS but I actually think Da Vaio was a good decision. I don't think he's treating the move as an early retirement. At least I hope not.

http://www.rds.ca/impact/chroniques/340986.html