With Bradley, Dempsey, Beasley, and (most likely) Jones playing in MLS next season, it hurts me to think that we'd replace Donovan with a foreigner looking for a change of scenery. I'd rather spend money on Bradley, and let Toronto figure it out. Barring that, I'd love to see Chicharito play for LA, but I don't see that happening. My priority will always be "great player". But "Converts fans" and "electrifies crowds" is important in LA. "Big Name" is sort of a non-starter for most of the public, since a "big name" in soccer is still a relative no one in LA. What's Bryan Ruiz up to these days?
I'm pretty sure Dempsey said kinda the same thing at one point. Point being, people change their minds and opinions all the time. And professional athletes tend to go where the money is good and where they think they'll be content/happy. MLS could fit that profile for Howard at some point again.
Interesting there's so much support for Chicharito. Certainly would appeal to the Mexican-American fanbase in LA. Not sure he would have a wow-factor league-wide. OTOH, they could possibly use the LD DP for Cheech, then come back and use the Keane slot in two or three years on Ronaldo/Messi/Rooney after their contracts wear down a little.
I think it is a really interesting situation that bears watching and analyzing. In the last couple Beckham years, LA was clearly the league's flagship club due to both their glamor and on-field quality. Now, teams like Seattle, Toronto, and NYCFC (soon) seem to have caught or surpassed them in the glamor department, and teams like Seattle (again), KC, and RSL have caught or surpassed them in the quality department. When Lieweke was there, you could always count on him swinging for the fences and trying to pull off something to keep them tops in the glamor category, if not the on-field category. Now, who knows? On top of that, if (and this is obviously still a big 'if') the league finds an ambitious owner for Chivas USA, then LA is looking at serious competition in their own backyard.
i wouldn't write off howard based on some old quote, but ruiz isn't a bad name either. he doesn't come with a ton of name recognition, but he might score at a rate to make him a true impact player in the league. not sure he's ready for mls though. clearly not as much of a stretch as the other names being tossed around here, but might be out of reach too.
Very good analysis. I hadn't thought about this when I started the thread, but what happens if Henry retires and/or Tim Cahill moves back to Europe? Then the league would be looking at 2-3 DP slots in glamor stops (plus both 3rd DPs that are still open in NY). Then the Chivas potential, also. That's a huge hole to fill, but also a tremendous opportunity to remake the "face of the league." And it's something that's going to be discussed as the season moves toward the end.
that's the double-edged sword, in a sense. those teams wanted the dp rule. but once they got it, they're obliged to fill those slots, and fill them with upper-end dp's, given the markets they're in. and it's not easy to do, either in practical terms, or financially if the team isn't making money. how big a dp new york or los angeles get is sort of an unavoidable litmus test for those franchises.
But "how big" and in what portions of the club/league business is the definable and debatable metric. Do new/any DP signings need to be a truly "marketable" name, or can MLS teams just go about getting players that can/will help them win (and/or perhaps just as importantly put out an entertaining and desirable product)? That's the reality of the DP initiative. It's a designation that those players are "off or beyond budget" constraints from the league, but those DP signings also have to go about the "balanced" business needs for the teams/league of being successful keys on and off the field. And in big markets (like NY and LA specifically), there will of course be some extra attention put on the "off-field" (marketability) aspects of all DP signings. Initially the DP certainly had the perception that it was a marketing(-only) initiative. But now, and in recent years, the DP initiative is being seen more an more as a roster-building tool that teams can/should successful utilize to focus on on-field success, just as much as if not more so, than the "off-field" marketing of the players/clubs/league. Overall, the reality of MLS (always) doing what they can to sign big, name, and big-name players is going to help push the league forward. (But of course there will be bumps and missteps along the road -- and periods/off-seasons when several big DPs are going to have to be "replaced.")
That may be, but by the time Morocco 2013 came around Ronaldinho - and the entire Atletico Mineiro team for that matter - were extremely underwhelming. Worst performance ever by a Libertadores winner at the Club World Cup. Has he been better this year?
Yeah, Atlético Mineiro made a horrible participation at the Club World Cup but the team was not doing very well before that during the brazilian championship. And the team was bad as a whole and I don't think that's fair pointing only to Ronaldinho. On this year Ronaldinho was not doing that well but I think that is too hurry say that he's not useful anymore. I remember that when he gone out from Flamengo (in bad terms) a lot of people thought his career was doomed, and he showed that that was not true. The thing with Ronaldinho is motivation, after he won Libertadores with Atlético (one important title that he lacked until that point) looks like he began to not carry anymore (again). But if he goes to a new league with new challenges I think he can be motivated to once again make the difference. And if he goes to MLS I imagine that will go to some city where he can have a lot fun also outside the field, places like Orlando, California, New York, etc. Since his time at Milan he turn into a bohemian type of guy, and while he keeps playing well this isn't a problem. One image of Ronaldinho at the city of Belo Horizonte after conquest the Libertadores: But recent news hear in Brazil say that he could be going to Santos where he would play with Robinho.
Just FTR: I suspect Steven Gerrard will take one of the available DP spots next year, or at least have the opportunity to do so. His contract is nearly out and he's made quotes about how he might leave Liverpool for a few years. Not sure he is quite in the megastar category, but a very big star from one of the most popular teams in the US. Could go to any spot we're discussing.
Not that this isn't possible, but oh god no. Lampard was one set of problems, Gerard will just be those x 2. Small minded, terrible interviewee, over the hill, lousy World Cup.
Make a move for Balotelli, Tevez, Etoo or Ibrahimovic ... As far as Mexicans there's more out there than just Chicharito ... think Dos Santos or Vela ...
they can't get dos santos he is way to expensive.. names like, fernando torres, sami khedira, older players at good teams that those good teams do not need.
And yet on first page people are throwing around names like Messi and CR9 .... lol ... I guess we should agree first what price range we're looking at first ... Is LA going to be an alpha team and throw around some Dempsey/Bradley money or are they going to be safe and get a slightly older "name" who comes with no transfer fee ...
Well no harm on making an offer even if the player turns it down, just have a good back up plan. I mean LA did make a bid for Gio DosSantos and Gio obviously turned them down, but as they say you miss 100% of the shots you do not take.
Among the three Seeming Impossibilities, I would say Cristiano Ronaldo would be the most likely surprise. His main squeeze is the model Irina Shayk, who just had her first film role. A move to Hollywood for her would make more sense than it did for Posh. So that provides more incentive and a creative way to sweeten the deal. So you could help her with film and modeling work (not that she needs the latter). You could move Gonzalez and free up money. You could give Ronaldo the sort of a cut in jersey sales and such that Beckham got, etc. But still, his new contract runs to 2020. Even if you could entice Ronaldo and Shayk, could you reach an agreement with Real Madrid? MLS has ancillaries it can offer in terms of marketing know-how, access to the American market, etc. But that would still be a huge buyout. This one strikes me as more likely down he road a little bit, maybe after Keane's retirement.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if DC traded EJ to LA for Gargan at some point (perhaps soon or in time for 2015) -- and Arena found a way to get 20+ goals per season from EJ.
probably between 10-25 mil, lst window they were active most of their bids were around 10, i could see them pushing those numbers up a bit, they will need to if they want a really good player.