News: Inside the confidential 2016 study that provided the blueprint for MLS’s modern era

Dozens of English clubs have stopped running academies because the bigger teams can poach kids for peanuts.

It doesn't require a team in the mountain time zone.

No it doesn't go against the current sanctioning rules. The rules were created at the request of the Pro Council (then MLS/NASL/USL) with the agreement of the Pro Council.

Therefore I don't think that USSF could legitimately change the rules at any time.

I believe a 2015 amendment didn't get passed because of objections from NASL (which was still trying to get D1 sanctioning at the time).

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Wasn't that due to the Elite Player Performance Plan, which removed all restrictions on recruitment area, among other things?

My understanding is that the amendment was never anything more than a proposal. NASL did indeed have an aneurysm over it, decrying it as USSF moving the goalposts on them, even though the PLS clearly states that there's a 3 year grace period on complying with any changes. It should be noted that while they very much wanted D1 status and even went as far as to apply, they were barely meeting the D2 requirements (and even then, often with USSF waivers) throughout their run.

 

So I keep seeing references to the idea of moving the Union to "downtown" Philly, but unlike Soldier Field, the stadium complex in Philly is kind of a dead zone surrounded by parking lots, or at least it was when I last lived there. Not much to do except get on the train and go back to center city. Is that Xfinity Live anything more than a mall?

 

Agree; the Galaxy have been both offenders and victims of this. On one hand, we've thrown big TAM contracts at foreign defenders that haven't really been any better than local guys that came up through the 2nd team. On the other, the league wouldn't let us offer David Ousted a TAM contract, which would've encouraged us to spend more on an equivalent foreign GK. It seems like TAM is structured such that it almost forces you to overpay some players at the margins. It's probably time to remove it or greatly overhaul it.

 

Xfinity Live is a complex full of bars and restaurants smack dab in the middle of the stadium complex. With that said, there really isn't any space currently available in that immediate area where another stadium would fit.

As far as other areas of the City, well any land big enough for a stadium would cost a lot of money, not to mention construction costs in the City of Philadelphia are also quite high. To put things in perspective Temple University hasn't been able to get approval for an on campus football stadium on land that they currently own.

 

Yeah, though I keep seeing suggestions that the team should consider moving back to the Linc, and while getting there as a Center City resident was easier than Chester, Chester was still a MUCH easier trip down 95 than getting to Bview is up and down 55. (though Chester's tolerance for free street parking helped a lot).

 

Presumably talk of Philly moving has to do with attendances. From what I saw this year, when they put out a competitive team, that place looks pretty full.

 

It's a nice little venue despite some flaws. I miss it.

 

Plus they've built most of their campus on that property as well. Their FO facility is there, as well as the practice fields and training center. The academy is in Wayne, PA on the Main Line. The ownership group has almost bought all of the property in and around the stadium, so some development should start to take place in the years to come.

 

Division champions, regional champions, conference champions, ect. there will be accolades to be had.


None that the Fire will achieve.

 

Chicago is the only team that has Eastern, Central and Western championships... along with Open Cup and MLS Cup..

ohh you mean in the future?... they are toast

 

You aren't really overpaying as outside of North America there is a true market for talent. So what you pay, is pretty much what they are worth unless the player is willing to play at a discount (which many players are - such as Zlatan on a TAM deal). With domestic based players (who are willing to play at a steep discount due to things like culture, family, spouses and significant restrictions in many higher paying markets) the fact MLS gives them only one person to negotiate with severely depresses salaries.
That is why a guy like Opera,top defender in the league for 2 of 3 years only moved up to about $350K after making less the $150K per year most of his career. Similarly, Chad Marshall the most dominant defender in the league for years never made more the about $350K). Meanwhile guys nowhere near as good like Fontas, Mancienne, Sane, Struna etc. are making 3 times as much because that is what defenders like them are worth when there is a true market.
As MLS starts to increasingly get involved in the global markets. Players domestic players are starting to get closer to their value. Not only do foreign clubs get an apples to apples comparison, but so do players in the locker room which certainly had a lot to do with Rooney speaking out. Ousted's problem is that he spent too long in the league. If he were coming over from Denmark he would have been signed with no problem. But being here for most of the decade, he was not going to get his value as the league is doing everything they can to tamp down the price pressure for domestic talent.

 

The new stadium should come with a new name, something European like Heart of Midwest or Young Boys of Illinois.

 

I'm a fan of ridiculous J-league naming conventions now.

"Jezorrep Chicago FC" is a combination of the words "jezioro" which is the Polish word for lake, an homage to Lake Michigan and Perro the Spanish word for dog spelled backward, a tribute to Sarky, Fire's previous mascot."

 

They should just be the Lake Dogs. Or the Lakedogs; I’m flexible.

@scoachd1 Opara’s fragility, and its affect on his development, is why $150K was fair (given MLS budgets at the time.). Once he could stay on the damn field and develop some consistency, he got the $$$.

With Marshall you have more of a point.

 

Good idea. Or:

6. Reach 36 teams, split into MLS A/B with pro-rel between the two.

Thx,

Jay!

 

Your comment about the budget/cap or whatever the league wants to call, it is utter nonsense. When Opara was named the Defender of the year on a salary of $150K in 2017 here were the defenders making $500K. It doesn't take much intellect to notice that only Besler signed (with great fan fair by the league) while in the league.

Team	Last	First	Pos	Guaranteed
CHI	Kappelhof	Johan	D	570,000.00
CLB	Mensah	Jonathan	D	844,000.00
CLB	Sauro	Gaston	D	601,312.50
KC	Besler	Matt	D	758,250.00
LA	Ciani	Michael	D	620,000.00
MNUFC	Demidov	Vadim	D	555,008.00
MTL	Ciman	Laurent	D	661,666.67
NE	Angoua	Benjamin	D	654,333.33
NE	Dielna	Claude	D	909,861.00
ORL	Spector	Jonathan	D	611,933.50
POR	Ridgewell	Liam	D	615,000.00
RSL	Silva	Marcelo	D	711,875.00
SEA	Torres	Roman	D	508,812.50
SJ	Jungwirth	Florian	D-M	516,667.07

With Opara's injury history your argument has a bit more credibility. In 2014 and 2015 Opara played less than 10 games each season. Similarly when Kacper Przybylko missed almost a year and half do to foot injuries. As a result Philly was able to sign him for 67K while injured and not able to play. But despite not playing in virtually any competitive games for almost 2 years Philly gave him a $275K deal. Meanwhile Opara proved his health by playing 25 games at a top level which garnered him a whopping $19K increase to $150K. So yeah, injuries play a factor in market value, but Opara's low salary was primarily do to MLS doing whatever they can to minimize payments of domestic players.

The players appear to be pretty fed up with the League pleading poverty (such as the release of this 3 year old report) out of one side of their mouth, yet having more than enough money to pay players of lesser ability from outside the league. This interview with Brad Stuver outlines the players position in negotiations.
"
Pro Soccer USA: What is the most important thing on the table for the players?
Stuver: “There are a lot of different issues that are on the table, but the main thing is just putting fewer restrictions on the money available for players. Right now, you see all the three letter acronyms like TAM [targeted allocation money], GAM [general allocation money], and those can only be used on certain players. For us, we want to eliminate those and just make it one big pool of money. That way the money can be used however the teams want to use it.”

 

Kacper's salary is what it is because the Union was still competing with other teams for his services. He was getting trials in places like the English Championship before he signed with the Union. The reason that players from Europe get signed for more is because MLS teams are competing for their services. And since leagues over there tend to pay more that makes MLS pay more. As domestic players have started to prove their worth in Europe MLS has had to start paying more for domestic players. And as this trend continues more domestic players will get a pay day without having to leave the league.

In fact, I think TAM has probably been the best thing to happen to the domestic defender in a long while. For years MLS teams have only really spent above max salary on attackers because fans don't show up to watch defenders. So there has been an influx of these TAM signings from leagues that everyone likes to think are better. So we've had players like Fontas (La Liga), Mancienne (Championship), Camacho (Belgian First Division), and Marcelo (Liga NOS) come in and command 700k+ salaries because of where they came from. And what did we learn? That they aren't better than the domestic defenders we have in the league now. So teams have started to give domestic defenders better contracts because they can pay them at a rate of those other leagues and know that they are as good or better than what they can find elsewhere. Long, Parker, and Opara don't get those salaries here without that proof of their quality compared to those players.

They better watch what they are wishing for there. Ignoring that TAM can be used for transfer fees and not just salary, it actually helps a certain category of players on MLS rosters. You eliminate the restriction that it can only be used on players making between 500k and 1.5M then it changes the math on how rosters are shaped. The MLSPA is thinking that means more money spread among more players. I think you'll see a wider gulf between the top end and bottom end of the roster.

For instance, lets say that right now you have two roster spots open. Under the current rules you have 830k of salary cap space left and 300k in TAM. The TAM player can make 830k (530k for max salary hit and 300k in TAM) while the non-TAM player can make 300k (830k in cap space minutes the 530k for the TAM player). You roll those two together and you have 1.13M for two players. The MLSPA is looking at it as that means two players can make 550k each so a player can get 250k more than what they could in the current system. However, I think it is more than even odds that the team would spend 1 million on one player and just bring in a player that makes 100k instead of spending 300k like they would under the current system. The money that a TAM signing makes above the league max does not effect the amount of money a player under league max can earn right now. If you combine them then a TAM signing directly effects how much they can make. It also eliminates any restrictions on the number you can sign (since there is a finite amount of TAM). In the one pot system, well, there are no limits so you can sign more higher priced players if you are ok with having a couple extra lower paid backups.

 

I don't really disagree except your view is a bit simplistic and is missing a few key items. The reason European get paid more is you get paid what you can negotiate, not the value you provide. The reason European players have more leverage is because there is open competition for their domestic players. A player from the England has almost 50 EPL or Championship teams that he can sign within a few hours from home not to mention leagues from Scotland to Italy.

MLS has structured their league to suppress wages of domestic players as much as possible. The most obvious way is to limit domestic players to one first division league on their home continent plus Mexico (which has its own highly restrictive practices and heavily favors Mexican players). So if you have Mexican heritage you have a few more options, for most everyone else you pretty much have a take or leave it offer from MLS unless you want and are able to play abroad.

Of course MLS players trying to play abroad have had quite a few disadvantages. You have culture issues - even really good players, in a relatively similar culture (Barco, Pity) struggle. Work permits - European countries range from relatively open (Germany) to highly restrictive (England) so even if you are extremely good, the opportunity to get a work permit in a country like England is very limited. Sell on opportunity - whether people realize it or not many European teams are simply minor league teams that get to play with major league teams. A significant part of the signing calculus is whether a player has the potential to be developed into an asset that can be sold to one of the big teams in the continent (or at a lower level, one of the teams that can sell to a major team). So even if a league is more open, the fact that a player cannot be easily sold to a higher paying team in England, Spain or Italy is a big negative that impacts which players get signed and who gets playing time so they can be showcased. MLS with all the benefits accrued to home grown players is an obvious demonstration of player value that has nothing to do with ability.

To your point, despite a significant increase in sophistication in the past few years, scouting is often still very tribal and not that objective. Players get signed based on whether a GM, coach or agent is a member of the tribe or is known to members. So when a guys who played in the league like Rooney, Lampard, Henry, Berhalter, Marsh etc. move into coaching they help break down the barriers for North American players.
Secondly, bringing in known competition is incredibly helpful to gauge the level of play. When they US Women first won the world cup many naive fans, media members and bigsoccer posters questioned whether US women would do well against the US men (which were at a much lower level compared to their competition). If these people had been able to watch these players play against some high level 15 year old boys, they never would have considered it as the difference in athleticism and speed of play between the men's and women''s game would have been obvious to them. The scouts of course realize something this obvious, but still struggle without benchmarks.

Once again you miss the nuance. What has helped is increasing the overall budget and bringing in more players from better known leagues. On the other hand TAM and GAM are just mechanisms to suppress domestic player wages which is why eliminating these is the number one issue. It is similar to the belief that suppressing domestic players though single entity is what prevented MLS from turning into NASL. The reality is that NASL didn't go bankrupt by overpaying for US players, but instead had no cost controls on individual teams to prevent overpaying for foreign players. Screwing Chad Marshall so you can pay Roman Torres is not what has kept the league from going bankrupt like NASL.

People without knowledge have been spewing nonsense like this since I can recall. If you look through the 2015 collective bargaining thread you can see a large amount of posters with little understanding of the league or its economics who made statements like "the players didn't want to negotiate higher wages because they were afraid of losing their jobs." Guess what, the league increased team wages by more than double of what was agreed and I have yet to see a single article with any player complaining about the significant increase in league wages. Instead they were pushing for free agency so they could start to get leverage to be paid what they delivered on the field. If you want to see who had a clue and who did not, do a search on the old labor negotiation threads.

 

They aren't just about suppressing wages (and I'll give you that MLS has a lot of different mechanisms for suppressing wages). If MLS took away TAM and the money then the league and the wages would be just what they were before. The league was thinking about what would be the best way to spend money to improve quality. Their answer was that the league needed to add players in the $500-$800k range. Players with enough skill difference that you would notice. What they didn't want is to give some lazy teams the money and have it squandered by just giving every player a $200k raise. Great for the players but you end up spending a lot of money without improving the league.

Are there salary inequities? Sure, sometimes from unfairness, sometimes from bad timing and sometimes from bad scouting. The Galaxy have certainly squandered a bunch of money on bad foreign players. But consider the situation they are in now. Ideally, they need a new defensive midfielder, a left back and maybe a center back. To get quality players they are going to have to spend money and to go outside the league. Otherwise, to make the Galaxy better you have to move players from other MLS teams and that doesn't make the league better on net.

 

Not sure anyone pointed this out yet, but RSL being profitable is nice to see, considering they were considered to be bleeding money when Checketts sold the team.

 

Barco has been outstanding this season when he's played. His struggle has been to stay fit.

 

I do wonder if, given the way billionaires thing, Del Loy Hansen would trade the modest RSL year-by-year profit for a loss but a higher valuation. Guess it depends on whether he (or his heirs) might sell the team in the future.

 

This is a bit of semantics. If you have $X dollars to spend, then sure if you set up a system to severely limit the negotiating leverage of a large proportion of the pool, it certainly true that you have more to spend on foreign players than if you paid your core players more fairly. But it is a system of diminishing returns as it creates friction in your workforce and openly encourages young domestic players to choose to start their careers outside of the US if at all possible.

 

Was he injured last year as well?