Are cities starting to see World Cup hosting duties as a poisoned chalice? https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...orld-cup-hosting-duties-as-a-poisoned-chalice "The North American bid for the 2026 World Cup, a joint venture between the United States, Canada and Mexico, delivered its official pitch to Fifa on Friday with 23 cities listed as potential venues. But behind the fanfare, four major cities – Chicago, Minneapolis, Vancouver and Glendale– told Fifa and the United Bid they didn’t want to be part of a World Cup. Local authorities from those cities cited heavy-handed requests from Fifa and the United Bid that included potentially huge taxpayer bills, as well as hosting contracts that exposed their cities and residents to immense financial and legal risk." Glendale withdrawing will probably sink the North American bid?
Guess I better look into tickets for LAG game, Zlatan is must see. http://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-t...anchester-united-game-leaving-for-mls-sources
SI Confirming he has signed and will be announced Friday. A source with direct knowledge of the deal tells SI.com that Ibrahimovic has signed a contract through the end of the 2019 season that will pay him $1.5 million per year, the maximum allowed for a contract using Targeted Allocation Money. https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/03/22/zlatan-ibrahimovic-la-galaxy-mls-contract-manchester-united
This ... And at $1.5 M/year he is coming for reasons other than money unless there are (and may well be) side deals.
When is the last time he played? This may end up a Beckham deal where he doesn't play in half the road games "because of his back".
Looks like December. I wonder where they'll play him. Will he drop back into the midfield a lot? He'd make a pretty good pivot point of sorts...chest down passes, spray passes forward.
As mentioned above: http://www.livesoccertv.com/news/25630/ibrahimovic-agreed-to-take-massive-paycut-to-join-la-galaxy/ "Ibrahimovic agreed to take massive paycut to join LA Galaxy" "According to Marca, the Swedish striker signed a $1.5 million deal with the Californian side, which represents a 95% drop from the wage he collected at Manchester United. The Swedish National Team's top scorer earned a whopping $27M per season with the Red Devils, meaning that he will make the move to North America trying to add another title to his already impressive resume."
MLS 1.0: Hey, it's soccer! MLS 2.0: It's soccer with real names in real stadiums, in downtown core areas! MLS 3.0: Stadiums, schmadiums. It's all about the Benjamins and pandering to the owners. Example #1: Miami. After Miami is officially announced as an expansion city, Beckham is still shopping for a stadium site????? Example #2: Columbus/Austin. Austin twice rejected Precourt's lust for city parks (Guerrero and Butler Shores parks) as stadium sites, but finally found some wasteland far from the city center that it will "study" as a stadium site.
Columbus is going to be interesting with Ohio passing a state law after Browns left on teams taking public money and leaving. I bet in end they (MLS) will give Precourt an Expansion side if he sells Crew to local groups who have already offered to buy it.
It's been a while since I did so much yelling in excitement while alone in my house. My cats were pissed.
I heard the fans chanting “ we want Zlatan, I gave them Zlatan” Down 3-0 and they win 4-3 So glad I bought a crap ton of tickets for Aug 4th!
Charlotte Independence are getting a renovated new home: Independence Set for Memorial Stadium Move MECKLENBURG COUNTY COMMISSIONERS APPROVE $32 MILLION RENOVATION OF HISTORIC VENUE https://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/904165?referrer_id=2333971
Watched most of the Juve-Real match last night. The Ronaldo goal was spectacular, but UEFA football, both Champions League and domestic leagues, have a predictability problem; it looks like they'll be no upstarts in the semi-finals. I haven't fully counted Seville out yet, but it is unlikely they'll make a comeback. And Juve are out. I only watched the first 35 minutes of the CONCACAF game, it was great entertainment. Toronto look really good, but so did Club America.
I recorded and fast-scan watched, Canada vs. Mexico in English weather. ;>) Probably not too many MLS teams can take it to the Liga MX teams but Toronto can.
I'll give it a speed through tonight. The games really pile up these mid-weeks with both CONCACAF and UEFA
Not Rapids related, not soccer related, but I'm on the job market again. If any of you Rapids fans out there in the Denver area need a good tech leader, drop me a line.
I think this really needs to happen. Surprised that Chelsea isn’t the leader in loaned out players. FIFA to reform player Loans Big clubs are signing up large numbers of young players, only to loan them out and then sell them for a profit, often without them ever playing for the first team. France Football points out that Juventus have loaned out 41 players this season, Udinese 27, Chelsea 22 and Manchester City 18. As a result FIFA is considering bringing in new restrictions on loans, or even scrapping them altogether.