Any of you guys here see Pele's first game in New York? They had to paint the "grass" green for TV. Now that guy did a selling job....
Back when the Superdraft meant something, Chad was a consensus #1 pick until the Adu Experiment happened. He was more than good. And ten years is definitely not "as soon as they could"...
What do the details of a trade ten years into his career have to do with the 2004 draft or the fact that 10 years is not 'as soon as they could'?
That was literally another century. A lot has happened since then, and the number of these mega-signings that have gone on to produce at or close to expectation has been quite good. Someone mentioned Lampard, and I could also lump in his spiritual doppleganger Gerrard, but I would argue, as I have elsewhere, that British players are notorious for not doing well in foreign lands. Call me selfish and prideful, but the way I would feel to walk into Crew Stadium and see a player like Juan Mata warming up in a Crew jersey would cause my heart to burst. As for the whole, 'MLS hates Columbus' trope, there's every chance that will change under the new ownership While the Hunts were marvelous stewards of this team for many years, Dallas was always their focus, and once the league, post-'99, leveled the ship, getting rid of multiple ownership situations was a major goal, and we were always going to suffer for being the HSG's 'second' team. And we all know that PSV was not a major player, but the Haslams seem like the exact sort of owners the league wants. The major issue of course - assuming the money is there - is getting big players to come to the drab Midwest. Crap stadium or no, especially if you're a Spanish-speaking player, the choice between Miami and Columbus is a no-brainer.
Silva to Miami makes sense. I'm not sure how many additional butts would be sold when many more people in Columbus know the name of the backup punter for Ohio State or the names of the whole 2022 recruiting class than who Silva is. On the other side, to say that no superstar wants to come to Columbus disrespects the memory of the great Guillermo Barros Schelotto who led us to the Promised Land in 2008. Yes, others have had their superstars but what has been the impact. How many titles have DC won with Rooney? How about the Galaxy with Zlatan? Nani's Orlando team might not make the playoffs. Montreal has fielded pretty much every Italian on the planet without lifting the trophy. NYFC is still playing at Yankee Stadium without trophies. I prefer to get someone that will help us win, like GBS, than a superstar that keeps us in the hunt. On the Chad Marshall thing, we were the accidental beneficiaries of another MLS decision against Columbus. We had the second pick and they pretty much made sure that DC would pick little Freddy and spare him the possibility of having to move to the wilderness of Columbus. This alone enabled us to land Chad. We ended up winners in this whole MLS "wheel and deal" scenario.
Because there were concerns after quite a number of concussions (and the influence of what happened to Ross Paule about the same time).
There are so many ridiculous assertions in the quoted post I don't really know where to begin... The argument that, because OSU football is enormously popular, a big name player would be wasted here is both defeatist and creates a false dichotomy. If it's really the case, then why bother at all? For one I'm sick of blaming every woe on tOSU football. There are thousands of sports fans in this city who are transplants and have no inherent connection to the Buckeyes. In addition to that, I invite you to come watch the Premier League in one or other of our finer drinking establishments some random weekend. You'll find that there are, once again, thousands of rabid soccer fans who are very well aware of who exactly David Silva is. This is not even to mention how such a signing would do to raise the profile of the team with MLS fans across the country, which, guess what, might lead to us being on nationally televised broadcasts more than once a season. First off, 2008 was a completely different era in Terms of MLS history. Things are so much different now. Second, GBS was, again, a different case in that he was not a well-known player internationally nor was he a European based superstar (which is what we're really talking about here). At the risk of being condescending, I need to point out that only one team can be the champion at any particular time. Your argument is, basically, "I don't want a player who makes us better, I want a player who makes us best!' That is, to be honest, a horseshit argument. You cannot be best without being better. Galaxy with Zlatan and DC with Rooney are much better teams with them than without them. Nani is a marginal case, a la Ashley Cole. You are also being highly selective in your argument, neglecting to mention all the MLS Cup winners who were helped by having high-priced international stars. Given that, as I said, only one team can be best at any given time, your argument is disingenuous, and that's being kind. In addition, regarding Montreal, sure they have had a lot of Italian players, but I will argue with some authority that Marco di Vaio or Ignacio Piatti are not Alessandro del Piero or Francesco Totti. I will also add that, when Montreal had a player of the caliber we're discussing, Didier Drogba, they reached the final of the Concacaf Champions League, so your argument loses a bit of its luster on that point, too. Ultimately the argument I'm making is that it's next to impossible to be successful in this league without a DP making > $5 million, and I want us to be successful, so therefore I want that type of player. And, if possible, I wouldn't mind at all if that player was also someone I'd seen on TV lifting major European trophies. Call me a snob, and I'll accept it. I care enough about my team to want that for them, and for us.
Wow! Ridiculous. Thanks for the feedback. I'm talking about the fact that Silva may be better for Miami based on name recognition. To say that I wouldn't welcome a big named player on the team is just a stupid assumption on your part. I just think that I'd prefer to go the route of a budding superstar like the ones Atlanta has been getting versus the big names like Rooney, Nani, Zlatan and others when you consider that the impact of those has been better than the big name players over the last 10 years or so. Tell me which big name superstar Toronto had? So please get back to me when your reading comprehension is up to par for this discussion. Asshole.
Apparently some DCU fans jumped visiting Seattle supporters after the match yesterday. One Seattle fan was hospitalized. https://wtop.com/dc-united/2019/09/nearly-20-people-involved-in-fan-fight-outside-audi-field/
I've seen many fights at professional sports events over the years. Not a single one of them was ever unprevoked. There are always words exchanged. How it goes from words to fists is crux of the situation. 95%+ of the time alcohol is the culprit. Not excusing the behavior of DC fans but I would find it very surprising if DC fans just jumped Seattle fans completely unprevoked.
Wait. What? I thought it was due to having idiots in charge of doing player assessments. My brother was jumped by some Toronto assholes back in 2008. Public event/knowledge. He did not exchange words. Was literally in the group being escorted by Toronto police back to the supporters’ bus and various vehicles (for our safety...). Guys came out of nowhere. Sometimes faux fans are just huge, thuggish pricks.
Well... as determined as we have been to shoot our own feet off, New England is doing their best to keep us alive. 2-0 Portland after 83'.
I don't believe it. Revs score in the 87th, and then get a VAR penalty in the dying seconds of stoppage time. 2-2.
Well thank God that the league let them wave that asinine Iron Front flag then. Who cares about the team winning?
Reports of Almeyda going back to Mexico at the end of the season. That would send San Jose back into irrelevance and in no uncertain terms be a huge loss for the league. This league has had maybe 2 clearly very good managers in the last several years. Tata Martino and Almeyda. And a handful of managers who may are likely a step above MLS in de Boer, Bradley, and as much as I hate to say it Arena. The rest are guys like Vermes and Savarase who are decent MLS coaches, guys like GBS have yet to prove it outside where they had the most resources, and clowns like Caleb Porter who live off of college glories one successful season and a unending string of failures. This league is going to hell in a hand basket.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...severs-ties-with-broadcast-partner-flosports/ DC United won't be back with FLO Sports next year. In addition, Sunday's game will be free on the DCU website.
The whole picture may be about to change, drastically. MLS in 2020 may be a whole new game. The key sticking point is TAM, which the players hate since it creates a pool of $4 million per team that is outside the salary cap and which they cannot access. They want a salary budget, period. As for DP, it may be that the whole deal has outlived it's usefulness. I've seen guys speculating that the CBA will actually add one or two, and you have my permission to tell them that they are feckless twatwaffles. There is literally no chance. As usual in these things it's the players in the middle who are getting squeezed and the Union wants to find a way to change that. As we see with the Crew, you've got older players making a lot of money who aren't all that much better than younger players making far less. At some point, Bez has to weigh those considerations based on a $4.2 million cap. It's not really about free agency although that's what you'll hear about because a) its uncomplicated, so low-wattage fans feel comfortable talking about it and b) the Union wants it to be something they can "give in" on in order to get the stuff they really want. Point being, the landscape may be about to drastically change, and we probably need to wait until we see the full picture next Spring. Until then, Bez is a good man to have running the show.
I'd definitely like to see roster rules changed with TAM being available to all, and a larger overall salary cap. I kind of hope that there is a way to bring in higher priced players like what the DP rule did... Limit the salary cap hit of a small number of higher priced players. The other thing that I would like to see is for clubs to get some sort is leeway to pay their own academy products more without taking a huge salary cap hit. The league will play it's 25th season, and it has started to prosper. The focus of this CBA needs to be finding ways to improve the quality of play while maintaining some competitive balance between richer and poorer teams.