it will continue with a lot of LOWS and very few MEDIUMS- what i do expect in 2020 is more canadians coming into the top 18 for a game and getting starting and sub time- why waste it on underperforming players from other countries and yet cost more $$$ in salary- can the young canadians do any worse than a venuto, felipe, bangoura, rose, sutter, ardaiz, erice or montero ? the answer and direction is becoming clear- play the young canadians at a cheaper salary rate and use the extra MLS cap money on a few internationals who can take the Club to a more competitive level- expect these players to be usually free agents it fits the owners wallets- salaries MUST be paid from the MLS pots and use the davies transfer money only if necessary will it work?? the answer has to be-- can it be any worse ??
This was the original weekend and opponent (NYCFC "Cosmos") for the 1979 NASL championship celebrations. With two pre/post game shows as well as the halftime of the Caps game on TSN, I wonder if there will be any true acknowledgement of the event because there was hardly anything when they did this in May with the TFC-centric broadcast team running the narrative. I'm curious to see if Ricketts and Chirinos keep their starting places in the attack.
Unfortunately the celebration of 40 years since the Soccer Bowl was swallowed up by the apathy setting in upon this market. Instead of being a festive season, its the season the Caps finally are facing a reckoning with mass season ticket cancellations, scandals, and the over all exposure of how they have run the business. There is fairly significant rumors now that the CPL in the Valley is getting VERY serious. The Caps are on the verge of getting to a place they may never recover from. We can always celebrate the Soccer Bowl on our own, through stories and memories and so forth. The AFTN podcast has been doing a series all year and its worth the listen if you have time.
Ricketts is a great pickup as your depth striker. A 20 - 30 minute sub player and a spot starter when you have fixture congestion and injuries. I don't think people should put higher expectations on him than that. As for Chirinos; looks interesting. I would like to see more of him, but his salary will be able to fit in the MLS monies so nothing to be asked for from the owner, and Davies money pays the transfer fee if they want him. I can see them formally transferring him if his play is worthwhile the rest of the season. There is A LOT of dead money on this team > We can bitch about owners not willing to take on salaries beyond what MLS pays, but man, half their salaries need to be shipped out. MDS made a lot of mistakes.
shockingly so. More than even Carl which is no easy task. We have two issues with money 1 - owners spending on salary above MLS supplied funds 2 - effective management of the MLS supplied funds on players Number one is a long term thing which isn't changing unless there is some mass shift in ownership thinking Number two is directly on Marc and his record is appalling on that front so far. Rennie's Railhawks did better than a lot of this crew in relation to the salary cap. I did the mental math in my head and we are looking at around half of the salaries are players who he brought in or extended that should be dismissed. (felipe and venuto are gone so at least he has the ability to see this and make change).
They're filling the void with the Legends and Stars match prior to the Dynamo match on the 14th. Has this been an annual event?
As an outsider, I do find the Whitecaps' obsession with their 1979 trophy a bit odd. I'm not aware of any other sports team that pays so much attention to one past victory.
desperate organization does desperate things- 1979 was a great Whitecap, Vancouver and BC time and it shouldnt be shilled by a FO and ownership group looking for something positive from 40 years ago
Does 1967 ring a bell somewhere else in Canada? Bueller? Anybody? My issue is that this team spent the last half of last season hyping and marketing this event and then cooled off on it after they had to push the actual celebration way ahead into the end of May to rodeo clown attention away from the off field controversies. It was their attempt to create some STH nostalgia to distract from the on field product for which they were renewing their season's tickets. They keep playing the rubes and too many keep falling for it. But perhaps not anymore.
well, its hard to explain if you werent there. But the city connected with it at a level we really only saw with the 1994 canucks run (not only fan interest but personal connection and affection for players). its also the only north american major level sport Vancouver has won a trophy in (unless someone thinks the Van Millionaires winning the cup in the early 20th century counts). So it is the biggest nostaligia thing they have. People still get a tear in their eye talking about it, the players, the names. This year was so soiled by bullshit, the celebration night came and went like a fart in the wind. Unfortunate. I personally wish they put attention on the CSL titles ( not a great league but it was a hell of a team of players who had no where else to go other than indoor soccer so they played for the 86ers).
Yes., they should have had it end of august as planned, right around the time of the soccer bowl date. They pushed it ahead due to the women's scandal and the PR disaster and it ended up being a footnote which was sad. They had a lot of the old guys here and they didnt even market them (the advertising mostly noted Willie and nobody else). The best reunion they had was the 1989 game at Swangard. They had the entire team except for a couple of guys (lewington was not there, and I think Nesin was not there). It was an amazing night.
They've spent the day on their twitter feed doing a Soccer Bowl retrospective, and on the anniversary of the parade they'll do the same and then that'll be it and their marketing will pivot towards something else for the final few matches. Since the coach is adamant about playing guys like Rose I think the only time you might see an Academy grad sub is in garbage time at the end of those matches. Hard to guess what they plan to do from marketing standpoint but they'll probably generate some hype with stuff around the sporting director search: maybe they'll "leak" J.J. Adams a story about a potential candidate and then the bickering will distract and trend.
GAME VS HOUSTON, SEPT. 14-- 2-1 WIN: 2 weak teams struggling to look like MLS-quality and falling short- both would struggle against USL teams, maybe even CPL teams
CPL > USL CONCACAF league pretty much solidified that with Forge FC eliminating the Guatemala champions "Antigua GFC" And winning 1 game against Olimpia, one of the strongest team in CONCACAF
How does Forge's performance against Antigua GFC have any bearing on whether the CPL is better than the USL?
That's my opinion but it's increasingly being shared in the media community. You'll have a hard time finding those believing that CPL is below.
There needs to be a larger body of work to really determine that. One season and one club has a good run is not enough. If they can be on equal terms, I can buy that at this stage. What are USL salary budgets this year? ANyone know?
My estimation is that the two leagues are pretty close with inevitable variation between the better and worse clubs in each league. My question, though, was what does Antigua GFC have to do with the CPL and USL debate? They played Hamilton but is there some connection with them and the USL?
As I specified, it is my opinion when I compare both leagues. I write on CPL so I had to watch almost all the games while our website also covers USL. I had to watch a few games and even among the writers, we're of the agreement that it's at the very least at level but others like myself thinks it's higher than USL.
oh Vancouver...On #VWFC Interest and being asked to come in on a trial “I can’t do that, I’m a professional player; I don’t have to prove nothing to other club because I’m playing here, so if there is a club that wants to buy me they can watch my games, I have contract here [until 2021]” pic.twitter.com/JmDvZ44YVp— Thomas Nef (@ThomasNef) September 18, 2019