Not that I put much importance in the draft but sometimes a few gems pop up. I saw some of Stanford and Cal’s games but stopped watching college soccer for the most part. Are there any exciting area or national #1 picks who can come in and help?
Usain Bolt has been offered a two-year contract to play for Maltese club Valletta FC and spearhead their charge to the Champions League, Valletta FC general manager told ESPN.https://t.co/bE5rTvDSGV— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 15, 2018
If Martino leaves, that sort of moves Matias Almeyda up a notch next season when it comes to current reputable MLS coaches.
Defender Chris Odoi-Atsem has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. We’re all behind you, Chris.Read | https://t.co/D39Tty1eEU pic.twitter.com/o8XvcYILV7— D.C. United (@dcunited) October 16, 2018
Just saw a headline that the Sounders are in the playoffs 10 seasons & counting. I believe they were the next expansion team after we came back. Say what you will about the Sounders (I'm not a big fan), they've done a lot of things right to field a good team on the field (even if they play on fake grass). They make our beloved franchise look even more depressing.
The Sounders were "gifted" their stadium. They were not "required" to build a SSS. They were given a "gimme" in arguing that CentruryLink Field could pass as a SSS. This saved enormous costs for the team and also gave them a very large capacity and, ergo, MUCH larger revenues. Their budget is significantly larger than ours. Same is true for Atlanta. Now, to be fair, the Seattle media did a FAR better job in promoting their team and filling that large stadium. They filled it from the get go and were able to use their large revenue stream to buy expensive players. We certainly failed to benefit from the excitement of a new (and sold out) stadium in 2015. Some of that was our failure to build a strong team (legacy of the lean Buck Shaw budget years) and some was simply much lower revenues coupled with an added expense of paying for the stadium. Yes, we could have done better. But, as the expression goes, the Sounders were "born on third base and they think they hit a triple".
That's not entirely true. The stadium was designed and built with soccer in mind and an MLS team as a future tenant. This was how it was was sold to voters, and the close vote, just 53,000 votes and 51.1% in favor, had many soccer people saying that the dual use aspect of the stadium is what pushed the vote to approval. And one of the Sounders future owners, Paul Allen, did pay for about 40% of the stadium. They also benefited from the perfect storm of the Sonics leaving after the 2008 season, and the Mariners not playing particularly well in 2008 and 2009. They certainly have a revenue advantage, but, they are basically a tenant of Century Link, where the Quakes have full control over Avaya and any money they can generate from its use. Seattle came into the league like Atlanta and LAFC, branding themselves as a big league team and acting like one. The Quakes took the toe in the water approach and they are still paying the price for it. Well, maybe 2nd base, and they had a plan on how to make it to home plate.
This isn't really convincing for a number of reasons.... First, as the headline says, Sounders made the playoffs every year of their existence in MLS (whereas we made the playoffs twice since we came back). I agree not having to build/spend $'s on a stadium gave them a leg up when they got started, but it probably doesn't explain their consistency over a 10-year period. In contrast, we have not gotten any better after the stadium was built (as you noted). Secondly, their DPs definitely made a difference for the team (not sure if they even had a bust in terms of DPs.). In contrast, all of our DPs with the exception of Wondo has either been an absolute bust or at the very least a disappointment. Having a "free" stadium probably doesn't fully explain why their DPs were better than ours. Beyond DPs, did a "free" stadium help the Sounders franchise understand the nuances of player acquisition mechanisms? Apparently our front office folks didn't fully understand how Targeted Allocation $s work even with a stadium. Finally, who cares if they were born on the 3rd base or even 2 feet away from the home plate? I don't hear SKC, FC Dallas, or even Columbus (with the turmoil they had to go through) using that as an excuse.
I think drawing 35k+ fans a game has helped the Sounders pick the right DP’s. Also, I’m not so sure how much they pay to be a “tenant” of CentruryLink Field. If the owners own their own stadium or even half of it, how much rent can they be paying? This coupled with the revenues from parking , merchandise and concessions , I doubt they are losing that much rent money in the end.
With all their revenue I think they only have 2 DP's on their roster right now. Though I think Lodeiro and Ruidiaz are class, I am surprised they haven't spent more on DP's.
Even though he retired, I think Clint Dempsey was their third DP and still on the books for the season. Not sure about the salary cap rules but that may be a reason why they haven’t signed anyone else. Even if he doesn’t count against the cap since he stoped playing, I’m pretty sure the Sounders paid him his full yearly salary as I doubt Clint would leave what he was owed in the table. Another reason could be since Dempsey’s sudden retirement , maybe they couldn’t find anyone for the last two months of the season? Depending on whether he is playing in Europe , most marquee players are set to play for their teams ahead of the season and may not be readily available as the transfer window closes September 1st and Dempsey retired at the end of August. Just a thought....
Oi, Atlanta is at it again: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/10/19/report-atlanta-sign-pity-martinez-15m-will-join-january
I guess never paid attention but I didn't realize the VAR didn't exist in Champions League games..... Nice to see the will be using it next season... UEFA confirms VAR in Champions League from 2019-20 season