People need to remember that Acosta played a vital role in our 2017 Gold Cup victory. When he broke Andre Blake's hand and got him subbed out. With Blake on the pitch, we very well may have lost to Jamaica, and thus lost all the glory and reward that I assume comes with winning a Gold Cup that no one cared about. Acosta = Game-changer.
I agree, he is an MLS development success story so far, along with others the likes of Adams and Steffen who've gotten great playoff experience this year and made discernible improvements along the way. But what is the catalyst for a move now? Seattle values him, MLS would fight to retain him, he has 1 nt cap against a no-name team, and quality leagues overseas don't respect an MLS sample by itself. Even if at 20-22 he'd be the best player on a team who may win back-to-back MLS titles and features internationals like Lodeiro, Dempsey, Torres, Morris, Jones, Alonso, Svensson, etc.
Outside the Big Five, I don't think anyone else pays the salaries MLS pays. There's much talk of how big the difference is between the DPs and the regular guys here, but in Europe an average dude in the Dutch or the Portuguese league is not making that much. The way the economy works, the fact that the USA is a wealthy country basically takes most of our players out of the market for them. You have to be good enough for some of the wealthier clubs to want you, and Acosta is not that.
None of those players I named NEED to go to Europe. They could all stay in MLS, and they would have a high soccer IQ. Its also a silly debate because if you want to take my comment literally, they don't need to do anything soccer-related. But if we are framing this related to the NT, I don't believe not playing in Europe means they would not be good NT players. I do agree though that they should go to Europe, but I covered that in my last post about this topic why thats often difficult for younger American players. Do they need to go to Europe to be a star player? Its debatable, Donovan never stayed in Europe all too long, he was our best ever NT player until Pulisic came along. Was he a star? Its up for debate.
It is silly to suggest he plays for the USMNT but is so terrible he couldn't find any club in Europe to give him a shot. If your point that MLS will put a price on him so high nobody will pay it. Of course, one of the major problems with youth development and MLS. See EPB, Dempsey, Nagbe, etc. Etc
There is no real catalyst for a move to a big league. Maybe a LigaMx team comes in for him. Maybe a team from a second tier Euro-league comes in. I don't know his contract situation, though.
He had the assist for Wood against Mexico, for Pulisic vs T&T, and served it on a platter for Jozy in Couva, only for him too flub it and set the tone for the night. His crosses on Tuesday weren't pretty, true. But he is probably one of our Top 5 players.
Well, Acosta is making 280K/year with Dallas. Thing is finding someone in Europe willing to pay him at least that, plus go through the expense of bringing him in, and whatever MLS wants to release him. Last year the average salary in the Eredivisie was $310,000*, so he needs to get interest from about that level and above. * https://nltimes.nl/2016/08/05/average-netherlands-eredivisie-football-salary-hits-eu266000
Transfers don't happen with offers coming in publicly. It happens in back channels between agents. If the agent knows FCD wouldn't sell, or has a crazy high price, it just doesn't happen. Especially with MLS players which are especially hard for Euro clubs to buy with our off schedule, crazy league salary rules, and a league office you have to negotiate with too. Lack of public offers is meaningless.
The opposite is true. Most Euro leagues have much higher salaries. All but one MLS team has a total wage bill (including DPs) more than the average wage bill in the Bundesliga 2. Not 1 but 2. MLS has to pay Americans coming from Europe or even Mexico much more than they pay Americans that never leave MLS. Average salary probably is skewed by a few DPs pulling up the number with the smaller MLS roster.
Anyone know when Roldan's contract is up? I hate how it's impossible to find this stuff. He's not a HG but on Generation Adidas. How long do those deals run? He's finishing year two. He's only making 137K. That's ridiculous. He's the 13th highest paid player on Sea.
That's another reason why Seattle wouldn't want to sell Roldan. On the open market they'd have to pay at least $800k for a player of his quality, versatility, workrate, and athleticism.
And as you alluded to, MLS would be a few spots lower if not for a few DPs. Kaka and Giovinco individually out earned 10 MLS teams' entire payrolls.
Thanks for this. I already know that salaries are much higher in many leagues, but that doesn't fit the narrative some people are selling.
We're talking about Acosta. He's not making an average salary in MLS. He's making 280K/year, from here: https://deadspin.com/here-are-the-2017-salaries-for-mls-players-1794648467 Now, he'd need to make an equivalent salary somewhere else. Coming by with league salaries is hard, unless you're ready to believe the Daily Mail (I'm not). Also, the numbers quoted date from 2014. A LOT changes in three years. A recent source, much more credible than the Daily Mail, reports an average salary of 266K Euros as the average Eredivisie salary: https://nltimes.nl/2016/08/05/average-netherlands-eredivisie-football-salary-hits-eu266000 I invite you folks to do some Googling yourselves, to figure the Daily Mail numbers seem literally pulled out of a hat. Anyway, that's close to what Acosta makes in MLS already. And he'd need to be an average player in the Eredivisie to get that salary.
Consolidated Player Ratings: McKennie - 8.0 Brooks - 6.9 Adams - 6.8 Miazga - 6.8 Williams - 6.5 Sapong - 6.5 Acosta - 6.4 Gooch - 6.4 Carter-Vickers - 6.2 Yedlin - 5.8 Hamid 5.8 Lichaj - 5.8 Dwyer - 5.5 Villafana - 5.4 Agudelo - 5.3 Horvath - 2.7 Bedoya - NR BTW I don't think I ever posted the T&T game. Several normal raters just couldn't bring themselves to do it, and I guess I was with them. So, small sample, and I won't post them all, but Omar Gonzalez got a straight 2.0, besting John Brooks (2.08) in Costa Rica and Johnny B. (2.41) vs. Mexico to take over as worst performance since 2010. Those 3 games have something in common, actually. Sadly, Horvath's 2.7 above gets him in as the 7th player to go below 3. Wondo vs. Argentina, and recent additions, Cameron vs. Costa Rica, and Howard @ T&T are the others.
We are talking average here, as in some pay more and some pay less. So 266K average is a solid figure for a player like Acosta, who is not a DP, and might even be willing to take slightly less if it means more down the line. Since it's an average, and not an absolute figure, Acosta could reasonably find the same pay in Europe. The whole "he can't get paid" argument is just nonsense. Acosta's old teammate, Castillo, who is 4 years older and is making more in Turkey than he did in MLS, and he was a DP. So just stop with the whole "the money is not there" argument. The money is there. Money is not the issue. The issue is if FCD would be willing to let Acosta go.
Donovan was what you call a "natural" in the business. The short definition is "doesn't need any coaching". They are few and far between.
Insane. I suggested some time ago that there could be a commissioner's bonus given ex gratia to players like Roldan who are badly underpaid. Bad pay inequities can affect play on the pitch and quality of the product. Hedges was making around 150k at a time that he was on par with best xi status at his position. Heck, you could even say he was close to best xi while he was making 50k I think these inequities must look especially bad to very young talents who dream of being a star and making a star salary and start looking at options in Europe.
I suspect not. Plus, it doesn't include lower divisions. EC and BL2 would be significantly above MLS. I would suspect French, Spanish, and Italian 2nd divisions also pay higher salaries than MLS.