Tuesday 21 Jan 2020

Probably the wrong time for the Middle East to be investing in MLS and visa versa.

Thx,

Jay!

 

It's always a Sunni proposition for Qatar edge investment in MLS. No Shiite!

 

I was under the impression that RSL had a good academy. Could they not offer Beckerman spot to an academy player or are they that thin in academy prospects?

 

Nah. It's business as usual for those guys. Always. Where there's a petrodollar, there's a way.

Bayern Munich fans at least have the decency to hold protests demanding that Qatar stop abusing their slaves - excuse me, I meant to say "migrant workers" - but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for the good burghers of Miami-Dade to follow suit.

Not that it will make a damned bit of difference either way. Why just last week Qatar signed a firm agreement with FIFA to "respect workers rights" and will begin immediately addressingtheissues that Amnesty International has been screaming about for eight years.

So in other words, nothing is going to change. Qatar is simply running out the clock.

Sure they're not getting on so well with their neighbors but nobody is going to invade them, it's all posturing and noise.If there's one inviolate rule in this life it's that really really rich guys fight in courtrooms, not in the streets.

And like I said, they keep coming to the table with money. Hell, USSF wanted to send the USMNT there for this entire month to enjoy Qatar's "famous amenities and hospitality" (read: money) proving that virtue is as frangible as the dollar.

 

I mean, maybe they still wanted Beckerman and he still wanted to play?

 

Probably the latter. RSL screwed up so badly when Javier Morales left, they're likely walking on eggshells with Beckerman, trying to avoid a similar disaster.

RSL has invested heavily in their academy but haven't managed it very well yet, especially in bringing academy prospects up through their USL team, the Monarchs.

 

From that article:

MLS offers Mexican players such as Pulido one thing in common — opportunity.

“This league here is an important window for players,” Pulido said. “It used to be the fact that coming here was seen as taking a step back in our careers. That is no longer the case. It really depends on the mentality of each player. Mexican players don’t doubt coming here to MLS.”

For Darwin Quintero, that shift in perspective is evident every time he steps on the pitch.

The Colombian forward left Club América after four seasons to join Minnesota United in 2018 before he was traded to the Houston Dynamo for the 2020 season. In less than a decade, he said that he’s seen a steep change in the style and quality of MLS play.

“From the outside looking in, when I would come here when I played in Mexico, I definitely felt how physical the league was,” Quintero said through a translator. “I had two games where it just felt like they would just constantly tackle me. And you just had the understanding that this was a physical league. Now it’s evolved. You see everyone wanting to play more on the ground. If we want this league to be one of the top in the region, that’s how you get there.”

 

For those of us without a Fox Vegas account, what are the deadlines?

 

The word is that he did time in jail, although it isn't clear what it was for, but apparently it was enough for them to deny the visa.

This is the kind of thing that would have happened in the past with Mikey-Mike Burns in charge. The name escapes me, but they signed a Colombian guy a few years ago and 2 days later he had second thoughts and asked the Revs to let him out of the contract. They said no, made him come against his will, and when he didn't put in much effort/sucked, they cut him the day before contracts were guaranteed. "Oh well, we tried"

I have a feeling that Arena will at least have another player signed and in camp before the season actually starts, or at worse, no more than a couple of games in.