I think CanPL could have their first season in 2020, with CanPL clubs competing in USL for 2 seasons, 2018 and 2019. With CanPL clubs in USL for 2 years, CanPL first season could be better, more professional, with all things in order and in motion, fan base, roster, staff, etc. In 2018 some clubs could already compete in USL, with the remaining clubs joining in 2019. Probably 6 canadian clubs could compete in USL in 2018: - FC Edmonton (moving from NASL) - Calgary - Winnipeg - Hamilton - Ottawa Fury (without Montreal Impact association) - TBD
I believe that the CSA has banned any further Canadian teams from joining the USL, making exceptions for the MLS teams and Ottawa. Note that Vancouver will be joining Montreal in retracting their 2nd team from the USL next year. Only Toronto and Ottawa are left. They want all the non-MLS teams in the CPL once it gets off the ground.
Ok. I think it's a bad decision. Because they should use USL to give competitive experience to this new canadian soccer teams, and then start the CanPL. With this arrangement, 2020 will be a good year to launch the CanPL with 10 teams already in the market.
While I agree that would work best for us, I don't think the USL would accept being used as a stepping stone like that.
USL will be below CPL once it starts. Heard from a source that OSEG were shocked how high the projected CanPL budgets are going to be.— Rojiblancos canadienses (@Atletico_Canada) May 15, 2017 OSEG are the current owners of both CFL Ottawa Redblacks and USL Ottawa Fury. They weren't "surprised" but they were "shocked", meaning that USL will be below CPL. So there's no value in having Canadian Clubs in USL Every indication is that #CanPL will probably have a min salary close to CFLs. That's higher than what lower guys get in USL— Duane Rollins (@24thminute) May 15, 2017 CFL minimum salary is around $53K, much much more than what USL bottom players earn. We're talking completely a different level here and it won't be close.
That's almost the minimum salary for MLS. A $50K minimum salary would pretty much allow a soccer player to not require a second job to supplement their income so they can focus on performance than paying bill.
That's exactly what Victor Montagliani said he wanted to see for a Canadian League. That's another clue that validates reports that international players in the league would be at first. Paul Beirne wanted a majority of Canadians with a strict quota imposed on domestic players. Reports said that owners are pushing back hard on the proposal. There is an awareness that Canadians capable of playing in a D1 league aren't plentiful. With Paul Beirne stating that CPL would be mostly interested in players currently playing in D1 and D2 leagues aren't the world as it views the rest too low, means that owners are essentially pushing back on having to pay those salaries to players who can't deliver the quality they are looking for. The first few years should see the league having a high number of internationals. As the Canadian pool improves and increases, the league will decrease the number of internationals allowed per teams in the league. That's a very smart approach
How big of a roster are teams looking at? Personally, I would be okay with 12 international players allowed at first, since that would be a healthy first team and one sub. But after 2 years, I would hope they would start to lower the number of allowed internationals on the roster by 1 every 3 years so that by the time the first decade passes, CPL is down to 8 allowed internationals per team and stabilizes it there.
^ Just pointing out that the Canadian MLS teams are criticized for not playing enough Canadians. They do play some and their development programs are full of Canadians for the future but they don't play enough. This for a league that is higher than what the CPL will start at and so needs an even higher level of talent from a Canadian to earn a starting spot. Yet we're okay with CPL teams having 12 internationals and taking a decade to get down to eight? (Teams aren't going to go through the trouble of bringing in an international just to fill a bench spot so 12 internationals means almost no Canadian starters.)
MLS HAD a decade and not much has changed. So what do we do? Status quo and cross our fingers that in another decade more Canadians will be given opportunities or do we start something new on the side and aim that in the same period of time much more Canadians will have minutes? You tell me... Also good on CPL to think about D2 ahead of time. Post 2030, a D2 league could have super strict restrictions on Internationals being allowed at D2 level allowing much more Canadians to be constantly playing. However, D2 cannot exist if D1 isn't a resounding success. Ownership seems to understand that. The last number being thrown around from people in the know about internationals in the league was 10, which on a 25 men roster is adequate for a year 1 league. The number 1 problem with Canada is not enough minutes at club level! That was actually what Benito Floro said before being fired. We also happen to be the richest nation on the planet (#10) without a domestic league. It's unfair to just say "Canadians aren't that good". It's accurate to say "Canadians aren't playing enough at club level and aren't getting enough opportunities in an American league who rightfully so, don't owe them anything". Giving a domestic league for Canadians to have more minutes to play is crucial for development. To get back to your point, no it's not ok for starting XI to be all internationals, however, just like MLS, you have to start somewhere. It will be up to Canadian players to push themselves to dislodge and international from their starting roles. As stated multiple times by multiple sources, CPL is learning from what MLS did right and what they did wrong. Ownership saw what it did to MLS to have a heavy US quota at the start of the league. Quality was atrocious for years and nobody cared nor watched the league. CPL who has MLS in it's surroundings, wants to put out quality right from the get go to attract people to the league sooner rather than later. They can't be faulted to have come to that conclusion and allowing a high number of internationals is the price to pay to achieve that. The league succeeds, everyone wins starting with the Canadian player who will get more opportunities at home. Let me ask you this. Is it because Jackson Hamel isn't good enough to start or is it because you can't afford to bench a guy like Mancosu who's earning top money? Is it because Ricketts, Hamilton and Edwards aren't good enough for MLS or is it that they are behind the best duo in the league, most overpaid duo in the league which you can't bench and that not other clubs will waste an international spot on Canadians when there are Europeans and South Americans out there? It isn't as black and white as people make it out to be, there are other circumstances explaining this. My prediction? Good luck for Americans looking to make it to CPL because the same logic will apply in reverse. Why would Canadian clubs waste an international spot on an American player unless he's as talented as a Dempsey or Altidore? Doesn't mean Americans aren't good, but expect for CPL managers to look South or in Europe ahead of the USA to fill their International spots if there's comparable talent out there.
I was mainly pointing out that I don't see a lot of difference between Canadians being on the bench in MLS or being on the bench in the CPL. In either league there are going to be a whole bunch of international players available who are just that little bit better than their Canadian counterparts. Unless the CPL has an international quota more like three our four we're still going to see the huge majority of staring minutes going to internationals with Canadians trying to break in around the fringes. I suppose eventually the CPL should become more Canadian but, if we're going to go through all the trouble of setting up a Canadian league, I'd rather not have to wait one or two decades to see it make a difference.
Remember that this is only the plan for the start while the Canadian talent pool has little breadth. As the pool grows over the years (which is the main purpose of the new league), domestic requirements can be gradually increased. MLS should be doing this but they're not. The current requirement is three but that is too small a number. This should be bumped up to five by now. VWFC has the fewest Canadians of the three MLS clubs with six Canadian players, so bumping it up to five shouldn't be a problem. Then they should increase this number by one every two years until they reach the point where the term "domestic" for the Canadian clubs no longer includes American players.
Where is this increased talent pool going to come from? The argument is that we need internationals because the available Canadian talent isn't good enough to produce a watchable league. So most of the playing time is going to go to internationals. But somehow because they are riding the bench in the CPL instead of in MLS, the Canadians are going to become starter calibre players? I'm not saying let's not do the CPL. I'm just pointing out that, if their roster models are going to be similar, the results are likely to be similar, too. Just saying, "but it will be a Canadian league!" isn't going to change that reality even if it does make people feel warm and fuzzy. If we're going to have an international quota, let's look at a low one where we can expect half the starters to be Canadian.
Like I said, the idea is that the Canadian talent pool is small right now but expected to grow over time. A fair assumption given the growth in participation in the sport as well as an increase in the number of professional and semi-professional clubs past and planned with their associated development systems. I think that there is proven evidence that this is already happening by looking at CMNT selection for the various tournaments. The challenge used to be deciding who to include, now the challenge is morphing into who not to include. So domestic quotas will be low at the start, but expected to increase over time. I think that there's very little debate on whether or not this will happen. The real debate is how long this will take to happen.
This league is truly set up for the next generation of players that will be up and coming from lower divisions. Also, all that talent that we lost because so players just gave up not wanting to go to Europe and not having a top league in their own country will help retain more guys in our soccer system and encourage them to persevere. As of today, we need to be realistic, our pool is too small, therefore you need that influx of internationals to make CPL succeed so that the next generation will have a solid and healthy league ready for them. Also, a successful D1 opens the doors to a D2 league for Canadians to go and compete to earn a spot in the top tier. The problem in status quo is that MLS gives little to no opportunities to Canadians, and our same MLS clubs have been a joke in terms of development in lower tiers. (Montreal shutting down FC Montreal, TFC II & III are jokes, Vancouver moving D2 to California) The pool could accommodate a 6 team league. However, as Paul Beirne pointed out, every expansion in CPL will cause a "shock" to the pool. CPL's ambition is to grow to 16 top teams. The current pool can't accommodate that for the level of play they are looking for that many teams. The goal here is to build a league where the next crop of players will have a financially sound and exciting league to go too. Also, there are Canadians out there good enough to start as of today in both CPL and MLS who play in D1-D2 Euro and South American leagues. If we say there's a 10 teams league starting as low as 3 Canadians each, that's still 30 Canadians earning top minutes. On any given day, that's at least 27 more Canadians starting than what MLS is doing. That's the upside despite being heavy on internationals. Canada's biggest problem is the lack of depth. Too many players on the national team are asked to play good football against international foes without playing lots of minutes at club level, therefore, we put out very inconsistent performances and our top players are literally not allowed to have average games if Canada is to win. We lack the support player capable of carrying the coach's instruction to keep the team's plan in motion. CPL is more likely to produce those, which we clearly don't have. The elites will always be going to Europe or South America As shown above, even if CPL starts as low as 3 Canadians per clubs in a 10 team league, that's easily 27+ more players starting than what MLS is doing now while being surrounded by talented players to further help them improve their game. It will be more Canadian over time, but we truly need to start somewhere and give the league some flexibility to be successful and grow at the same time. For that, ownership are right to push back against strict Canadian quotas Then the league won't grow to the level it's capable of becoming. Too much capital is being put out for them settling at creating a Canadian USL league.