With DC United announcing a friendly with AC Milan and Chicago organizing the so called "Sister Cities International Cup", I'm starting to wonder matches we might see at Crew Stadium. Being a first year season ticket holder (moved here in the middle of last season), is there any chance of getting to see a big(ish) club?
No. Really. The problem is two-fold. First we are in the CONCACAF Champions League again. That covers international games as we will get at least three home games in the group stage this season. Mark McCullers our GM has already said there will be no exhibitions this season as a result. Second is stadium size and city reputation. The big European clubs are only going to come where they can make $$$ and that means a city with a big stadium available and one that Europeans know about--preferably with good travel connections if their fans want to come on vacation. DC is perfect (RFK isn't great but it is big). Columbus is not. They just won't come to 20K Columbus when they can go to 80K Seattle. We have had All Star games recently with Everton and Fulham--and with expansion teams coming into the league, it frankly is someone else's turn, so the All Star Game route is also out.
We have had some lower table EPL teams in the past, but wouldn't count on the "Big Four" in the near future. Plus if we keep qualifying for CONFACAF we won't be having any exhibitions. It's a trade off I'll take: win the league and play regional teams vs. finish middle to bottom of the league and play Euro exhibitions. I pick league titles every time.
And we wonder why some Europeans look down upon MLS... if all I ever saw was TFC and the current DCU outfit playing my squad all the time, I would have a poor view of the league too.
With people like Pires, Henry and other talent shipping over in the next months/years how much longer will those clubs be crap? How long until our small market club starts sinking to the middle of the table?
I think the only clubs that will benefit are LA and NY possibly miami if they get a team. I doubt DC would get a star. TFC wouldn't get anybody big unless they were born in Canada and they were desperate. The stars come to MLS for money and they'll make more money in the U.S. and alot of them have probably never heard of Canada.
Pires and Henry aren't here yet. The forecast of amazing talent coming to New York is a rite of every spring. It rarely actually happens. And when someone actually does show up, the usual result is that NY gets worse.
The following Teams are in cities that will land stars besides the Gals. I'm talking NE, Chicago, Seattle, Chivas, DC for example. Well on our way to a league of haves and have nots. These players coming over here aren't gonna want to come to Columbus....it's my biggest fear for the future of the league and our club.
If, from here on out, we're *only* able to get players of Schellotto's quality then I think we'll be okay. The huge-name foreign star in MLS has a pretty spotty track record. And while the biggest stars are going to tend toward the biggest markets I don't believe there is much foundation to the whole "no big star would ever consider playing in a cultural wasteland like Columbus" argument. Wasn't GBS a DP the year we won MLS Cup or am I mistaken?
I'd take a DP (when he was one) like GBS over any big name player. Can you really think of any player out there that we could get in Columbus that would make a significant difference in fans at the gate?
All this is why I hope we continue the focus on developing relationships with clubs in South America. The more talent we can get coming from Argentina in particular, the better for us. Let NY and Toronto and LA and everyone else fall all over themselves for English and French and other European names. If their priorities are to sell tickets using old stars with recognizable names, more power to them. But US soccer's got to continue to embrace the growing Latin American population and influence in the country, and if the Crew can keep on with the in-roads to South American countries, we'll be better for it. And who knows, with all of the movement of players between Argentina and Italy, it might even pay off in that direction too. Which reminds me: the Crew should set up a friendly cup competition with Genoa and/or Sampdoria in Serie A. They could play for the Coppa Christopher Columbus, since both of those clubs are in Genoa, Italy which is where Christopher Columbus was born. How great would that be to see a trophy in our case from beating two Serie A clubs?
Similar to the Fire's upcoming tournament, I like this idea. Friendlies are great not only because they allow us to see the world's top stars and whatnot, but also we get to see different types of soccer. Taking scornflakes idea, Colón, which is named after Columbus, from Santa Fe in Argentina could also be invited. Returning to those season ticket extra games, I'm not at all excited about the CONCACAF Champions League. Perhaps I'll be proven wrong, but it has always seemed to be a complete waste of time (and fixture congester).
There are also strong ties between Boca Juniors and Genoa, Italy. I've heard Boca referred to as "The Genoese" before, but I'm not exactly sure of the history of that nickname.
Los xeneizes. Not sure how Boca slipped my mind. Anyway, La Boca, the neighborhood in which Boca Juniors is located, held a really active port at the turn of the twentieth century, one which attracted a number of Genoese. Hence the nickname.
Maybe I have oddball tastes, but I'll take meaningful competition against some of the best teams in our region (many of whom have players that will end up in MLS) over a friendly against AC Milan's academy team any day.
Chelsea played DC in FedEx Field a few years ago. I think this was directly related to the fact that RFK is becoming a pile of debris, and as someone pointed out not too long ago, there is active vegatational growth in the upper deck.
Anyone remember the Bayer Leverkusen friendly back in '01 or '02? I remember a short haired Frankie Hejduk playing for Bayer and getting into it with a crew defender. Mike Clark maybe? A long time ago... I would love to see a farewell match for Guillermo with the Crew vs Boca Jrs. That would be an awesome tribute for the legend of both clubs. He deserves it.
I remember a few years back talk of a partnership between the Crew and one of the English sides. Where the clubs would help each other and share information, training, and allow players who were not in the club's senior roster to come here to get experience. Has anything come of this? Is this still on going with the FO?
Then why in the heck did you start a thread asking about a friendly or exhibitions? If you feel the CCL is a complete waste of time and adds to fixture congestion, then how do you feel about friendly/reserve matches? What's worse than "a complete waste of time", some sort of "double-complete waste of time"? (Where the game itself is not only a waste, but some days the following week are also magically wasted.) Where the hell did this post come from? What the hell does this have to do with the thread? Anybody else sick and tired of reading posts from Crew UpChuck? Every single one of them is about how the Crew is doomed or how the Crew is going to lose or how the rest of the league is going to dominate the Crew or how our players are always hurt or suck or somesuch. Please just throw yourself in front of a train already. There's no hope anyways.