Sunderland's Player of the Month: You've voted @LyndenGooch as January's Player of the Month! 👏🇺🇸 The American picked up 56% of the votes, with Chris Maguire coming second. pic.twitter.com/CcyfYGYr7k— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) February 3, 2020
Goal of the Month, too: ✨ GOAL OF THE MONTH ✨You've voted for @LyndenGooch's strike at @MKDonsFC as January's top goal 😱🤩 pic.twitter.com/bYdIA7hqX8— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) February 4, 2020
That goal is up for League One Goal of the Month: ⭐️ GOAL OF THE MONTH ⭐️@LyndenGooch's goal 🆚 @MKDonsFC has been nominated for the @SkyBetLeagueOne GOTM!Vote for him to win now 👉 https://t.co/xGH3Hic9BT pic.twitter.com/NzMcLVjnQH— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) February 10, 2020
Starts: 🚨 TEAM NEWS 🚨Presented by @aphrodite1994, here's how #SAFC start off tonight...— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) February 11, 2020 Scores: 11' #SAFC HIT THE FRONT!Maguire fires in an excellent cross in from the right and Gooch volleys it home. GET IN!1-0 https://t.co/CmAkD0qNid— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) February 11, 2020
Gooch would be a total God on League Two. The 2-0 was a secondary assist by Gooch: to Maguire, who tries to cross it to Wyke but O'Connell interferes and scores in his own goal.
16' #SAFC DOUBLE THEIR LEAD!Gooch seizes on a loose ball inside his own half and then drives forward. He finds Maguire who looks to pick out Wyke. but the ball takes a deflection and loops over the Rochdale 'keeper.2-0 https://t.co/57xGd3k8y3— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) February 11, 2020
No mercy today: 32' THE LADS ARE FLYING! Power finds O'Nien with an excellent cross-field pass. Sunderland then work it into the box before Gooch bags his second.3-0 https://t.co/whYPks94rM— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) February 11, 2020
Guy's on fire. He wants to pull Sunderland single-handedly into the Championship. Their defense is going to ruin Gooch's efforts though. Even this garbage Rochdale team may score on them. BTW, this does not seem to be broadcast anywhere, so to follow we have to rely on live updates.
Lynden Gooch, 13 shots on target 8 goals this season. That’s pretty efficient.— G (@BigGazLaw) February 11, 2020
Umm, no. USL is at best, the bottom of League Two, more likely even with what used to be called the Conference. MLS salaries in the rank-and-file have only pulled away from League One in the last few years. The standard might be better in MLS, but not dramatically so. I have a season ticket in Vancouver, last year's team (which I grant was awful) wouldn't have finished in the top half of League One.
On the broad comparison between MLS and League One, fine. But unless you're watching League One every week like I am, I'm really not willing to accept a claim he's doing something at USL level when it's far better than that.
Pretty much a walkover: ⭐️ STAR MAN ⭐️Who gets your vote in @UKASL's Man of the Match poll?#SAFC— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) February 11, 2020
I watch the Gooch games that are broadcast. So, not often. But enough to have a good idea of where the level is, and I know enough of the game to trust my assessment. And no, money does not correlate to quality. If that were the case, England would have been dominated the Champions League for the last 20 years.
Here are some Youtube highlights: His goals were nice but the way he held the ball up on the long dribble and picked out the right runner on the 2nd goal was fantastic. I would like to see him get a chance to move up a level next season.
Well, they are likely to be in the promotion playoff. Let's hope Gooch does better than a couple of years back, where in 24 appearances (1,101') he scored once, assisted four times, and got four yellows. Of course he was 21/22 then, and he'd be 24/25 in the Ch'ship if promoted. From everything I've seen of him, I'm not sure he's good enough for the Championship, though.
On the money issue, it has been reported about how lower league salaries have largely remained flat over the past 20 years while Premier League and to an extent the Championship have increased significantly. Average League One salary has increased slightly during that period but is around 67-70,000 pounds or around $91,000 annually. There are some significant discrepancies among clubs in League One (especially among those recently relegated. The difference between Championship and League One salaries is pretty stark), but those were the average figures reported in multiple stories online. MLS salaries have followed a different trajectory, with the new bargaining agreement indicating that the league minimum will start at $81,000 this year and be around $110,000 by 2024. The average non-designated player salary on the senior rosters was approximately $345,000 in 2019.