News: Monday , Nov 06 , 2017

Taking nothing away from NYCFC - they played extremely well and created lots of chances - their vaunted attack really did little despite the scoreline which reflected a PK given when a Crew defender accidentally stepped on someone's foot (who wasn't going to score otherwise) and a Crew own goal.

The third, which would have sent them to Toronto, was botched when Jack Harrison (who had a miserable series on both legs) inexplicably chose to take a one v one shot on the hottest keeper in the league rather than pass to a wide wide WIDE open David Villa standing in front of the goal mouth.

Viera can blame the refs all he likes but at the end of the day you gotta put the round bouncy thing into the net a few times.

Which isn't to say that the Crew didn't work hard at giving this one up. Berhalter started the game as if he was coaching Haiti against Germany. It wasn't until after NYC went up one that he reverted to playing the way his team has played all season, with high pressure and open field movement.

Nonetheless, even with the 3 goal gap, this was NYCFC's game to lose. And they did.

 

Keep the profit: Proposed transfer-fee changes give MLS teams incentive to sell

"Multiple league sources tell me MLS is set to approve a new rule this offseason that will allow teams to keep 100 percent of transfer fees for Homegrown Players. This incentivizes league owners to invest more in player development, and rewards the teams that do so successfully."

Big step in the right direction.

 

Yes. Big step. MLS is, like other leagues, a copycat league, and if someone is successful doing something, then others are likely to follow suit. Once a team develops and sells a player for a substantial transfer fee, hopefully you will see other teams start to focus more heavily on youth development. I know that could happen now, but the more incentives, the more likely it will happen.

Another piece of news of note in that article is:

If properly implemented, this would eliminate the Dom Dwyer-type trade we saw this year that happened because what they got from Orlando for Dwyer was worth more to SKC than it would have been to sell him overseas. MLS is advanced enough now that teams should benefit from developing and selling players for a profit, and being able to use that money to improve their roster. As it stands now, no matter how much you sell a player for, there is a limit on the amount that the team can put back into the roster.

For example, if the rule is changed significantly, I could see my team (Timbers) accepting good offers for Adi and Nagbe. Last year, there were offers for both, but they were refused because selling them would not have helped the team.

 

"Tunnel-Gate".... gotta love the little kid on the video "THIS IS OUR HOUSE!!!!" Canadian thug ready to go!!!

 

US soccer: Will Americans ever care about football?
BBC

 

i think this American Babe has been sucking up to her Cockney hosts a bit! She tossed out every stereotype the Brits have of The beautiful game in America....;-)

 

Actually, I side with Kljestan on this one. That flop by Jozy was ridiculous and Jozy is the one who apparently got physical in the tunnel.

I've defended Jozy against the booing he endured in both ATL and NY, but he's not helping his own image.

 

A headline like this back in the 70s might have been interesting. Now.....Zzzzzzzzzz

 

Jozy looked like a little whiny brat the whole 45 minutes he managed to stay on the field

 

How was it ok that Jozy was bear hugging that dude the whole time and nothing was done about it until he was flopping on the field like a little kid?

 

Agreed. Unless you are at the very top of the global food chain, you need to be a "selling" league or club.

One great way to overcome the lack of revenue in MLS is to use other people's money instead. Use the DP slots to sign promising young talent, then sell them at the peak of their market value and use the proceeds to improve the rest of the roster.

Case in point: Atlanta United is reportedly getting offers from Arsenal, Newcastle, and Inter of $20 million or more for Miguel Almiron (they paid $8.5 million for him a year ago). Yet, aside from using that money to replace him with another DP, they can only use $650K of the proceeds to improve the rest of the roster. So why sell? They'd be better-off just keeping Almiron as he is already proven. Our rules create isolation and that does nothing to improve the team or league. Let AUFC use most of the proceeds to improve the rest of the roster and they'd sell in a heartbeat. After all, they already have a $1.6 billion stadium, state-of-the-art training facility, and a blossoming development academy. Where else are they gonna spend the money?

Teams could rapidly accelerate the quality of their rosters that way, and do so without having to invest their own capital. Granted, it impacts competitive balance as the selling team reaps big rewards while the rest of the league toils under a tiny salary cap. But the clubs who discover and develop young talent deserve most of the rewards because that's one of the primary objectives of the league. Also, MLS could still demand a percentage of the international transfer fees in order to increase the allocation money for everyone else and thereby reward the entire league each time a young international was sold to Europe.

As fans, it would be kinda like rooting for a college football or basketball team. You get to enjoy some of the best players in the game for a few years before they move on to a bigger league and you're constantly recruiting the next wave of young talent. But until we have deep pockets like the top leagues in Europe, that's not such a bad role to play. I look forward to the day when EPL, La Liga, and Bundesliga come to MLS to find all their talent.

 

On a USL team (which apparently the team is planning on starting for 2018 according to a tweet I saw today), more and better youth coaches, more travel to foreign youth tournaments, state of the art training facilities for their teams, futsal courts/fields in and around Atlanta and Georgia.... There are plenty of areas they could spend it on as long-term investments.

That said, yeah it makes sense to plow most of that money back into salaries and transfer fees. It improves the talent on the team and can be used to increase depth. It also rewards teams that develop players and put the effort into scouting.

Further, it encourages players to come to MLS to be a jumping off point. Almiron spent less than a year in Atlanta, and his transfer fee will likely double. Considering he'll be getting a cut of that transfer fee, I'm sure he's thrilled that he came to MLS. Others will see that and follow suit. Don't get me wrong, someday I hope MLS will be a buying league like the top teams in the Big 5 leagues, but I don't see that happening at the pace many of us want unless they first become a selling league.

 

I come to exactly the opposite conclusion using Atlanta United as a "case in point." What "lack of revenue" does Arthur Blank need to overcome? He did not have to build a separate soccer-specific stadium but simply added a secondary tenant for his NFL team. That's a $100-plus million windfall. And if he wants more revenue, he should just charge market prices for sodas during the games. Atlanta can afford to, and therefore should, retain Almiron, especially considering Blank could easily spend twice as much for half the player. Why would you as an Atlanta fan want to lose one of your best and most exciting players for the mystery date behind door number two?

 

NJ Red Bulls…so I see this site has abandoned its rules concerning no attacks on teams in News and Analysis threads…this guy and maybe other NYCFC fans can take shots at us with no corrective action…guess its the new NYCFC fan leadership of the site…go for it...

 

Wouldn't it be sweet and just like the capricious soccer gods if the Columbus Crew were to advance all the way to the final (maybe even win MLS Cup?) It would be the ultimate middle finger to a ridiculous owner who wants to dismantle one of the league's core franchises and,if the team did leave Columbus, it would be a worthy last hurrah for Columbus for all they have contributed to soccer in the US. I look forward to the first leg of the semifinals in Columbus--the atmosphere should be electric.

 

Did you report it? It's not like there's a moderator reading each post as it comes in. If nobody had before, it has been now.

 

Here is the thing. Before the end of the half whistle ever sounded, the 4th official was on the field escorting Jozy to the tunnel (he was right on the sideline at the whistle).

Unless Sacha sprinted off the field after Jozy (which I don't think he did), Jozy should have been past the junction before Sacha and (4 or 5 other RBNY) players were waiting for him outside the Toronto FC locker.

Second-by-second seems to work against anything Jozy is saying.

 

MLS has lost money every year for 22 years straight and has only a $4 million salary cap because most teams can't afford to spend big bucks on players. So, let them sell players to Europe and use someone else's money to fuel the growth of the league.

Meanwhile, it's not about Arthur Blank's financials. It's about letting him actually spend money on his roster rather than the things he's already provided (stadium, training facilities, academy, elite coaching, etc.). And let's not pretend he saved money by having a dual-use stadium. It was the most expensive stadium ever built in world history and would have been cheaper if only designed for the Falcons.

If MLS would let AUFC use the proceeds from the sale of Almiron and plow it back into the roster, they could sign 2 Almirons this winter (or 4 Joseph Martinez type players). Let the whole league do that and you'd vastly improve the overall talent and depth in the league within 2-3 years because most teams would have big buckets of allocation money to spend on signings. But if you're restricted from using the vast majority of the proceeds on the roster, you don't sell and the roster never improves. Plus, top players won't want to play in MLS because they'd be trapped here forever and the only DPs we'd ever be able to sign would be aging vets who are just using MLS as a bridge to retirement.

Just ask Darren Eales (AUFC Prez) how the Gareth Bale sale worked out for his old club, Tottenham. Sold him at peak market value to Real Madrid, used the proceeds to buy 5 other players, and steadily climbed the EPL table, finishing #2 last year. In fact, they just beat Real Madrid in UCL play and lead their group. But do you think they would have made that game-changing deal if EPL told them they could only use $650K on roster improvements?

We have to become Europe's farm system before we can legitimately expect to be their rival. And being their farm system is a huge step up and a far better business model than being their retirement home.

 

You are credulous.

Bet you also believe that Columbus is a lousy market for soccer that MLS simply cannot make work despite its Herculean best efforts.