3-2 Fire Win! Initial Observations- 1) Guti had another great game- Shaqiri who? 2) Very glad to see that Kamara and Herbers were able to play. 3) CB pairing of Czichos and Teran looks solid. 4) Not sure who our fullbacks will be next match- could we just clone Dean and have play both? 5) Still MUST HAVE a DP striker. 6) Still do not know how to play a second formation. 7) Still unable to protect a multiple goal lead 8) Showed potential tonight!
At this point I doubt there's enough quality, or value to matter. The low hanging fruit has already been picked. May as well wait until July.
According to Tom Bogert article, only other Eastern Conference MLS clubs with currently open DP slots are NY RedBulls and Montréal (2).
i've been leaning that way for a bit in light of 1) the lack of names that have popped up and 2) the excitement those handful of names have generated hopefully the greek kid plus the two strikers we have can hold things over til the summer
So, here's an interesting conspiracy based on some facts: -It was just reported that Messi will not be returning to PSG next season and therefore be out of contract in the summer. -It was also reported a week or so ago that MLS has basically asked all teams to pitch in some money to help them bring Messi over here. By tossing in some money, you're essentially also putting your name in the pot for the league to choose from. -Again, players don't specifically sign with clubs, they sign with the league and are allocated to their club. That rule has not changed. -Garber has gone on record saying that he wants to work on fixing the legacy markets. Especially the larger ones (like Chicago, specifically mentioned Chicago) -The Galaxy and Red Bulls may be struggling, but there is at least one team in LA and NY who are doing well and generating interest within those cities -MLS has a history that we with the Fire are all too aware of that we've been passed over on players many times and specifically lost out on quite a few (Jermaine Jones, Drogba, Bedoya) -And again, MLS has a history of pulling some shady sh!t when it comes to allocating players (see above) What I'm saying is that while Miami is supposed to be the destination for Messi, it is also completely possible and plausible for him to come to Chicago. Not only that, but it is in MLS' best interest to send Messi to Chicago instead of any other team in the league. Here's why: -MLS has already (reportedly) introduced this pool of money and the idea that your name will be considered if you chip in. Based on previous dealings, they could simply send Messi wherever they want, as long as Messi isn't against the specific destination he lands in. -Chicago is the largest unactivated market in the entire league and while Basti provided a boost for a season, the Fire need the biggest fish possible to actually get a true shot of adrenaline to get a foothold in the city and let MLS grow here -MLS has long ignored Chicago and is now being faced with a team that is sitting in a cavernous stadium with attendance that barely rivals the NWSL despite being in the third largest media market in the country -This is also a chance for the league to essentially make it up to the Fire, who were screwed over in the past, and reward the off-the-field efforts that have been done to improve the club. The new training facility, the work done on the academy, Gaga and Duran's record sales raising the league's reputation, all things that I think the league might wanna use as an excuse to throw a bone to the club -I also don't think Messi would be that against Chicago. Yes, he already has property in the Miami area, but so does Nowak. I think Messi could be swayed with the same "Jordan Pitch" that was made to Basti when he came over. Look, it's incredibly stupid, but there's some things about this whole thing that make sense. Miami already has Beckham and it's not like they're struggling to get a foothold in Florida. They are struggling in Chicago and honestly most of this area of the Midwest. I think MLS knows that they have a chance to be tactical about where they'd send Messi if they can convince him to even come to this league.
I have a hard time believing that MLS will do something to *support* Chicago. I am not sure *why* Chicago is the red-headed step child for soccer, but we sure seem to be. Both MLS and US Soccer (which is ********ing based here) seem to go out of their way to ignore that we exist.
I like to blame Garber, because ******** Garber, but honestly, it goes back to the beginning of the league. We were originally supposed to be a day one franchise in 1995, but between the time the league shitcanned the hope of a 1995 season and announced the teams for the inaugural season in 1996, ********ing Columbus had a team and we didn’t. I was so uncertain the league would make good on their promise of a team in Chicago that I cheered for (ugh) DCU the first couple of seasons just in case. Yes, there wasn’t a local investor here in 96, but the league wasn’t hyperfocused on that then and AEG could’ve just as easily run our team in 96 as they did at the beginning. If the league gave half of a shit about Chicago, historically, we could easily have two teams- as it stands our closest historical rival is St. Louis and we’re not even in the same conference.
Don Garber was not MLS commissioner at the time. He was working for the NFL. He became MLS commissioner in 1999. It was Doug Logan at the time.
I know, that’s why I said “but” before noting that it goes back to beginning of the league. While I knew Garber wasn’t commish at the time, I had forgotten exactly who it was because, well, ******** Doug Logan, too.