Sacramento republic are San Jose’s daddy’s in the USOC. Constantly beating them down every year. Should be our first pro/rel lol.
What I don't get is why San Jose, at the bottom of the table, still played a 2/B team. They put in a couple of starters late, but the team basically was USLC at best. But like, you are a couple of games from a shot at hardware. Why are you punting it?
It's pretty strong evidence that they don't actually care about the competition. Hardware only matters if you think it does.
I totally agree that Luchi's seat must be get scalding hot, though. Although i'm not convinced their ownership really cares. So there's that. ...........but Luchi's reputation was as one who gives opportunities to young players and develops them. That's what he got credit for in Dallas. San Jose has a lot of highly regarded youth players. But how are they developing? You could argue that, based on results, San Jose has one of the best academies in the nation right now. To what end???? They seem to have a lot of former academy players doing well elsewhere. Like say, both Diego Luna and Fidel Barajas with RSL.
So that when they lost to Sacramento, again, they could make excuses and blame it on playing the B team?
I am fully convinced that their ownership doesn't care. But they have fired coaches before. However, they have been playing better recently -- they beat LAFC, Colorado and only lost to Portland because of an absurdly terrible red card that was later rescinded. They also lost to Orlando 1-0, but they really could have 9 points in their last 4 games. Lopez is pretty good, and it would not shock me to see them get to respectable. They don't have the depth or firepower to make any kind of run, but now that they finally have a reasonably full stable of players, they aren't terrible. And that may save Luchi's job.
This is the perspective of lower level teams, but it's just pretty clear that very few coaches and teams in MLS give a crap either way. It's Sacramento's Super Bowl and San Jose just moves on either way. I wish more teams would take it seriously, but a couple of tweets later and no one cares.
................if folks think their roster is terrible, particularly the depth players in the USOC game.......................then maybe the problem isn't totally Luchi. Maybe the problem is Chris Leitch. Can't fire the owner no matter how much SJ fans might want to. Its hard in this salary capped league built on parity to be bad year after year after year. San Jose technically made the playoffs last year under Luchi. Chicago Fire. They've made the playoffs once since 2013, and lost on in the first round that time (2017). And they actually spend money!!! That's hard to do when so much of the league makes the playoffs.
Their roster isn't terrible. But their high end talent isn't likely good enough to make a deep run for a title (unless I am underestimating Lopez). I don't think Leitch has been great, as I would put some of the depth issues on him, but the high end element -- until the Lopez acquisition, he simply hasn't had the budget. That said, I don't think Luchi is a great coach. So if he goes, that's fine.
In terms of salary outlay, San Jose is near the bottom of the league. What one also notices about SJ is how few players are on huge contracts over $1.6 million compared to other teams. What a front offices hope is that those guys are "difference makers." So Leitch does have less of an ability to go grab those potential difference makers. Compare them to say, Dallas, in that regard. And those aren't necessarily foreign players, but also the high-end domestic players like Miles Robinson or Jesus Ferreira. Who are the USMNT-caliber players on San Jose right now? RSL, currently 1st in the West, has one of the lowest payrolls in the league. So having a low payroll doesn't preclude a team from being good in the league. There's this weird thing every year in MLS in which a bunch of the highest spenders just suck and some of the lowest spenders do really well. Nashville just fired their coach after a poor start to the season. Chicago is circling the drain as usual.
Chicago should be firing people for spending so much and being so bad and LAFC is surprisingly stingy. Another thing not shown is how much teams spend on their academies. It should be included in salaries but it's a big expense and some "cheap" wouldn't look so cheap if salaries and academies were added together.
Tolkin getting paid. Good for him. Contract thru 2027 with an option for 2028. Three letters on the dotted line: J M I ✍️ We’ve re-signed John Tolkin to a new MLS contract. #RedRunsDeep 🔴 @OANDA pic.twitter.com/7neLyFOgDZ— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) May 23, 2024
LAFC cleared up cap space and are making at least one big summer signing. A couple other teams are in the same boat.
NorCal is completely disrespected by MLS and largely wasted. From the Bay Area up thru Sac soccer is very popular yet MLS has left us with this SJ Earthquake garbage. And John Fisher is a clown, a joke of a sports owner (just look at the A's situation) and in general, not a good person. I can't believe how people don't see how much a good ownership team in the Bay Area and in Sac would be for the sport. Two very good markets.
Sacramento drew 40k per game to watch a Canadian football league team play in a jc stadium. It’s a wildly supportive fan base.
IMO, Sacramento's biggest issue is its' current USL ownership group. Mainly Naegle. Meg Whitman backed out at the last minute, and then Ron Burkle did the same. Whitman is currently part of FC Cincy's MLS ownership group. Burkle is finalizing a sale of his stake in the NWSL's Wave. I hope some more investor's take a serious look at what Oakland Roots are doing. They could be an ideal candidate for expansion of MLS. Also, IMO, I don't see the A's planned move to Vegas going through. I can completely see a scenario where they end up building a stadium at the Railyards and stay in Sacramento. Yeah, Fisher is a clown. The league really needs to "encourage" him to sell to a more involved and enthusiastic ownership group.
McMath should probably find the bench after tonight against Dallas. Howler doesn't begin to describe that 1st goal.
He was the best player on the field for the 1st 60 minutes... Could have easily had 2+ assists to go along with the goal. I think RSL would have won the game had they kept Luna and/or Gomez on the pitch. Ojeda and MacMath were atrocious on the night but got to play 90. Go figure. Nevertheless... Dallas found a way to choke a 3-0 lead.