ahh yes, in fantasy land are we? (who am i kidding we all are... this is bigsoccer)if i am not mistaken, none of those teams have lodged a bid, let alone shown any public interest in dmb. but the fact remains that the kid wants to leave. he will not develop any farther in mls. and they simply will not get a higher bid than $2 mil american. take it. let him go. everyone will be happy except chicago... and i suspect even the barnburners and ultras would like to see him play in europe as well.
If I'm not mistaken, didn't that McClaren guy do a pretty good job devleoping some reasonable talents like, Bechham, Giggs, Scholes, etc. He did pretty good job with a young England team. If I'm DMB I'm jumping at the chance to play for Boro, not because they are in the EPL, because they have a damn good manager.
While I appreciate your enthusiasm for MLS and the US game, I do have to point out that DMB's performance in the last WC might not have been as good as you suggested. He had a good first match against the Portugese. In the match against the S. Koreans, he was pretty much knocked around just as many posters had feared. He was very much ineffective in that match and ended up being injured through the rest of the tournament. If you use his performance against the Portugese as the example, he may have a bright future in the EPL. If you choose to use the S. Korean match as the example, you would fear for his life in the EPL.
Which brings up the age old question, Should MLS's primary goal be to develop U.S. players for the World Cup... or should it be to develop the domestic league so that it can survive on it's own... it seems being American soccer fans, we have a complex over this. I don't think I have seen any other country talk about the main task of their professional leagues being improving the national team. It just raises interesting questions. Maybe it is the Catch-22 of American socccr: You have to have a strong national team promote soccer... you need a professional league to promote soccer.. is ther a priority. Does selling your best players make the league weaker after finally having increased the level of play.. do we just accept that the league will always be an inferior feeder league.. etc.....
He much thick than Beasley, and now that he has been playing at that level for awhile he can handle himself better. However, he still misses almost a quarter of the game through injury.
Well the 2 mil. that MLS could get for him would do a lot more for the league and its development than the big fat 0 they will get if Beasley leaves on a free after next year.
Hate to be the dick in all this...but if MLS doesnt let its stars go...we're going to be screwed! Its the natural progression of things. We dont have unlimited rosters with youth systems....we need that roster spot to develop another young talent. What if a spot wasnt given to DMB? Would he be where he is now? Doubtful...but possibly. Point is, its like a kid gettin ready to go to college....if you dont let him go, he'll never grow up. Instead youll have a bitter kid, who never got to try the things normal kids did, and he wouoldnt have the education the do too.... Well, little RunDMB has grown up. He needs a new stomping ground. It has nothing to do with money or exposure...but with the rate of retirees being far lesser then the influx of young talent, unless we sell or let go, we wont have room in our squads. (at our rate of roster spots we're looking at an all time low of 12 by 2010, with exemptions on the roster for Junior Internations, Project 40 players, players who were born in the western hemisphere, and players whos mom is named Mary) He needs to go sooner or later...and any later and we wont get jack for his services...
My thoughts exactly. The negativity has been hardwired. I'm not saying that we're a top 8 team, but we're now pretty good. MLS is the reason. With 10 teams and continual improvment, it's now reached a pretty high level. Someone posted about how many good players are on the worst team, DC United. The more one thinks about it, there are very few weak spots in MLS now. In a year or two, if there's no expansion, you'll have to be pretty damned good to start. After the QF finish, something most of us didn't expect for 8 years or more, we should have the confidence to be proud of USA soccer. The only worry should be about MLS' survival. Perhaps we should hope that every player stays in MLS.
A better question is whether Owen can make in MLS. Unless he gives it a shot, there will always be some doubt.
I think going to the EPL would be good for Beasley. I think he plays better at a higher level (like the WC) than he does in MLS. He's better as a role player -- great speed, contributing to the attack from the wing and constantly tracking back. In MLS, he's expected to do more, but does really have the whole package to deliver in a starring role. My two cents...
I will see DeMarcus on the 9th of September, if this all hasn't been resolved by then, I'll ask him about where he really wants to go, and where he really thinks he's going. He told me a month or so ago that he was really interested in going to Boro, mostly because its EPL, but also because of McLaren.
Hard to say how difficult it would be for DMB to break in at Middlesbrough. They have a boatload of good young midfielders. But McClaren for the first two games has not played any who are left footed. Against Fulham, he played Jonathan Greening, Geremi, George Boateng, and Carlos Marinelli. (Juninho is out for a long time.) Marinelli is Argentinian, 20, and a wizard with both feet. He took the left footed set pieces, even though his right is even better. Greening is an England U-21 international. DMB would need to displace one of those two (after Juninho returns, he must displace both.). Geremi (on loan from Real Madrid) and Boateng are more holding mids. Mark Wilson, another England U-21, came off the bench for Marinelli. There are competent left wingers on the squad: Joseph-Desire Job and Allan Johnston, but Job is being used as a backup forward and Johnston has dematerialized. Instead McLaren is reportedly trying to sign Jesper Blomqvist from Everton. The joker is that Greening, Wilson and Blomqvist all played for McLaren on the ManU youth teams. So is that a promising situation or not?
If MLS was ready to sell him to Ajax as was reported, I can't imagine them not selling him now. I think Charlton is still a possibility, assuming they can come up with the cash, which is a big assumption. Someone mentioned the S. Korea match as "proof" he isn't that good. Keep in mind that Korea gave him PLENTY of space to make sure he wouldn't blow by anyone. This is Korea we're talking about. The team that loves pressuring the ball. Hiddink was convinced that pressuring Beasley would only lead to trouble. Beasley was able to slightly alter the tactics of a team that prides itself on its tactics and workrate.
I'd say let him do what he wants to do. It's an acceptable offer, and there are benefits to either side of the coin. He seems to be eager to go, so I say pull the trigger.
no offense sachin, but i have a hard time believing that anyone brings the league half a million dollars a year in revenue i've always considered myself a fan of the game, and until this past year... i would never have gone to a game to see a player, i would have gone to a game to see a game (and that was how i did it) i really don't think families go to games to see a player, they go for the game... you will find a diehard group (us) that will make some games just to see a certain player, and this group would come anyways, meaning that they would make even less money for the league (the league already had us and our money) that's just mls, and there is nothing wrong with that... the nfl is a team or game league as well, the nba would be the opposite end of the spectrum if 'boro offered over $2 million, i say let dmb go... i love watching him play, but let him fly on his own, i'll be thankful that i go the chance to cheer him on during his fire days -jim
I may be wrong on this, but I thought that if a player asks to be transfer listed, then the 10% doesn't apply. Has DMB specifically asked to be transfered?
I have really mixed feelings about this idea that casual fans (so to speak) will come to see a particular player. I have always figured that it doesn't work, at least in the long run, because the players necessarily have to come and go. Lots of people came to see Mia Hamm during the first WUSA season, but by all accounts most of them were 14 year old girls. Maybe MLS wants to hold onto Landon for a couple more years because those 14 years olds will be then be 16 and 17...they might be on to something after all...
well, i believe it works and it doesn't work the nba was made by this in the 80's with magic and bird, and then continued to even further heights by jordan but then again, the nba has seemed to have a drop off of late as no one has come around to take up their mantle you are right that it isn't good for the long run, but i just don't see it being a worthwhile notion at this juncture... i simply do not see there being any star quality out there in terms of the casual fan or general public... i don't think it even makes sense to spend advertising dollars to get them out there on the big scene when i think the league would have a hard time recouping that investment based on present popularity (why i don't see nike jumping in to 'save' ld... he may still be here next year, but nike won't be shelling out large amounts for his playing contract, endorsement money, and money to create commercials for the mainstream with him in them... lots of money being used and not getting back) don't get me wrong, these guys (and ld) are stars in my book, but i simply don't see it currently being beneficial for the league to keep them here... financially... developing the league and US soccer would seem to say to let him go too, imo... take the money and throw that into increasing the caps ~$200k/team, meaning current players would be more likely to get deserved raises, a new starter would be created and a new player in the league would be added (stop gap cap increase, but increasing the overall level of the league will prove a far more successful route to go then keeping one good player) for the fire, this would hurt, but it would pay for wolff's raise, and still give us room to give a couple of small raises (or ask to restructure contracts to go after some new players... wilt and bob will work their magic) -jim
I have seen both 2003 and 2005 in this thread. I always thought it was 2003. If its not then you are right, the 2 mil is not worth as much to MLS.