divvy up central and carribean etc for MLS developmental zones

adam tash · Nov 21, 2021

I was watching USMNT and Jamaica and that farce of a pitch the game was played upon....and it got me thinking.....

considering how the continental US has been divided up for development by MLS clubs and their academies...why not do the same for central america and carribean?

Look at how euro clubs are colonizing the US - citeh group and red bull in NY, bayern with dallas etc

How about MLS does the same for the CONCACAF minnows?

Lift the region up and fund there parts of the region....

not sure what that would look like but at least have good pitches in place for international matches and likely get some talent in the pipeline to MLS. overall, it would pay for itself and create a much better region, imo.

JasonMa · Nov 21, 2021

They did something similar for a while. Look up the MLS Caribbean combine. In the end nothing came out of it player-wise.

Now you could argue that a significant investment from MLS could change that, but I think the league is rightfully focused on getting all the talent from the U.S. & Canada before expanding to countries/regions the league isn't in.

STR1 · Dec 6, 2021

Why spend more money on the infrastructure of other countries when MLS still needs that here? And what profit is there to make by investing in infrastructure in those places?

Elninho · Dec 12, 2021

The "bang for your buck" isn't there in most of the Caribbean -- the only places with enough population to justify that kind of spending are, for the most part, places that already have the infrastructure. Note that many Caribbean national teams don't rely heavily on their local population but draw heavily from European and American players who are eligible for citizenship through ancestry.

Three-quarters of the population of the Caribbean is in Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. I suppose a satellite academy in Haiti could be productive, but Cuba is for all intents and purposes off-limits and the Dominican Republic is a baseball country. After that, there's Puerto Rico (3.5 million and baseball-first), Jamaica (2.7 million with an established professional league), Trinidad & Tobago (1.4 million with an established professional league and great facilities), and nowhere else with more than 405k population. There are 134 US metropolitan areas that have more people than 7th-most-populous CONCACAF member in the Caribbean.

xtomx · Dec 28, 2021

adam tash said: ↑

I was watching USMNT and Jamaica and that farce of a pitch the game was played upon....and it got me thinking.....

considering how the continental US has been divided up for development by MLS clubs and their academies...why not do the same for central america and carribean?

Look at how euro clubs are colonizing the US - citeh group and red bull in NY, bayern with dallas etc

How about MLS does the same for the CONCACAF minnows?

Lift the region up and fund there parts of the region....

not sure what that would look like but at least have good pitches in place for international matches and likely get some talent in the pipeline to MLS. overall, it would pay for itself and create a much better region, imo.
Click to expand...

My goodness, you just conflated three entirely different, yet all ridiculous, concepts in one post.
I guess I have to give you credit for that.

1. "considering how the continental US has been divided up for development by MLS clubs and their academies..."
The continental US has not been divided up for development.
MLS can not "divide up" the country. They have specific territories for purposes of MLS and for NO other purpose.
The only restriction is an agreement between MLS Clubs (which, of course, are all part of the same single-entity).

Any city, state, town can have their own club team, if they want.
Any other league can form, if they want (under USSF rules or could strike out on their own).

2. "why not do the same for central america and carribean?"
Ah, imperialism, applied to football.
Basically, this is just pure racism.
The US has no authority to "divide up" Central America or the Caribbean.
What an intrusion on state sovereignty and the federations and leagues of those nations.

3. "Look at how euro clubs are colonizing the US.." What a ridiculous notion.
A. They are not colonizing anything. They want a foothold in America; MLS is open to foreign owner/investors.
B. "Look at how interests and people from the US and Russia and Saudi Arabia and Thailand and UAE and Egypt and Iran and Switzerland and Czech Republic and... are colonizing the EPL!"
Arsenal-American,
Liverpool-American,
Man U-American,
Burnley-American
Crystal Palace-American (over 1/3), English (about 2/3)
Leeds-American (1/3), Italian (2/3)
Aston Villa-American & Egyptian
Wolves-Chinese
Watford-Italian
Man City-UAE,
Leicester-Thai
Everton-Iranian (3/4)
Chelsea-Russian
West Ham-Czech (30%), US (10%), Welsh (40%),
Newcastle-Saudi (80%)
Southampton-Chinese (80%), Swiss (20%)

Tottenham, Brentford and Bright & Hove Albion are the only EPL teams solely owned by English.
Norwich is owned by people from the UK (Welsh and English).

4. "How about MLS does the same for the CONCACAF minnows?"
If MLS wished to buy some teams in other CONCACAF leagues (and those leagues allow it), as a couple of others have done with MLS teams, and a few MLS owners have done in other countries, that would be fine.
But, "dividing up" the territory that they have no business in and no authority to do so, is an incredibly disgusting, imperialistic concept.
It is the football equivalent of the "taming the savages" racist, imperialist bullcrap spread by Europeans to Africa, North America, Central America, most of Asia, etc... from the 15th to the 19th Centuries.

5. "overall, it would pay for itself and create a much better region, imo."
Umm, no. It would not "pay for itself" by any stretch of the imagination.
I have no idea what you mean by that, as I do not see much in the way of revenue streams from those locations.
If you mean that MLS would reap the reward of selecting players and then selling them to other teams in other leagues, sorry, kid, but the big European teams already have thousands of scouts, agents and contacts scouring those leagues for players.
This plan would do nothing but piss off those big European teams.

Finally, shouldn't the CONCACAF 'minnows' have a say in their own development, or in your opinion, they should have no say, as it will "pay for itself" and produce "a much better region," their sovereignty be damned?

adam tash · Dec 28, 2021

xtomx said: ↑

My goodness, you just conflated three entirely different, yet all ridiculous, concepts in one post.
I guess I have to give you credit for that.

1. "considering how the continental US has been divided up for development by MLS clubs and their academies..."
The continental US has not been divided up for development.
MLS can not "divide up" the country. They have specific territories for purposes of MLS and for NO other purpose.
The only restriction is an agreement between MLS Clubs (which, of course, are all part of the same single-entity).

Any city, state, town can have their own club team, if they want.
Any other league can form, if they want (under USSF rules or could strike out on their own).

2. "why not do the same for central america and carribean?"
Ah, imperialism, applied to football.
Basically, this is just pure racism.
The US has no authority to "divide up" Central America or the Caribbean.
What an intrusion on state sovereignty and the federations and leagues of those nations.

3. "Look at how euro clubs are colonizing the US.." What a ridiculous notion.
A. They are not colonizing anything. They want a foothold in America; MLS is open to foreign owner/investors.
B. "Look at how interests and people from the US and Russia and Saudi Arabia and Thailand and UAE and Egypt and Iran and Switzerland and Czech Republic and... are colonizing the EPL!"
Arsenal-American,
Liverpool-American,
Man U-American,
Burnley-American
Crystal Palace-American (over 1/3), English (about 2/3)
Leeds-American (1/3), Italian (2/3)
Aston Villa-American & Egyptian
Wolves-Chinese
Watford-Italian
Man City-UAE,
Leicester-Thai
Everton-Iranian (3/4)
Chelsea-Russian
West Ham-Czech (30%), US (10%), Welsh (40%),
Newcastle-Saudi (80%)
Southampton-Chinese (80%), Swiss (20%)

Tottenham, Brentford and Bright & Hove Albion are the only EPL teams solely owned by English.
Norwich is owned by people from the UK (Welsh and English).

4. "How about MLS does the same for the CONCACAF minnows?"
If MLS wished to buy some teams in other CONCACAF leagues (and those leagues allow it), as a couple of others have done with MLS teams, and a few MLS owners have done in other countries, that would be fine.
But, "dividing up" the territory that they have no business in and no authority to do so, is an incredibly disgusting, imperialistic concept.
It is the football equivalent of the "taming the savages" racist, imperialist bullcrap spread by Europeans to Africa, North America, Central America, most of Asia, etc... from the 15th to the 19th Centuries.

5. "overall, it would pay for itself and create a much better region, imo."
Umm, no. It would not "pay for itself" by any stretch of the imagination.
I have no idea what you mean by that, as I do not see much in the way of revenue streams from those locations.
If you mean that MLS would reap the reward of selecting players and then selling them to other teams in other leagues, sorry, kid, but the big European teams already have thousands of scouts, agents and contacts scouring those leagues for players.
This plan would do nothing but piss off those big European teams.

Finally, shouldn't the CONCACAF 'minnows' have a say in their own development, or in your opinion, they should have no say, as it will "pay for itself" and produce "a much better region," their sovereignty be damned?
Click to expand...

wow talk about jumping to conclusions.

all of this would be done with consent, obviously and with mutual benefit in mind.

I, for one, think it is embarrassing how most of concacaf cant even make a nice pitch for world cup qualifiers...due to poverty.

i read recently how chicago fire are making 100 pitches in chicage...just saw the headline didnt read article...but along those lines is what im thinking.

OBVIOUSLY if players/countries dont to affiliate or align with mls thats fine as well...im saying build the bridge...and see who walks across.

i think ...pound for pound...carribean players are more talented than domestic americans...so if mls set up academies there...i think they would develop some very valuable and good players...build up infrastrcutre and make the region much better overall. this should be fifas job but they are too busy being fatcats.

basically what im saying is mls should fill the fifa sized void in the region.

is that racist?

is that controversial?

xtomx · Dec 28, 2021

adam tash said: ↑

wow talk about jumping to conclusions.

all of this would be done with consent, obviously and with mutual benefit in mind.

I, for one, think it is embarrassing how most of concacaf cant even make a nice pitch for world cup qualifiers...due to poverty.

i read recently how chicago fire are making 100 pitches in chicage...just saw the headline didnt read article...but along those lines is what im thinking.

OBVIOUSLY if players/countries dont to affiliate or align with mls thats fine as well...im saying build the bridge...and see who walks across.

i think ...pound for pound...carribean players are more talented than domestic americans...so if mls set up academies there...i think they would develop some very valuable and good players...build up infrastrcutre and make the region much better overall. this should be fifas job but they are too busy being fatcats.

basically what im saying is mls should fill the fifa sized void in the region.

is that racist?

is that controversial?
Click to expand...

1. You stated nothing about consent and "mutual benefit" (whatever that means in this exploitative environment).
You said, "considering how the continental US has been divided up for development by MLS clubs and their academies...why not do the same for central america and carribean?"
Your very next words were "Look at how euro clubs are colonizing the US..."
None of this speaks of consent.
"Divided up" and "colonizing" are pretty much the opposite of "consent"

Do you think that MLS teams asked for the consent of the various people in the various territories "divided up for development by MLS clubs"? No, they did not and it did not matter, as MLS really did not do anything other than making an agreement among themselves. It really had nothing to do with the various regions.

2. Chicago, through their charitable arm (and several other charitable organizations) are setting up mini-pitches throughout the Chicago area, as part of the USSF initiative. Most are not regulation soccer fields, though. They are more akin to half court basketball courts.
This has absolutely nothing to do with this conversation.

3. It was clearly not OBVIOUS "if players/countries dont to affiliate or align with mls thats fine as well"
In fact, that would be the opposite of "dividing up the territory."

4. I have no idea where you get your data to support the notion that Caribbean "players are more talented than domestic americans..."
Frankly, I have no idea what this statement even means.

5. If any MLS team wishes to "set up an academy" that would be fine, as long as the respective leagues/federations allow it.
However, once again, that is a totally different concept than "dividing up the territory" between MLS teams.

6. "basically what im saying is mls should fill the fifa sized void in the region."
Except, that is not at all what you said.
If that is what you meant, that is completely different.

Still racist, though, but (perhaps) slightly less so.

KCbus · Dec 28, 2021

adam tash said: ↑

i think ...pound for pound...carribean players are more talented than domestic americans...so if mls set up academies there...i think they would develop some very valuable and good players...
Click to expand...

Of course you do. Because you're another Eurosnob who thinks the biggest problem with American soccer is that it's American.

It's hilarious to me that you gear every one of your ideas and opinions towards the U.S. National Team, but you have such disdain for American soccer players.

Elninho · Dec 28, 2021

adam tash said: ↑

i read recently how chicago fire are making 100 pitches in chicage...just saw the headline didnt read article...but along those lines is what im thinking.
Click to expand...

Those are mini-pitches, not academy programs.

The Chicago metro area has almost 10 million people, so 100 pitches is about one pitch for every 100,000 people. The majority of the FIFA members in the Caribbean have populations smaller than 100,000, and many of them have those populations spread out over more than one island. I can't picture people getting on a boat and traveling to a different island for a casual kickaround on a mini-pitch.

i think ...pound for pound...carribean players are more talented than domestic americans...so if mls set up academies there...i think they would develop some very valuable and good players...build up infrastrcutre and make the region much better overall. this should be fifas job but they are too busy being fatcats.
Click to expand...

Pound for pound? They punch above their population weight mostly because they are net importers of national team players -- they draw heavily on players of Caribbean descent in England and the US, so they effectively have much larger populations to draw from than the people who actually live there. Most small countries, anywhere in the world, punch above their population weight for the exact same reason: they recruit dual nationals who are not in the national team picture for some larger country.

adam tash · Dec 28, 2021

KCbus said: ↑

Of course you do. Because you're another Eurosnob who thinks the biggest problem with American soccer is that it's American.

It's hilarious to me that you gear every one of your ideas and opinions towards the U.S. National Team, but you have such disdain for American soccer players.
Click to expand...

no way countries like trinidad tobago jamaica honduras or panama should be able to compete with usmnt in soccer....unless their players are a bit better naturally....us player pool is getting better but historically those nations have had better talent per capita. when you factor in population size and see teams like guadlupe or martinique haiti competing in gold cup and winning games with such a low level of training...it shows that they have incredible natural talent that is surely not being trained up as much as players in the usa are.

i can praise the talent levels of other countries and not disdain the talent level of usa. i simply think the talent in concacaf region is underdeveloped and would like to see the usa take a lead role in developing it.

goes back to manifest destiny and monroe doctrine.........us has a responsibility to develop the americas in my opinion.

adam tash · Dec 28, 2021

Elninho said: ↑

Those are mini-pitches, not academy programs.

The Chicago metro area has almost 10 million people, so 100 pitches is about one pitch for every 100,000 people. The majority of the FIFA members in the Caribbean have populations smaller than 100,000, and many of them have those populations spread out over more than one island. I can't picture people getting on a boat and traveling to a different island for a casual kickaround on a mini-pitch.

Pound for pound? They punch above their population weight mostly because they are net importers of national team players -- they draw heavily on players of Caribbean descent in England and the US, so they effectively have much larger populations to draw from than the people who actually live there. Most small countries, anywhere in the world, punch above their population weight for the exact same reason: they recruit dual nationals who are not in the national team picture for some larger country.
Click to expand...

so what exactly is your argument against mls developing soccer talent in concacaf beyond the main big countries?

Elninho · Dec 28, 2021

adam tash said: ↑

no way countries like trinidad tobago jamaica honduras or panama should be able to compete with usmnt in soccer....unless their players are a bit better naturally....us player pool is getting better but historically those nations have had better talent per capita. when you factor in population size and see teams like guadlupe or martinique haiti competing in gold cup and winning games with such a low level of training...it shows that they have incredible natural talent that is surely not being trained up as much as players in the usa are.

i can praise the talent levels of other countries and not disdain the talent level of usa. i simply think the talent in concacaf region is underdeveloped and would like to see the usa take a lead role in developing it.

goes back to manifest destiny and monroe doctrine.........us has a responsibility to develop the americas in my opinion.
Click to expand...

They can compete because of diminishing returns at a certain level. A well-drilled team of 11 competent lower-tier pros can make life hard for any opponent. That's exactly how the USMNT was able to compete in the 1990s.

As for per capita talent... again, you do realize that all these Caribbean teams are loaded with players born in England, France, and the United States? They're not drawing only from their domestic populations, and precisely because they're small countries with limited domestic talent, the likelihood of dual nationals playing for them is much higher simply because there are a lot more dual nationals who are good enough for them but nowhere near the other country's national team.

Elninho · Dec 28, 2021

adam tash said: ↑

so what exactly is your argument against mls developing soccer talent in concacaf beyond the main big countries?
Click to expand...

It's not cost-effective. You need population density to make it worthwhile.

adam tash · Dec 28, 2021

xtomx said: ↑

1. You stated nothing about consent and "mutual benefit" (whatever that means in this exploitative environment).
You said, "considering how the continental US has been divided up for development by MLS clubs and their academies...why not do the same for central america and carribean?"
Your very next words were "Look at how euro clubs are colonizing the US..."
None of this speaks of consent.
"Divided up" and "colonizing" are pretty much the opposite of "consent"

Do you think that MLS teams asked for the consent of the various people in the various territories "divided up for development by MLS clubs"? No, they did not and it did not matter, as MLS really did not do anything other than making an agreement among themselves. It really had nothing to do with the various regions.

2. Chicago, through their charitable arm (and several other charitable organizations) are setting up mini-pitches throughout the Chicago area, as part of the USSF initiative. Most are not regulation soccer fields, though. They are more akin to half court basketball courts.
This has absolutely nothing to do with this conversation.

3. It was clearly not OBVIOUS "if players/countries dont to affiliate or align with mls thats fine as well"
In fact, that would be the opposite of "dividing up the territory."

4. I have no idea where you get your data to support the notion that Caribbean "players are more talented than domestic americans..."
Frankly, I have no idea what this statement even means.

5. If any MLS team wishes to "set up an academy" that would be fine, as long as the respective leagues/federations allow it.
However, once again, that is a totally different concept than "dividing up the territory" between MLS teams.

6. "basically what im saying is mls should fill the fifa sized void in the region."
Except, that is not at all what you said.
If that is what you meant, that is completely different.

Still racist, though, but (perhaps) slightly less so.
Click to expand...

i dont think you understand racism.

as far as dividing up the region - mls did it for the youth academies and so i am assuming it would be done likewise for an initiative like this. but if it was up to me the continental us wouldnt have been divided up like it has and a youth player in the us would be free to join any mls team that they so desire.

imagine this actually happened....why should minnesota united be left with nicaragua while atlanta united gets costa rica? for example.....have to find a way to make it fair.

put it simply ...imagine there was a philadelphia union academy in jamaica...and you were a youth soccer player....would you want to join? be honest.

adam tash · Dec 28, 2021

Elninho said: ↑

They can compete because of diminishing returns at a certain level. A well-drilled team of 11 competent lower-tier pros can make life hard for any opponent. That's exactly how the USMNT was able to compete in the 1990s.

As for per capita talent... again, you do realize that all these Caribbean teams are loaded with players born in England, France, and the United States? They're not drawing only from their domestic populations, and precisely because they're small countries with limited domestic talent, the likelihood of dual nationals playing for them is much higher simply because there are a lot more dual nationals who are good enough for them but nowhere near the other country's national team.
Click to expand...

the dual nats help but only tell part of the story. how mnay dual nats played on the team that eliminated the usmnt from the last world cup?

going by transfer market values...these concacaf minnows have much much lower level talent that has no business competing with mex or usmnt....and plus they are being deeloped with much less resources.

adam tash · Dec 28, 2021

Elninho said: ↑

It's not cost-effective. You need population density to make it worthwhile.
Click to expand...

okay so setup a few regional mls training academies in concacaf and allow players from the entire region to join....then make those players eligible to be drafted.

i really see no downside at all.

and build at least one pristine pitch in each country for national team games so the wcq arent travesties of the sport.

the money is there.

at the end of the day both sides will benefit....but for now the gap between the usmnt and most of the rest of the region is not helping prepare this region for success. especially in light of how fifa is segregating regions with the whole nations league set up...isolating regions amongst themselves.

KCbus · Dec 28, 2021

You're talking out of both sides of your mouth here. You say the gap between the US and most of the rest of the region is bad for the region, but you also complain that there's no way certain teams should be able to compete with us. Which is it?

It sounds like you want to help build up the programs of competitors in the region so four years or eight years from now you can complain that we're losing to them, all so we can play on a nice field every four years. Which, by the way, still wouldn't happen, because if they had the resources/climate/whatever to keep pitches in pristine condition, they'd probably be doing so already.

MLS has only recently become financially stable on its own. It's not in a position to try to spend the kind of money this would take in other countries to build up their player base. Nor is it their responsibility to do so. I'd rather MLS invest money into having a competent women's league before investing money into developing other nations.

adam tash · Dec 29, 2021

KCbus said: ↑

You're talking out of both sides of your mouth here. You say the gap between the US and most of the rest of the region is bad for the region, but you also complain that there's no way certain teams should be able to compete with us. Which is it?

It sounds like you want to help build up the programs of competitors in the region so four years or eight years from now you can complain that we're losing to them, all so we can play on a nice field every four years. Which, by the way, still wouldn't happen, because if they had the resources/climate/whatever to keep pitches in pristine condition, they'd probably be doing so already.

MLS has only recently become financially stable on its own. It's not in a position to try to spend the kind of money this would take in other countries to build up their player base. Nor is it their responsibility to do so. I'd rather MLS invest money into having a competent women's league before investing money into developing other nations.
Click to expand...

the gap is bad and will only worsen and it is what it is based on current and past conditions not on any absolute, permanent unchangeable factors. i think theres a good chance in 10 years or so or some time in the future that the gap will become embarrassing and untenable (for many of the countries in ccaf, it may already be there...usmnt record for wins in a year happened this year despite playing a record number of different players). maybe i should have qualified "no way any team can compete" based on all current and past factors that have led us here despite the natural talent of those countries. In fact, i think, given the resource desparity usmnt foes often have, that it is truly remarkable that they are able to compete as much as they do. which is why I think it would be a possible gold mine of talent if suported properly. and that if those other concacaf countries had higher levels of resources and developemnt, the usmnt would be in big trouble in terms of qualifying for world cups....which would be annoying...but in the end force the us soccer scene to truly get its act together instead of being the good ol boy network it has been. competition is good.

if its resources, then that can be fixed....which i think that is indeed the problem. I think it would benefit the usmnt and soccer in the us if the rest of the region was built up and yeah I wouldnt be thrilled if the usmnt lost its spot atop the region...but i think it would actually be better for the team in the long run...if there were other strong teams besides mex and now canada and usa. i realize pan and cr etc are pretty decent but im talking good enough to win games at the world cup and make noise consistently..... its just necessary...and will better prepare the team for success outside of the region. its the same reason i would prefer the usa in conmebol or a combination of concacaf and conmebol.

as far as mls, well...i would envision it mls in concert with ussf...all the tourneys and friendlies etc...even mexican national team games are played in the us ...gold cup nations league etc....i would like some of that money going to develop the region. if we are forced to watch these countries play games against the usmnt...lets at least give them a fighting chance...for now its like globetrotters vs generals. i cant imagine any country in the region would turn down the idea of USA/MLS helping them develop their players. and in the end, imagine they get more alphonso davies to sell....it could be actually profitable. i think it would be. look at the dominican in baseball. do you think the domincan would be playing so much baseball if the major leagues werent there waiting for them? build the bridge and see who walks across.

https://www.minorleagueball.com/201...the-dominican-republic-from-sweatshops-to-big

for me, i dont care about womens soccer and i dont want to watch it...and i really dont want the money generated from mens soccer to fund anything about womens soccer because they are two separate sports entirely. this isnt tennis where joint events are held.

adam tash · Dec 29, 2021

also just wanna add that mls has basically already become a stepping stone for south americans who want to go to europe. MLS is buying a bunch of young aouth americans with euor ambitions for A LOT OF MONEY...10/20mil in some cases.

imagine spending 20mil on concacaf academies.....I really think that would pay off in the end...just would take a while.

adam tash · Dec 29, 2021

furthermore...to continue on the dominican MLB angle---- theres a whole world of soccer leagues to sell players to...theres nowhere for MLB to sell players to...yet they still invest big time in player develpment in the carribean....hmm

makes more business sense to develop soccer players than baseball players. by a lot.

why, then, wouldnt mls want to tap an untapped market?

part of the reason is that MLS clubs could really care less about winning. they dont truly care. truly.

baseball teams do.

the business model of mls is very low stakes in terms of win/loss....and that is also something that could change and improve MLS.

pro/rel gets talked about all the time....because it raises the stakes of every game!

when a team wins in europe/.....they make more money!

when an mls team wins they make the same amount of money...very little incentive to push the envelope on the field. the players care passionately...and that is important..but the business side doesnt really care.

Elninho · Dec 30, 2021

Winning doesn't make a difference in revenue now? That would be news to Chicago and Houston. Or, y'know, Chivas USA.

adam tash · Dec 30, 2021

Elninho said: ↑

Winning doesn't make a difference in revenue now? That would be news to Chicago and Houston. Or, y'know, Chivas USA.
Click to expand...

teams that havent won in decades not increasing their spending in decades...no incentive to. they can get by. they arent in danger of folding or being relegated...they can just slack by without real consequences.

a lack of winning does hurt revenues for the franchisees....but what MLS really cares about is preventing dynasties and that different teams are at the top of the standings yearly...that way, fans cant take turns being the winners...same as in the NFL...thats garbers influence.

given the salary and budget constraints on mls teams there is no incentive...or possibility...of chasing excellence. need to keep the crap teams close to the pack. fine the teams that bring in too many good players lol...miami.

of course theres gonna be a few poorly run franchises when you start to get too big....
but how much extra money did nycfc owners pocket for winning mls cup? anything? will it make any difference for that franchise beyond the good vibes of it?

shouldnt it? it matters in euro leagues

my point is a lack of incentive is there to truly increase the level of play and quality of players....running an mls team is like racing on a moped with a strong governor.

so yeah you guys are right...there is not much incentive to develop more talent in central amerca/concacaf...at least in terms of on the field concerns.

Elninho · Dec 30, 2021

adam tash said: ↑

given the salary and budget constraints on mls teams there is no incentive...or possibility...of chasing excellence. need to keep the crap teams close to the pack. fine the teams that bring in too many good players lol...miami.
Click to expand...

Or... budget constraints force teams to find other ways to stay at the top, like better coaching, better scouting, and better youth development. The league doesn't limit development expenses. It's just that you're going to get a lot more bang for your buck by looking for players in places with more people.

The LA Galaxy consistently drafted better than just about everyone else for well over a decade despite rarely having early picks. Seattle stay perennially in title contention despite having terrible injury luck with their top players. Dallas and Philadelphia keep producing youth players that European clubs want.

Miami cheated... and were pathetically bad even with four DPs and a whole bunch of players with underreported salaries.

adam tash · Dec 30, 2021

Elninho said: ↑

Or... budget constraints force teams to find other ways to stay at the top, like better coaching, better scouting, and better youth development. The league doesn't limit development expenses. It's just that you're going to get a lot more bang for your buck by looking for players in places with more people.

The LA Galaxy consistently drafted better than just about everyone else for well over a decade despite rarely having early picks. Seattle stay perennially in title contention despite having terrible injury luck with their top players. Dallas and Philadelphia keep producing youth players that European clubs want.

Miami cheated... and were pathetically bad even with four DPs and a whole bunch of players with underreported salaries.
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well amongst themselves...yeah they compete to be "good"...but theres a low ceiling on how good any team can be in the international context....still cant beat liga mx once

KCbus · Dec 30, 2021

adam tash said: ↑

well amongst themselves...yeah they compete to be "good"...but theres a low ceiling on how good any team can be in the international context....still cant beat liga mx once
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Your old refrain. MLS is terrible.