You really expect them to be as transparent about the sale as they have been with everything else? They got snookered quick when they bought in and will bail out just as quick, if not quicker.
Brian Lewis also: http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/soccerblog/soler_says_he_took_red_bull_post_qUQW3D7Mx2P4m6hFgDFXVK And: http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/soccerblog/source_soler_to_red_bull_done_deal_2W0FbaH2ZmXZLXOpKd6tYI
Iversen? Didn't he just retire? (OK, I couldn't resist, I can just see Soler telling Jeff to "get me Iversen" and Alan shows up in shorts on the field). Had a nightmare last night. Someone translated all that Norwegian about Soler and somewhere in the middle was the phrase "...known as the Jeff Agoos of Norway". Again, if he indeed does concentrate on the sport side and Agoos is kept out of picking personnel then maybe it will work out. At least Soler has significant "soccer experience", although I still don't know exactly what he's good at.
Given Metro/Red Bull's years of futility and screw ups, I expect this appointment to be yet another colossal mistake in the merry go round that never ends. A guy who has absolutely no experience with how to build a team in the MLS environment with all its arcane rules? Initally, it doesn't sound too encouraging, but then again it cant be any worse than Agoos... At least we know that he will be good at the concept of the cap and building a team on a budget, since I cant imagine that Scandinavian teams have as much money to spend as superclubs like Barca or Man U. Let's hope for all our sakes that I'm proven wrong and that Soler proves to be one heck of a sporting director.
It all may work out indeed. However, my feeling is that. if it does work out, then it will be more by accident than design. I mean, do we really think Beiersdorfer and RB sat around concentrating on making Red Bull a better team and came to the conclusion that Soler had the skills to do just that? More like he was a friend, could run a soccer business and, as a side benefit, could probably figure out how to run Red Bull competently (perhaps by hiring a coach and GM and letting them do it).
can someone please enlighten me as to why people keep referring to soler and biersdorfer as "friends" or 'buddies' or anything of the sort? is there any information to suggest that they have ever had any relationship? soler played at hamburg '84-85 and than moved back to clubs in scandinavia, biersdorfer was at hamburg from '86-92. it seems a stretch to say that because they might have some mutual acquaintance(s) from 25 years ago that they are friends. as for his appointment - i really hope he will have some people in place to keep the mls rules straight and someone to guide him with scouting in the US especially collegiate players. i also think it's bad form that he announced his hiring before red bull did but i guess he thought no one here was listening.
I believe that the "friend" information came in one or more of the various stories posted by Bondy, Lewis, et al. That's where I picked it up.
It makes sense to me, that if you want to go "European", you would want to sign a manager who is probably going to adapt easily and is used to building a team on a budget that is not that far from an MLS budget. The Norwegian league is very physical and the players are hard working and athletic, which I guess is not all that different from MLS. Soler (and Hareide for that matter) know the Scandinavian market well and it's possible to find good experienced players who are going to work hard for the team and are not all too expensive to sign, unlike when you sign some more famous "has been" Star that really couldnt care less and is just in it for the last few $$ before they retire... or in other words, why would you want a big name European manager and/or coach, who only know of good players you cant afford to sign anyway ?... .
Ives? Ever since he stopped being the daily beat writer, don't look to him anymore for any major scoops. Anyway, it's hard to take him serious anymore when after being Osorio's PR guy, he finally threw him under the bus a day before he "resigned". You're better off also e-mailing Michael Lewis and Brian Lewis.
True. Ives seems to have lost any sources on RBNY from what i can tell. He seems more interested in regurgitating USMNT news.
How long before the Fire Soler thread is actually started here on this forum? Over/under 3 months into the season is my guess.
I think theres a reason more than a few of our players with middle to upper level MLS talent have gone to Scandinavia. They can make more there. It seems safe to say Scandinavia probably doesn't have too many decent players who'd prefer MLS to staying wherever they are.
It's been obvious for a while that Ives doesn't have good sources with the team, but I don't think you can blame him for that. While, as a good journalist, he would never reveal his sources, over the years it hasn't been too hard to figure out who was leaking to him. And I suspect that has led to the current problem where he seems to be frozen out. When Arena was here, it was clearly Arena himself or someone close to him who was feeding Ives the inside info, particularly info that was damaging to DeGrandpre, who was feuding with Arena. While the people have changed, I expect that the business side of the Red Bull FO still remembers that, which means Ives is probably the last one they would call or give anything to. Ives was friends with Osorio even before he came back here, so that got him access, but Ives certainly dumped on Agoos over the last year (and rightly so), so with Osorio gone and Agoos there, it is probably another dead end for info for him. Right now, the best scoops about the team are coming from Brian Lewis and even Jack Bell on occasion. The thing that always surprised me about Ives is that he never seemed to develop contacts at MLS HQ. If any news comes out of there, 90% of the time Goff gets it first, with someone like Grant Wahl or others for the other 10%. Since they are just across the river, I would have thought that Ives would have an advantage there - taking people out for lunch, drinks, etc., whether Don Garber or the kid who works the copier. Ives still has his sources around the league, of course, such as Trader Mo, who obviously gave him the Preki news, but we probably won't be getting many RBNY scoops from him. Regardless, SBI is still must reading.
So negative about what Soler can do.. and yet ther is a thread in this forum talking about Thierry Henry ?... Your dreaming of a big "name" sporting director and of players from the top-4 leagues of Europe and at the same time you dont think you could attact good players from Scandinavia ?.. It just doesnt add up... Btw Jeremiah White is leaving AGF Aarhus in Denmark... the same is going to be the case for Danny Califf (at FCM)... I wouldnt be surprised if they are heading back to the US, to play MLS. .
IMO - I think the Sporting Director job is a lot more than just finding a few players and signing them. I would imagine there are relationships with agents, scouts, and other team managers that are needed for the job. Understanding the rules of the league. Convincing the boss to ok the expensive deals. Working with the coaches to understand the overall te am strategies. If Soler can leverage his relationship with Beirdude to get us what we need when we need it faster, that may be enough to make this a success.
It just has to do with the player signing and cap rules here. We all know our team can sign one player or two outside our salary cap figure and those usually get reserved for "name" players like Henry for example, but the economics of MLS mean most players have to go on the bread line...hence it would be curious if a bunch of players from a league with better wages, such as Denmark or Norway, left that league to play in MLS. (whereas you see plenty of former MLS players go that direction to earn a better check) The reason people are nervous about Soler is because no foriegn manager has ever succeded in this league without plenty of on the ground US soccer experiance. Add to that his rumored desire to hire a foriegn coach with no MLS experiance...recipe for disaster. People just don't realize how different (not harder or better) managing an MLS side is.
Yeah, if he wants success, he'll need an MLS experienced coach to help out with the first few years. I totally agree with that.