HSG, really?

Bingo. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem...fortunately, I'm addicted to attractive football and winning more than celebrity. I'll live by watching those guys on TV or when they come in and (hopefully) get beat by my band of lovable nobodies

 

That's what would make a victory on the 15th so much sweeter. Beating (not only a Western Conference rival) a team that is basically the anti-Dallas in the budget/league darling department and further separating ourselves in the standings would be epic. Especially when said team is probably going to be lining up the likes of Gerrard, Keane & Two Santos.

Disclaimer: It's going to be rough seeing Gerrard in Galaxy white and cheering against him for the first time in my life.

 

That depends on your definition of "nobodies...................."

Everybody starts as a nobody until they achieve great things. Nobody had heard of Fabian Castillo when we acquired him. Now he's one of the elite attacking players in this league. Five years from now we could all be talking about what a damn bargain we got in Cirigliano.

I just think that if you're going to be a happy FCD fan you have to revel in the notion of developing our own young talent (whether foreign or domestic). There's a lot of excitement in that. It's quite a project, and I'm convinced we have the right man at the helm to carry it out. If it works, its a sustainable model. You don't have to count on signing an over-the-hill Steven Gerrard every two years (already out injured of course). None of the top 10 highest players

We are frickin' lapping the field in terms of minutes to homegrown players (last I saw we were more than 1000 minutes ahead of our nearest rival in that category) and we've got the most points in the league at the same time That's a combination we should take a lot of pride in....................................

I watch a lot of clubs from a distance in this league and wonder what in the world their long-term plan is. Chicago happens to be one. I know what FCD's plan, aka "Mission Statement" is.

 

I have liked the plan, but would like to see us be a bit more proactive in maintaing quality depth at all positions. Looks like Soumare may be an answer, but it pains me to watch Lloyd and Hedges beat to hell with no quality replacement. Couldn't we upgrade there? Their are other examples to..... but, the second part of a team run on its feeder teams gets tough for fans.

If FCD continue the good job, they start to sell our stars as they flourish. It becomes very annoying to see one of your former guys scoring against you. That is the future. But, the selling should open up funds to purchase areas of need.

My hope is that the development, is a strategy by which you use your assets to be in a position to have the best team in the league. If you sell, you can use that money to supplement a wise purchase. (Barca?)

What I fear, is that we become the developmental team for other team's stars and sit back contentedly gloating about transfer fee earnings while we sport a mid table team. Some dark day, all of our cheap home growns are going go to want big wages. That won't be possible for many of them. At the moment, we are having and eating cake. Let's hope it continues.

 

My wife says Santos = saint. So go all the way - Two Saints (wouldn't that him and his brother?)

 

Have you figured out if he's also US eligible?

 

I don't think we figured that out, but its unlikely that he's currently a citizen. His dad got a green card in 2012, so if they actually started contemplating citizenship at that time for Jesus, then the timelines vis-a-vi USYNTs could be reasonable.

His timelines would be more advanced than they were for guys like Andy Najar and Diego Fagundez. Still a way away, but advanced compared to those two.

Depth is clearly an issue for this team at the moment. What we've done so far this season at fullback is a miracle. If you had told me going into the season that Atiba Harris was going to see significant time at fullback, I would have upped my lithium prescription.

I'd note that every team in MLS has depth problems. That's par for the course. One or two key injuries and every MLS team is staring mid-table mediocrity in the face. I just like the notion that FCD's depth is developing youngsters as opposed to over-the-hill veterans. If we're developing those youngsters in such a way that they're coveted by other clubs, then that's great news. Then the project is going well. I expect Kellyn Acosta, for instance, will be in Europe 5 years from now. We'll have gotten a nice transfer fee for him and will develop the "next guy." That's what they do in nations like Argentina after all. Its a conveyor belt.

What's interesting right now in MLS (to me anyway) is that none of the 10 highest paid players in the league play for the top 5 clubs in the standings in terms of points per game [SKC, FCD, DCU, VAN, NYRB). That could change in the second half if LAG gels or Seattle manages to pull themselves out of their tailspin. However, we have lots of evidence throughout the years that having these highly priced veterans from Europe doesn't necessarily translate to trophies. What FCD has in my view right now is a league average or higher player at every position other than right back. That's what Sporting Kansas City has as well. No Kaka................but no gaping holes either. Columbus as well. Kei Kamara and Ethan Finlay on paper aren't Robbie Keane and Steven Gerrard. They certainly won't sell as many jerseys. On the field, though, they're just as dangerous.........if not more so.

 

I meant 'nobodies' in the best possible way and agree with everything you said. My definition is whether any non-MLS soccer fan would recognize a player. I think the ASG roster (as lame as I think an ASG is) speaks to this fact quite well - as great as Castillo has been, he wasn't on the roster to begin with nor was Diaz and we are one of the top teams in the league.

Still, I am good with the FCD approach and even the 15k attendance. We seem to have a much higher % of actual fans in that 15k when compared to the bouncehaus days. Atmosphere isn't PNW-caliber but fine for me...of course, I'm a 'prawn sandwich' type who likes to sit and watch the game but the SG's do enough imo to keep the excitement/engagement levels up (nice work, guys).

If we continue with our impressive development of youth, I'm going to be really interested to see what types of offers start coming in. I have to think that run/goal by Acosta last week put him on some radars or increased his blip size where he already was on radars.

 

I don't disagree with you at all. These "big name" signings sell tickets, sell jereseys, increase eyeballs on television sets, increasing advertising revenue, etc. etc. etc.

We all know that these are important issues. After all, this is a business.

On the other hand, I'd just ask you what "big name" international signings Sporting Kansas City currently has on their roster. This is a mid-market club that sells out its stadium and fosters an amazing atmosphere at the games. They have an American core of players that the fans want to come out and see. I presume they do just fine in the business aspects.

I'd note that SKC is building their youth academy at a great pace. They're up to 15 youth affiliates other than their development academy squads. They have huge plans in this arena that will really challenge what Dallas is dong.

http://www.sportingkc.com/scn/academyaffiliates

I guess what I'm saying in all of this is that while I understand everything you're saying, I'm not convinced you need to spend the huge money on players like Andrea Pirlo in order to both win trophies and be a profitable business.

And yes, I consider FC Dallas a "mid market" team like Kansas City and Columbus. That's just the way we roll. I know folks don't like it....................

Then I'm a guy that watches minor league baseball to see the prospects on the Roughriders, etc. When I play Football Manager, i don't play with Barca but try to build a smaller club thru their academy. Its just what I enjoy. The project at FCD is right up my alley.

 

1) FCD is 19th in spending. They could spend more.
2) I keep hearing Oakland and Southhampton, neither of which has ever won anything. The Hunts run this team like they run the Chiefs, and the Chiefs haven't won in 45 years.
3) There is always a shot for FCD to win a championship. The same way that every once in a while an NFL team (like the Chiefs, but never the Chiefs) wins without a great quarterback. But having a great quarterback or a top DP is a better formula for trophies.
4) I don't think I'm less of a fan because I want FCD to spend what's necessary to win championships.

 

1. Of course and they should but are we getting the whole salary picture? Are HG's counted or not? Not sure but if not could be different if they are. If they are and still 19 then at what position do you jettison someone and sign a big name? Me - I saw how Castillo played with a fast target forward at the ASG and that is my splash.
2. The Cowboys spend a lot and haven't won in twenty.
3. Has LA won because of DP's or because of LD? The question get answered in the next few years.
4. Of course your not. It's hard to be a fan of a team that's virtually won nothing. Problem now is other than LA who has won anything recently (go back to question 3)?

 

Vancouver spent $1.5 million on a player they brought in from La Liga. I would consider that spending.

 

Landon Donovan was a Designated Player, so... "Yes."

Every team in the NFL spends almost the same amount of money. They are required by the collective bargaining agreement to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of 89% of the salary cap (it's significantly more complicated than that, but you're still talking apples and oranges to MLS). 11% of $143M (the 2015 NFL cap amount) is $15M, more than three times the current FC Dallas annual salary budget, but the NFL is in a whole different stratosphere as far as paychecks are concerned. The MLS salary variance has recently been over 500% from the top of the league to the bottom, which is a far cry from the 11% of the NFL.

TL;DR: in the NFL, it's not so much the total amount you spend, it's on whom you spend it.

 

I'll just leave this here.

From the recap of the debacle in Chicago yesterday:

 

I believe "Dos Santos" in his case is Portuguese. His father is Brazilian. In Portuguese, dos santos = of the saints.

 

From those 45 minutes, I saw that Fabian can hang with EPL players in a track meet. In a soccer game where attacking players are expected to score when they get the chance, I have my doubts.

 

We have kind of specialized in big fast guys with technical limitations over the years. At least we usually turn profit on those guys. But Castillo will put the right cleats on some nights and bring it all. Last night, he had the Dominic Oduro, Brek Shea, EJ cleats on.

 

I don't see massive names like that in Kansas City, yet they have zero issues selling tickets. And you cannot tell me with a straight face that the Timbers sell out their games because of their DPs.

Customer service/customer experience are your friend. Especially bringing in 15k a game over the last season and a half, you can't tell me you aren't getting people into the stadium. What you are doing is not treating them as the most important thing in the world, so they don't feel as engaged.

Still don't get it - you spend all this energy recruiting people and finally getting them to pay to see a game. Why is it so hard to understand that if you work harder on keeping them, you grow faster, demand grows, and now you can say with a straight face that price is rising because of the demand.....

Both of those teams completely understand, embrace, support and encourage true soccer culture - from the supporters, through the average fans in the mid-level seats, to the high-dollar folk. They understand that soccer culture absolutely exists in the US - if you treat it properly.

Yet MLS is littered with examples of teams who don't.

The thing from an FC Dallas/HSG standpoint is that you don't have to spend crazy money on designated players to do it, as clearly evidenced by both Portland and Kansas City. Go re-read Peter's article when he went up there - nothing the Timbers do is unavailable to HSG. And certainly, the same can be said for SKC.

Remember July 7? Yes, the level of play was higher. But those true soccer fans - the ones that can make up a true soccer culture in DFW - clearly exist.

And they are not fans of FCD not because they don't have a DP. They are not fans of FCD because the FCD culture is not a soccer culture. I wish it were not true, but it is. When push comes to shove about many key issues, soccer culture (and by that, I do not mean just supporters) gets pushed aside.

 

well the silver lining is I can get cheap tickets and have no problem getting them!

 

That's debatable.

 

Kansas City is basically a college town with an inferiority complex. Dallas is one of the biggest, richest cities in the country. The sports franchises around here are all built on at least one star. KC doesn't have a single star between its other two sports franchises.

If you think Dallas should be compared to Kansas City or Columbus, then obviously we're going to disagree.

 

I was just saying that HSG is spending on this team like its "mid-market." Other DFW teams have certainly done that over the years. Its not really a comment on whether I approve of it or not.

HSG is HSG. They're not going to spend money on dos Santos or Chicharito. Folks can either enjoy the method they're using to build a team currently in the Supporter's Shield hunt or bitterly complain for the next 20 years.

I've gotten to the point where I've decided to enjoy the ride and not worry about it...............................

Just a quick question. How many MLS teams currently have a winning record on the road?

The answer is one.................................

The road records of teams in MLS this season are pretty shocking. I don't know if its the travel or what, but every team in league is suffering "debacles" on the road this year.

I'm not worried about it................................