I Cannot Wait....

well, without the fixture congestion, we'll have to come up with something else to "not use as an excuse" for how slow and uninspired the team looks

 

Wow, I'm sure this thread is going to be just jam-packed with happiness and optimism.

Personally, there are a lot of things I can't wait for. The legalization of prostitution, midget tossing, and cocaine fueled knife-fighting being three of them. I can honestly say congested soccer schedules and new coaches don't even crack my top twenty.

 

Well, crap...We might as well make an early start of it, then.

I pick "Things haven't been the same since United lost its original training facility in Herndon. Maybe there's inadequate facilities available where the team now trains...after all, almost everything else at RFK is inadequate!"

 

The obvious answer would be DC's apparent use of The New Colossus in their recruiting efforts.

 

Playing a lot of games is certainly harder than playing only a few games, I guess. But the more Brian Dunseth prattled on last night about how hard it was for DCU to play in both MLS and international competitions, the less convinced I was. (I have to admit that all FSC announcers have that effect. If they are for something, there must be something wrong with it, or so it seems to me.)

Next year, the Premiership is going to limit teams to a 25 man roster, plus some sort of youth roster for under 21s. And Chelsea competed in past seasons with a roster of about 24 or 25. So I am not convinced that the current roster limit in MLS is really the problem.

If you look at DCU's roster and consider past rosters, you have to believe that the problem is more the payroll than the number of players. Until this year, the last 4-6 players on the DCU roster were simply warm bodies, much like a NFL practice squad. No one could reasonably expect them to go out and compete. This year, the situation is not quite the same, but still the developmental contracts are for what $12,000? Surely no one can really expect to compete with foreign clubs, even from the Caribbean with such low cost players.

And at the upper end of the salary list, you see Emilio with his $700,000 and so. If you want a roster than has meaningful depth, don't you have to spread the money out somewhat more evenly? Playing one player 10 times (?) as much as another starter can't possibly be worth the money, can it?

Now I would admit that finding players at the $80-100,000 range is no simple matter, particularly if you are looking outside the US and keeping 15-20 such players happy over the course of the season wouldn't be a picnic either, but isn't that what's necessary to field a MLS team that can compete overseas, that is, short of a massive increase in the salary cap.

 

We'll be SuperLiga next year - Filling up RFK with Mexican fans is too much money for MLS not to put us in

And at the very least we'll have 2 or 3 exhibition games against Euro and South American teams

Plus we'll have to play our way into the USOC

Copa Sudamericana qualifying rounds anyone????

 

You, sir, are obviously some sort of witch.

 

The loss of the "iconic 3 stripes" on our uniforms is why we look slow. Sports cars have stripes and are fast. Tigers - stripes and fast. Zebras - speedy and striped.

 

you got a point there - I don't recall seeing an OTC with stripes on it ....

 

If the L.A. Galaxy qualify for the Champions League next year, there will be an MLS schedule buffer to help teams avoid the problems we're going through this year.

I would assume the other three MLS teams that qualify will get somewhat similar treatment.

And until the Premier League has anything close to a salary cap or balanced salaries, the comparison is useless. Chelsea/Man U/Liverpool can pay their reserve team more than Bolton or Hull can pay thier starters. Chelsea can and do put out guys like Kalou and Sturridge in league matches that may not be CL starters, but guys who are still a class above whatever East London starlet Stoke are trotting out.

Anelka scored their CL goal yesterday and he didn't start Saturday. They didn't miss him.

I pick, "United hasn't won a meaningful game at RFK stadium since Kevin Ara got cut."

 

Three words. Tongues. Of. Flame.


We could be the fastest team in the league if we just added tongues of flame to our jerseys.

 

At this point, I would settle for second-slowest team in the league. That would be progress.

 

To effect this change, I guess you'd really have to add the flames on the seat of the shorts...

 

I'd be all for United purposely tanking the USOC and using Superliga for the reserves and youth team (another change I'd like to see MLS make, allow youth players to participate in non-league matches).

Let the starters solely focus on league play, and whomever the coach is, he won't have anything to complain about. Plenty of rest between matches, plenty of training time, etc.

 

I have no problem with this either, but as soon as that's declared to be the strategy, I'd be willing to bet we hear a chorus of whining about how we're incapable of winning international competitions, etc.

 

Until MLS squads have a larger, better paid roster, with players 16-24 being more than OTCs, nobody is really a legit threat to win CONCACAF.

Oh, and purposely tanking the Open Cup and Stupidliga would mean no congestion in 2011 if we failed to win the Cup.

 

Or made everyone wear drunken hillbilly flame visors.

 

See, I know that, and you know that, but we still hear the whining, don't we?

The only downside would be that I would have fewer opportunities to watch my team.

 

Backwards.

You know, for heading...

 

I'm guessing the break for the World Cup is actually only going to congest the schedule further. Fitting same competitions into the same time frame but eliminating at least two weeks of league play. Maybe they'll fit Super Liga in there, or tweak the CCL format?

 

meaning you don't want DCU to make playoffs and MLS Cup final??

Also not make USOC entry?