I first really started to semi pay attention to them when the Efra stuff started at U17. At that point they either could have been ass**les or really astute business people looking out for their clients, and doing what was best by them. Pretty clear which one‘s they are at this point. The further back you go the more you can see quotes almost lifted directly from here. Pathetic stuff. My fav old post was how they hoped US Soccer wouldn‘t ruin the future Xavi and Iniesta (Richie L and Mendez) like they ruin all players. The number of follows and likes is always the best thing to look at. So many stupid people in the world. So sad, and I have no sympathy for them. Looks like they have backed themselves into a niche corner and will be a footnote soon, and are essentially being passed by. Again, talk about taking a great opp and screwing it up. It‘s good to see people like this fail TBH.
IIRC, MLS teams need to offer their academy players a competitive contract if they want to retain their MLS rights.
1555945338921488387 is not a valid tweet id Don't see this discussed as much as their awful McKennie and Reyna tweets but this is almost as bad (reaction to Aaronson's first call up). His sycophants complain SUM is making Aaronson get called up over Mendez and Ledezma
SUM is the soccer equivalent of the Deep State, Qanon, and False Flag Ops. I think Kleiban is really Alex Jones.
Probably MLS minimum salary. FCD retained the rights to Emerson Hyndman long after he'd left their academy as they'd offered him a contract prior to his departure for Fulham. When he wanted to come back to MLS and sign with Atlanta, they had to trade for his rights from FCD. That was ~8 years later!!! It wasn't a trivial trade, either. International roster slots for 2019 and 2020 plus a pile of GAM. Teams don't retain rights for players that were under contract and then sold (which is most of the recent ones. Richards, Cannon, Reynolds, Pepi, Tessmann, etc. for FCD.). An interesting question is whether FCD retained the rights to Jonathan Gomez. I don't know. That's a trickier one. Actually, I don't know why anybody takes that particular twitter feed seriously. We don't actually know who is making those posts on 3four3. It could be any one of the Kleiban sycophants amongst that group. People just assume its Gary Kleiban.
I know there's an issue with obtaining random player rights in foreign leagues but isn't retaining rights to an academy player a bit like training compensation?
I guess. We'll see how long that policy lasts. The idea was to incentivize teams to invest in their academies and youth initiatives. So teams retain the MLS rights to players like McKennie, Ledezma, Mendez, Alvarado even if they leave without signing a contract. As long as they offer them a contract themselves. [I assume this means offer them an MLS first team contract, as opposed to an MLS Next Pro contract. I don't know about that.]
Gallegos? Thats very interesting. I'm all for Europe for USL players that are in what seems to be a dead-end, but they got him to a club that was about to be relegated to a league that is no better than USL. Didn't seem like the best decision at the time. Did he have nothing else? I'm not expecting that he had great interest, but Mendez and Alvarado signed with a team that had a full season to prove itself in the first division of Portugal. In a full season they were good enough to stay up. Gallegos went to a club that had little chance to survive with about half the season remaining.
I would much rather miss the last 15 minutes of a game that could go either way than be on time for another.
I'm not quite sure why we're still talking about Brian Kleiban. Just a reminder that most of Brian Kleiban's posts are innocuous. Its the 3four3 twitter feed that sometimes has crazy statements. We don't really know who writes those. People speculate its Gary Kleiban. [A reminder that Brian Kleiban and Gary Kleiban are different human beings.] I've looked at some of those opinions since the WC started, and its blatheringly insipid. Back to bashing Weston McKennie and others. It's all very Wynalda-esque attention seeking. You think "the future is bright"?You think "the #USMNT will prevail against England"?Put your money where your mouth is.Place a *huge bet on the #USMNT, and publish the receipt. Emphasis on huge.Otherwise, you're full of shit.— 3four3 (@3four3) November 24, 2022
343 Twitter Account -- going from England is too Good to England is Shit in one game. And now, with extra right wing talking points!
The biggest offender is his brother, Gary, @3four3 on Twitter. Academics (he's a lecturer at CalStFullerton) are typically open minded and willing to exchange ideas. This guy is opinionated and will block you if you have a strong Twitter following. A friend asked him about his "MEX will reach the semis...I have spoken" tweet and was summarily blocked whereas another account with 37K followers got a non-apologetic response. For one, If I want to listen to an opinionated soccer voice, I'll call my uncle or listen to pundits that have more credibility than an untenured Physics prof...Ok, that was over the top.
It's not over the top. Gary is a jackass, and everyone, including his brother, knows it. He used to rip into teenagers he didn't have a financial interest in to pump up his clients online -- he's a giant piece of shit, ethically speaking. Oh, you're 16 and selected over Gary's client? Then I will make a terrible and nasty, inaccurate scouting report on you. Maybe get a little personal. Dude is trash.
1615036657597833219 is not a valid tweet id Gary Kleiban has ruined multiple players careers because he has an axe to grind with MLS...it's selfish nonsense— Cal McNair-Easterby (@BillObriensFak1) January 16, 2023
Did Uly have a chance to sign a first team deal in MLS? Is his dad being sincere or is that a tongue in cheek tweet? Can't tell from the written word. At the time that Uly, Mendez, Efrain ( that kid who was a star left back with the curly hair and lots of youttube clips showing how fit he was) all came up, the thought was go to Europe instead of giving MLS control of your pathway. How did staying in MLS treat Efrain? Last I watched some LA games he was not on the field or the game day roster. That has changed now with the Aronsons, Adams, and others going to MLS first and then Europe. If you are a standout now, it is probably a better plan to play in MLS a few years and then go but it's still based upon the individual. Look at all the FCD kids that went over, (Che, JOGO, Bryan Reynolds, Sealy). None of them were regulars in MLS and went to Europe first. Time will tell what works out.
There's no reason to think he didn't have an offer. He was considered a serious prospect. Manipulated by the snake oil salesman w/ an axe to grind Gary Kleiban, Mendez was blindly sent the more unreliable route. Efrain's a bad defender and athlete. Llanez has some of these same issues, but he would have gotten a chance like Efrain. So did Saldana. They just aren't good enough. Llanez also wouldn't have suffered a gap in his development from waiting to sign in Europe and then entering an academy for a team he was never going to play for. That's stagnating. Cuevas went thru this too, under the guidance of Kleiban. Ultimately Llanez got a modest shot w/ Heerenveen. He looked naive and then got quickly hooked. A team where he wasn't a loanee and w/ whom he came up w/ the academy, like Galaxy, would have given him a longer leash. He got burnt and now they're owning up to it. Good on them. Maybe he's hoping to curry favor to now backoor a deal. He shouldn't get better than a USL contract given his resume.
I don't know if signing in MLS would have been better for Uly simply because of the Galaxy, who haven't been as willing to offer time. I don't think you can use Efrain as an example of that, though -- he's gotten a ton of time but having watched him a decent amount, he seems to refuse to do a bunch of the work. Araujo has also been a lock starter. The rumor, though, at the time, was that Gary wasn't even passing on contract offers. And he clearly is directing all his clients to stay away. That's bad agenting -- no one should have a blanket rule like that. As for the FCD players, Reynolds was a starter in MLS. It was a short time, but he was. Che played some with FCD as well and used their contacts in his progression. Sealy also signed and was loaned. Pepi signed and was sold, of course. Tessman as well. Richards signed and was sold without ever playing. Only Gonzalez chose to go a route where he didn't sign with FCD, and while he is Sociedad, he is still working his way up. I don't necessarily think it was a bad path -- he got a LOT of minutes at a lower level, so that's a trade off. But I think he would have played with FCD and Dallas has been willing to sell The point, though, is that Gary was and likely still is completely anti-MLS. But it's clearly viable choice and probably the best choice for a lot of players.
The thing that always stuck me a little funny about Kleiban on his twitter is he goes on and on to state you have to be (expert in your field) with (unquestioned credentials) before someone should listen to you or take your opinion seriously. He would often state this to dismiss other folks opinions about players, strategy, tactics etc. But then, if I understand how it worked, he was a college professor that all the sudden starting working as a pro agent? Is that correct? Where was the expertise and knowledge in that field? Just seemed incongruent.