Eh, if you look at the payroll numbers across the league there's the top couple of teams (Miami and TFC are far higher than everyone), and then there's a huge logjam of teams that all are within $1M-$2M of one another. Seattle is spending right around what they've always spent. The rest of the league is spending in the same area or more nowadays. Not to mention there's 30 teams now.....Seattle was usually top 3 in spending when the league had 15-20 teams. It's doubled in size and the teams that have come in, nearly all are spending at Seattle's level or higher.
Seattle I also think is at a crossroad where they're stuck between wanting to rebuild and keep the band together. Lodiero is gone, Ruidiaz is leaving at end of the year. That being said, when you have home grown players step up like Seattle has, it makes not spending much easier. Jackson Regan, Paul Rothrock, Obed Vargas, and Josh Atencio were all over 1000 minutes (first 3 being starters). Reed Baker Whiting and Danny Leyva have also become rotation players (RBW likely becoming a starter sooner than later)
Seattle's ownership group is not particularly wealthy. So while they have had good attendance, they've made a conscious effort to control spending. As other teams have grown, they've relatively dropped while spending similar amounts. It's a huge mistake -- they used to draw 40,000 and they are drawing low 30s this year because the team is mediocre and frankly a bit boring. A smart ownership group would realize this and make sure the Ruidiaz replacement is a star. But I suspect they won't -- Lagerway left for a reason, and they replaced him with a guy who basically is known for low payroll teams.
Seattle's ownership is wealthy if they want to be. If Jody Allen wants to spend all of her brother's money on soccer................... Like FC Dallas' ownership. Both middle of the pack now in salary outlay. A whole lot of clubs in about the same place. MLS payroll by team 2024 | Statista There's such a thin line between success and failure in MLS. Philly is an example of that. It doesn't take much to slide. It also doesn't take much to go the other way back up the table. Sustainable long-term success is difficult.
Seattle only finished 7 points off the top of the West. 4th place. Make a couple of astute signings this off-season (like the Galaxy did last off-season), and they're back competing for SS. I do like some of their young homegrown players. Some years the mix of veteran and young/developing players doesn't work.
How do you know Tanner is forcing a 4-4-2 diamond? Why would the sporting director have a say over what formation they use
Seattle have the Club World Cup coming up next summer. I'd assume they make at least one big signing (Ruidiaz's replacement) before then. Isn't Rusnak also up for renewal? He could be replaced with a bigger name or resigned at a lower, non-DP deal. They have another DP or U22 spots, too? I'm not exactly sure how the new roster declarations work. In any case, seems like the roster is ripe for some retooling/additions, and I'm sure they recognize the stage that they'll be on with the Club World Cup.
The sporting director or technical director often has the biggest say in some of the big overarching things like that. In this case, the coach has to work within the parameters set by the director that he reports to, and it can be a similar idea with a general manager buying players for the coach to use. Different organizations are set up in different ways and use different titles with different roles and responsibilities, though. This would be an interesting topic for TSS or another pod to cover.
One team that has done it pretty well is Seattle. Not so sure about this year as I haven't really been able to follow too much (almost none) of MLS for the pasts couple of years. Not sure you could say their HG's are "great", but they have played a few key young players that have played crucial roles in their success.
Exactly. Not great but solid and really help out with the cap. Their stars have aged out and retired so it greatly depends on replacements.
I think that the best path, on a budget , to a consistently top level team in MLS is to 1) shoot for as many as possible but at least 3-5 solid players that came through the academy (I know, academies aren't cheap to run...) and 2) choose wisely on dp's who may not be the biggest names but give excellent bang for the buck. That may be enough to win a championship/SS or two but, If they can manage to be consistently good, when an elite prospect comes through, that could really put the icing on the cake. (of course, they will have to hold on to the elite prospect for a year or two...maybe as part of a loanback deal).
Ownership/Waibel have said that we'll be spending this offseason, the roster is just in a weird spot. We whiffed on Chu (a u22 signing who had flashes but barely even makes the bench now), Pedro De La Vega spent most of the season fighting a hamstring injury and is still figuring out how he fits in with our team. More weirdness is that Rusnak had an excellent season (10g, 16a), and Morris is a good 9 (13g 5a) (which he's always been but until Ruidiaz got injured/old he played on the wing instead) so it's hard to justify really replacing either unless you're getting an MVP caliber player in those positions. Our ideal signing would probably be a killer winger like a Pec/Paintsil and with Obed likely on the way out in the next 12-18 months at most and Joao Paulo showing his age (and being injured) some sort of high TAM 6 or 8 profile player. We do have a couple of young 6/8 profile players also on the bench and in Tacoma (another 17 year old starts frequently for Defiance in midfield for us, 6s and 8s are what our academy excels at apparently). Our roster is in a good spot and we have a lot of GOOD players, but we don't have the killer elites that a Miami or LAFC or Columbus have, and getting one for our team might be a bridge too far for ownership now.
Of course, Miami and Columbus are no longer in the playoffs. Seattle is. Let's not write the eulogy on Seattle's season just yet. The Sounders have the best defense in the league. Conceded only 35 goals in 34 regular season games. It could just be that you win this title with defense and timely goals rather than the offense we're used to.
Pochettino confirms there will be January camp. Good news. #USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino also revealed that next year’s January camp will be held in the Miami area, and implored MLS teams to release players for it despite not being required to: “In January, we want the commitment of the all the MLS clubs.”— Doug McIntyre (@ByDougMcIntyre) November 10, 2024
Well, considering how much we're paying him, it's nice to know that he'll be occupied with something between the end of next week and March...
It would be an interesting study to compare academy budgets, HG player sales and player acquisitions. A good academy "could" pay for itself and more.
That's the hope, but we've run into our bogey team in LAFC. They've beaten us FOUR times this season already and it's generally the same blueprint. Maybe being at home in the playoffs will put pressure on them to want to possess the ball more but Dolo seems largely fine with allowing us to have the ball and just counter us to death.
I remember when OU beat KU in the Big 8 regular season and Big 8 tournament and met them again in the NCAA final and I thought just what you are right now. They won the most important game against them so you just never know. One thing BShredder said on twitter about Miami losing to Atlanta is in the playoffs the effort goes all the way up. Can LAFC put more effort into it to match what Seattle or were they already giving their all?
McGlynn and Sullivan 🔝 transfer values, U2⃣3⃣ non-European-based attack-oriented midfielders 🧱🥇 #KendryPaez 🇪🇨 €23.8m🥈 #ClaudioEcheverri 🇦🇷 €20.4m🥉 #CarlosAlcaraz 🇦🇷 €15.1m#Lescano 🇦🇷 #Fernandez 🇦🇷 #Zapelli 🇮🇹🇦🇷 #Sullivan 🇺🇸 #McGlynn 🇺🇸 #Montano 🇲🇽 #Lezcano 🇵🇾 More estimates 👉… pic.twitter.com/isHB2UNcHj— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) November 17, 2024 Luna and Cowell 🔝 transfer values, U2⃣3⃣ non-European-based wingers 🕊️🥇 #EstevaoWillian 🇧🇷 €22.5m🥈 #DiegoGomez 🇵🇾 €19.8m🥉 #LucianoRodriguez 🇺🇾 €15.1m#Luna 🇺🇸 #Olivera 🇺🇾 #WesleyGassova 🇧🇷 #Cowell 🇺🇸 #AngeloGabriel 🇧🇷 #Aravena 🇨🇱 #Monsalve 🇨🇴More estimates 👉 https://t.co/7gBSrArARE pic.twitter.com/ZllkJVbfZs— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) November 17, 2024 Cremaschi (and Vargas) 🔝 transfer values, U2⃣3⃣ non-European-based holding midfielders 🧱🥇 #FidelAmbriz 🇲🇽 €15.2m🥈 #CristianMedina 🇦🇷 €14.8m🥉 #ElianIrala 🇦🇷 €10.5m#Nardoni 🇦🇷 #PabloMaia 🇧🇷 #Vargas 🇲🇽 #Cremaschi 🇺🇸 #Mitaj 🇦🇱 #Redondo 🇦🇷 #Mosqueira 🇦🇷 More estimates 👉… pic.twitter.com/pT3jcuvFpu— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) November 16, 2024 Tolkin 🔝 transfer values, U2⃣3⃣ non-European-based full/wing backs 🏹🥇 #AugustinGiay 🇦🇷 & #WesleyFranca 🇧🇷 €14.1m🥉 #LucasEsquivel 🇦🇷 €11.0m#BryanGonzalez 🇲🇽 #Cuiabano 🇧🇷 #Campos 🇲🇽 #Tolkin 🇺🇸 #NathanMendes 🇧🇷 #Castillo 🇲🇽 #Simon 🇦🇷More estimates 👉 https://t.co/7gBSrAr326 pic.twitter.com/yWNVyCs28Z— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) November 16, 2024 Celentano Brady Schulte 🔝 transfer values, U2⃣5⃣ non-European-based goalkeepers 🧤🥇 #KevinMier 🇨🇴 €11.5m🥈 #RaulRangel 🇲🇽€9.3m🥉 #RomanCelentano 🇺🇸 €7.7m#Brady 🇺🇸 #Schulte 🇺🇸 #AlAqidi 🇸🇦 #LeoLinck 🇧🇷 #Mycael 🇧🇷 #Sirois 🇨🇦 #MatheusCunha 🇧🇷Top valued player per club 👉 https://t.co/7gBSrArARE pic.twitter.com/vpqxJ4pCs8— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) November 15, 2024
Interesting coaching news. Dallas hasn't retained Peter Luccin. Instead chose former MLSer Eric Quill. One wonders if this signifies some return to their player development roots. Quill was the coach of New Mexico this year, and they had a great season in the USL. FC Dallas taps Eric Quill as the club's 9th head coach - 3rd Degree “Eric’s coaching philosophy and methodology align perfectly with FC Dallas’ commitment to player development and attacking soccer,” said Chief Soccer Officer André Zanotta. “He has a deep understanding of our ecosystem and the values that drive our club, from the Academy to the first team. Eric’s ability to maximize player potential and his innovative approach to the game make him an ideal leader for this next chapter of FC Dallas.”
I know he was linked early as Quill was coach of North Texas in the past, but seemed like they were gonna stick with Luccin. Quill though has earned a chance