Shrug. Sometimes the fit isn't right at a club. And sometimes other players start performing (like say Tommy McNamara) and that pushes a player down the pecking order. I have faith that Mix will be traded. He wasn't exposed in the expansion draft because he has value. There are a host of clubs in MLS that can use him. Its just about finding a club with the positional need as well as the cap space. I say that because Mix's salary number might scare some teams off. How about Mix in..........................................Houston? There we go. We know he loves Mexican food.
Flavor of the week IHOF ratings in for MLS cup http://sbisoccer.com/2016/12/fox-says-2016-mls-cup-is-most-watched-final-since-2001 it says 4m Canadians watched some of the game. that's almost 1/4th of Canada. You can see the international marketing possibilities for MLS which NFL and MLB cant hope to match. Flavor of the week "rocky road" http://sbisoccer.com/2016/12/report-jacksonville-armada-terminate-player-contracts looks like MLS's competition now is NFL./MLB.
My guess given what came out when Portland tried to sign him is he will only play for lets say 5 MLS cities, when he signed with NYCFC he got a no-movement clause and thus why NYCFC had to "protect" him. The issue now is will he accept a move to a better MLS team fit, just ride the bench and collect the pay or try and force his way completely out of MLS.
Now that he's seen all of MLS and the cities and knows where he'd fit I'd guess he'd waive the clause for what he thinks is a good fit.
What do you mean? I thought everybody is in favor of turning MLS into the northern division of the Paraguay league.
This. It would be a Freddy Adu type mistake to expect him to carry an expansion team off the get go. And as an attacker, he and Vazquez should see significant minutes in 2017.
Somewhere I read Frei might be US eligible? " I was watching this http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/...up-save-12-different-broadcasts?autoplay=true which was a lot of fun to listen to. I was wondering who Makita was and my first search result was "save with Makita" (at Amazon, ofc) I guess they got their money's worth there.
Sometimes this thread seems more about claiming we have 50 guys at each position that are internationally quality and even German's will not try and claim that fact.
Sean Johnson was acquired by New York City FC on Sunday from Atlanta United, who acquired him from the Chicago Fire earlier in the day.
Great Position interview with Xavi Alonso, We need to stop calling for DM "Destroyers" http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/06/29/xabi-alonso-bayern-munich-midfielder ...which is why he thinks the elaborate midfield slide tackle—that bastion of English-style bustling commitment—is overrated. For what is a slide tackle, Alonso reasons, if not an admission that your positioning could have been better? “Especially in the U.K., some people understand—and some people don’t,” says the World Cup–winning Basque Spaniard who has played for such storied clubs as Liverpool, Real Madrid and now Bayern Munich. “If you are too much on the ground, then something is not right. I love good tackling, but I prefer the player who does not need to do that.”
Yes, "destroyer" can be a little too literal. Our hero for for my club team, also named Alonso, is not a shy tackler. But his best tackles are when he is upright, anticipates the attacker's move, takes the ball off him, and makes one of his oft-accurate passes to start his team's attack.
I agree and disagree with what he's saying. I don't see a "destroyer" as one who is spending half his time doing slide tackles. I see a "destroyer" is who is going to be destroying attacks through interceptions, bodying people up, stealing the ball through standing tackles and, yes, the occasional sliding tackle. How many players do we see anymore that are constantly slide tackling? While I see the action, I don't see people relying on that as a main means of taking the ball off the opponent. Also, it's like saying a bicycle kick is an admission that a strikers position is less than what it could have been, but nobody complains about seeing a good bicycle attempt. Speaking for myself, I enjoy a good solid, and clean, slide tackle that both dispossesses and starts a counter-attack.
Of course Xabi is going to say that, he's a "deep lying playmaker" --the little prince who doesn't get dirty. In 'Pool he has Masche to do the dirty work, and in Real he had Lassana first and Sami Khedira after. Every time Xabi tried to tackle someone, he got a yellow.
Understandable Alonso would feel that way, since a mistimed tackle vs. Bayern took him out of the CL Final.
MLS releases opening games - basically March schedule, I guess, with complete schedule to come later. http://soccer.nbcsports.com/2016/12...up-postpones-meeting-over-stl-soccer-stadium/ I wish they would pay more attention to the weather. E.g. NE plays in Colorado March 4 while LA goes to Dallas on the same date. I hear it's kinda nice in LA in early March? Colorado, otoh, is likely to give your hairdo a frosting.......
Yeah, they're making the same mistakes over and over again. Start in March and run into December, playing in random cities. Instead they should start in February and play into late Oct./early Nov. (don't have that unnecessary gap between games at the end), at the beginning playing in the nicer weather cities, i.e.: Dallas, LA, Houston, Atlanta, San Jose, etc. They're asking for aesthetically poor matches early and late. They could also play the CCL knockouts during the season this way, improving their perception of the league, but instead they hold steadfast. It's a mistake.
Yep, have to agree that starting earlier makes a ton of sense, play in your warmer places (that you also would want to skip playing in July/ August). Helps with WCQ, CCL and with current MLS playoff format- warmer Cup game
From my point of view, what's the point of a winter break if we're playing games in February? Temperature-wise, That's the same as playing through Christmas (and weather-wise, it's often worse). I mean, I agree, we should be playing March and November games in warmer climes where possible, but moving games into February when all but 6 MLS stadia drop into the 20s at night seems extreme. Encouraging games in February also favors creating turf installations instead of grass. As for the CCL, man, Feburary knock-outs are terrible. They give the US 4 slots and then put the knock outs right in the middle of MLS' preseason! I can't imagine that stands for much longer. I think there's a deal to be done where we open it up to 32 slots from 24 and still take the top team out of each group. All the teams would have to play all the match days in the preliminary round, but you wouldn't have to extend it. (US/Canada +1, Mex +1, Central America +4 and Carribean +2) This would be in exchange for pushing out and compressing the knockout stage into late March through April.
There would still be a point to a winter break. They have them in Europe where they return while it's still cold. It just reduces the number of cold weather games, and in MLS' case they could work around barely having any at all because of the climate diversity that doesn't exist overseas. Load them up in the warmer weather cities early on, play during the day heavily, and mix in CCL which would be in Mexico half the time and actually during the season. Anyways, I'd rather see cold weather games played in February than in December for all the marbles. That should be their showcase game. Those final couple of games I think got good ratings, or were set up to, but the finale fell flat. That's bad for a meritorious finale without unwanted variables and for entertainment because flair players require precision and a mind that's not distracted. So I think there would be much more added benefit than drawback if they started in February.
I said this before on this thread, more or less, but CCL for me should be 8 teams, 2 best MLS, 2 best MexLiga, plus 4 other league champs from CA/Caribs playing in Cali/Tex/Florida in December in an 8 team k.o. round. Mex Team 1 v CR in LA Mex Team 2 v Honduras in Tejas USA Team 1 v Guat in Tejas USA Tean 2 v ElSalvador in Miami or Orlando final 4 could finish up in LA or Texas or Florida. We would have 7 games, sold out big stadiums, big TV, instead of the current mickey mouse game nobody watches because it features an outdated and out of form team in a typical venue like Guyana in February. If you tried hard to come up with a game nobody is going to watch that would wreck brand reputation as much as possible you would come up with a typical MLS CCL game. Sometimes you really have to wonder.
Aaannndddd hold everything. We're out of Spirit of St.Louis flavor this week because elections have consequences and St Louis new stadium deal in jeopardy - Governor elect voices opposition to welfare for billionaires. http://soccer.nbcsports.com/2016/12...up-postpones-meeting-over-stl-soccer-stadium/
Agree the format should be tweaked too. I'd be interested in streamlining and/or replacing it with a true Champions' Cup at the end of the season between the Americas. That would be climactic and contemporary, really giving them a leg up on Europe where they'd be at a quality disadvantage. The logistics of Europe makes it so they need to do it the next season and after an extended break, meaning it's really not the same. And I don't think the Americas should be trying to make an inferior copy. Champions of the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile, and Costa Rica could play in an 8-team tourney after their seasons. Or they could do 16 and have two teams from the biggest ones, like the Supporter's Shield winner from MLS incentivizing the regular season, and bring in a few other countries. Hold it at a neutral site and invite travel. Often that would mean having it in the southern U.S. in December. A lot of the schedules in the Americas run to November-December, and those that didn't could adjust. Maybe this format could be done as a measuring stick, and then I guess it'd be fine not to give much of a rip about CCL if that was a separate comp because this would be their chance to improve perception and play for something bigger.