Pretty interesting article on spending by MLS teams. https://theathletic.com/3009792/202...isnt-top-priority/?source=user_shared_article Basically the top spending teams in MLS are spending amounts equivalent to the top team in the Netherlands, teams in the English Championship, bottom tier teams in the French league, and similar to Liga MX other than the teams at the very top. The main difference being that in MLS these teams are basically spending 50 percent or more of their money on their top 3 players.
Portland Timbers and NYCFC spend less than 1/3 of their payroll on their top 3 players. Are we entering MLS 4.0?
MLS cup supposed to start at noon but ABC showing UCONN v. UCLA ladies bball. Refs look at video review for 5 minutes to figure out who ball goes to out of bounds with 30 seconds left. UCONN ball, they throw it in and get fouled. 0.6 seconds off the clock and time out so now clock showing 29.6 seconds left. In the last 5 minutes they have played 0.4 seconds of basketball. Why in the world does anybody want to watch this crap?
I mean one of the problems Portland has is that Oregon as a state doesn’t produce a ton of talent. As a state it’s near the very bottom when it comes to professional athletes produced, both based on numbers and per capita level. If they wanted to build up their academy they’d have to do what the Oregon Ducks do, which is go to California and bring in all their players from there. I don’t think they’re necessarily opposed to bringing in American players via the draft, but that’s definitely less fruitful an option that it used to be.
Completely scripted interview by Taylor Twellman w Don Garber and never once is the quality of play in the league mentioned.
return on level of play would be better if teams could just distrubute that salary evenly throughout the team MLS needs to get of all the designations and just let teams spend based on revenue
Two. Sands joined the academy in 2015 at U16 level and Gray joined the academy in 2017. Both are New Yorkers. Sands is from Westchester County and Gray is from The Bronx.
Sands was an unsung hero, again. Well-deserved champ. Get him to USMNT as the #2 6 & to Europe, finally. This was his 5th season w/ NYCFC. Won 'em a title. Sean Johnson should remain in the gk conversation, like Horvath, as long as our top 2 incumbents are so 1-dimensional, unlike them. Was clutch in this one. Gray was only ok. Ball sort of slows down & could think the game quicker. But it's something to build on for the future. 2nd youngest to start in MLS Cup.
Who was younger? Adu? I had to watch the game on mute. Johnson was the hero tonight. Sands was good. I thought Gray was good for his age. And Morales was alright too.
Just happened last year. It was Aiden Morris. And he beasted. But Gray has put in a better body of work at this point. So he's on a good trajectory. So much for that '19 u-17 WC squad being a weak group. Has twice as many (4) senior nationals as any other squad in that tourney. Will go to 2.5 whenever Scally finally gets capped. Gray has a good shot in some capacity.
There have been weirdly few Sands rumors. It’s the right time for both him and the club for a move. I think if we could get $5M and a club offers him $500K in wages, that could do it. I think he’d be well suited to a compact Bundesliga mid-table side.
He's fine where he is, he just needs a big pay raise from his current $200k to around the max budget charge of $612,500 (2022). He's under contract until December 2026, so if he does move we'll get a fee.
He’ll be getting a raise regardless if he leaves or stays. But it’s in our best interest to let him leave now and maximize the transfer fee — the demand will be less once his wages pop and he’s a few years older. And IMHO it’s in his best interest to find the next level for himself abroad.
Sands is a good player and was very good in MLS cup final. But I don't know how much higher his upside is, which is probably why European teams haven't tended $5 million bid. At the highest levels, I don't think he has the incisive vision to be a huge plus offensively or the athleticism to be a force defensively. Also, I bet he'll probably be able to make more money in MLS (I would think he would be in line to make $600K or more per year in his next contract) than he would for the level of club overseas that I would imagine would be interested in him. But it will probably be up to him. Some player want to test themselves in Europe even as MLS wages rise. Even with his limitations, I expect to see him as a January call up and hopefully there is a friendly where we get to actually see him as a 6. He's only played midfield for the US once, and while he was pretty bad, I think the formation and personnel on the field set him up for failure. That and he kept falling down (never seen him slip that many times)! But since that game, Acosta has had some weak showings, so I would be interested in looking at other 6 options.