indeed great to see columbus keep their team. now, how about visiting KC another time with your team dec 8th, where we can celebrate together - you, keeping your team, and us, winning MLS cup
And it looked like about six people were at the match... Granted a mid-week Halloween match on three days' notice is not great for kids or millennials.
The stands were so empty, It didn’t even look like a home game for FCD. I’ve been to a number of games at Toyota park and have never seen the stadium full so I’m not surprised at the empty seats, but the scene last night was rather pathetic. It really makes me appreciate the support we have in Kansas City.
I agree with what Andy Edwards proposed on Twitter last night--all games on weekends to increase attendance/interest and improve quality of play, all rounds single-elimination so that home-field advantage is more meaningful; after all, two-leg series were originally invented to minimize it. Weekend 1: Knockout Round Weekend 2: Conference Semifinals Weekend 3: International Break Weekend 4: Conference Finals Weekend 5: MLS Cup
I agree that the home and away series minimizes the home field advantage. But if you want to avoid a single game elimination tournament, I think the only way to make it fairer is to go to a 3 game series, 5 points needed to advance, straight shootout if no one gets to 5 (no need for total goals, or away goals rules). But to go to that format you need to have only 4 teams in each conference in the playoffs, and run the three games on a Saturday, Wednesday, Sunday schedule to give 3 days between each game with a team sweeping the first two games getting extra rest for the next series. You actually end up with two more playoff games for TV purposes than you have now, if all the series go 3 games. If MLS wanted to make the Cup final a three game series also (which would be cool in my opinion), you would have to start the playoffs a week earlier than now.
I started the day watching Gladbach beat Dusseldorf, then the Chef's, then 2-1/2 MLS matches so far. Heavenly.
It may have been foolish, but I stayed up until after midnight watching the Portland vs Seattle playoff game. It was a very sloppy back and forth affair. At the end of extra time, the Portland players were celebrating because they thought they had won the game and had no idea it had to go to a shootout to decide the winner. Hilarious. They were thinking they could just bunker and defend and win the game when they should have been going forward for the win... wow. The only thing that was funnier is that Seattle is done for the season.
We’ll lose no one in the expansion draft this year. Because we lost Latif last year, we’re exempt this year.
Oh man... expansion draft - I hadn't had thoughts of that yet this year. It is one of my least favorite features of a growing MLS league.
I don't know who to pull for tonight. I guess it will be Portland since they are the big underdog....just as they were against Seattle and KC..
Sigi Schmid passed away at age 65. I never cared for the guy but there is no denying he was one of the best coaches to ever walk the sideline in Major League Soccer.
Just got through watching some of the MLS combine. As I was watching, I was thinking that if the college game does not change, the combine will become a meaningless exercise and cease to exist. College players are incrementally better now than in the past, but they are falling more and more behind the level needed to succeed at the professional level. On the positive side, the MLS is increasing their level of play through academy development and by bringing in more skilled players from outside the USA. On the negative side, the huge pool of athletic talent in the college game is being left behind. Poor coaching, archaic NCAA rules, abbreviated seasons, crummy reffing and much more contribute to the problem. I think the MLS academies are the best answer since the NCAA will never release their strangle hold on the college game. The NCAA has only lately begun a very limited partnership with USSF, and only with 6 major college programs. There is no formal alignment with NCAA programs and FIFA rules. Since the colleges simply use athletic talent rather than providing long term development, I see more kids opting for the academy route rather than college soccer. I used to get fairly interested in the combine and the draft, but now,,,,,,,zzzzzzz..
Throwing 11 random college kids together in a couple of games isn’t going to tell you much of anything about those kids. If you’re (general you) using the combine to ‘scout’ your draft picks, you’re behind.
Absolutely right. That’s why I say the combine is kind of meaningless and will probably either go away or morph into something else. I watch a lot of the college games just to see what is out there and to look for the “elite” guys. However, it is tough (to my untrained eye) to see just what they can do in the smash and grab, route one ball that most college teams play. The combine takes them out of that environment and at least you can see what a guy can do when taken out of his system. But the whole process, being kind of a glamorized pick-up game, is not very useful in the end.
Here is a fairly scathing indictment of the usefulness of the MLS draft from Deadspin.com. I think Garber needs to really get his minions gathered around and rethink this whole scenario. If the acadmies completely take the place of developing young talent, will that spell the end of college soccer or just reduce it the 3rd rate athletic programs? It will be interesting to see where this whole issue will ends up. https://deadspin.com/the-mls-superdraft-is-an-embarrassing-relic-1831743830
I don't read Deadspin's MLS coverage (call it the Haisley rule), but I assume this is about yesterday and 12 teams passing (13 if you add in Philadelphia) at least once and 21 picks total being passed on. And I could be convinced to dump the 3rd and 4th round and not lose any sleep, but I can't see fully going away for a while at least. Academies won't completely take over taken development because there are too many players that don't belong to MLS academies and the league will need a mechanism for teams to acquire them. And I can't see the players union allowing "free agency" for all that talent to come into the league, especially when their current members don't have it.
Given the practical realities of the draft, that very few players in any round will spend their year with the first team squad, there was a suggestion somewhere on here to rebrand the draft as the USL draft for MLS clubs, more like the baseball draft than the NFL or NBA draft. BTW, well done on nailing the deadspin piece without reading it. I thought the greater indictments were Vermes comments on extratime radio, esp his comparison of the short college season to the pro-like academy season.
Austin FC joining MLS in 2021. That will make the 3rd MLS franchise in Texas following Dallas and Houston, neither of which seem to be able to fill their stadiums with people. Texas is a great state for football, but soccer has not seemed to gain traction at the professional level that it has in other states. Precourt Sports Ventures must have a lot of money and pull to jump ahead of the other cities that have been wanting an MLS franchise.
What's the latest thinking on going beyond 28? I read the quote below here in December. I'd really, really, like the new St. Louis group to get one - but I see it as a reach with Sacramento in the mix. I think MLS has to go to 30 for STL to have an odds-on chance. Prior to this comment by Garber, I thought MLS would shut down at 28; at this point there will be clubs that never win championships in entire generations - much like our other pro sports in the US. It would be interesting to watch an informed debate as to whether new clubs dilute or enhance the value of existing clubs. Not every club can be Atlanta and IMHO, they will likely look more like Minnesota. Does a strong new club pull value from others in terms of interest and overall league evolution? Do weak new clubs drag down the league? Do Texas clubs that can't fill their stadiums help or hurt? Just some musings. Garber said MLS is likely to grant a 28th franchise in the next year. St. Louis, Phoenix, Detroit and Sacramento, California, are among the contenders. Whoever is left out in this round of expansion may not have to wait long for another shot at a franchise. Garber said he expects the owners to begin discussing the feasibility of taking the league beyond a 28-team alignment at a board meeting next week. "I don't anticipate an announcement coming out of that," the commissioner said. "But there's no doubt in my mind that we can support more than 28 teams in Major League Soccer."
At this point Sacramento is the new Rochester. I think St. Louis is ahead of them at this point and arguably the favorite.