Of course, they have to manage his minutes for the cash grab cup (that adds more games on average to mls team schedules than the USOC), and to fly him all over the world in preseason.
Isn't Miami playing in Japan right now? I wonder, does all of this mean the other 29 roster members also get extra cash?
So, this is an Apple wants to control the Messi-riches move and protect their prime asset. Given that his arrival moved the value of the club from $400m to $1.3billion, I can see the logic in wanting to do something. There were ways of doing this that would not have represented an insult to US soccer. They could have divided the bracket into an almost all MLS one for the round of 32, and doubled up, with league games also being Cup matches, until the SFinals, at which point two teams have one extra game, and one team has 2, which is more than manageable. I don't know if that would have worked, but it was an option and I'm sure there are better ones
Miami has an interesting take on building their club and their brand. I understand Messi and Sergio Busquets signings to lift Miami out of mediocrity and grab a lot of cash, but bringing in a 36 year old Suarez with 2 bad knees? Is this just a short term money grab while they try to build an organization by producing their own players? Or, are they going to continue recycling formerly great players year after year?
He scored 17 goals and had 11 assists in 33 games Gremio, obviously the leagues are different but still. Right now I think it's about the appeal, but if I was any team in the league right now I'd be asking about Campana.
I would think Tata would want Campana, as Suarez will probably be devasting with Messi and busquets, when he can play. but there are a lot of nights when he will not be able to.
The reason I say that is roster requirements. Miami had 3 DPs already. And with Suarez you're not starting Campana presumably.
From the MLS piece on the transfer: "Suárez most recently played for Grêmio. At age 36, he was the second-leading scorer in Brazil’s Serie A and tallied 26g/17a in 53 games across all competitions this past season." His knees may be bad but they can't be that bad. gremio is in 2nd place is Brazil's Serie A, and he's a prime reason. they're among the top scorers in the league and because of him are leading some legit giants. And then there is this, the eye test:
Question, now that Caleb Porter to NE is official, why don't folks like Porter? I hear a lot of dismissal on here, but I don't know the backstory. The facade is not bad, two clubs, two MLS Cup wins, falls apart after that, but a lot of places would take a cup and then a collapse instead of just mediocrity on and on. So what is the deal? What did he do at Portland and then Columbus?
From what I have heard (and this might sound familiar) common soccer related complaints about Porter are that he has a very defined system that only works well with the specific package of players required and that he doesn't do well developing youth.
And abrasive, thin-skinned and whiny? Gosh, who would put up with a manager like that? I do hope that NE realizes going in that sometimes this sort of manager might been 15 years to get his system really up and running.
Suarez is accomplished, no one can deny that. When the season starts he'll be 37. There are not too many guys in top flight soccer that can do well at that age, (Ibrahimovich comes to mind). I'm sure he will make an impact if he stays healthy. There is an old country song that goes "I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was". I'm just not sure he will last the entire season without going down to lengthy injury.
This is 100 percent my worldview and why I am not a fan of the way Vermes builds the SKC roster. But after buzz noted his stats, which were really impressive, in the league, i needed to take a look. The last goal he scored in Brazil? It was in December, 2023. two weeks ago. Watch the clip below and tell me that he's playing as if he's on his last leg? He has just finished a 26 goal year. In brazil's Serie A. Is that MLS standard? I wanna say no, but the crowd sizes are massive, and them Brazilians do know a bit about the game. So, will he go down with injury this year? The odds say yes, but he did not miss much time in 2023. I mean, look at him:
mls is improving its quality for sure, but i think we're still a fair bit behind brazil's top league. and this is especially so if the example you're using is a game against fluminense, who just won the libertadores and was in the cwc. i actually chuckled when news broke that he was officially going to miami, as i thought he had long since broken down and they were just going to make miami into a circus. i knew he'd put a few in while at gremio, but i wasn't aware he was able to play that many games. now i'm concerned that it may actually work out.
I had the exact same reaction, i thought Miami hit a jackpot with Messi and Busquets and got cocky with Suarez. I thought, old man, no wheels left. But I think after looking at the season he just finished, he could be really, really good for Miami. I mean, he can't be as good as he used to be. OTOH, he used to be one of the very best in the world, top five at what he did. he could have dropped 50 places and still be the best in MLS. I mean, in that second game highlight, he's tearing off on breakaways several times. As you noted, he was playing against a very good team and he made them look poor. If we were stupid enough to push up against him, and odds are we will be, it's what we do, he could torch us.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/usa-roster-25-mls-players-called-in-for-january-camp 25 MLS players to USMNT camp. Zero SKC. Remember the good ol' days when Besler and Zusi were important members in the player pool. And Teal and CJ and Benny and Busio got call ups?
I mean our Best XI right now contains a grand total of 2 players even eligible for the US, one a 38 year old that's played barely half the league games in the last 2 years and the other a converted midfielder in his first season at RB.
Exactly. "Player development" and "The pathway to the pros" are just cute slogans for SKC. The USMNT player pool has evolved from players with college soccer background to players that came out of an MLS Academy. During that time SKC input to the USMNT has gone from significant to non-existent. Highlights the issues with current approach to roster construct, which is almost entirely built around older Euros.
Yep, I mean when's the last time we had rumors of a sale of a SKC player? Pulido last year but that was as much the Mexican media as anything. KC doesn't have any players that appeal enough to other teams to acquire.
So, is Inter Miami the first MLS superteam?Also, their average age is 25 (they are actually listed once on TM as 25.1 and once as 24.5. SKC average age: 26.2