News: Monday , May 16 , 2016

Interesting NYTimes article on one means of financing the OCSC owner is using to build the new OCSC stadium. As long as it is legal (which apparently it is - at least for the time being)

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/17/s...cer-stadium-foreign-investors-visas.html?_r=0

 

The thing is, could NYCFC sign a player of his caliber without a revolt in Manchester?

 

Ibrahimovic is playing at a higher level than Beckham was when he came over; but there's no way that he'd be a bigger deal than Beckham. When Beckham signed with the Galaxy, he was the most famous person in the world; the only other sportsmen who had ever achieved that level of global recognisability are Pele and Muhammad Ali. Not even Maradona or Michael Jordan had been to that level. It could be a century or more before there's another athlete who is that famous.

Anyway, Ibrahimovic to City or to any other MLS team would be a great thing. I don't want to hear any gripes about his age (35 this year). He is a different animal; he ages differently from normal people.

 

FC Dallas signs defender Agustin Jara
Big D Soccer

 

Here is the end of the world.

 

MLSsoccer.com has yet another poll on the best rivalry in MLS (as of this moment, it's no surprise given the size of the fan bases that Seattle v Portland is dominating the voting). The list is fairly comprehensive for a change.

I was interested in seeing every team but one is represented. The only team without a rival is, not too surprisingly I suppose, Orlando. NYRB and DC both appear 3 times, more than any other team.

 

In which universe? I realize Zlatan is a better player than Beckham ever was. But to say he's a bigger deal indicates that you live in a bubble that only allows hardcore soccer fans inside.

The signing of David Beckham is the single most important moment in MLS history. He is the reason why MLS currently has 20 teams, with eyes on 28, rather than still languishing with 12 teams. David Beckham put MLS in the national spotlight and the international spotlight. Messi and Ronaldo are the only two living players that could the impact that Beckham had on this league.

That's not a knock on Zlatan. That's just the reality of the spotlight that David Beckham brought to every single aspect of this league.

 

MLS learning the power of 'no' when it comes to aging stars

Reports that MLS balked at John Terry's demands are further signs of maturity for the league, FFT's Paul Tenorio writes.

Major League Soccer wants to be a league of choice. It should also aim to be a league of “no.”

Twenty years after its first season launched, MLS has moved past the point where it needs any one player. That’s why the report that MLS teams passed on Chelsea defender John Terry as a designated player should be seen as an encouraging sign of the maturation taking place in MLS front offices.

Of course, which teams passed on Terry remains unclear. Chicago Fire general manager Nelson Rodriguez, for one, told FourFourTwo he was never offered Terry as a designated player. If other teams did pass, however, it’s a good indicator more MLS front offices are evaluating players for what they bring to the field beyond just cache. And, more importantly, that they are more aware of market value for overage European veterans.

It is unlikely Terry would be a multi-million-dollar signing in Europe right now, and he shouldn’t be in MLS either. While MLS may still need to overpay for players like Sebastian Giovinco, who are in their prime, they have moved past the need to shell out millions for older stars who can’t contribute game-to-game across a 34-game season.

If the Chinese Super League wants to shell out millions for Terry, let it. MLS should be focused on finding another Ignacio Piatti, Fabian Castillo, Cristian Higuita or Mauro Diaz.


Read more at http://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/mls-aging-stars-saying-no-john-terry#fBhLLCSdQX04zFtJ.99

 

I agree with the "not overpaying for guys who have totally lost it like John Terry" policy. But I don't think a US league can be built around Fabian Castillos and Ignacio Piattis, either.

 

Beckham was famous among non-soccer fans.
Zlatan is for hardcore soccer fans.

 

I agree about Zlatan vs Beckham. I will say that recently I heard that about Ronaldo hypothetically joining the league, and for his case I would disagree. The difference being it's 2016: while Ronaldo might not be as "People Magazine famous," many more people have actually seen him play soccer than had seen Beckham, and his highlights have been on SportsCenter like a billion times. Much of SC's coverage of soccer for the last half decade has been through the prism of its two dominant players.

 

I should probably let Chicago fans comment on this, but maybe the reason he wasn't offered Terry is that the league knew they wouldn't be interested in signing a guy for that much. The same would be said for my Revs and a bunch of other teams as well. Rodriguez doesn't say he would be interested in him even if he was offered, but the article suggests he was (yeah, I know). I would think that if the league was interested, they'd still ask around, even after the usual big-spender suspects declined. That says a lot, and in a good way. Let him go to Chiner.

 

'Built around'? Castillo and Piatti plays an important role in improving quality of play. A few retirement name players help. A few American NT players help. I'd like to see a few more 'Emerging top American youth players' too.
Its like a multi ingredient recipe, Each ingredient or talent acquisition method helps the league, too much of one ingredient makes it taste bad.

 

It could also be that Terry is one of those players who can demand to play in certain places (or at least he believes he is one of those players) and Chicago wasn't on his list. Why offer Terry to Chicago of MLS knows Terry will never agree to play there?

 

Sure, that could be true as well. Although Chicago is a big city, and usually they only mention Nyew York and El-Lay because that's the only places they've heard of. Still, you'd think that even furriners who wouldn't be expected to know where Columbus, Portland, Kansas City (is that somewhere in Ohiowa?) or Utah are might have heard of Chicago. And it's not like they play on plastic grass or anything.

 

fyp
Now it makes more sense.

 

For a good laugh, New York radio announcer botches NYCFC radio ad.

732649826186203136 is not a valid tweet id

 

But is it Vee-uh or Vill-a? How the hell am I sposta know? Ya might wanna axe someone before you go on the air, just sayin'