One thing The Buck had going for it was the grass field was pretty good. I don't know why we can't get PPP to be consistently good like that.
My understanding is that the water table is very close to the surface at PayPal - at least that's what we heard during the first season. Otherwise, I don't know - but I agree that it almost never looks perfect.
At least he has his $52.3 million USD in total career earnings from TFC to fall back on.... Another sad football story.. A sad ending for Lorenzo Insigne and Pescara Insini returned to save his former club from relegation, but the mission ended in disappointment This result confirms their relegation to the Italian third league (Serie C)
Pescara was in Serie C when I visited back in 2001, as I recall. Oh well. Great town and kick ass logo, though.
Pescara has been a perennial Serie A & B club forever. Once every 10-15 years they may make it to top flight but it’s rare.
They're coasting on their reputation. Not actually a good team right now. The stadium was half empty. I suspect it wasn't just because of Mother's Day. Likely gonna get worse.
I stopped by the LAFC reddit forum for a little schadenfreude hit. They want to fire their coach, they're starting to question the formerly untouchable Son (0 goals in 10 games), and some fans were, for some reason, squaring off to fight the DJ and his mom in the southside concourse. In a nutshell, things are going great!
https://mlsplayers.org/resources/salary-guide https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/72...paign=601983&userId=1915940&source=dailyemail MLS 2026 player salaries revealed: Messi earns more than all other clubs’ entire wage bills except LAFC Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images By Tom Bogert May 12, 2026Updated May 13, 2026 8:57 am PDT The MLS Players Association released 2026 salary information Tuesday, giving a first look at how much money new stars are earning and how much all 30 clubs are spending on wages. Lionel Messi is far and away the league’s highest-paid player at $28.33 million, which doesn’t include his eventual ownership stake in the team or other incentives (Miami owner Jorge Mas previously claimed he pays Messi between $70 million and $80 million per year when taking all into account). Even so, Messi’s guaranteed compensation is more than all other MLS clubs’ entire wage bill except for LAFC. In a salary-capped league, the MLSPA information is valuable but just a piece of the puzzle when it comes to how much clubs spend on the first team. The most room for increased discretionary wage spend is on designated players, as clubs can pay up to three players whatever they want and only count towards the salary cap at a fixed fee ($803,125 for a senior DP this year). Essentially, teams can create more salary cap room via General Allocation Money, but the easiest way to increase overall salary spend is by paying a DP a big salary. Critically, these totals don’t include outlay on transfer fees. For instance, the Philadelphia Union splashed a club-record fee worth around $4.5 million to sign forward Ezekiel Alladoh, but in this exercise he only accounts for his $540,000 salary. Philadelphia, the reigning Supporters’ Shield holder languishing at the bottom of the table this season, is the lowest-spending team in MLS by salary alone and has just one player making more than $1 million per year. These figures also don’t cover how much money each club spends on infrastructure, front office and support staff, among other things. So even if it doesn’t paint the complete picture, it is an important slice of information and an appreciated resource for financial transparency. Here are the biggest takeaways from MLSPA’s salary release: Top 10 highest-paid players in MLS Lionel Messi, Inter Miami $28.3M Son Heung-min, LAFC $11.2M Rodrigo De Paul, Inter Miami $9.7M Chucky Lozano, San Diego FC $9.3M Miguel Almirón, Atlanta United $7.9M Emil Forsberg, Red Bull New York $6M Sam Surridge, Nashville SC $5.9M Riqui Puig, LA Galaxy $5.8M Jonathan Bamba, Chicago Fire $5.6M Hany Mukhtar, Nashville SC $5.4M With Messi the highest-paid MLS player of all time, his figure towers over the rest of the top 10. Son Heung-min, whose transfer fee from when he arrived last summer is a league record, is second-highest. His figure is similar to what was released last season. The third-highest-paid player, Rodrigo De Paul, is on a vastly different number than 2025. Initially arriving on loan from Atlético Madrid as a non-DP (salary less than around $2M), De Paul joined Miami on a permanent transfer and is now at $9.7M. Thomas Müller, who also arrived mid-season on a non-DP deal, saw a significant bump to his Whitecaps deal after his option was picked up. Two of the top 10 will not play for their clubs this season, albeit amid different circumstances. Riqui Puig is out injured for a second consecutive campaign, while Chucky Lozano has been frozen out by San Diego FC and is training alone. MLS teams ranked by expenditure Inter Miami $54.6M LAFC $32.7M Atlanta United $27.9M LA Galaxy $26.4M Vancouver Whitecaps $24.6M San Diego FC $24.4M FC Cincinnati $23.5M Nashville SC $23M Columbus Crew $22.3M Chicago Fire $21.7M Red Bull New York $21.7M NYCFC $21.5M Charlotte FC $21.5M Toronto FC $21.4M Houston Dynamo $20.9M Austin FC $19.9M New England Revolution $19.4M Seattle Sounders $19.1M St. Louis City $18.8M Portland Timbers $18.5M San Jose Earthquakes $15.8M MInnesota United $15.6M Real Salt Lake $15.3M D.C. United $14.6M FC Dallas $14.5M Colorado Rapids $14.1M Orlando City $13.7M CF Montréal $13.4M Sporting KC $12.4M Philadelphia Union $11.7M Miami, with two of the three most expensive players in the league, is an obvious leader in this category, as it has been every year since Messi arrived. The Whitecaps, often much lower in these lists, including last year when they were 21st in the first salary release, surge into the top five. The future of the club is in flux with a bid from Grant Gustavson to buy the club and relocate the team to Las Vegas on the table. As is the nature of this league, the bottom 20 teams are separated by $10 million — the same margin that exists between teams 5-25. At the bottom of the league resides the Union, who moved on from a number of key players this winter including Kai Wagner, Jakob Glesnes, Tai Baribo and Mikael Uhre. That represented four of their top five highest-paid players. Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise the club is struggling mightily in 2026. Sporting KC, second from the bottom, is currently on pace to be one of the worst teams in league history. Despite having two DPs (Dejan Joveljić and Manu García), it’s the second-lowest-spending team in the league by salary. Orlando City won’t be down here when the MLSPA releases an update following the summer transfer window, with French star Antoine Griezmann joining the club in July. New stars and new contracts Josh Sargent, Toronto FC $5.2M Thomas Müller, Vancouver Whitecaps $5.2M Denis Bouanga, LAFC $4.9M Facundo Torres, Austin FC $4.4M Timo Werner, San Jose Earthquakes $4.3M Miles Robinson, FC Cincinnati $4M Cristian Espinoza, Nashville SC $2.3M Sergio Reguilon, Inter Miami $1.8M Dayne St. Clair, Inter Miami $809K James Rodriguez, Minnesota United $684K* *All salaries are amortized over a full season. James is set to leave after half a year. Toronto FC’s long pursuit of Josh Sargent culminated in a hefty investment, securing the American star for a fee north of $20 million and a contract that puts him just outside the top 10 in the league. Müller, whose guaranteed compensation in his first half season was listed at $1.44M, officially became a DP this year with a new figure of $5.15M. LAFC star Denis Bouanga was courted by numerous teams this winter — including an audacious bid by Inter Miami before a strong pursuit by Brazil’s Fluminense — but ultimately signed a new deal to remain in Los Angeles. His previous contract was listed at $3.7M. Miles Robinson, who signed a new contract last summer, instantly became the league’s highest-paid center back by no small margin and occupies one of Cincinnati’s DP spots. Miami reloaded this winter and was surprisingly able to keep Tadeo Allende on a non-DP deal. He was previously on loan and acquired on a permanent transfer. Free agent signing Dayne St. Clair was capped at what the team could offer him. James Rodriguez is listed at $684,000, but with him due to depart after the World Cup, he will be paid $342,000 for his stint with the Loons. More on MLS The Verdict: The curious case of James Rodríguez and Minnesota United Fresh off word that his time in Minnesota is ending already, James produced a tantalizing glimpse of what fans had hoped to see in bulk All-Budget XI GK Brian Schwake, Nashville SC $167K CB Reid Roberts, San Jose Earthquakes $88K CB Lucas Herrington, Colorado Rapids $235K CB Morrison Agyemang, Charlotte FC $262K RW Zavier Gozo, Real Salt Lake $126K CM Beau Leroux, San Jose Earthquakes $250K CM Sebastian Berhalter, Vancouver Whitecaps $480K CM Anibal Godoy, San Diego FC $358K LW Matty Dos Santos, Red Bull New York $105K F Preston Judd, San Jose Earthquakes $299K F Sergi Solans, Real Salt Lake $88K For this team, I didn’t want to use only homegrown signings or SuperDraft selections on their first contracts. I used a few, but you could fill the whole team with those players, and a more eclectic view of roster building is more interesting. That said, the homegrown player to start with is Real Salt Lake wingback Zavier Gozo. What a breakout season it is for the academy graduate, who has played his way into the U.S. men’s national team roster debate and will definitely be in Europe in the near future. Matty Dos Santos is the representative for Red Bull New York’s talented homegrown trio. Adri Mehmeti and Julian Hall could, obviously, be on this team but I limited myself to two homegrown players on their first contract. I limited SuperDraft selections to two as well, with Sergi Solans and Reid Roberts the choices; honestly, players from Real Salt Lake and San Jose Earthquakes could have formed the majority of this team. Preston Judd, meanwhile, is tied for fifth in goals trailing only Hugo Cuypers ($3.5M), Petar Musa ($2.9M), Messi ($28.3M) and Sam Surridge ($5.9M) — a total bargain by any measure. Lucas Herrington is one of the league’s brightest young talents, signed by the Colorado Rapids before he turned 18. He is now a senior Australia international and will be transferred to Europe before long for big money. Finally, this is the last year Sebastian Berhalter will be on the list. His contract is up this winter and if he stays in Vancouver (or elsewhere in MLS), he will be due a handsome raise.
Yeah RSL is the only toppish team that won. Dallas is moving up though. There are just a lot of good teams in the west: Vancouver, us, RSL, Seattle are the top 4 right now IMO. Dallas and Minnesota right behind, and I’m not sure whee to put LAFC right now - the top group or the next tier. The Soccerwise guys feel that the west is much stronger than the east this year.
Columbus has dumped their coach and Austin had dumped their coach and sporting director. Good time to do these things because it gives the new folks a chance to regroup during the break. I wonder if Dos Santos will survive in LA.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/72...paign=601983&userId=1915940&source=dailyemail MLS Teams Scores & Schedule Standings Podcasts Kavin Mistry; Chris Arjoon / Icon Sportswire ; Tim Austen / Getty Images The Verdict: Our MLS All-Star ballot; Miami’s fans clash with Messi and their stars By Tom Bogert May 18, 2026 3:00 am PDT The six weeks leading into World Cup break have been harsh and unrelenting for most MLS clubs. Fixture congestion has teams in a choke hold, with injuries and rotation plus heavy legs and heavy minds leading to lackluster performances and surprising results. Many sources around the league speak of surviving and advancing to the break. Well, that break is near and, with it, the sweet release of a pause. One more matchweek awaits before a six-week break in action for the World Cup. Looking back through this slog, replete with midweek chaos, all of a sudden many teams have played 14 regular-season games. That means we’re also at the stage of the season where All-Star voting is open (and will be through this Thursday) and ballots are filling out. That got us thinking about ours. The game, which is against a group of Liga MX’s All-Stars in Charlotte 10 days after the World Cup final (July 29), will be filled with big talent — though perhaps one Miami-based superstar will skip it again like last year. Interestingly, and perhaps coincidentally, Lionel Messi hasn’t been featured in any of the All-Star Game promotions or advertisements. Nevertheless, picking a starting XI from a 30-team league is tough, and there are many deserving candidates. More than one-third of the way through the calendar, this is my MLS All-Star ballot: For clarity: MLS restricts the official All-Star vote to a 4-3-3, with players stuck in positions listed by the league, which is reflected below. GOALKEEPER: Brad Stuver, Austin FC Stuver leads MLS in saves and in goals against minus expected goals against (basically meaning he saves much more than expected). Though he’s faced more shots and thus had more opportunities than, say, Nashville’s Brian Schwake, to make a difference, he’s been awesome once again and deserves the nod. RIGHT BACK: Andy Najar, Nashville SC Najar is one of the league’s best fullbacks and plays in a unique way that helps underpin Nashville’s attack. He both overlaps and underlaps and forms a deadly pair down the right flank with Cristian Espinoza. CENTER BACK: Mamadou Fofana, New England Revolution; Nkosi Tafari, LAFC A center back pairing of Fofana and Tafari would not have been a preseason pick. Fofana, in his second year with the club, has been much better under Marko Mitrović than Caleb Porter (like many in this Revs team). Tafari’s mix of 1-v-1 defending ability and passing range has been crucial for LAFC. LEFT BACK: Jamar Ricketts, San Jose Earthquakes Ricketts is a driving force behind San Jose’s surprise start to the season, with the club tied for first in the Western Conference. DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD: Sebastian Berhalter, Vancouver Whitecaps Berhatler was one of the first names on my ballot. He already has six goals and seven assists from the midfield, and he does not play as a No. 10. As he makes his U.S. World Cup roster push, his production is elite but his range of passing (and set pieces), plus general relentlessness in driving the game forward, is emblematic of exactly how Vancouver wants to play. ATTACKING MIDFIELD: Zavier Gozo, Real Salt Lake; Carles Gil, New England Revolution The 19-year-old Gozo is now up to six goals and four assists for one of the best teams in the West, continuing his surge for a potential last-gasp U.S. World Cup roster berth with yet another goal over the weekend. I would have voted him wherever, but MLS listed him as an attacking midfielder. The last midfield slot goes to Gil, a former MLS MVP who is leading the Revs back up the Eastern Conference standings with five goals and four assists. The USMNT Case For Gozo It’s Gozo time: Why USMNT should turn to uncapped teen for the World Cup There's plenty of risk in introducing a new, inexperienced element for a World Cup, but the Real Salt Lake rising star's form is undeniable STRIKER: Petar Musa, FC Dallas; Hugo Cuypers, Chicago Fire; Lionel Messi, Inter Miami For the three forward spots, well, it starts with Messi. Whether the two-time reigning league MVP shows up at the game or not, he will be voted there by fans and deserves to be selected on merit with 12 goals and six assists. Being selected to the All-Star Game and not playing (barring injury) results in a one-game suspension, which Messi was hit with last year when he opted to rest. To be clear: If Messi is not selected to the All-Star Game, it is the league trying to work around the one-game suspension rule and not because he didn’t deserve a spot through his play (or, more typically for the MLS All-Star Game, his fame). Alongside Messi in the other two forward spots is Musa (12 goals) and Cuypers, the current Golden Boot leader. The Chicago Fire forward has 13 goals (in only 899 minutes) and is on a 10-game scoring streak (two-thirds of the way to tying Josef Martínez’s league record), making him an obvious choice. San Jose forward Preston Judd (nine goals) was a difficult omission, but with only three spots there was no room. Elsewhere from around MLS this weekend: Lionel Messi gestures to Inter Miami fans as they expressed their frustration with the club’s playersChris Arjoon / Icon Sportswire / Getty Images The standoff between Inter Miami’s stars and their fans At long last, Inter Miami earned its first win at Nu Stadium, as Messi scored one goal and assisted on another (scored by $15 million signing Germán Berterame, who is now up to five goals and three assists) in a 2-0 win over the Portland Timbers and former Miami manager Phil Neville. You’d think that would be cause for celebration, but all wasn’t well in the stands. Miami’s supporters groups stood in profound silence for 84 minutes of the game, in protest of the players not acknowledging the crowd in previous games. Things got even frostier when, as some of the team did go over to salute the official supporters sections following the match, the high-profile likes of Messi, Rodrigo De Paul and Luis Suárez did not (though Messi did wave to the fans in the section above the tunnel as he walked out after the final whistle); before that, Messi even seemed to make a gesture of disapproval to the crowd when it did come to life, as fans chanted at the players to simply acknowledge their supporters. If those players addressed the media after the match, perhaps they could have lent some explanation or attempted to smooth things over, but their notorious postgame silence continued. Instead, it’s open to interpretation, and Miami’s fans are left to make of it what they’d please. While winning is a great and ultimate elixir, it’s clear that there’s an expectation of mutual respect between La Familia and the club’s other supporters that is currently going unmet. This has been anything but a storybook MLS Cup title defense and season in South Florida. Sam Sarver, #MLSAfterDark legend The best moment of the weekend and most iconic celebration of the season involved a stoppage-time winner, scuba celebration and a tall boy of Modelo. FC Dallas went on the road to the San Jose Earthquakes and, in stoppage time with the game tied 2-2, substitute attacker Sam Sarver was sent through 1-v-1. He coolly scored, and while the goal and three points it secured were impressive enough, it pales to what happened in the next 20 seconds. Sarver orchestrated a scuba celebration on the advertisement boards with teammates, then screamed into the camera. Amid the pandemonium, some beer cans came flying to the field from the San Jose seats. Instead of viewing it as enemy projectiles, Sarver — with still roughly six minutes of stoppage time remaining, mind you — took it as a gift. He picked that Modelo straight off the ground, chugged some and dumped the rest on his face. “They were throwing some beers on the field so I decided to chug one,” Sarver said succinctly and matter-of-factly after the game. And as if that weren’t legendary enough, what he posted on Instagram from a 7-Eleven on Sunday took things to the next level. Cheers, indeed. The forward has three goals this season, all in the 88th minute or later. He was already developing a cult following in the league. That status is now cemented and, well, cheers to that, too. Sporting KC doubles its season point total in four days One week after writing about how Sporting KC hit rock bottom, and how big of a hole it has dug, the club got slammed 6-0 by the Timbers and managed to find an even lower bottom. Since then, though, things have gotten much better. Perhaps, at that point, there was no other way to go but up. SKC beat the LA Galaxy on Wednesday and then Austin FC on Saturday, picking up a much-needed six points and rising from the bottom of the league. “A week ago, obviously we were in a bad place,” head coach Rapha Wicky said after the most recent triumph. “For the boys (to) show up twice like that with two really, really brave and good performances … that really makes me really happy.” SKC still has a long way to go, but its rebuild certainly feels like it’s in a much better and more hopeful place. Change, again, in Columbus Columbus Crew fires head coach Henrik Rydström after just 14 league games The Swedish coach failed to make an impact and was let go just ahead of MLS' World Cup break Further observations The second half of San Diego’s 3-3 draw vs. FC Cincinnati was pure chaos. Four goals, two of which deep into stoppage time. Marcus Ingvartsen scored at what was assumed to be the last kick of the game in the sixth minute of stoppage time… but Cincinnati had time to take the ensuing kickoff. Within 12 seconds of kickoff, improbably the ball was in San Diego’s box, at the foot of Tom Barlow, who scored the equalizing goal. Maxi Moralez left NYCFC’s 1-1 draw with Red Bull New York on a stretcher after a non-contact knee injury. It did not look good. The club legend had started all of NYCFC’s 53 regular season and playoff games since the start of last year. Hopefully the worst-case scenario is avoided. The Galaxy bounced back from defeat to SKC with a 2-0 win over the Seattle Sounders, as Marco Reus delivered a delightful assist. The (early) Supporters’ Shield race featured both Western Conference leaders (San Jose and Vancouver) losing, which gave Nashville SC the chance Sunday night to take the lead. With one Hany Mukhtar hat trick, the shorthanded club did just that with an impressive 3-2 win over LAFC. Nashville now has the most points per game (2.31), most wins (T-9), fewest losses (1), fewest goals conceded (T-10) and second-best goal differential (+19) while remaining undefeated at home (5-0-1). It’s a deserved top-of-the-table place for B.J. Callaghan’s side.
Ricketts get a lot more love from these MLS pundit people than he gets from Quakes fans. But yes, he's been very good. One of the unsung heroes in our hot start (well, it *was* hot). I like him playing LB instead of winger because he can shut down the left wing on defense and also make occasional bombs into our attacking final 3rd. Romney or Jasinski at LB is a big step down. I'm thinking, while Timo is out, or to spell Timo, play Darius Johnson at LW (or better yet move Bouda there and put DJ on the right side), and Ricketts to LB.
I thought Niko's dad took a job with the LA Galaxy Academy but it looks like he is back as Technical Director with Los Gatos United. Shaun Tsakiris - Los Gatos United Soccer Club
Shaun left the Galaxy last year but looks like Niko's mom still works there. His little brother Mateo apparently moved from the Galaxy academy to San Diego.