you probably have all read this on other BigSoccer boards, but if not: Bill Bradley will become the new coach of the MetroStars in return for Rodrigo Faria and a conditional pick. I wonder how this will impact our friends in Red next year, as the safe money is that they've entered rebuildingland. Perhaps now the Metros will be a force to reckon with, or perhaps they'll just hack and dive. It remains to be seen when you take the man out of Chicago if you can remove Chicago from the man. Oh yeah, ITS CUP WEEK.
I had not read that previously, and find it very interesting to say the least. (And I'm going out on a limb here and guessing that the Metros will be run by former Fire Coach BOB Bradley rather than former US Senator and New York Knick BILL Bradley. Just a hunch. ) I have to believe that they're pretty PO's over there. The Fire ARE looking at a major overhaul; there's an interesting piece by Grant Wahl on Yahoo Sports about them (among other things - he also calls Martino the pre-eminent young American playmaker/ballhandler) Basically, they SHOULD have won a couple or three Cups, but injuries and bad luck beat them out of it. Now they're done. Hristo is fini, Beasley is desperate to go to Europe, Nowak is probably done, etc. Even without them, they still have big cap problems - Armas, Razov, Wolff and others have to be at the max. Wolff is too injury prone to be relied on and is prime trade bait. Thornton is no longer the force he once was. In short, it's time to do a teardown, and as we've seen in DC, it can be really ugly. Contrat this with the Crew; we started an in-season overhaul, dumped a bunch of dead wood and are running guys like Garcia, Martino, Busch, Leitch and Oughton out there - guys are young, hungry and will only get better. In short, I'd rather be us than the Fire, by a long shot, and there's not much that Bradley or anybody else can do about it. Sucks to be them.
Yeah. It's funny because I was reading about it last night and some how Jeff Bradley came into the conversation, so it was all these different Bradleys, but I don't know how I got to Bill Bradley. Just carelessness. Thanks for the clarification, Bill.
Man oh man are the fire fans pissed off about this. Bill is right their orinization is in shambles right now. They looked like they were gonna be the next DC United a while back with a dynasty on their doorstep. But it seems they have skipped the dynasty part and just want to follow United into the outhouse. The thing is if they get Faria as that compensation that still leaves them with a bit of salary problems. They have always said how they have had the best GM and coach in the league. And while they may have been half right, the coach is now gone and the GM is left with an outrageous mess to try to work out. To add to the players Bill mentioned who may be at max, Whitfield isn't maxed but is probably making a pretty penny, and I would think the same goes for CJ Brown. But do not fear MLS fans and Crew fans, as the fire continues their Downward decent (Cup Winners, followed by Runners up, followed by Semi's exits, followed by this years first round exit) you will still hear smack from fire fans about how loud they can sing. Well considering they'll have nothing to sing about for a while if they can keep their voices strong thats somwehat admirable. But this team is goin down the craper and everyone knows it. What Alexi Lalas said of the Mexicans after the 2-0 World Cup humiliation can now be use for our "friends" to the west... "It couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of jerks"
after reading mr. hippie's post, i come to the following conclusion DC will be somewhat shite. Metros may be ok, but not exactly a power. Fire will be..well...burned New England will be like this season Columbus will be like this season (maybe/maybe not) Of course, this is MLS, so who knows. Metros may come out and win it all.. ***FACT*** During MLS Cup, they said that the previous teams to win MLS Cup (dating back to KC) had not made the post season the year prior. Based upon that, DC or Metros will win the cup next year. My old theory was that Chicago would have kept some of this year's players, Metro would have some of Fire's players, so there'd be two teams to watch out for.
Seems unlikely many players will be willing or excited to play on the turf after this year's orthopedic seminar on knee ligaments. What young player would want to play 12-16 games on that crap. Good year to rebuild...
You guys have your fun now. We will beat you like we always do when next season rolls around. When you guys lose Thursday night we will be busy shining our hardware(98 MLS CUP, 1998 & 2000 US OPEN CUPS). Laugh while you can losers!
Ouch. Thank you, FireFanKeith, for putting us losers in our place and showing us who's boss. Now that you have reminded me of my true place in life I shall go upstairs, put on my Kyle Martino jersey, light myself on fire and take a swan dive out of my bedroom window. Perhaps my spirit can be Crew's 12th man on Thursday. Thank you again. Before I go to end my physical life, I wish you the best of luck in your coaching search. Hopefully you won't be hit by a moving truck before the choice is announced. Hopefully.
Keith, my misguided Fire fan.... Yes, YOU were the one who trolled in here right after the Crew lost the series to the Revs... poking fun at the end of OUR playoffs... when YOUR team was bounced by the Revs in 3 games, in the quarterfinals. Loser Post edited to delete erroneous info - thanks for the correction, FF...
Andy, I'm pretty sure that the Chicago-New England series went three games, as well. New England won game one, Chicago won game two, and New England won game three.
Live in the present - plan for the future. . . . . . . . . grasshopper. Your history lesson; is just that.
oh boy! the offseason must be sooo much fun! too bad we have to plan for a game on thursday. and apparently you didn't get the message from your fellow thug....err...fans that word from chi..err..naperville is that fire have no apparent rivalry with columbus.