I've been to those as well I like them more then PPP. Colorado is beautiful. Our opinions cancel each other out.
Whatever he thinks, part of the job is to prepare for next year. The Quakes got Dwayne De Rosario because Lothar Osiander was trying to sign him. Lothar got fired but left his notes and recommendations behind. Also Ian can probably have a job in some capacity as long as he wants unless there's a conflict with a new head coach.
Makes sense, though as an interim coach I hope he is focused mostly on getting thru this season in the best possible form. Yeah, that's why I wrote that "Ian thinks he's staying in some capacity".
Nobody has wagered me that Ian won’t be the head coach next year. I find that most telling of all the clues.
Good question... but They've got a great number of really good amenities and not saying PayPal Park doesn't have them or even some others, but I like there Nursing / Breastfeeding area that is in a private suite, its very private for mothers who are feeding or nursing / pregnant. They have a very safe bicycle and scooter parking area that is safe and secure, blankets are fully welcomed, They have a good shuttle/bus service, Concessions are very accessible, water stations are very clean compared to places like Red Bull Arena, the stadium configuration is very good and you have a great view from anywhere you sit in the stadium. They've upgraded a good number of their amenities too. I've had 10+ really good experiences at Dicks Sporting Goods Park, and I REALLY hate the Colorado Rapids. The fact they have a fully enclosed stadium vs our 3/4's stadium with a distractive LOBINA also puts it ahead for me. The Lobina is a distraction from the soccer game, its not a social event its a sporting event. If you want to dance to samba music then go out Saturday night to a club.
There's only a couple folks here who probably aren't convinced. Ian's been groomed his whole career for this job and I think his Leagues Cup run solidified it.
You stumped me with the breastfeeding rejoinder. Colorado’s stadium is only nominally fully enclosed; it included a stage instead of a supporters section at one end. And it’s in the middle of the Great Plains. Its nearest amenity was an Applebee’s. Advantage In-N-Out.
Maybe I'm biased, I for whatever reason love that stadium but hate that team lol. I think Red Bull Arena is worse then Pay Pal Park. Its a concrete jungle and very dated. But I think everyone can agree Yankee Stadium is the most disgraceful stadium that houses a D1 Soccer team in the entire country. Even Buck Shaw for the Quakes and Dragon Stadium for the Fire > Yankee Stadium.
I disagree that Seattle and Atlanta NFL stadiums are inherently worse. They aren’t Arrowhead. The ownership/stadium is geared towards the soccer experience. I’ve been to multiple Atlanta United games at MBZ, and it’s hands down better than PayPal. We even took public transportation to get to the game. Public transportation. In Atlanta. DC and Colorado SSS woes have already been addressed. Chicago moved back to Soldier because Naperville wasn’t cutting it. We’ll see if they can build another SSS downtown.
I just remember Sigi Schmid stating that the FieldTurf at the Sounders Lumen Field was the worst he had ever seen. Did they replace or improve it?
Regardless no stadium with plastic pitch will ever be considered a top venue in my book, and worse than PPP, even when our field is in not in great shape. I don’t care what the rest of the stadium looks like. It’s a dealbreaker for me.
Does it matter? They both have their own practice facilities which are top notch. They have way better teams than we do. We have our own facilities but it doesn't give us anymore advantage, we are much worse than those two teams. Fake grass is the only negative I see with Seattle & Atlanta.
Honestly, although I commend anyone’s top notch the training facilities, I question how serious any team is that plays on fake grass. I think it is a huge obstacle when it comes down to signing international players and for that matter, in how opposing teams’ foreign players do not want to play on them. Thierry Henry was first one that stated he did not want to play on the artificial turf, but I don’t think Messi and everyone else likes it all that much either. As I recall, Henry purposely wanted a suspension because he didn't want to play on the artificial turf the following week. I think there is a lot of this going on.
Yes, it matters that the MLS team is a secondary tenant. It means they don't have their own stadium. They exist at the sufferance of the pointy-ball hosts. The stadium is different from the practice fields -- by definition. We're talking about the relative merits of the stadiums. And every MLS club has a way better first team than the Quakes -- this year. So what? I repeat: we're talking about the relative merits of the stadiums. Nonetheless, the Quakes have not played and will not play Atlanta, and the Quakes won the only 2024 encounter against Seattle, and indeed are defending Heritage Cup champs. Not to mention, the Quakes have actually beaten LAFC this year -- unlike Schmetzer & Co.
As I said fake grass = bad. Other than that Seattle & Atlanta haven't had to much trouble signing good players.
I just found out that Thiago Almada moved to Botafogo on July6th, 2024. I had no idea he was sold. This is what Atlanta United got.... The deal reportedly commanded a fee of $21 million (€19,5 million) plus $9 million (€7,5 million) in add-ons; in the process, it broke the transfer record both for the MLS, and the Brazilian league