Well let me put it this way. It will have as much impact on YA as it would have had on Thai's abroad if Liverpool would have been bought by the Thai consortium.
I actually disagree. I would bet you'd see more Yank players train (and maybe a couple trial) at L'Pool. Also, I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of US Academy w/Liverpool name... L'Pool would join the things Ajax and Man. U are trying to do here... access= opportunity No way Kraft, Nichol don't try to get L'Pool brand extention in US (among other things)...
It means the Kraft family is relocating the club to MLS, in a move that brings all the YAs home. Or so it happened in a daydream.
Well since Abramovich as has taken over at Chelsea, it's had a profound impact on Russkis Abroad. Oh - and Moscow's Chelsea Village is a true sight to be behold, I believe. The "investment" would not even buy a controlling interest of the financial side of the club. How it would influence the management of the football side of the club to suddenly find more American youngsters/buy more established Americans is beyond me. Letting your hoping doing your thinking.
Matt, not looking for a 'Revolution' (pardon the pun). But there are underlying trends at work (already in place) that would surf off of this: (1) Euro clubs ARE increasing their exposure to US development talent (2) Euro clubs ARE increasing their marketing, branding, games in US Hard to dispute those 2 points. And if an American group has large influence in management, it is NOT hard to envision some extended relationships here and there. No one is saying the L'Pool from one year (or 3 years) imports Yanks directly from MLS etc. However, MLS ALREADY has 15 or so players training at various English clubs this month/in January. Would not be hard to imagine a couple of those going to L'Pool (vs. Sunderland or Chelsea for example- as is the current case).. Finally, there will be talent (Adu, Szetela, etc.) that BIG EURO CLUBS (like L'Pool) will be interested in.....and that is proven, since they've (other big Euro clubs) have already expressed an interest. I doubt seriously Adu, Szetela are the 'end of the line' regarding US talent, but really only the beginning. I think it is a bit naive to think Kraft's group will pay tens/hundreds of millions of dollars and not look for synergies....that is his MO, btw. I would think the clever Euro club would ferret out those American development youngsters that have a Euro passport in (and there is actually a decent number, given ancestry of so many in US- and fairly easy passport restrictions in Italy and Ireland, for example), to avoid the whole work permit issue. A team with more resources (L'Pool could 'surf' off of the Revolution in this respect) could accomplish something in this area, and consistently beat other clubs to the punch regarding US development talent...
Not to mention two things called "a desire to win" and "the inability to put more than eleven players on the field at a time."
Guys Yanks Abroad has ALWAYS been defined as much broader then just Tim Howard or Carlos Bocanegra. The purpose of this 'idea' in focused on the lower portion of the equation (youth, development prospects, and better access for some professionals)...not unreasonable at all, if Kraft goes thru with the purchase
I sort of hoped that some rich Yank would buy a team in Holland or Belgium and use that for training the little Yankees. Big clubs have no room for error.
From the article: Mike Jefferies, one of the men behind L4, told the Financial Times: 'We are working with Keith Harris of Seymour Pierce. Is that Mike Jeffries, the former Burn coach and Fire assistant? I know he has a background in finance and, obviously, soccer, so it would make sense on one level. After suffering a torn ACL in his knee, he retired from professional soccer and moved to New Orleans to become a financial consultant for Smith-Barney. After three years with Smith-Barney, he started the Lafreniere Select Soccer Program, where he served as Director of Coaching from 1992-96. Jeffries is married to Terry and has three children, Kaitlin, A.J. and Nathan. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Public Policy from Duke University and a Master’s degree in Finance from Tulane University in New Orleans. http://www.smumustangs.com/coaches_bios_print.asp?sport=soccerm&ID=249 You know what this means, right? Mike Jeffries is gonna be the next gaffer at Liverpool!
At most, it will be some sort of 'butterfly effect' played out over time. Maybe years later, looking back, we may see the move as part of altering the place of soccer in the American sports landscape, and therefore putting American players a little bit more in the spotlight. More training opps, etc. But I really can't see this as having much impact outside of the financial end of things.
I believe its a different Mike Jefferies, who is the Excecutive producer of GOAL, the AEG financed Soccer Trilogy due in 2005.
not where jri is concerned - as long as he stays here then the rest of the boards do not have to suffer from his delusions. Think of it this way - you guys are doing the rest of the BS posters a real public service
This could be GIANT! The immediate thing I think of in, terms of transfers, is TAXES! You could "internally" transfer players from MLS to Liverpool and aviod taxes. Only question is, do they pay taxes on transfers? If taxes are the case, then the "real" price for an MLS player drops signifiantly. MLS can then launder players into the EPL for a cheaper price than their competitors, both from a team and a player perspective. God I love American businessmen, despite their amoralism, if this were the case.
God, I really need to read the entire thread before I post. please disregard my previous post. Apu has it right, although it does bring up the idea of buying a 2. Bundesliga team. Anybody know how much they go for????
Is there anything of value in the things you post? Do you ever make an effort on behalf of others to find newsworthy items vs. your sarcastic, anti- US spin on things? If the moderator here is proper, he'll eliminate your post and my post and you'll get a warning about personal attacks... You and a few others are nothing but trolls and add little/nothing to YA... Here's 2 winks back at ya'
ROTFLMAO - this coming from you of all people? Absolutely I do. The difference being though that I generally provide a sane, rational aspect to the discussion when compared to you. Example? How about why are the Krafts not investing further in MLS? Surely the best thing for US Soccer would be the continued support and investment from US corporations. Any investment by Kraft would not alter the driving force in Liverpool to develop the best possible football team they can. If this includes bringing in US players as they offer the best ability to advance the team then why would this be any different whether Kraft was investing in the club or not? So humour is now forbidden on BS? FWIW I've already gotten +ve rep on my original with the statement "LOL!". What does that tell you? What was that you were saying about personal attacks? I'm touched
I am generally not a fan of this guy, but this paragraph is just so obviously true that it makes me sad that it needs to be said.