Chivas USA, a Cleveland team, and any semblance of press NOT on ESPN but about soccer is good for the league -- we know that. But how about the "what if's?" Can Vergara still field a team of all Mexican players? It seems like a numerical possibility. I thought it was what we DIDN'T want -- but he's conforming to MLS rules so we can't be mad. What if --- Mexican fans ditch the Galaxy because "Oh, there's a team rooted in my homeland, to hell with Doug Hamilton!" I know this will happen because a Latino friend of mine shares the sentiments. What if --- this team does succeed? Well, that only pushes American soccer to be better! That's what we wanted right? But then what about developing AMERICAN soccer talent? I hope Vergara tries to use his team to this end. Mexico already has its own league. What do you think?
After seeing the reaction of the local Koreans when the Galaxy visit I realize the following: - more Mexicans will attend MLS games - the local fans will see all these 'visitors' rooting against their local teams. Perhaps this will have a galvanizing effect with the local supporters - Attendence will increase (somewhat) - MLS exposure in Mexico will increase Other possibilities: - U.S./Mexico rivalry will get more intense - more media coverage of the league and the 'Mexican' team - get used to those annoying horns at every single MLS game - Chivas will become the most hated team outside of San Diego (or wherever they play)
As much as any of us may dislike the changes made for Chivas to come to MLS, they do make sense. The ultimate goal of MLS has to be to turn fans of Mexican football, who now live the US, be they legal or not, into MLS fans. The Chivas team is a direct way to do that. The money that comes with this deal, which will be a lot more than 10 or 15 million dollars, will make expansion happen sooner. It will also have a big benefit in cable ratings. I think this the main reason for bending the rules. Finally, if this works, why not do the Canadian version? If it makes sense to put a mostly Mexican team in the middle of MLS, why not put a mostly Canadian team in as well?
This is going to get interesting... Even if Chivas was able to send its B Team to play in the MLS, they probably wouldn't do very well. In comparing the MFL to MLS, there's not a lot of difference in the average players. The real difference is in the star players, especially the South Americans. But the keepers--there's probably some A League keepers who are better most MFL keepers. Watching Mexican games you see quite a few strange goalkeeping plays. There was a move a while back by MLS to work out a deal with the MFL so that players could move between the leagues freely. This didn't seem to go anywhere but I'd like to see it some day. If Toronto joins the MLS, then Canadians will no longer be foreign players.
Because there really isn't a sizable number of Canadiens living in the US that would boost attendance. Even if there was, Canadiens aren't known for following the sport that closely. Besides that, the team would be a perpetual loser if they were predominantly Canadien.
No, please understand, a "Canadian" team would be based in Canada, and play more Canadians than not, just like MLS has more American players than not. Would that condem them to losing? There are a lot of good Canadian players, and some of them might like the opportunity to stay and play in North America. It's working for Mr. Donovan. Anyhow, enough about Canada. This thread is about Chivas.
Re: This is going to get interesting... I actually would say just the opposite. I think the best MLS players could probably play just about anywhere. However, you get down to some fairly poor players pretty quickly. And I don't know how much you can take from the Champions Cup, but MLS teams haven't exactly done well against MFL 'B' teams. Bruce Arena used to say that the foreign players were the difference makers in MLS because all the American players were about the same. Now, I'm sure he'd amend that to be the "star players" instead of foreign players, but I think the sentiment is still more or less correct.
There'll be a "Chivas fans" section at MLS games around the country, but they won't come back game after game. example: When LA played in Columbus, there was a sizeable "Hong Myung Bo" fan section, but they were there to see Hong. I didn't see them at any other Crew game.
Agreed. They'll only show for Chivas games. The first Metros game vs L.A. the Koreans would scream like they were riding a roller coaster. This was amusing for about 5 minutes. Eventually others in the crowd would whistle/boo every time Bo touched the ball. You could hear the same thing happening when L.A. played in Chicago, N.E., etc..
delarge101, Thanks for the Chivas thread. I couldn't possibly have figured where to get my daily Chivas news without this thread. Thanks for the public service!
They'd be Chivas fans living in the City of _____. Not a problem. The problem (more like question) is how to get them to come back game after game.
This is always disheartening to me when I see this at games because to me, its showing that they're there really their to support a "race" or "nationality" and have no interest in the game of soccer itself. I guess I have a hard time understanding this since I am not an expat in a foreign land. However, I imagine that if somehow I ended up having to live in a far away place like Europe or Asia, I would still support the local team...American player or not.
Oh sure, I support a local team in London (West Ham ), but you better believe I've come out to support Reyna, Lewis, Friedel and Keller (and I would support Timmay if I could afford those tickets...) I think many latinos make a similar choice.
I hate 'em already. If I wanted to see Chivas I'd fly to Mexico and check it out. You know that there will be mostly Mexican players because they will find some way to bend the rules. I just think that this goes against everything MLS was trying to establish.
So far Chivas USA means only 2 things: - a new investor - a new team The rest of this is speculation, most of blown way out of proportion. What really gets me is that if an investor came along who made millions selling widgets we'd still have just as much bellyaching over the new owners lack of soccer knowledge. Or, if MLS expanded with out an owner the response would be, "great another league owned team." This whole topic has taken the whiney soccer fan to a whole new level.
Re: This is going to get interesting... Wow. Gotta disagree here, bigtime. MLS stars are pretty darn good. For reference, see the World Cup. But MLS matches lack flow because each team has about 3 donkeys who can't pass the ball. The salary cap causes that. I describe MLS teams this way (based on FSW's broadcast of the playoffs): take a good Div 1 team's best 5-6 players, and a good Div 2 team's best 5-6 players, and that's an MLS team.
There is nothing wrong with hating Chivas Chupacabras with passion. The point is stadia will be full of pro and contra fans ready to scream their hearts out... That's what Chivas will bring to MLS: excitement, controversy, passion and, above all, MORE MONEY... WE CAN HARDLY WAIT...