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Please Help Joe Pick An MLS Team (1 Viewer)

Joe Bryant

Guide
Staff member
Did you know Major League Soccer is back?

I'm not going to lie. I don't know much about soccer in general and MLS in particular. This morning, I was the MLS version of this guy naming the teams.

But no more. I'm all for sports starting back and that means I'm all in for the MLS return. Now I just need a team.

Suggest the team I should pick.

Couple of guiding principles.

If it's something pretentious like "_________ Football Club", don't even start. I'm out.

Mascot has to be cool.

Logo has to be cool.

Fans have to be cool.

And please don't tell me about their "kits". I don't know what that is.

The best thing you can do is tell me the NFL team they compare to. And if they have good beer at their stadium. You know. The important stuff.

Thanks.

 
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I’ll throw Philadelphia Union out there for your consideration.

No FC or United in their name?  Check

cool logo?  Check

Fans?  The Sons of Ben have their own Netflix documentary 

Young US National Team prospects?  Check (Brendan Aaronson, Mark McKenzie)

The team began play in 2010, and historically they have not been very good, but they’ve developed a really fun fast paced, pressing style of play the last two years under Technical Director Ernst Tanner.  And last year they turned the corner by winning their first ever playoff game in exciting fashion. So they’re very much a team on the rise

NFL team is tough because there isn’t equal spending like the NFL (Despite a “salary cap”) so the Union are definitely a “have not” financially.  But they place a very heavy reliance of developing their own players through their Academy, which is its own full-time high school, the first of its kind developed in the US.  

So strictly from that perspective, I would say they are a nascent Pittsburgh Steelers pre-super Bowl dynasty, who also had a long time being bad before developing a style of play and the players to fit it (Also the Steelers rarely sign free agents as they prefer to grow their own players in-house).  Remains to be seen if the Union can achieve what the Steelers did

Also, Kevin Durant just bought into the Union as a minority owner.

Union play NYCFC this morning at 9AM - check it out

 
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I’ll throw Philadelphia Union out there for your consideration.

No FC or United in their name?  Check

cool logo?  Check

Fans?  The Sons of Ben have their own Netflix documentary 

Young US National Team prospects?  Check (Brendan Aaronson, Mark McKenzie)

The team began play in 2010, and historically they have not been very good, but they’ve developed a really fun fast paced, pressing style of play the last two years under Technical Director Ernst Tanner.  And last year they turned the corner by winning their first ever playoff game in exciting fashion. So they’re very much a team on the rise

NFL team is tough because there isn’t equal spending like the NFL (Despite a “salary cap”) so the Union are definitely a “have not” financially.  But they place a very heavy reliance of developing their own players through their Academy, which is its own full-time high school, the first of its kind developed in the US.  

So strictly from that perspective, I would say they are a nascent Pittsburgh Steelers pre-super Bowl dynasty, who also had a long time being bad before developing a style of play and the players to fit it (Also the Steelers rarely sign free agents as they prefer to grow their own players in-house).  Remains to be seen if the Union can achieve what the Steelers did

Also, Kevin Durant just bought into the Union as a minority owner.

Union play NYCFC this morning at 9AM - check it out
Strong sell. 

 
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My first fantasy football team had a "Football Club" at the end of it. It wasn't pretentious at all. Batcat FC. I just liked the idea of FC at the end of something attached to the band Mogwai.

Hence, the name.

I saw on Twitter that Portland was leading. I'd go city (less gritty) chalk and pick the Seattle Sounders. 

 
My first fantasy football team had a "Football Club" at the end of it. It wasn't pretentious at all. Batcat FC. I just liked the idea of FC at the end of something attached to the band Mogwai.

Hence, the name.

I saw on Twitter that Portland was leading. I'd go city (less gritty) chalk and pick the Seattle Sounders. 
Sounders are the front runner Yankee type though, right?

 
Sounders are the front runner Yankee type though, right?
Indeed. Their rivalry with the Timbers seems top notch, but if you're going to pick a team, you're going to want to see that team someday. Plus, I believe they'll be like the Yankees with a hard cap as opposed to a luxury tax, so fortunes might change more than one thinks, though cue the first guy to talk about diversity in baseball playoff representation in...

1...2. 

And you'll probably want to visit Seattle over Portland, unless you like craft beer and bumping into GM's kids all over the place.  

;)

 
I may be biased, but I would root for Sporting Kansas City.

1. They play a fun and attacking style. They should be one of the better teams in this tournament, so the odds of advancement are high.

2. Their coach and technical director, Peter Vermes, has been one of the leaders in helping MLS get this thing off the ground with a lot of behind the scenes work. 

3. They are based in Kansas City, which is home to arguably the best BBQ in the world.

4. The fan base has sold out their new stadium for years.

5. They are a great community asset in that they are very visible at charity functions and giving a lot of their time and money to organizations in town.

6. Boulevard Beer is a sponsor and has plenty available at the stadium.

7. They are very supporting of the local teams. Patrick Mahomes has been known to come to the games and be right in the crowd with the other crazy fans.

Their logo.

 
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Joe, if you insist on following your criteria, your list starts at this (note I eliminated all FC, SC, United and Real/Inter)

New England Revolution
New York Red Bulls
Philadelphia Union
Colorado Rapids
LA Galaxy
Portland Timbers
San Jose Earthquakes
Sporting Kansas City

Since you are an east coast guy you probably need an Eastern Conference team so you can watch their games.

New England Revolution
New York Red Bulls
Philadelphia Union

You said their fans have to be cool - it's Philly, NY and Boston.  Here's your remaining list:

 
Joe, if you insist on following your criteria, your list starts at this (note I eliminated all FC, SC, United and Real/Inter)

New England Revolution
New York Red Bulls
Philadelphia Union
Colorado Rapids
LA Galaxy
Portland Timbers
San Jose Earthquakes
Sporting Kansas City

Since you are an east coast guy you probably need an Eastern Conference team so you can watch their games.

New England Revolution
New York Red Bulls
Philadelphia Union

You said their fans have to be cool - it's Philly, NY and Boston.  Here's your remaining list:
Thanks maybe was too harsh on the club. Maybe just Football club is too weird. That puts Columbus and Salt Lake back in, right?

 
Joe, if you insist on following your criteria, your list starts at this (note I eliminated all FC, SC, United and Real/Inter)

New England Revolution
New York Red Bulls
Philadelphia Union
Colorado Rapids
LA Galaxy
Portland Timbers
San Jose Earthquakes
Sporting Kansas City

Since you are an east coast guy you probably need an Eastern Conference team so you can watch their games.

New England Revolution
New York Red Bulls
Philadelphia Union

You said their fans have to be cool - it's Philly, NY and Boston.  Here's your remaining list:
Houston Dynamo?

 
Sounders are the front runner Yankee type though, right?

On one hand, they do have all that Microsoft money to throw at the team; on the other, I'd argue that it was the fan base's passion for the team that brought in the Microsoft money. I'd say the LA Galaxy are more like what you describe, as they have pretty much lived off bringing in superstars on the wrong side of 30--David Beckham (deemed too old to play in England yet dominated MLS for several years anyway), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (this one can be forgiven as everyone seems to forget that gods don't age like us mortals), and now Javier 'Chicharrito' Hernandez (one of Mexico's all-time greats), who still have enough in the tank to overwhelm most defenses. NYCFC is probably another that will fit into your 'front runner' definition, as they have ties to nouvea riche Manchester City in England.

I'm not a huge MLS follower, but there are a lot of teams who have built solid organizations from the ground up, so if you're looking for an 'honest' team, there are a lot to choose from.   I will say, however, that there is something to be said for following the closest team to where you live and going to live matches.

 
Yikes. Looks like a veterinarian's office. 
Heh. That's not promising, then. Now that you mention it, it kinda does look like the snakes and staff at doctor's offices. 

From wiki, for those wondering what its name is (I was)...

"The caduceus is often incorrectly used as a symbol of healthcare organizations and medical practice, particularly in the United States of America, due to confusion with the traditional medical symbol, the Rod of Asclepius, which has only one snake and is never depicted with wings - the logo of the World Health Organization uses the Rod of Asclepius as its basis."

One to grow on, I guess. 

 
I’ve always thought it’s hard to just decide you like a certain team. The best approach is to watch a dozen games and see if a team picks you. Failing that, go with your local team or the team closest to where you live. 
This has been me with the premier league. I started with Chelsea - didn’t take. Then tried Liverpool because I love YNWA but I feel like a bandwagon guy because they finally won some titles after I came on. I kinda like everything about Tottenham but I think I am just going to have to go to some games over there and decide then.  
 

also have considered circling back to Chelsea because of our boy over there. 

 
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Not sure if this is a + or - for you, but the Philadelphia Union just took the field in jerseys with the wrong names on the back.  Instead they had names of African Americans killed at the hands of police with "one name too many" under their numbers.

 
Thanks maybe was too harsh on the club. Maybe just Football club is too weird. That puts Columbus and Salt Lake back in, right?
To me SC (Soccer Club) is 10x worse than FC.  Royal Salt Lake with what I assume are relatively few Spanish speakers in Salt Lake City? 

Look, MLS has a cheese factor to it - I feel like you kind of have to embrace it if you want to watch the league.  I was like many others and completely avoided it while watching a ton of European soccer for years.  Until Atlanta got a team and I started going to games.  That's one of the main reasons I would pick Nashville if I were you (or even Atlanta - a team you could reasonably get to a game or two and see them in person.  To me it makes all the difference.

 
I may be biased, but I would root for Sporting Kansas City.

1. They play a fun and attacking style. They should be one of the better teams in this tournament, so the odds of advancement are high.

2. Their coach and technical director, Peter Vermes, has been one of the leaders in helping MLS get this thing off the ground with a lot of behind the scenes work. 

3. They are based in Kansas City, which is home to arguably the best BBQ in the world.

4. The fan base has sold out their new stadium for years.

5. They are a great community asset in that they are very visible at charity functions and giving a lot of their time and money to organizations in town.

6. Boulevard Beer is a sponsor and has plenty available at the stadium.

7. They are very supporting of the local teams. Patrick Mahomes has been known to come to the games and be right in the crowd with the other crazy fans.

Their logo.
They also used to be the KC Wizards and many of the songs still cheer on the 'Wiz', which is fun and silly.  (I'm a SKC supporter as well.)

 
Also, I'm not a fan of US teams using 'Sporting' either.  In the rest of the world Sporting would mean they have football (soccer) and many other teams (basketball, baseball, etc.) playing under the same name.

 
A little less yellow and red than I thought and some black and blue rainbow thing going on, huh? 
Lots of lighter blue in the ensuing years.  But yes, almost a rainbow effect for a number of the early years.  I attended a SKC game a few years ago that was throwback night and they were selling a cool black one with wavy rainbow stripes.  I think it was this one.

I'm not a typical rich FBG, but I almost dropped the $80 on that kit.  With the colors and the collar, that kit is so nice.  

 
Agree with the poster who said you should watch instead of just pick. 

Do you like teams that possess the ball or play direct. Do you want them to set the tempo or sit back, wait and counter inmediately. 

Do you like a team that presses high up the field (blitz to win ball back) or press in a medium or high block or not at all. 

Would you prefer your team to play through the middle of the field or use their width. 

Do you want a team who scores a lot on set pieces

Once you have established how you want your team to play, then you can watch for the one that checks off most of your boxes. 

The nice part about this tournament style is your ability to watch every team in a short time span

 
I am a soccer guy, and I sure do love me some America. I have even been down with Sons of Ben since before there was a Team in Philadelphia..  but the MLS is just not worth following in my opinion. 

Unless you live in one of the cities with an awesome fanbase (Portland, for example) and go to the games and participate in the marches, there is very low appeal to the product on the field.  Also, the thing about starting to follow this season is that the exciting fan element won't even be there.  

I say skip it. 

 
Sporting Kansas City also started the Victory Project back in 2013. The focus is on kids with cancer and provides them services and support and also Make-a-Wish type things.

They really are a great organization.

 
I am a soccer guy, and I sure do love me some America. I have even been down with Sons of Ben since before there was a Team in Philadelphia..  but the MLS is just not worth following in my opinion. 

Unless you live in one of the cities with an awesome fanbase (Portland, for example) and go to the games and participate in the marches, there is very low appeal to the product on the field.  Also, the thing about starting to follow this season is that the exciting fan element won't even be there.  

I say skip it. 
It’s extremely bad imo. Watching this against the premier league is night and day. 

 
I am a soccer guy, and I sure do love me some America. I have even been down with Sons of Ben since before there was a Team in Philadelphia..  but the MLS is just not worth following in my opinion. 

Unless you live in one of the cities with an awesome fanbase (Portland, for example) and go to the games and participate in the marches, there is very low appeal to the product on the field.  Also, the thing about starting to follow this season is that the exciting fan element won't even be there.  

I say skip it. 
My "true" soccer nerd friends say the same. I fully understand it. I just don't agree. 

I'm not a fan because I love soccer. I don't even like soccer. I'm a fan because I'm pulling for sports in America. 

So for me, this is MLS. 

 
If you like an underdog, go with FC Cincinnati.  Only been in the league a year. Sweet logo. Great fans.  Were second or third in attendance last year.  Even before they were an MLS team their attendance was higher than a majority of MLS teams at the time.  
Thanks. How do they compare with Columbus?

 

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