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***Official Soccer Discussion Thread*** (8 Viewers)

NewlyRetired said:
Have you heard of any coaches that Atlanta is talking to?  

They seem to be pushing forward on all fronts, academies, youth teams and they even signed Kenwyne Jones last week (they will loan him out until Atlanta starts up next spring) so I have to assume they are looking at coaches right now as well.
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Nothing on the coaching front outside of the wish lists. Lots of community activity as well as the player/academy work. Took the kids to a free camp Sat they were a sponsor of, but not a participant in. The Friday Flag Days have been a hit too. 

 
As good as Higuain is, I'm liking the Icardi to Arsenal rumors a lot more than the Higuain to the Gunners for Giroud and the gross national product of Bolivia rumors.

Icardi strikes me as a good signing.  A bit more clinical than Olivier but not someone who would automatically be first choice.  He'd give us the ability to get in behind without giving up as much strength on the ball.  Icardi, Xhaka, and a reasonably competent center back would be a fine summer. 

 
So I talked to a few brits about the next eng manager, and they all thought big Sam would be the name called, not JK.

When asked about their impression of JK, they felt he was "a winner, with good history". I asked if they had any sense of his style of play or tactics as a manager, and they thought he'd bring an attack minded, hard working approach.  I told them he might bring those things, but he'd also alienate players, play them out of position, have little tactical awareness, and misuse his subs repeatedly in games.  They seemed surprised at my criticisms and really knew nothing about how the US had performed.

 
The Z Machine said:
It's pretty shameful that our top domestic league pays so poorly to the bulk of the players.
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The average salary is excellent IMO, coming in at $316k this year.

The median salary is WAY too low IMO, coming in at $117k this year.

The gap between the haves and have nots is widening every year.

The combination of the low salary cap and the high cost DP's is continuing to cause this gap to widen.

I don't know how the league fixes this.  It is clear they believe they need to spend on the big name players to stay relevant but they refuse to spend any decent money on your average unheralded drafted player as they likely figure "where else is he going to go?".  If a player does go abroad and has some minimal success, the league then seems willing to open the wallet to bring him back.

 
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The Z Machine said:
So, let the players go to LigaMX, prove themselves and bring them back? They pay better for mid-level talent, right?
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Liga MX just changed its rules this year for foreign players which will make this harder.

Yes, Liga MX has a much more level pay structure in their squads which allows for talent to be spread out more.

 
MLS salaries slot in somewhere between English League 1 and Championship levels.  The comparable quality of play is debatable but I don't think Wimbledon would fare well in MLS.  What's not debatable is the amount of money in the game.  MLS has much higher attendance, corporate sponsorship and media deals than the lower divisions in England. 

MLS could pay American talent more but the current closed shop structure means they don't have to.

 
Eephus said:
MLS salaries slot in somewhere between English League 1 and Championship levels.  The comparable quality of play is debatable but I don't think Wimbledon would fare well in MLS.  What's not debatable is the amount of money in the game.  MLS has much higher attendance, corporate sponsorship and media deals than the lower divisions in England. 

MLS could pay American talent more but the current closed shop structure means they don't have to.
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Here is an interesting chart from a couple of years ago that compares salary to club revenue which seems to back up your point pretty strongly.   Japan comes out even worse in this picture.

http://screamer.deadspin.com/chart-the-average-player-salaries-in-soccer-leagues-ar-1658856283

 
Eephus said:
I wonder what the average domestic-based player makes in the Chinese Super League
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average or median salary?  I bet they are very much like MLS where a few high paid players bring the average up significantly but the median stays much lower than the average.

The CSL has SIGNIFICANTLY higher paid players than MLS does.  And this past winter the CSL spent more money on transfer fees than even the EPL did (think about that for a second how crazy that sounds).

The best paid player in MLS is Kaka who makes around $7m. The best paid played in the CSL is I believe Lavessi at $16.8m.

I don't know how the CSL manages this on their current revenue stream but they seem to have large backing from the government.  If that support ever drops due to a change in leadership, that bubble is going to pop hard IMO.

 
The Z Machine said:
So I talked to a few brits about the next eng manager, and they all thought big Sam would be the name called, not JK.

When asked about their impression of JK, they felt he was "a winner, with good history". I asked if they had any sense of his style of play or tactics as a manager, and they thought he'd bring an attack minded, hard working approach.  I told them he might bring those things, but he'd also alienate players, play them out of position, have little tactical awareness, and misuse his subs repeatedly in games.  They seemed surprised at my criticisms and really knew nothing about how the US had performed.
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Not surprising.  Brits are consumed with club football and make a slight detour to watch their international team lose every two years.  They view mid-season international football breaks as a huge annoyance and spend most of the time hoping their favorite club players don't get injured.

So their thoughts on JK are likely that he did a decent job with the USA at the last WC when the USA hung close to Germany, Belgium and played Portugal to a draw.  Other than that, aside from truly hardcore fans that may have watched the USA play in the Copa America (very few), how would they know how good JK is doing?  They honestly just don't care about USA football.

 
The Z Machine said:
Oh, I very much understand that. I was hanging with Stoke, Leicester, and Arsenal fans, fyi.
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On a completely unrelated subject, I wonder how many new Leicester fans there are in the USA.  I have to imagine that their global brand has exploded in the past 6 months.

 
holy jeebus... didn't know about that Ba thing. terrible. the little bit of video I watched (between cupped hands over eyes) looked like a clumsy and unlucky challenge more than bad intent... true?.

 
BTW here's a great article on the 50 fields NYCFC is trying to help build in NYC over the next 5 years.  I hope the can get it done  

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/new-york-city-nycfc-youth-fields-stadium-search

Leaving the park I speak briefly with the perpetually enthusiastic Bruce (Adidas's North American chief), who claims that "Adidas were in as soon as we heard how many fields they wanted to do — even before we really thought about what the details would be. It's such an obvious project for us. And now we want to see what other markets do. How do they match this challenge. Look at LAFC. Look at where they are, what they could be doing in that location. Don't sleep on them — they could do something like this." 
 
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Speaking of my Leicester love- Christian ***hs is on record as saying once his contract is up he wants to play for... who else... the Cosmos. 

 
El Floppo said:
was looking for you down at asbury park this weekend... kept yelling out "Kafka!... Kafka" (imagine... "stella!"). well- more ocean grove than asbury park- but same neck of the nape.
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:lmao: ...I keep picturing you as your avatar now;  that must have been a throaty, guttural  Roar!

 
El Floppo said:
well, sure. and that he has to pull his chin in when running.

now I feel bad about making fun of that guy. he's probably really nice.. at least not miserably horrible (no liverpool shirt).
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Me too, now.....but you started it!  Mea Culpa, @ guy in Floppo 's avatar...that was un-excellent of me, & I appreciate your effort; running in what was probably a charity event for a good cause.  I blame Canada...& Inter.

 
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