Pretty sure that Weah at least has played as a striker in two striker setup at Lille for a while.Granted it's a tiny subset of his US work, but Sarge did also look good in the World Cup before he got hurt, so you can at least see potential there. I wouldn't be averse to trying Pulisic or Weah up top instead, though.
It would get our best players on the field, which would be a plus.Granted it's a tiny subset of his US work, but Sarge did also look good in the World Cup before he got hurt, so you can at least see potential there. I wouldn't be averse to trying Pulisic or Weah up top instead, though.
I thought that was a strength of his.I have to imagine Poch will bring in the available guys and decide who's right for what he's trying to do after seeing them in training with the rest of the team. Sarge obviously won't be handed the spot... Even though he's basically last man standing. Only other guy I think will push is Vasquez
It would get our best players on the field, which would be a plus.Granted it's a tiny subset of his US work, but Sarge did also look good in the World Cup before he got hurt, so you can at least see potential there. I wouldn't be averse to trying Pulisic or Weah up top instead, though.
The negative is that both of those guys are best running at goal, not playing with their back to it. That said, Sarge isn't particularly good at hold up play either, but has done better (from limited viewing of the other two thee) working in those areas.
that was interesting to watch... makes his living working hard and smart as a fox in the box. only a handful that he generated on his own (beating a man or opening up a shot for himself. I was thinking as I watched how similar his goals are to Pepi's- except Pepi generates more of his own off the dribble inside the box than Sarge who definitely relies on service.
all good points. Here are some comments:I guess I just dont get how MLS continues to expand financially if they move to a traditional schedule. Puts them up against the NFL and basketball......fewer people are going to want to attend in cold weather. Fewer overseas stars are gonna want to come over if they have to play through a North American winter (I know that the league isn't as dependent on this as they were 20 years ago, but I think it still moves the needle)
I think I understand all the potential benefits, but short term it seems like it be a fairly big negative that they'd have to recover from.
'I'm not disagreeing, but curious how foreign players like going through our summer. and if there's any comment on that vs winter.I guess I just dont get how MLS continues to expand financially if they move to a traditional schedule. Puts them up against the NFL and basketball......fewer people are going to want to attend in cold weather. Fewer overseas stars are gonna want to come over if they have to play through a North American winter (I know that the league isn't as dependent on this as they were 20 years ago, but I think it still moves the needle)
I think I understand all the potential benefits, but short term it seems like it be a fairly big negative that they'd have to recover from.
One thing that opened my eyes was how good he is in the air. He does not have the vibe of a pure athlete but he is significantly out jumping the CB's on many of those strong headers.that was interesting to watch... makes his living working hard and smart as a fox in the box. only a handful that he generated on his own (beating a man or opening up a shot for himself. I was thinking as I watched how similar his goals are to Pepi's- except Pepi generates more of his own off the dribble inside the box than Sarge who definitely relies on service.
'I'm not disagreeing, but curious how foreign players like going through our summer. and if there's any comment on that vs winter.I guess I just dont get how MLS continues to expand financially if they move to a traditional schedule. Puts them up against the NFL and basketball......fewer people are going to want to attend in cold weather. Fewer overseas stars are gonna want to come over if they have to play through a North American winter (I know that the league isn't as dependent on this as they were 20 years ago, but I think it still moves the needle)
I think I understand all the potential benefits, but short term it seems like it be a fairly big negative that they'd have to recover from.
I was thinking our winter isn't much different than a lot of Europe's- but our winter varies so much because of our sheer size and varied climates. so it might be true for the North-East (comparable to Europe), but there are obviously worse spots and better spots.
he gets to those WAY better than he does trying to win a header at midfield against those same CBs.One thing that opened my eyes was how good he is in the air. He does not have the vibe of a pure athlete but he is significantly out jumping the CB's on many of those strong headers.that was interesting to watch... makes his living working hard and smart as a fox in the box. only a handful that he generated on his own (beating a man or opening up a shot for himself. I was thinking as I watched how similar his goals are to Pepi's- except Pepi generates more of his own off the dribble inside the box than Sarge who definitely relies on service.
I''m trying to think of bay area players... Cade Cowell, Caden Clark.... I'm sensing a theme.This is excellent news! While he was not a great head coach, he is generally given credit for the large amount of talent that came out of the FC Dallas system (Weston, Richards, Cannon, Reynolds, Pepi, Jesus etc etc).
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https://x.com/tombogert
Tom Bogert
@tombogert
Luchi Gonzalez will take over as San Jose Earthquakes academy director. Gonzalez was first team head coach until being fired the middle of last year. Good to see both sides held no animosity because this is an excellent hire by SJ.
Maybe I'm totally off base, but I would assume families with kids playing soccer drive a lot of the attendance. Dumping all the games into a window where the kids playing and travelling could really hinder the ability of families to attend.all good points. Here are some comments:I guess I just dont get how MLS continues to expand financially if they move to a traditional schedule. Puts them up against the NFL and basketball......fewer people are going to want to attend in cold weather. Fewer overseas stars are gonna want to come over if they have to play through a North American winter (I know that the league isn't as dependent on this as they were 20 years ago, but I think it still moves the needle)
I think I understand all the potential benefits, but short term it seems like it be a fairly big negative that they'd have to recover from.
1) I think the idea to mitigate the winter issues will be to take an ~6 week break from early Dec to late Jan time frame and then on the back end of January, have most of the southern cities host games coming out of the break. It will be far from perfect but I think they can safely mitigate some of the weather issues but I am also very concerned that it is FAR easier for a family to attend a game in July as compared to late November/early February no matter where it is played. I think they are going to have to bake in at least some attendance drop into their calculations.
2) The domestic sporting competition for MLS hits its nadir during the summer, when only baseball is around. For the vast majority of the MLS season they compete against NFL, College Football, NBA, and NHL. The swap of the calendar will trade the two quiet months in the summer, for getting MLS playoffs and championship games away from college football and the NFL. Removing those two behemoths from the competition of their biggest games may be worth trading the lower competition summers when only baseball is playing.
3) Removing the summer from the season schedule actually opens up interesting revenue possibilities for the league. The teams would now be available league wide to host the enormous amount of Euro/South American teams that come to play in the US in the summer. Instead of missing out on that revenue every year, they can likely start getting their taste.
College Soccer becoming professional
* The general idea is that US Soccer will take as many colleges as want to sign up and place them some where in the pyramid (most likely USL 1).
* Instead of barely a 3 month schedule, the idea is that they will play 9-10 months of soccer under the new plan. The 3 month season has long been derided as why college soccer can never be depended upon to develop the key ages of 18-22.
* We all know that while the academies are fabulous, there are simply not enough of them to cover a country our size. I am convinced we are missing out on kids who fall through the cracks, and or mature physically/mentally later than other kids and eventually end up in college.
* For the kids that fall into the previous bullet, they tend to go on to college and stop developing in a path that could lead them to a pro career. Many of these kids mature late in high school, but by that time they have missed the academy window and there is an EXTREMELY low % of American parents who are going to tell a kid to chase him dreams in the depths of Europe as opposed to college. This change would now gives those kids and their parents a way to do both.
* One very interesting thing to consider is that most of the current USL 1 facilities are absolute garbage. While on the other hand, many many Div 1 college programs in the US have very nice soccer facilities. Adding these facilities to USL 1 will help all teams even the ones that have garbage ones as they will at least get excellent playing surfaces when they travel to the college teams.
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I think both of these ideas are far from slam dunks in terms of being successful but I am cautiosly optimistic that 25 years from now we may look back as this time period being crucial to the sport in our country.
Cade's little brother, Chance CowellI''m trying to think of bay area players... Cade Cowell, Caden Clark.... I'm sensing a theme.This is excellent news! While he was not a great head coach, he is generally given credit for the large amount of talent that came out of the FC Dallas system (Weston, Richards, Cannon, Reynolds, Pepi, Jesus etc etc).
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https://x.com/tombogert
Tom Bogert
@tombogert
Luchi Gonzalez will take over as San Jose Earthquakes academy director. Gonzalez was first team head coach until being fired the middle of last year. Good to see both sides held no animosity because this is an excellent hire by SJ.
That fix in the box, non-creator CF role would never work in GGG's system, since service was starved other than crappy crosses put into bad spots. Pepi did better than Sarge in this because he is better making something out of nothing. But really, only Balo (of our recent strikers) has shown the ability to create his own shot, beat a man on the dribble, create separation, etc. Perhaps Weah could do that. I'm certain Puli could, but would he try to do too much, drop too deep, and what would we give up by not having Puli on the ball more?that was interesting to watch... makes his living working hard and smart as a fox in the box. only a handful that he generated on his own (beating a man or opening up a shot for himself. I was thinking as I watched how similar his goals are to Pepi's- except Pepi generates more of his own off the dribble inside the box than Sarge who definitely relies on service.
03 Cade CowellI''m trying to think of bay area players... Cade Cowell, Caden Clark.... I'm sensing a theme.This is excellent news! While he was not a great head coach, he is generally given credit for the large amount of talent that came out of the FC Dallas system (Weston, Richards, Cannon, Reynolds, Pepi, Jesus etc etc).
==================
https://x.com/tombogert
Tom Bogert
@tombogert
Luchi Gonzalez will take over as San Jose Earthquakes academy director. Gonzalez was first team head coach until being fired the middle of last year. Good to see both sides held no animosity because this is an excellent hire by SJ.
There was speculation that he was moving due to being the only Philly player released for Camp Cupcake. Surprised to see him more across the league for sure though.I was not expecting something like this....
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https://x.com/tombogert
Tom Bogert
@tombogert
BREAKING: Houston Dynamo have acquired USMNT midfielder Jack McGlynn from the Philadelphia Union, per sources.
Houston will pay a cash fee, not allocation money. Philly retain big sell-on clause.
his ability to sprint at his top speed no matter what the game time or state is something so special. He never seems to get tired.
This is an interesting side effect of MLS becoming more modern. Because teams can now use real cash to get players within the league (instead of exchanging monopoly money). Houston ended up offering better terms than from teams in Italy and in the Championship that talked to Philly.There was speculation that he was moving due to being the only Philly player released for Camp Cupcake. Surprised to see him more across the league for sure though.I was not expecting something like this....
======================
https://x.com/tombogert
Tom Bogert
@tombogert
BREAKING: Houston Dynamo have acquired USMNT midfielder Jack McGlynn from the Philadelphia Union, per sources.
Houston will pay a cash fee, not allocation money. Philly retain big sell-on clause.
That does seem to be a lost art. At the professional level you'd think it shouldn't be but very impressive still to be able to hit ite level speed late in a game.his ability to sprint at his top speed no matter what the game time or state is something so special. He never seems to get tired.
Weah went the full 90 and Weston 85 in a 4-1 win. Weah had an assist.McKennie and Weah both started this morning
Has Weah listed at RB and Swag playing the 10Weah went the full 90 and Weston 85 in a 4-1 win. Weah had an assist.McKennie and Weah both started this morning
Only got to watch about 10 minutes near the end of the first half, but that seems about rightHas Weah listed at RB and Swag playing the 10Weah went the full 90 and Weston 85 in a 4-1 win. Weah had an assist.McKennie and Weah both started this morning
Do we know if that was their actual roles?
I don't pretend to understand all the ramifications of this because the TAM/GAM thing is completely lost on me.This is an interesting side effect of MLS becoming more modern. Because teams can now use real cash to get players within the league (instead of exchanging monopoly money). Houston ended up offering better terms than from teams in Italy and in the Championship that talked to Philly.There was speculation that he was moving due to being the only Philly player released for Camp Cupcake. Surprised to see him more across the league for sure though.I was not expecting something like this....
======================
https://x.com/tombogert
Tom Bogert
@tombogert
BREAKING: Houston Dynamo have acquired USMNT midfielder Jack McGlynn from the Philadelphia Union, per sources.
Houston will pay a cash fee, not allocation money. Philly retain big sell-on clause.
I saw some highlights of Richards little brothering Garnacho all game. Having finally take his spot as the #1 CB is going to help things immensely if this continues.Chris Richards starts and goes the distance as Palace win 0-2 at ManU. He's started 6 matches in a row and Palace have steadily moved up the table in that span and are solid mid-table now.
speaking of which, Pulisic and Musah starting together on the rightI think if I could pick one game to go to, it might be the Milan derby.