MLS 2017 Thread

[M2]

Two new teams coming into the league for the next season - Atlanta and Minnesota. Atlanta bears watching because it doesn't seem to want to build slowly. Tata Martino (ex-Barcelona and Argentina top man) is the manager and it just signed 22-year-old Paraguayan attacking mid Miguel Almiron. It's exciting to see that kind of class coming into the league even if it's frustrating knowing my team is never going to sign a player like that.

[Yachtzee]

Two new teams coming into the league for the next season - Atlanta and Minnesota. Atlanta bears watching because it doesn't seem to want to build slowly. Tata Martino (ex-Barcelona and Argentina top man) is the manager and it just signed 22-year-old Paraguayan attacking mid Miguel Almiron. It's exciting to see that kind of class coming into the league even if it's frustrating knowing my team is never going to sign a player like that.

I'm still skeptical about Atlanta. Arthur Blanks seems to want to make a big splash, but we'll see how things go in a few years if they don't win. I seem to recall in the early years of MLS, Bob Kraft appeared to have a desire to bring in marquee players and build a successful team in New England, but since the shine has worn off, the Revs seem little more than a secondary tenant Kraft uses to fill up dates at Gillette Stadium. When Blank was chasing an MLS franchise, it seemed like it was more as a means of encouraging Atlanta to build him a new stadium because an MLS team would give the stadium an additional tenant beyond the 8 homes games an NFL can guarantee. The fact that he simply chose the name Atlanta United FC because marketing doesn't inspire confidence. It should be interesting to see whether they or Minnesota United will succeed first and whether Blank will continue to put money into the team if they don't succeed and the attendance numbers fall off. Atlanta isn't known for being the best sports town when their teams aren't doing well.

[Yachtzee]

Oh, and tonight is the last game of the 2016 season, the MLS Cup. Who do you have? Both teams have some exciting players but I have a hard time rooting for either just because the Seattle supporters and the Toronto supporters are the two most obnoxious supporter groups in MLS. In the online forums, there's an ongoing joke about how Seattle invented everything in soccer, except that Toronto invented inventing everything in soccer. If last year's MLS Cup pit two teams with some of the more well liked (or at least respected) supporters against each other, this year involves the two most hated.

[Yachtzee]

Going to penalties. Toronto has definitely looked like the better team, but Frei has come up big for Seattle.

[M2]

Oh, and tonight is the last game of the 2016 season, the MLS Cup. Who do you have? Both teams have some exciting players but I have a hard time rooting for either just because the Seattle supporters and the Toronto supporters are the two most obnoxious supporter groups in MLS. In the online forums, there's an ongoing joke about how Seattle invented everything in soccer, except that Toronto invented inventing everything in soccer. If last year's MLS Cup pit two teams with some of the more well liked (or at least respected) supporters against each other, this year involves the two most hated.

Wild guess, the ratings for this final will be significantly higher.

[Yachtzee]

Wild guess, the ratings for this final will be significantly higher.

I do hope so, regardless of my feelings toward Seattle and Toronto supporters. I hope ratings for the MLS Cup go up every year, because it will mean more TV dollars for the league, which is a good thing if we want to see the quality of the league improve.

[paintmered]

A few big things for MLS heading into 2017:

First, the TV ratings are starting to pick up, which is a huge development for the league if it is to fund itself and thrive through something other than new franchise fees.

Second, with those new franchise fees being what they are now, MLS is throwing some of it at each club in the form of additional targeted allocation money (TAM), which is one of the two pseudo-fake currencies within MLS to help pay down more expensive players' salaries. More importantly, it will mean that all clubs should continue to improve their roster quality and depth.

Third, each club has to live through and overcome yet another expansion draft. Unlike previous expansion drafts, teams are assured to lose no more than one unprotected player.

[M2]

Only half the teams will lose anyone in the expansion draft and I doubt anyone will lose all that significant player, certainly no one you couldn't upgrade with a half-decent signing.

The TAM is interesting because, I think, you've got to use your DP slots before you can spend it. Works like a giant middle finger to cheapskate teams like the one I root for.

[Revering4Blue]

Can soccer fill void left by Chargers?

My take: It seems like a natural fit to me.

I also found this interesting.

Sources said the San Diego group, which has exclusivity with MLS for this market, is intent on pursuing the first round of expansion despite the tight time frame. Sacramento and St. Louis were considered the prohibitive favorites for those early slots, and Sacramento remains on track. But the St. Louis bid, which was seeking $80 million in city funding and $40 million in state tax credits, was recently derailed by the governor-elect’s announcement that “to be very clear, I have completely ruled out state funding for stadiums.”

Seven other expansion candidates were identified by MLS last month: Charlotte, Cincinnati, Detroit, Nashville; Raleigh-Durham, San Antonio and Tampa-St. Petersburg. Of those, Cincinnati and Detroit are given the best chance.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...112-story.html

[M2]

[Simon Rhymon]

Probably nobody on this forum knows him (or cares ) but Atlanta took Julian Gressel (Providence - 1st team All American) with the 8th pick meaning Tata Martino likes him (which is really cool). I saw him play many times. The kid is from Germany and not to classify players based on nationality, but he is really aggressive with the ball. I'm just sorry he went to Atlanta based on the fact they are spending a lot of money.

[Yachtzee]

Can soccer fill void left by Chargers?

My take: It seems like a natural fit to me.

I also found this interesting.



http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...112-story.html

San Diego would be good except that MLS is already West Coast heavy and Sacramento has been doing everything they can to get a team out there. At this point, San Diego is in the same boat with St. Louis, a city that just lost an NFL team because the city didn't build a sparkling new football palace fast enough. Unless the ownership group has a stadium deal signed, sealed, and delivered, or they're willing to put a USL team out there to show their commitment to the sport, I'd pass. Sacramento gets the team to close out California expansion.

There are too many cities in the Midwest showing actual support for USL and NASL teams to spend time and effort on "bright shiny object" cities whose support for pro soccer is theoretical at this point. They already have one of those in Beckham's Miami adventure.

[Yachtzee]

Probably nobody on this forum knows him (or cares ) but Atlanta took Julian Gressel (Providence - 1st team All American) with the 8th pick meaning Tata Martino likes him (which is really cool). I saw him play many times. The kid is from Germany and not to classify players based on nationality, but he is really aggressive with the ball. I'm just sorry he went to Atlanta based on the fact they are spending a lot of money.

There were quite a few Crew fans that were hoping he'd fall to 9 in hopes the Crew might pick him there.

[Revering4Blue]

San Diego would be good except that MLS is already West Coast heavy and Sacramento has been doing everything they can to get a team out there. At this point, San Diego is in the same boat with St. Louis, a city that just lost an NFL team because the city didn't build a sparkling new football palace fast enough. Unless the ownership group has a stadium deal signed, sealed, and delivered, or they're willing to put a USL team out there to show their commitment to the sport, I'd pass. Sacramento gets the team to close out California expansion.

There are too many cities in the Midwest showing actual support for USL and NASL teams to spend time and effort on "bright shiny object" cities whose support for pro soccer is theoretical at this point. They already have one of those in Beckham's Miami adventure.

Looks like San Diego is concentrating on an NASL franchise first, at this point, which would give the NASL another Western franchise, and San Francisco a regional rival.

http://www.empireofsoccer.com/demba-...n-diego-57063/

I agree that Sacto and, for that matter, St.Louis should be ahead of San Diego in the pecking order, with Cincy and Detroit -- so long as the Stadium is located in the suburbs -- right there, too.

[Yachtzee]

Looks like San Diego is concentrating on an NASL franchise first, at this point, which would give the NASL another Western franchise, and San Francisco a regional rival.

http://www.empireofsoccer.com/demba-...n-diego-57063/

I agree that Sacto and, for that matter, St.Louis should be ahead of San Diego in the pecking order, with Cincy and Detroit -- so long as the Stadium is located in the suburbs -- right there, too.

At this point, a San Diego NASL team is just vaporware. And let's wait and see if the NASL even makes it another year.

St. Louis' chances took a big hit in the last month. I believe their stadium hopes rested on the city and state using the money they were planning on using for a new stadium for the Rams to build a soccer stadium. The new governor of Missouri has said he will not support use of public funds for a soccer stadium, so they will have to find private financing.

It's hard to handicap who has a good shot east of the Rockies as there so many good candidate cities with actual successfull organizations in place that could get awarded a team tomorrow and be ready to go in 2018 or 2019. There is some stiff competition for those next few expansion slots.