North American Pro Soccer 2016

[Nyk33]

On 9/2/2016 at 1:37 PM, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

Estimates that I have seen place MLS even with the Championship, the second division in England

 

Most estimates I've seen have placed MLS with League One.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I think LA Galaxy would do okay against Nottingham Forest. Probably better than. Columbus maybe not as much.

[JayMac]

The Union probably wouldn't even beat Yeovil Town or Cambridge United, bottom feeders of League Two. Most MLS clubs would probably fair well or at least be competitive in League One but only a couple would be competitive in the Championship League.

[twi]

Anyone else going to the qualifier in Jacksonville tomorrow?

 

Be my second time seeing the national team, hoping for a better result than the first time, when they lost their first ever first round Gold Cup game iirc. 

[Nyk33]

9 hours ago, jmac11281 said:

The Union probably wouldn't even beat Yeovil Town or Cambridge United, bottom feeders of League Two.

 

You probably mean the Fire because the Union are doing alright this year.

[JayMac]

No, I kid. The Union have been somewhat successful.

[winters in buffalo]

On 9/5/2016 at 3:13 PM, twi said:

Anyone else going to the qualifier in Jacksonville tomorrow?

 

Be my second time seeing the national team, hoping for a better result than the first time, when they lost their first ever first round Gold Cup game iirc. 

 Looks like you're getting your money's worth. 

[dfwabel]

MLS Cup will air on FOX and will also be in primetime.

 

http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/content/mls-cup-set-primetime-fox-unimás-tsn-and-rds-december-10

[Nyk33]

It must suck for Canada that they finally have their best game but get screwed over by Mexico laying an egg against Honduras.

[Jer15]

2 hours ago, Nyk33 said:

It must suck for Canada that they finally have their best game but get screwed over by Mexico laying an egg against Honduras.

So encredibly frustrating. 

 

That said, play like that on a more consitant basis and maybe you wouldn't have to rely on another team to help you qualify.

[TBGKon]

Thought I had during Copa America, and brought to my attention today, but could there be a time where CONCACAF and CONMEBOL merge?

 

This article provides some detail:

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/06/02/could-us-keep-if-concacaf-conmebol-merged

 

If not, maybe a realignment of World Cup slots could be done...UEFA honestly doesn't need more than 12 or even 10. Id prefer 10 for UEFA, 10 for CONMEBOL/CONCACAF, 6 for CAF, and 5 for AFC/OFC. 1 for the host of course.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Huh. So like an NCAA alignment? Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica and Canada? Maybe Jamaica? Venezuela? Paraguay? Seems unfair, but I wouldn't be surprised.

[Nyk33]

Landon Donovan returns to the Galaxy.

[MJWalker45]

22 hours ago, AstroBull21 said:

Thought I had during Copa America, and brought to my attention today, but could there be a time where CONCACAF and CONMEBOL merge?

 

This article provides some detail:

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/06/02/could-us-keep-if-concacaf-conmebol-merged

 

If not, maybe a realignment of World Cup slots could be done...UEFA honestly doesn't need more than 12 or even 10. Id prefer 10 for UEFA, 10 for CONMEBOL/CONCACAF, 6 for CAF, and 5 for AFC/OFC. 1 for the host of course.

With so many teams in CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, over 46, the US, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Brasil and Chile would probably demand seeded tournaments to avoid 3 or 4 big teams playing in a group together, similar to how UEFA has moved to World Cup qualifying. That way, the big name teams would have to be god awful not to make the tournament. That's 7 teams for probably 9 guaranteed slots and a playoff spot. So that leaves 2 to 3 spots for 39 other teams to fight over. Hopefully it would get teams in CONCACAF to up their support and work rates to keep up with CONMEBOL teams. 

[MJWalker45]

1 hour ago, Nyk33 said:

Landon Donovan returns to the Galaxy.

I'm glad to hear this. Only because he's a horribly bland color man and I won't have to listen to him during MLS Cup if the Galaxy are in the championship game. Too bad Lalas will still be there.

[PacoRamirez]

Thinks aren't looking great for NASL.

http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/09/21/nasl-shakeup-ottawa-fury-tampa-bay-rowdies-usl-bill-peterson

[Gothamite]

They've really run their league into the ground. 

 

The expansion decisions of the last couple years show how disorganized they are - awarding franchises to ownership groups in Virginia and Hartford who then failed to actually put teams together. Trying to put a second(!) team in Oklahoma City, funded by a historically Spanish second-division side that, surprise surprise, got relegated back into the second division and is now slashing costs.  Allowing a second team in South Florida to cannibalize the market of another franchise, a founding member, that's already struggling.   

 

And when that Miami team comes out with a sexist "come gawk at the hot girls at our game" promotion, the NASL throws up its hands and claims that they can't possibly be expected to exercise any institutional control over their member clubs.

 

All the while, they're making noise abut how they should be a major league.  The NASL can't even run a stable minor league, and somehow US Soccer is at fault for not letting them fail at a higher level. 

[MJWalker45]

I'm glad that the Spurs put SAFC in USL now. Though the one result has been then upping fees to use the complex next door to the stadium, which in turn means we'll be playing there only during military tournaments. 

[Nyk33]

7 hours ago, Gothamite said:

The expansion decisions of the last couple years show how disorganized they are - awarding franchises to ownership groups in Virginia and Hartford who then failed to actually put teams together. Trying to put a second(!) team in Oklahoma City, funded by a historically Spanish second-division side that, surprise surprise, got relegated back into the second division and is now slashing costs.  Allowing a second team in South Florida to cannibalize the market of another franchise, a founding member, that's already struggling.

 

The Strikers are in really bad shape. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended operations next year.

 

My dream scenario out of this is that the remaining healthy NASL teams (except the Cosmos*) go to the USL and work something out where the independent clubs and "2" teams can play in separate leagues.

 

*My hope for the 'Mos is that their mysterious ownership finds a way to buy RBNY from Red Bull (that team needs a spark PR wise and I don't want that team to turn into a Leipzig feeder club like Salzburg).

[Gothamite]

5 hours ago, Nyk33 said:

My dream scenario out of this is that the remaining healthy NASL teams (except the Cosmos*) go to the USL and work something out where the independent clubs and "2" teams can play in separate leagues.

 

I think "independent" is a bit misleading - we need to draw a distinction between affiliated teams and II teams.  

 

I dont see any reason why a team like the Bethlehem Steel or Rochester Rhinos can't compete in the second division, though one is affiliated with an MLS side and the other is owned outright by one. That seems to me to be a very different situation than Timbers2 or RBII, where the parent club appears to consider only their player development value. 

 

As for the Cosmos, I give them a 50/50 chance of folding if the NASL shuts down.  I think they're really only interested in D1, and saw the NASL as a way around MLS.  If that path is closed off, I'm not sure that their owners (whoever they are) are interested in the continued financial losses.