North American Pro Soccer 2017

[AnPheitseog]

I prefer the standard european schedule, i do.

 

BUT

 

this schedule results in having soccer played year round, and that I am completely in favour of

 

And natural grass(or hybrid) is preferable to turf or indoor stadia

 

that all considered? keep it the way it is

[AnPheitseog]

I'm going to revise what i said. 

 

However you want to do it, u would like for the MLS cup to be played mid November, rather than December. 

 

If that makes the start in Feb, then so be it. 

[HedleyLamarr]

Granted, Minnesota United seems overmatched and I think Chicago was last place in the East last year, but those two getting smoked 6-1 and 4-0 is pretty impressive.  Now Atlanta United just has to weather this west coast and lengthy road trip.

[4_tattoos]

Not quite ready to call DC United a bad team after 3 games, but umm they haven't looked good thus far.

[Viper]

After severely shaking up their starting XI (with most of their legacy NASL players starting or being subbed in), briefly taking the lead, then playing the last 20 minutes (plus a generous five added) down a man following a questionable straight red, Minnesota United escapes Colorado with a 2-2 draw and their first-ever MLS point.

[Digby]

On 3/17/2017 at 11:10 PM, DiePerske said:

I'm going to revise what i said. 

 

However you want to do it, u would like for the MLS cup to be played mid November, rather than December. 

 

If that makes the start in Feb, then so be it. 

The MLS Cup placement, and the playoffs, are the primary problem for sure. Though it seems like maybe a Saturday night placement was pretty good for TV ratings last year? Flip side to that, though, is that we can expect a lot of cold MLS Cups -- I think I prefer the neutral-venue setup for that reason.

 

At any rate, ultimately it comes down to an unsustainable amount of soccer being played between leagues, cups and international play IMHO. Fun for the fans but there are problems, clearly.

[2001mark]

1-0-2 TFC I'm okay with, at the moment.

 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

This was a nice goal setup by the offense and punched in by Jordan Morris:

 

 

The Sounders haven't scored as frequently or as prettily since Obafemi Martins left, so it's nice to see them put something together like that.

[Gothamite]

What a thing of beauty. 

[Digby]

And one more calendar thing to whine about: MLS is playing with fire, or ice more accurately, a little bit with the staggering of home openers. Like, why put Minnesota and New England home openers in Week 2, and Columbus in Week 1 even, while Seattle and Dallas have to wait until Week 3? I realize that scheduling is a very tough thing to figure out, just seems like there's got to be a way to shove more temperate games into those dicey early weeks. 

[MJWalker45]

I think they went with this because the southern teams played a majority of home games at the front end of the season. I'm a fan of the first two weeks being that way, then somewhere along the way make it so teams are at home one week, away the next.

[Jer15]

A little late on this but to kind of go back to the conversation that happened regarding Seattle and how they viewed their history (not trying to reopen that topic) look at what TFC did:

https://www.thestar.com/sports/tfc/2017/03/02/toronto-fc-unveils-new-wall-of-honour-at-bmo-field.html

 

A "wall of honour" that acknowledges some milestones in club history (the first goal, 2016 Eastern Conference Champs, ect) but talk about reaching.....the 1976 Toronto Metro-Croatia Soccer Bowl Championship is listed.

 

To make it even funnier: Global Television was the majority owner of that team. Global is owned bu Chorus entertainment, 1 of the very large media companies in Toronto. The other 2: Bell and Rogers currently are the owners of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment which own TFC.  

 

Nothing big, just thought it was kind of funny.

[2001mark]

2 hours ago, mr.negative15 said:

A little late on this but to kind of go back to the conversation that happened regarding Seattle and how they viewed their history (not trying to reopen that topic) look at what TFC did:

https://www.thestar.com/sports/tfc/2017/03/02/toronto-fc-unveils-new-wall-of-honour-at-bmo-field.html

The Canadian title should be more of a thing.  It is for me.

[Jer15]

3 minutes ago, 2001mark said:

The Canadian title should be more of a thing.  It is for me.

WAY more. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

It's official: http://www.hottimeinoldtown.com/2017/3/20/14994460/bastian-schweinsteiger-to-cf97-its-happening

 

Quote

After years of waffling between no-name ineffective DPs and trying to make do on a shoestring budget, it seems as though the Fire are done :censored:ing around.

 

The Chicago Tribune is reporting tonight that the Chicago Fire have signed Bastian Schweinsteiger. The 32-year-old midfielder and former Germany captain is joining the Fire from Manchester United on a reported salary of one-year Designated Player contract (with an option for a second year) reportedly worth $4.5m, making him one of the highest paid players in MLS. Per league and club policy, the exact terms of the transfer were not disclosed. The club could make an official announcement as early as tomorrow and Schweinsteiger, who was part of the Germany squad that won the World Cup in 2014, is expected to be available for selection for the Fire’s next league game on April 1st against Montreal.

 

[AnPheitseog]

Might be a question best for @McCarthy, but for all. 

 

How is going to crew games? Parking, stadium experience and the like. I'm likely going Saturday for my first MLS game. 

 

Also, best place  to eat in Columbus close ish to the stadium?

[henchmeister]

59 minutes ago, DiePerske said:

Might be a question best for @McCarthy, but for all. 

 

How is going to crew games? Parking, stadium experience and the like. I'm likely going Saturday for my first MLS game. 

 

Also, best place  to eat in Columbus close ish to the stadium?

Been going to Crew games consistently for a couple of years now. Stadium experience has improved tremendously over the past couple of years with added food vendors, food trucks, and local craft brewers offering some good variety of food and beverage choices. It's still not cheap, but the selection is good. You can probably switch your seats up when you get there because there are generally lots of empty seats outside of the supporters' section. Parking is a big pain in the rear, and it can take forever to get in before the game and out after, plus it's $15. I highly recommend getting there early, coming in from the south off 17th Street, and parking close to the exit if you want a quick exit. In terms of good eats near the stadium, I'm always a fan of Local Cantina on High Street in Clintonville. It's Mexican with a hipster twist, and includes tacos, quesadillas, burittos, fajitas, craft beer, and solid cocktails. I've never had anything bad off the menu. If you're not in the mood for Mexican, Dewey's and Natalie's in Worthington have very good pizza and the Short North is chalk full of good dining options. Sadly there are no food options within walking distance of the stadium outside of tailgating or eating inside the stadium. Hopefully this gives you a sense of how things function for Crew games, it's overall a good time, and hopefully the game is more like yesterday than opening night.

[Gothamite]

The USL, having been promoted to D2 for this season, is now launching its own D3 league next year.

 

https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2017/03/30/usl-division-three-us-soccer-league-2019

 

We don't know anything about it yet - not the name, not the clubs which will be a part of it.

 

Quote

The location and identity of the new D3 league’s founding clubs is unknown, but SI.com understands that the USL hopes to have those nailed down by the end of this year. The D3 schedule likely will be regionalized in order to cut down on travel costs. Some 2019 entrants may be expansion teams created by new ownership groups and others could come from the PDL or NPSL, the two nationwide semipro/amateur leagues. The PDL is a USL subsidiary, so transition for interested clubs should be relatively seamless, and several PDL teams are professionally run and attract decent crowds.

 

Another possibility—and this is speculation—is that MLS owners who would rather not spend the money required to maintain reserve teams at a D2 standard might seek to drop those sides to the new D3 league. It’s unknown whether MLS would allow it, but it might make sense for squads that are designed to develop players, not draw crowds. One of the reasons for the USL’s provisional D2 sanctioning is that a couple MLS reserve teams were forced to upgrade their stadiums.

 

That seems to me to be the best solution.  Let the II teams drop back down to D3, where they can play in smaller stadiums and put development ahead of attendance concerns.  If MLS clubs need its better developing players to face stiffer competition, then they can also sign arrangements with D2 clubs.

 

This D3 league potentially means the end of the NASL, since as the article notes it would allow the second division to shed the teams that don't meet D2 rules.  At the moment, both leagues need waivers to be in compliance with the USSF's requirements for D2 sanctioning.  If the USL beats the NASL to full compliance, that might be enough for the USSF to give them sole sanctioning.

[raysox]

Huh that's really interesting. I could see a reserve team, but I could also see them try to pull up teams like Chattanooga.

[Gothamite]

That's what I was thinking.  The reserve clubs against more ambitious amateur sides like Chattanooga, who might be interested in a step up.