North American Pro Soccer 2018

[Gothamite]

1 hour ago, DG_Now said:

 

David Villa has shattered expectations for his time in MLS, right? Especially in light of what a dud Frank Lampard was.

 

Of all of the great European players (or guys who had significant time in Europe) who came to close out their careers in MLS, it seems like Villa may be the best. Other guys that come to mind are Dempsey, Oba Martins (I'm biased, sue me), Robbie Keane, Beckham, Thierry Henry, and who else? I personally loved Didier Drogba's time with Montreal, but he seemed more like a flash in the pan that I'm not positive actually happened, compared to the sustained success the LA Galaxy guys had.

 

I wouldn’t call Lampard a dud - he started off bad, magnified by the nonsense surrounding his move to New York.  But by the end, he was a great contributor to the club. 

 

But yes.  I’d put Villa up against anyone else who has come to the league.  And not just for what he’s done on the pitch, which is impressive enough.  But off it, he’s been an incredible ambassador for the club and for the league.  Whenever NYCFC needs somebody to make a public apoearance, Villa is there.  Whe gives interview after interview, goes out in the community, and even learned English in his first off-season so he wouldn’t need an interpreter.  I don’t know a lot of players who come in with his resume and still put in that level of work.  

 

He is our Captain, and I really can’t imagine a better one.  Villa is setting a very high bar for whoever is unlucky enough to take the role after him. 

[Wings]

At least the Quakes 2.0 won't be winning an MLS Cup anytime never. 

[Sodboy13]

The Chicago USL bid is an absolute fantasy hinged on Chicago winning the Amazon HQ2 bid and the company then selecting the old Finkl Steel plant on Goose Island as its preferred site, instantly making everything in the area obscenely prime real estate. Ricketts buying in on the USL bid should be seen as nothing more than land speculation at this point.

 

What was it, a year ago, that people were starting to get really hyped for the proposed in-city Chicago NASL club? Then there was a big supporters' meeting at The Globe, the emperor gave everyone quite the fashion show, and that was that.

 

Threading off of that, when we last left Peter Wilt, he had rightly bailed on the Chicago NASL bid, and after one too many conversations with Tinfoil Ted, was helping get the National Independent Soccer Association started, with the promise of building a soccer pyramid with its own pro/rel structure... somehow.

 

Anyway, that's clearly an abject failure, so now he's off to launch a USL D3 club in Madison. I like Peter a lot. He's a very nice guy with a decades-long passion for making soccer work stateside, and without him, there's probably no Fire, Red Stars, or Indy Eleven today. He has made a lot work. But he's fallen in with some pretty sketchy actors on his last couple of ventures, and I hope he's taken away something from those experiences. I hope he builds something great in Madison.

[Gothamite]

7 hours ago, Sodboy13 said:

The Chicago USL bid is an absolute fantasy hinged on Chicago winning the Amazon HQ2 bid and the company then selecting the old Finkl Steel plant on Goose Island as its preferred site

 

No, it isn’t.   The stadium and all surrounding developement are moving forward independently of that whole drama.  The developers would love to lease a while chunk of it in one fell swoop, but even if Amazon doesn’t come to town the project and the team are still happening.

 

As for Wilt... yeah, working outside the system hasn’t been good to him.  But then again, the landscape looks very different than it did just a couple years ago. What looked possible then has since been revealed as an unrealistic fad, and it’s good to see Wilt return to the fold. 

[gosioux76]

On 5/20/2018 at 8:59 AM, Gothamite said:

It was “David Villa Day” in the City of New York, celebrating his 400th career goal, and he was presented with a certificate by the Mayor’s office before the match.

I can’t tell what that other one is, but I think it’s a City Council proclamation.   That’s a Councilmember from Queens holding it, someone expected to be instrumental in a stadium push, especially if it happens in his home borough. 

 

David Villa was also given a commemorative jersey from the club, and a special trophy from the Third Rail. 

 

 

Awesome.  And, of course, he had to score two more.  

 

Is there any better league when it comes to clubs interacting with fans? This photo of David Villa, San Jose renovating to accommodate supporters, this sort of thing doesn't happen in the big four. Maybe I'm just spoiled from my perspective here in Portland, where Merritt Paulson & Co. have gone out of their way to make fan involvement a priority, but this is really one of the things I love most about MLS. You really do feel like you're part of the club. 

 

[MJWalker45]

10 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

 

Is there any better league when it comes to clubs interacting with fans? This photo of David Villa, San Jose renovating to accommodate supporters, this sort of thing doesn't happen in the big four. Maybe I'm just spoiled from my perspective here in Portland, where Merritt Paulson & Co. have gone out of their way to make fan involvement a priority, but this is really one of the things I love most about MLS. You really do feel like you're part of the club. 

 

It depends on the team. There are some teams that do a better job and there are some teams in MLS who send out emails promoting games played 2 weeks ago. 

[Gothamite]

True, some clubs suck at it.  

 

But on the whole, no other league makes this kind of thing a priority the way MLS does. 

[Wings]

Former Liverpool CEO Ian Ayre to run MLS Nashville. 

[Needschat]

3 hours ago, Wings said:

Former Liverpool CEO Ian Ayre to run MLS Nashville. 

 

Will the club have a "Bandstand" section like the Predators?

WIll the club allow catfish beer?  

[-kj]

On 5/20/2018 at 8:15 PM, Sodboy13 said:

I like Peter a lot. He's a very nice guy with a decades-long passion for making soccer work stateside, and without him, there's probably no Fire, Red Stars, or Indy Eleven today. He has made a lot work. But he's fallen in with some pretty sketchy actors on his last couple of ventures, and I hope he's taken away something from those experiences. I hope he builds something great in Madison.

 

All of this, though sometimes I wonder if Wilt hasn't lost a screw somewhere along the way.

[Gothamite]

I think he wanted to go from being the guy who executes others’ vision to the guy running the show.  Which is an understandable impulse, though awfully hard to do. 

 

I also wonder if he looked at the clowns running the NASL and thought he could do a better job. Which is almost certainly true, if a very low bar.  Not to mention still not being enough to succeed. 

 

Either way, best to quit while you’re behind.  And now he seems to be returning to the thing he does very well, which is good for him and good for the sport in our country. 

[4_tattoos]

So about this LAFC vs Dortmund friendly on FS1 right now.... that's not Dortmund's A team out there is it?

[MJWalker45]

18 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:

So about this LAFC vs Dortmund friendly on FS1 right now.... that's not Dortmund's A team out there is it?

Pulisic was out there. I'm sure a few of the World Cup players were obviously not making the trip either. Since they'll probably have a condensed preseason they wanted to get this one in before the World Cup. That team may look even more like a B team come August 1st.

[4_tattoos]

6 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

Pulisic was out there. I'm sure a few of the World Cup players were obviously not making the trip either. Since they'll probably have a condensed preseason they wanted to get this one in before the World Cup. That team may look even more like a B team come August 1st.

I'm pretty sure some agreement was made for Pulisic to play/start if healthy. I know it was just a friendly, but no way the USSF let's him sit out a game played in the US.

[Gothamite]

Just now, 4_tattoos said:

I'm pretty sure some agreement was made for Pulisic to play/start if healthy. I know it was just a friendly, but no way the USSF let's him sit out a game played in the US.

 

Most friendlies include a provision in the contract requiring the guest club’s stars to appear and play for a minimum number of minutes. 

[Sport]

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/soccer/fc-cincinnati/2018/05/24/fc-cincinnati-mls-expansion-don-garber-announcement-nashville-sacramento-detroit-miami/635835002/
 

I think I'm going to need to update my board signature to add another team. 

[Crabcake]

Quote

Futbol Club Cincinnati

Why not just Football Club?

[DG_ThenNowForever]

5 minutes ago, Crabcake47 said:

Why not just Football Club?

 

It's embarrassing, isn't it?

[Dilbert]

10 minutes ago, Crabcake47 said:

Why not just Football Club?

 Supposedly the team will be named Fussball Club Cincinnati for MLS. People here will just call them FC Cincinnati or FCC still.

[Sport]

3 hours ago, Crabcake47 said:

Why not just Football Club?

 

3 hours ago, DG_Now said:

 

It's embarrassing, isn't it?

 

It's been a headscratcher since they announced the team, which I must admit I was very very wrong about. I never thought this would work. I never in a million years thought it would lead towards a Major League Soccer team. It's hard to believe it's happening. Also, they bought the trademark to Fussball Club Cincinnati because german heritage or some :censored:. 

 

Just use "Football". It's not hard.