North American Pro Soccer 2019

[Corvus]

Montreal won the Voyageurs Cup this year, so Henri is going to be managing in CCL. Should be fun times. 

 

I don't hate this hire, if you're going to go for a former euro star as a coach, he's also got lots of MLS experience and knows what the league is about. Though I wonder if he knows he might be coaching in 2020 Voyageurs Cup in places like Halifax or Edmonton. 

[Digby]

I don't think that's an issue, lest we forget that Henry played in MLS for five years during those halcyon days of away trips to barely-converted baseball parks in San Jose and Kansas City. He's a good fit for the league, and probably should've started here rather than that attempt at Monaco.

[Corvus]

Here's the real question, is there any reason to believe he wouldn't be a better starting forward for them what they have on the roster right now? 

[MJWalker45]

13 minutes ago, Corvus said:

Here's the real question, is there any reason to believe he wouldn't be a better starting forward for them what they have on the roster right now? 

Only if he's sporting a broken leg. 

[FiddySicks]

1 hour ago, Gothamite said:

Miami is still in better shape than either of those, with a better ownership group in place.  I don’t think that’s the issue at all, only the fee Beckham paid. 

 

Take it easy, now. 

[gosioux76]

2 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

 

The issue is that it took forever for them and their position in MLS never had a threat. No "if you don't get the team on the pitch, we're pulling the bid." Yes, they have a solid ownership group. That doesn't take away from the long delays in setting up a team, the many botched plans, and, oh yes, the fact that just wound up at a renovated version of the Miami Fusion in Fort Lauderdale (if that was an option, why not do that first?). That is why I think it was a bad idea. 

 

I get that this Beckham/Miami expansion process stands out as dysfunctional and even unfair, especially when compared to the apparent higher degree of scrutiny given to more recent expansion bids.

 

But here's the thing to remember: MLS made a deal — a smart one — to bring Beckham into the league, and this expansion franchise was part of it. All those long delays, botched plans and stadium struggles are just something the league has to endure. Because it signed a deal, the Miami expansion franchise gets to play by a different set of rules.

 

Inter Miami's position in the league was never threatened because MLS has no leverage to do so, and probably even less interest. They signed a deal, they have to live up to the terms. 

 

So was it a bad idea to get him a franchise? Sure, if you're just looking at it solely in the context of how to successfully launch a new club. But the MLS's deal with Beckham was for much more than that, and well worth enduring the struggles Inter Miami's enduring right now. 

[SFGiants58]

2 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

 

I get that this Beckham/Miami expansion process stands out as dysfunctional and even unfair, especially when compared to the apparent higher degree of scrutiny given to more recent expansion bids.

 

But here's the thing to remember: MLS made a deal — a smart one — to bring Beckham into the league, and this expansion franchise was part of it. All those long delays, botched plans and stadium struggles are just something league has to endure. Because it signed a deal, the Miami expansion franchise gets to play by a different set of rules.

 

Inter Miami's position in the league was never threatened, because MLS has no leverage to do so, and probably even less interest. They signed a deal, they have to live up to the terms. 

 

So was it a bad idea to get him a franchise? Sure, if you're just looking at it solely in the context of how to successfully launch a new club. But the MLS's deal with Beckham was for much more than that, and well worth enduring the struggles Inter Miami's enduring right now. 

 

So, it's like the old NASL and Pele, but it worked instead? That's good. If it was good for the league to have Beckham, then I guess its an OK price to pay.

 

I still wish they'd just played in Fort Lauderdale from an earlier start, worrying about a stadium later. That way, the whole thing would be less of a joke (like what @Red Wolf and I do).

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Exactly. It's hard to think now, but Beckham entering MLS completely changed the perception of the league. It went from a total joke to only a minor joke, and the reputation of MLS has been steadily improving ever since.

 

Beckham was a fading star that encouraged other fading stars to enter MLS. These fading stars are still in the league, but now so too are otherwise under-noticed major talents like Josef Martinez, Miguel Almiron, DeAndre Yedlin and so on.

 

MLS can't be La Liga for at least another generation, but it's great for what it is. Beckham is a huge part of that, and the Miami franchise nonsense is a small price to pay for all of that progress.

[FiddySicks]

Yeah, guaranteeing David Beckham as much as the league did was probably overdoing it just a bit, but it was a somewhat necessary bit of desperation at the time. I don't know the league's history quite as well as some here do, but there was a bit of a stagnation within the league right before Beckham came over. And while Beckham didn't have quite the initial impact that I expected it would (I was at his very first ever game with Galaxy, and the whole reason I even went was because of him despite knowing legit NOTHING about soccer), but long term it was certainly a catalyst for a lot of the success the league has had, at least when it comes to talent acquisition. 

 

This Miami thing is sort of a mess, but it's also a bit of a necessary evil. It changed the course of the entire future of soccer in this country, in a lot of ways. 

[Gothamite]

11 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

I still wish they'd just played in Fort Lauderdale from an earlier start, worrying about a stadium later. That way, the whole thing would be less of a joke

 

Ft Lauderdale is their training ground, and only the temporary stadium.  I understand it's fashionable to worry about temporary stadiums, and for opposing fans to poke snarky fun, but sometimes they're just the price you have to pay.   

[Gothamite]

44 minutes ago, Bucfan56 said:

Take it easy, now. 

 

Sacramento got in as soon as they had a solid ownership group (as they damn well should have).  Miami was already there, so the original comparison wasn't a good one.

[gosioux76]

7 minutes ago, Bucfan56 said:

Yeah, guaranteeing David Beckham as much as the league did was probably overdoing it just a bit, but it was a somewhat necessary bit of desperation at the time. I don't know the league's history quite as well as some here do, but there was a bit of a stagnation within the league right before Beckham came over. And while Beckham didn't have quite the initial impact that I expected it would (I was at his very first ever game with Galaxy, and the whole reason I even went was because of him despite knowing legit NOTHING about soccer), but long term it was certainly a catalyst for a lot of the success the league has had, at least when it comes to talent acquisition. 

 

This Miami thing is sort of a mess, but it's also a bit of a necessary evil. It changed the course of the entire future of soccer in this country, in a lot of ways. 

 

I can't speak for the league, but I'm not sure it was done in desperation at all. Clearly, the league couldn't have realized the meteoric rise of franchise fees, and it couldn't have foreseen the struggles Beckham's had in getting settled in Miami. But by making a future expansion franchise part of their deal, the league virtually guaranteed Beckham's investment in the league would expand far beyond his playing career.

 

Having a name like Beckham attached to your then-fledgling league for 20-plus years was probably, and still is, a pretty attractive proposition. His brand carries weight. 

[Wings]

I'm sure MLS thought Miami would've been up and running sooner than later but sometimes you have to anticipate roadblocks along the way. 

[SFGiants58]

2 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

 

Ft Lauderdale is their training ground, and only the temporary stadium.  I understand it's fashionable to worry about temporary stadiums, and for opposing fans to poke snarky fun, but sometimes they're just the price you have to pay.   

 

My point was if Ft. Lauderdale was an option, why not start there a few years ago? Bear the brunt of other fans making jokes and try to navigate the messiness of Miami politics. I'm sure there are reasons why they waited this long on it (renovations and such).

 

I wasn't paying close attention to footy during the time when Beckham came into MLS. If his presence helped the league out of a big jam and turned it into what it is now, then I'm glad it transpired the way it did. Even at an advanced age in his career, his name still carries clout and brand recognition. It's not like it was Joey Barton or some clod like that.

 

Frankly, given Miami politics, I'd imagine that any other group would have the same difficulties. It just so happens to be the group with Beckham. Heck, if Miami-Dade County/Miami had to do it all over again, they should have told the Marlins to GTFO or fold and allowed the building of an SSS on the Marlins Park site. Inter Miami has the potential to not be the disaster that the Marlins have been.

[Red Comet]

The Marlins were a comedy of errors since they became the Miami Marlins (they were beforehand but it went into overdrive once they moved out of Dolphins Stadium). First you spend big money in free agency to get butts in chairs. Okay. Good so far. You get a World Series winning manager. Even better. Aaaand then he praises Fidel Castro. Which in Miami is about as smart as going to Tel Aviv and talking about how Hitler wasn't such a bad guy. And then the players suck. And then they sell off the high-priced free agents by year's end. And then they shed even more salary to the point where the goofy sculpture in center field costs more than about any player on the roster. Then Jeter and co. buy the team and raid anything of value. 

 

As long as Beckham isn't a total moron, Inter Miami should do better than that.

[FiddySicks]

28 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

 

I can't speak for the league, but I'm not sure it was done in desperation at all. Clearly, the league couldn't have realized the meteoric rise of franchise fees, and it couldn't have foreseen the struggles Beckham's had in getting settled in Miami. But by making a future expansion franchise part of their deal, the league virtually guaranteed Beckham's investment in the league would expand far beyond his playing career.

 

Having a name like Beckham attached to your then-fledgling league for 20-plus years was probably, and still is, a pretty attractive proposition. His brand carries weight. 

 

I just mean that the league was, in a sense, sort of desperate for a way to bring in bigger names. Didn’t they add DP slots specifically because of David Beckham? 

 

I don't really mean desperate in the sense that they had no other choice, but they were really working hard to find SOME way to interject more talent into the league, and they took a big risk by giving Beckham all they did. 

 

I mean, you had this tiny little league that nobody really took seriously go out and basically throw up this Hail Mary and ended up with the Lebron James of soccer (at least in terms of marketing). I think some people sort of forget just how big of a get Beckham really was at the time. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

It would be like if EuroLeague signed a 36-year-old LeBron.

 

We'd know that EuroLeague is still not as good as NBA, but we'd all be a lot more interested in their games.

[SFGiants58]

47 minutes ago, Red Comet said:

The Marlins were a comedy of errors since they became the Miami Marlins (they were beforehand but it went into overdrive once they moved out of Dolphins Stadium). First you spend big money in free agency to get butts in chairs. Okay. Good so far. You get a World Series winning manager. Even better. Aaaand then he praises Fidel Castro. Which in Miami is about as smart as going to Tel Aviv and talking about how Hitler wasn't such a bad guy. And then the players suck. And then they sell off the high-priced free agents by year's end. And then they shed even more salary to the point where the goofy sculpture in center field costs more than about any player on the roster. Then Jeter and co. buy the team and raid anything of value. 

 

As long as Beckham isn't a total moron, Inter Miami should do better than that.

 

Oh, they've been a consistent lolcow (I don't like using that term, especially after a few nauseating visits to KiwiFarms) since 1991, when Wayne Huizenga commanded the bid. It's just that the post-Joe Robbie Stadium period has been such a disaster. You also forgot to mention that their one Cuban player, a guy that a team based in Little Havana should have kept around, died as the result of coked-up boating and wound up killing a few of his friends as well. 

 

Yeah, the bar is pretty low. I'd have loved for the Marlins to move or fold in the mid-'00s and for Miami to embrace footy over that mistake of an expansion club known as the Marlins. 

[Red Comet]

32 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

 

Oh, they've been a consistent lolcow (I don't like using that term, especially after a few nauseating visits to KiwiFarms) since 1991, when Wayne Huizenga commanded the bid. It's just that the post-Joe Robbie Stadium period has been such a disaster. You also forgot to mention that their one Cuban player, a guy that a team based in Little Havana should have kept around, died as the result of coked-up boating and wound up killing a few of his friends as well. 

 

Yeah, the bar is pretty low. I'd have loved for the Marlins to move or fold in the mid-'00s and for Miami to embrace footy over that mistake of an expansion club known as the Marlins. 

 

Huh, I always associated lolcow with UrinatingTree. Maybe because I'd rather forget such a :censored:hole site is real. It's like Something Awful without the self awareness.

 

Anyways, I agree, you basically have to be terminally stupid to screw up selling soccer in the capital of Latin America. It would be like screwing up selling hockey in Minnesota or football in Texas.

[GFB]

1 hour ago, DG_Now said:

It would be like if EuroLeague signed a 36-year-old LeBron.

 

We'd know that EuroLeague is still not as good as NBA, but we'd all be a lot more interested in their games.

 

Comparing David Beckham to LeBron James is being very kind to Beckham. Beckham's fame came from off the field publicity as his play on the field... and that's not a slight against Beckham, it's just the truth of the matter. Beckham finished in the Ballon d'Or final voting one time in his career (2nd in 1999). LeBron has finished in the top 3 for NBA MVP voting nine times. For added comparison, both Stephen Gerrard and Frank Lampard have as been Ballon d'Or finalists as many times as David Beckham. 

 

I think a better comparison would be Stephon Marbury going to play in China about the same time Beckham came to MLS.