North American Pro Soccer 2023

[Burmy]

1 hour ago, Jer15 said:

And that's officially that. FC Edmonton is dead. 

I'm just glad that the CPL has promised to return to Edmonton in the future with the right ownership and facility.

[Jer15]

10 hours ago, Burmy said:

I'm just glad that the CPL has promised to return to Edmonton in the future with the right ownership and facility.

I'll cut the Faths a little slack, going back to the NASL days they built an academy and gave it a go for 10 seasons (with a year off in 2018) but attendance never was there so they clearly were just losing money every year.

I hope they can get a better stadium with the new ownership and it becomes a success because Edmonton should be in the CPL.  
 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Garth Lagerway, architect of recent Seattle Sounders success, was announced today as the new Atlanta United president and CEO. Great hire for Atlanta and now I hate them. 

[Digby]

Messi to Inter Miami might be legit. One of the real GOATs playing in a fancied-up fairgrounds stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

8 minutes ago, Digby said:

Messi to Inter Miami might be legit. One of the real GOATs playing in a fancied-up fairgrounds stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

 

Ronaldo to LAFC, Suarez to Seattle, and the prophesy is complete.

[GDAWG]

2 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

Ronaldo to LAFC, Suarez to Seattle, and the prophesy is complete.

 

And then when all three are gone it's Neymar and Mbappe's turn. 

[GDAWG]

On 11/27/2022 at 11:04 AM, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

Ronaldo to LAFC, Suarez to Seattle, and the prophesy is complete.

 

Doesn't look like a move to MLS is in the cards for him anytime soon:

 

 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

What a waste.

[MJWalker45]

19 hours ago, GDAWG said:

 

Doesn't look like a move to MLS is in the cards for him anytime soon:

 

 

This is the new poster child for "silly money purchases". I wonder if Saudi Arabia has decided to go the China route and start buying up top stars to prop up their league. They already have a media contract with Messi to try and increase tourism, possibly with the intention of getting the 2030 World Cup.

[gosioux76]

1 hour ago, MJWalker45 said:

This is the new poster child for "silly money purchases". I wonder if Saudi Arabia has decided to go the China route and start buying up top stars to prop up their league. They already have a media contract with Messi to try and increase tourism, possibly with the intention of getting the 2030 World Cup.

 

I also wonder whether playing in a low-stature league like this won't eventually become a sore point for someone with an ego like Ronaldo's. He'll be treated like a god in Saudi Arabia, but it seems to me as if big stars eventually vanish to the rest of the world once they move to more obscure leagues. 

[MJWalker45]

*Moved to International Soccer chat*

[Dilbert]

Merritt Paulson is selling the Portland Thorns. A step in the right direction, but he needs to sell the Timbers too.

[GDAWG]

1 hour ago, Dilbert said:

Merritt Paulson is selling the Portland Thorns. A step in the right direction, but he needs to sell the Timbers too.

 

He eventually will, especially if the Timbers lose a lot of money.  

[Digby]

Timbers charge big-market ticket prices in Oregon and are a top attendance draw in the league anyway, seems hard to imagine they're doing any worse than any other MLS team unless all the sponsors jump ship. Only thing I can imagine is that they built that monstrosity of a new stand just in time for Covid, which was funny. They must've took on some debt for that, I'd think?

[Kramerica Industries]

On 11/27/2022 at 12:04 PM, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

Ronaldo to LAFC, Suarez to Seattle, and the prophesy is complete.

 

Does Suarez actually want to play in MLS, and is just biding his time back at his hometown club in Uruguay? Because for lots of South Americans, going home to the clubs that they got their original big break from is their equivalent of "soft retirement", with the added benefit of being treated like conquering gods when they come back.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

1 hour ago, Kramerica Industries said:

 

Does Suarez actually want to play in MLS, and is just biding his time back at his hometown club in Uruguay? Because for lots of South Americans, going home to the clubs that they got their original big break from is their equivalent of "soft retirement", with the added benefit of being treated like conquering gods when they come back.

 

There's been Suarez to Seattle rumors ever since his Uruguay teammate Nico Lodiero came to the Sounders. I think it's been mostly tongue in cheek.

 

With Lagerway leaving the team and Seattle not having made a big splash in a bit, I think the Sounders are taking few bites at the big free agent apple.

[LaGrandeOrange]

Impact CFM had a pretty rocky few days- Koné to Watford official, Johnston to Celtic official, Nancy to Crew official. Safe to say this club will be very different next year.

[Dilbert]

3 hours ago, alexandre said:

Impact CFM had a pretty rocky few days- Koné to Watford official, Johnston to Celtic official, Nancy to Crew official. Safe to say this club will be very different next year.

Plus a new logo next year too. As an outside is Joey Saputo to blame for everything?

[Jer15]

16 hours ago, Dilbert said:

Plus a new logo next year too. As an outside is Joey Saputo to blame for everything?

 

Here's a summary of what happened.  

I don't necessarily believe the players leaving are all negative, these are pretty big sales for the team and 2 of the 3 came off the backs of some pretty good World Cup appearances as well. 

 

I do think Joey is and has been a bit of a problem for some time. He always seems to be upset at someone or something and Montreal......whatever the hell they want to be called now.....has not been able to have any real consistancy. 

 

I hope that Bobby Smyrniotis doesn't go there. He's doing good things with Forge and I'm concerned he'll just get canned within 2 years anyway. 

[LaGrandeOrange]

On 12/7/2022 at 12:31 PM, Jer15 said:

 

Here's a summary of what happened.  

I don't necessarily believe the players leaving are all negative, these are pretty big sales for the team and 2 of the 3 came off the backs of some pretty good World Cup appearances as well. 

 

I do think Joey is and has been a bit of a problem for some time. He always seems to be upset at someone or something and Montreal......whatever the hell they want to be called now.....has not been able to have any real consistancy. 

 

I hope that Bobby Smyrniotis doesn't go there. He's doing good things with Forge and I'm concerned he'll just get canned within 2 years anyway. 

 

For sure- in the hands of a different group I'd be content that the money would be used to build (and obviously it's not like Koné was a huge contributor to 2022) but Saputo's general oscillating between rashness and disinterest makes me feel like this year was as good as we'll be getting for a while.