Domestic Soccer 2011

[Foxxtrot44]

And to be fair, the last few MLS Cups have been pretty dreadful to watch. The Toronto one was particularly poor, the one in Seattle allowed RSL to gouge-tackle Donovan all night long (watching my favorite US player get manhandled that night was particularly rough, of course Donovan ruined his chance at redemption on the penalty kicks).

In RSL's defense, LA was playing a pretty good game of Hack-a-Javi until he got injured.

Though I'm sure that was just the "less-skilled" players fault

[TFoA]

Pathetic ratings for the MLS Cup again:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2011/11/tv-ratings-foxs-taped-british-soccer-tops-mls-title-game/1

The sad news is, the 0.8 rating is actually an IMPROVEMENT, but also makes it the lowest rated live sports broadcast of the entire weekend and was only half of what a video-taped replay of Chelsea/Liverpool got at the same time.

Which stuns me, because if you were a real soccer fan, why would you rewatch a game that was broadcast live just a few hours earlier in the morning?

But euro-snobs are like that, and alas, this continent is cursed with people who worship brands more than they love the actual sport.

Well I know what to watch when I'm up late at night as I'm sure the quality of play in the Final will lull me to sleep! All kidding aside, here's hoping that the low overnight rating leads to MLS abandoning the late start time for their Championship match. The past few seasons have been ridiculous:

2009 (held in Seattle): 8:30 PM ET

2010 (held in Toronto): 8:30 PM ET

2011 (held in Los Angeles): 9:00 PM ET

Plus, let's be honest, if you're going up against a Giants-Eagles SNF game, you're gonna get trounced in the ratings department. At least there was some sort of improvement, though.

[BrySmalls]

Well I know what to watch when I'm up late at night as I'm sure the quality of play in the Final will lull me to sleep! All kidding aside, here's hoping that the low overnight rating leads to MLS abandoning the late start time for their Championship match. The past few seasons have been ridiculous:

And to be fair, the last few MLS Cups have been pretty dreadful to watch. The Toronto one was particularly poor, the one in Seattle allowed RSL to gouge-tackle Donovan all night long (watching my favorite US player get manhandled that night was particularly rough, of course Donovan ruined his chance at redemption on the penalty kicks). This last one, was very one-sided and had that AWFUL MLS artifact where DPs were making beautiful passes and crosses, only to have scrubs like Cristman screw it up with boneheaded play.

I agree the starting time is all wrong. I also think Sunday is the wrong day. Saturday late-afternoon (7PM Eastern maybe) seems about right, the European games are largely over, many of the best college football games are over and you can assure you have as much of the sports stage as you can possibly expect.

The other problem MLS had this week, wasn't entirely their own. With an International week wedged into the second week of November, they had to delay the final a week and when they did, players like Keane were exhausted from the travel. Not to mention, the stall in play really seemed to effect the timing/crispness of play (which tends to happen to all teams during a long break).

I'll end my post positively though. MLS has a LOT of issues to contend with. The way our geography is, the way our sports culture is, the structure of CONCACAF itself and the careful consideration they must give to solvency and financial stability add up to a lot of challenges. In many ways, I think you have to kind of applaud what MLS has done.

Here we have a league that is doing, what many felt could never be done: build a viable, stable, pro-soccer team in North America.

As for MLS quality, I find the consistency of the quality is a bigger problem than the quality itself. In other words, at times MLS is a superb product to watch and I say that as someone with the blinders off. I know good soccer when I see it, and I do see it occasionally in MLS. But, the quality is rarely consistent. One of the reasons why is the lack of depth and the disparity in talent within each team. The Sounders have players like Rosales and they have players like Levesque. Levesque is well-liked because he hustles, but he has no real skills (other than hustle and fitness). He can RUIN a superbly crafted attack (and does so frequently), and he can benefit from easy, tap-in goals, because they were handed to him on a paper plate by world-class players (which in turn leaves fans to believe Levesque is an excellent player).

Watching MLS isn't painful because the play sucks, it's painful because at times it shows flashes of being world-class, but then a player like Cristman or McCarty comes along and :censored:ing ruins the play, or makes a bone-headed mistake that swings the game entirely in the other direction. The reason is, the cap-hit on a DP is harsh and having 3 quality players ruins your salary allotment for the supporting cast.

You couple that problem with the fact that your most cost-effective players are constantly getting raided in expansion drafts (and the product overall gets diluted) and you have a wildly inconsistent league. And one of the ways MLS combats inconsistent play is with fouls. In other words, one way a Levesque will compensate for his lack of skill against a Donovan is to keep fouling him. So then you have the other problem MLS has, which is that its a really rugged league, with a lot of ugly fouls and inconsistent officiating to mitigate the dirty play.

Finally you add the dirty play, the inconsistent play, the diluted expansion problem and the salary cap punishments for DPs to one more problem: the play schedule and travel is BRUTAL, much, much worse than it is anywhere else (that's people like Ljungberg talking if you doubt that). So your knees and shins get butchered, and you have to travel all over the continent for two-games-a-week.

These logistical problems are monumental, the fact MLS navigates them and continues to grow, is actually pretty miraculous.

If I could, I would award you the "Quality Post of the Day" as I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiment in regards to the issues facing the League next season and beyond.

[Snazel]

If I could, I would award you the "Quality Post of the Day" as I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiment in regards to the issues facing the League next season and beyond.

Thanks for that, much appreciated, cheers.

[TFoA]

Brian Ching threatened to retire if he got drafted by the Impact. So Montreal went ahead and drafted him anyways.

That'll be interesting.

[Snazel]

Brian Ching threatened to retire if he got drafted by the Impact. So Montreal went ahead and drafted him anyways.

That'll be interesting.

Yeah I'm sure they figure they can trade him, maybe even trade him right back to Houston.

Looking at Montreal's draft, some of it is pretty cool, but a lot of it are players who are getting older and their "upside" has begun to diminish. Warner, Valentin and Nyassi made sense to me. I love Mapp, but how motivated is he going to be? And Ching just seemed like a "trade bait" pick.

I am not that impressed with Montreal's swagger. It looks a little low-rent. Their press releases aren't polished, their web site is awful and their ticket sales aren't exactly eye-opening and their branding is really sub-par. This has every earmark of an expansion team still learning how to walk and talk and this is a TERRIBLE time to still be getting your act together. I'm not convinced the franchise has a real architect, more like some vague idea of a direction and a organization chart that's still starting to gel.

I hope I am dead wrong, because I grew up in Montreal and when I was very, very little the first ever pro-game I went to was the Montreal Olympique (a much better name I think). I want them to do well. I just think Garber got a little too enchanted with Toronto's success. Saputo is great at selling Vachon cakes, but can he really steward a team in a league that requires razor-sharp attention to detail? Managing a viable MLS roster is really hard, the rules are complicated, the money is RIDICULOUSLY tight and the balance between depth/star power is a tricky one to navigate. You couple that with a starting roster that's already behind in development, and a fan base that's never really been that sold on soccer, a venue that is a bit piece-meal and I really worry about Montreal.

[Jer15]

Brian Ching threatened to retire if he got drafted by the Impact. So Montreal went ahead and drafted him anyways.

That'll be interesting.

Yeah I'm sure they figure they can trade him, maybe even trade him right back to Houston.

Looking at Montreal's draft, some of it is pretty cool, but a lot of it are players who are getting older and their "upside" has begun to diminish. Warner, Valentin and Nyassi made sense to me. I love Mapp, but how motivated is he going to be? And Ching just seemed like a "trade bait" pick.

I am not that impressed with Montreal's swagger. It looks a little low-rent. Their press releases aren't polished, their web site is awful and their ticket sales aren't exactly eye-opening and their branding is really sub-par. This has every earmark of an expansion team still learning how to walk and talk and this is a TERRIBLE time to still be getting your act together. I'm not convinced the franchise has a real architect, more like some vague idea of a direction and a organization chart that's still starting to gel.

I hope I am dead wrong, because I grew up in Montreal and when I was very, very little the first ever pro-game I went to was the Montreal Olympique (a much better name I think). I want them to do well. I just think Garber got a little too enchanted with Toronto's success. Saputo is great at selling Vachon cakes, but can he really steward a team in a league that requires razor-sharp attention to detail? Managing a viable MLS roster is really hard, the rules are complicated, the money is RIDICULOUSLY tight and the balance between depth/star power is a tricky one to navigate. You couple that with a starting roster that's already behind in development, and a fan base that's never really been that sold on soccer, a venue that is a bit piece-meal and I really worry about Montreal.

Based on your previous posts it's clear you know your , but I'm not sure you ar right when saying that Montreal never really been that sold on soccer I think the UM02 are a pretty loyal group and each year from 2002 and on the average attendance has gone up at Saputo stadium from 2,000 to 11,000.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with everything else you are saying about how mickey mouse or low rent they are looking, but attendance has not been a problem as far as I understand.

[DEAD!]

I didn't want to make a new thread out of this, so let's rejoice American Samoa's FIRST victory ever!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15867180

[Breakwood]

Based on your previous posts it's clear you know your , but I'm not sure you ar right when saying that Montreal never really been that sold on soccer I think the UM02 are a pretty loyal group and each year from 2002 and on the average attendance has gone up at Saputo stadium from 2,000 to 11,000.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with everything else you are saying about how mickey mouse or low rent they are looking, but attendance has not been a problem as far as I understand.

It's hard to say. The previous incarnation of the Montreal Impact was run as a non for profit organization. It was Saputo's way of not having to pay taxes for his time. He gave away thousands of tickets to everygame to local youth soccer teams. He can't do that in MLS anymore and expect to stay around. While I don't doubt that Montreal can be successful, they will actually need to make an effort to market the team, and they can't just assume they'll be successful because they were in USL/NASL.

[Jer15]

Based on your previous posts it's clear you know your , but I'm not sure you ar right when saying that Montreal never really been that sold on soccer I think the UM02 are a pretty loyal group and each year from 2002 and on the average attendance has gone up at Saputo stadium from 2,000 to 11,000.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with everything else you are saying about how mickey mouse or low rent they are looking, but attendance has not been a problem as far as I understand.

It's hard to say. The previous incarnation of the Montreal Impact was run as a non for profit organization. It was Saputo's way of not having to pay taxes for his time. He gave away thousands of tickets to everygame to local youth soccer teams. He can't do that in MLS anymore and expect to stay around. While I don't doubt that Montreal can be successful, they will actually need to make an effort to market the team, and they can't just assume they'll be successful because they were in USL/NASL.

I knew he gave away a ton of tickets for the CONCACAF game at Olympic stadium, I didn't realize that he did that for all the Impact's games, wow!

[max]

Seth Sinovic from Sporting was taken by the Montreal Impact today. He's the guy that committed the foul in the Eastern Conference Championship game that led to Houston's Game-winning goal.

[Snazel]

Seth Sinovic from Sporting was taken by the Montreal Impact today. He's the guy that committed the foul in the Eastern Conference Championship game that led to Houston's Game-winning goal.

Interesting that Montreal really want to acquire quite a few "old vets" and apparently attempt to compete right away. I think the Union proved, it is better to be patient with a young, "upside" crew, with just one or two vets. Maybe that's the framework Montreal actually does go with.

My earlier skepticism of Montreal, stems from some experience with Montreal's sports culture in general, which has historically left franchises when they start to wander or perform poorly (Habs are an exception, but Habs fans love to gripe, I know I am a lifelong Habs fan). I think Montreal can succeed, but I wonder if this was really the right time to bring them in. I hope it was, I hope Montreal kicks tail, and becomes a great franchise for the league.

[max]

New news:

Allocation money and Sinovic sent back to Sporting for D. Arnaud

[crashcarson15]

Oh Damn. Impact got Donovan Ricketts.

[GFB]

As for MLS quality, I find the consistency of the quality is a bigger problem than the quality itself. In other words, at times MLS is a superb product to watch and I say that as someone with the blinders off. I know good soccer when I see it, and I do see it occasionally in MLS. But, the quality is rarely consistent. One of the reasons why is the lack of depth and the disparity in talent within each team. The Sounders have players like Rosales and they have players like Levesque. Levesque is well-liked because he hustles, but he has no real skills (other than hustle and fitness). He can RUIN a superbly crafted attack (and does so frequently), and he can benefit from easy, tap-in goals, because they were handed to him on a paper plate by world-class players (which in turn leaves fans to believe Levesque is an excellent player).

Watching MLS isn't painful because the play sucks, it's painful because at times it shows flashes of being world-class, but then a player like Cristman or McCarty comes along and :censored:ing ruins the play, or makes a bone-headed mistake that swings the game entirely in the other direction. The reason is, the cap-hit on a DP is harsh and having 3 quality players ruins your salary allotment for the supporting cast.

You couple that problem with the fact that your most cost-effective players are constantly getting raided in expansion drafts (and the product overall gets diluted) and you have a wildly inconsistent league. And one of the ways MLS combats inconsistent play is with fouls. In other words, one way a Levesque will compensate for his lack of skill against a Donovan is to keep fouling him. So then you have the other problem MLS has, which is that its a really rugged league, with a lot of ugly fouls and inconsistent officiating to mitigate the dirty play.

Finally you add the dirty play, the inconsistent play, the diluted expansion problem and the salary cap punishments for DPs to one more problem: the play schedule and travel is BRUTAL, much, much worse than it is anywhere else (that's people like Ljungberg talking if you doubt that). So your knees and shins get butchered, and you have to travel all over the continent for two-games-a-week.

These logistical problems are monumental, the fact MLS navigates them and continues to grow, is actually pretty miraculous.

First of all, I want to thank you for the insightful soccer post... good to hear you put some thought and heart into the MLS.

However, why do you find it strange that every country's soccer league seems to take on the personality and playing style of its native country? Right now, what you described is the very skill level of North American soccer. You have a few flashes of brilliance and a couple world-class players, but you also have those "hustle" players that you can't seem to replace just yet... It's going to take another 20-30 years of progress in establishing academies and developing young players before the the United States can begin to compete with the talent in established soccer nations. Once the academies take root and start producing not 1 or 2 skilled players every five years, but 50-100 skilled players in that timespan, will we begin to see the the dilution of the MLS skill-level start to dissipate. Surely you know how much more costly it is to import talent than to fill it with local talent, especially when your sport isn't among the top-5 most popular sports in the nation.

[Jer15]

Oh Damn. Impact got Donovan Ricketts.

ha ha ha, that's what I said.

[Don]

DC United acquires Real Salt Lake right back Robbie Russell

[Jer15]

Whitecap traded midfielder Shea Salinas to San Jose

Could they be trying to bring Lee Young-pyo without having to use up a DP spot?

[crashcarson15]

Anelka to Montréal?

Interesting discussion that the Impact may be in talks with Nicolas Anelka as he wants out of Chelsea. That would be a huge acquisition for Montreal.

[Don]

At least he can speak French...