MLS 2020: A Quarter Century of Soccer

ThePrideofShiner

Crests prematurely
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Jul 16, 2005
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Washington
That goal came on Alex Roldan's side. Fucking ridiculous he started.

That said that goal was coming. Seattle hasn't done anything offensively.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
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(Schmetzer is actually a mediocre manager who lucked into a great situation.)
 

Titans Bastard

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Very strong display from Columbus in the first half. Aidan Morris and Derrick Etienne have really stepped up coming in for the two COVID absences.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Jun 15, 2002
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Huh, my stream has gone insane and is jumping through time and constantly playing the fox football theme.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
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Two subs at the half for Seattle. Frustration coming out for the Sounders — Smith picks up a yellow after retaliating after an uncalled foul on him.
 

67YAZ

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Take your time, make sure you line up a perfect shot, don’t rush it...
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
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Jordan has been the second best Morris on the field tonight. (They aren't related.)
 

67YAZ

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The last 15 minutes have been wild. These next 15 promise to be even better.
 

Titans Bastard

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That sure feels like game, set, and match. Great performance from Zelarayan.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Jan 10, 2004
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The 718
That was seriously shambolic defending and Sounders have only themselves to blame for not getting anything when they were dominating the last 10'
 

67YAZ

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Tired legs just did the Sounders in. Nice move by Diaz, beautiful shot. Columbus earned this one
 

ThePrideofShiner

Crests prematurely
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Jul 16, 2005
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Washington
Definitely, but everything was just a bit off. Would've been nice to have some intensity in the first half, but Schmetzer's teams always struggle in the first half of these games.

Alas.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
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Zelarayan was a rotational starter at best for Tigres in Liga MX before coming to Columbus for $7m this season.

The Monterrey clubs are just on another level.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Jan 10, 2004
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The 718
Good for the Crew and their fans. Great story. They can feel good about saving their club.
 

Titans Bastard

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LOL, the boos are out for Don Garber. Always going to be a tough crowd for him in Columbus!

(Maybe I'm being a shameless apologist, but I do think that MLS brass didn't really want to move Columbus as much as Precourt did.)
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
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So....2020 CCL finally resumes in three days. It's going to suck.

- Atlanta, who are terrible now, are in a 3-0 hole against Club América. RIP.
- NYCFC are down 1-0 to Tigres. RIP.
- Montreal are down 2-1 to Olimpia. Very dicey for a team that isn't good.
- LAFC never played a first leg against Cruz Azul so have a blank-slate, single-leg game.

All the games are in Orlando, so NYCFC and Montreal have been spared the road leg.
 

steeplechase3k

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Fun fact: in 2013, the Portland Timbers tried and failed to sign Mix Diskerud.

Plan B was Diego Valeri.
As a Timbers supporter I think about this pretty often. Every time I'm incredibly thankful with how it turned out. Valeri is an amazing player and even better person. The entire city is better because he lives here.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
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Austin FC's roster is beginning to take shape. They traded for the following five players today:

- RB Nick Lima (from SJ)
- CB Julio Cascante (from Portland)
- LB Ben Sweat (from Miami)
- MF Ulises Segura (from DC)
- MF Jon Gallagher (from Atlanta)

A starter or two, mostly depth pieces. Their biggest signing so far is Paraguayan winger Cecilio Dominguez, who spent a few years at Club América.

The expansion draft is on Tuesday.
 

67YAZ

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Big signing for the Fire - they nab the reigning eMLS Cup champion!


At least it’s creative and a real effort to build the fan base. And maybe they can put a chip in Calvo’s brain that will allow this dude to play him with a PS5 controller.
 

67YAZ

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Interesting for ATL, pulling from the Tata tree. Makes sense in terms of building a strong organizational culture.

Expansion draft tomorrow! The list of unprotected players just went up. For Chicago, I’m a bit surprised Sekulic is on the list, otherwise it looks like the cast of characters that Wicky would like to dump. Wil Trapp seems a likely choice for Austin?
 

Titans Bastard

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It's extremely difficult to predict the Expansion Draft. MLS roster management is basically an endless series of case studies on opportunity cost. Austin FC will probably take a few guys that they actually want for their roster, but if history is any guide, they'll also use it as a chance to acquire assets that they can flip to other teams. So it's not just who Austin wants, but who other teams might want and what they may be willing to give Austin for the player. There are a lot of possibilities, and that's even when we know what player salaries are. In 2020, the MLSPA didn't do their annual salary data dump, so as fans we're in the dark.

I haven't read an analysis of Chicago's situation, but all else being equal, teams are usually more willing to expose international players. If a player requires an the use of an international slot, it raises the opportunity cost of acquiring him.


On another note, Miami is a very functional organization:

View: https://twitter.com/PaulTenorio/status/1338572184801964035
 

ThePrideofShiner

Crests prematurely
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Jul 16, 2005
10,687
Washington
Interesting for ATL, pulling from the Tata tree. Makes sense in terms of building a strong organizational culture.

Expansion draft tomorrow! The list of unprotected players just went up. For Chicago, I’m a bit surprised Sekulic is on the list, otherwise it looks like the cast of characters that Wicky would like to dump. Wil Trapp seems a likely choice for Austin?
Didn't realize Seattle was off the hook since they have players picked last year. Was hoping it would be an easy way for Schmetzer to lose his binkies in Alex Roldan and Shane O'Neill, but I digress.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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You could really reunite the band of disappointing Revs from the past few years if you want with that list.
 

Titans Bastard

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The CONCACAF Champions League situation is truly special this year.

NYFC
- has three players out due to COVID
- Sean Johnson is quarantining due to being a close contact
- James Sands and Alex Ring are injured
- Brad Stuver, the backup GK, had his option declined so he left the team
- Against Tigres, 3rd string GK Luis Barraza will make his pro debut, and they've brought in keepers on short-term loans from Indy and Orlando as backups
- Has to make up a 1-0 deficit from a loss back in March

Montreal
- has a 23 man roster, of whom 10 are very inexperienced academy signees and one of whom is a guy who they've already told they are letting go after the season
- are playing at 8pm tonight, but could possibly lose a player at 6pm in the Expansion Draft

Atlanta
- are in a 3-0 hole
- just announced a new manager

LAFC
- hopefully everyone doesn't have COVID anymore
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
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Austin's Expansion Draft picks:

1. Danny Hoesen, FW, San Jose
2. Jared Stroud, CM, NYRB
3. Brady Scott, GK, Nashville
4. Joe Corona, CM, LA Galaxy
5. Kamal Miller, CB/LB, Orlando

Miller was immediately dealt to Montreal for GAM and a draft pick. Canadian clubs tend to accumulate the Canadian players to free up international slots.

The rest are depth or decent-ish starters for an expansion team. Scott is a younger GK with extensive youth NT experience who may or may not pan out. Hoesen is a weird pick because Austin could have gotten him in the Re-Entry Draft.
 

Awesome Fossum

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Jul 20, 2005
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English TV numbers. Goff goes on to point out that while some teams can build a strong local following, there still isn't a huge appetite for national TV games among sports fans, generalist soccer fans, or even fans of specific MLS teams.
How would you go about cracking that nut? It's just such a tall order when your season culminates against the juggernaut that is American football. I always thought Grant Wahl's suggestion of a World Cup-style playoff format would be helpful. https://www.si.com/soccer/2017/10/31/mls-playoff-format-fix-solution

One small thing I'd like to see them try: in the summers, when European leagues are on hiatus, run some matches on weekend mornings, when a lot of Americans are used to watching soccer on television.
 

67YAZ

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How would you go about cracking that nut? It's just such a tall order when your season culminates against the juggernaut that is American football. I always thought Grant Wahl's suggestion of a World Cup-style playoff format would be helpful. https://www.si.com/soccer/2017/10/31/mls-playoff-format-fix-solution

One small thing I'd like to see them try: in the summers, when European leagues are on hiatus, run some matches on weekend mornings, when a lot of Americans are used to watching soccer on television.
Growing the fan base is going to be a grind. Your suggestions make sense, but there's no silver bullet here. Creating a league-wide coordinated Spanish language strategy that includes each team developing a detailed Spanish-language strategy would be a good long-term play. I mean, it wasn't until this year that the Fire - in the middle of the 3rd largest Latino immigrant region in the country - started up Spanish-language social media accounts. Getting every match on Spanish language TV would be a huge step from there.

Now, convincing Messi and/or Ronaldo to put in a few pre-retirement seasons in MLS would be a sugar rush of eyeballs that a canny league and smart club could harness for long-term benefit. But even still, one would have to question the financial outlay to get either of those guys into the league versus the marginal revenue increases. MLS has come a long way since they brought over Beckham.