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[smokeandmirrors]

Well that would certainly explain quite a bit if he was playing hurt for most of the year.

 

[Cornballer]

Re: Bradley on April 24th:

He underwent a foot procedure to deal with a “nerve issue” that was planned since the preseason.

“It just means he has to get off it for a week,” Nelsen told MLSsoccer.com. “… He can play on it, and he’s had it for a long time. … You can play on it, but it’s annoying. He’s had a procedure to take care of that; it was always going to be done over these two weeks.”

 

[B-Dubs]

Same thing as before the World Cup, iirc. He's been playing hurt most of the calendar year, though I have no idea how severe it's been.

Defoe is having some surgery on his groin today, too.

Yea, I thought this sounded familiar. It sure does explain a lot about his performances recently.

 

[smokeandmirrors]

Sporting KC tweeted this:

Brilliant.

 

[xbhaskarx]

Armchair Analyst: DP theory, a new attendance record for MLS & other Week 33 thoughts

MLS Goals/Shots/SOG/Chance Created per game
2011: 2.5/25.3/8.5/18.5
2012: 2.6/25.7/8.8/18.9
2013: 2.6/25.6/8.6/19.2
2014: 2.8/25.8/9.2/19.4

...

What do they spend on?

There's no doubt that DPs, to one extent or another, drove the bus on the goal-scoring exploits of 2014. Martins and Robbie Keane are probably co-favorites to win MVP; Dempsey lived up to all reasonable expectations; Cubo Torres exceded those for both Chivas and Mexico; and Chris Wondolowski, even on an absolutely dire attacking team, still found a way to bundle home 14 goals. That's his fifth straight season in double-digits; he's Mr. Reliable even when he doesn't get service.

But the area where DP spending is truly shown is in the build-up play:

There were 12 guys who finished the season with double-digit assists, and 10 of them are DPs. The other two are Brad Davis, who's fourth in all-time assists, and Marcelo Sarvas, who's a vital attacking cog for one of the all-time great attacking teams (LA actually outscored Seattle 69-65 this year, which makes this the first time since 2011 that the highest-scoring team didn't also win the Shield).

As the league becomes more sophisticated, MLS teams are putting more of their coin in players who create the special moments, rather than those who finish them. Informing that idea is that you can find a Wondolowski or a Bradley Wright-Phillips on the scrap-heap or, failing that, you can build an approximation from the usual channels – Dom Dwyer and Gyasi Zardes combined for 38 goals this year, after all.

As great as those guys are, all four are pretty much specialists, and you're really only going to ask them to do one thing. More to the point: If you don't have enough quality out there in the midfield, they're never going to get a chance to do it.

 

[Esch]

edit: already posted, damn you notrollious

 

[xbhaskarx]

TV ratings news:

NBC drew an 0.59 rating for Galaxy/Sounders, the network's highest rating ever for an MLS match.

Avg viewers for Supporters' Shield showdown between Sounders/Galaxy on 10/25 was 699,000, NBC's most watched MLS telecast on record.

 

[xbhaskarx]

Ugh, this was my biggest worry about Chivas being disbanded...

So long to the future: Chivas USA Academy to close down in June 2015

The Academy, one of the best features about the club in recent years, will surely remain in existence, right?

Nope.

During a conference call on Monday, MLS Commissioner Don Garber told reporters that Chivas USA's Academy would close in June 2015, or after the conclusion of the current USSDA season.

Garber says Chivas USA’s academy will close “after June of 2015… we will work internally to find opportunities for those players"

Internally finding opportunities for academy players, doesn't that basically mean they're all headed next door to the LA Galaxy? That doesn't seem like a big deal now but it might in 5-10 years when they're dominating the league with all their homegrown talent.

It costs money to run an academy, I know that. And it's very, very clear that the new owners of the club want an absolute break from everything Chivas USA, so as to not get failure cooties.

But this seems like beyond a foolish decision. Way to set the prospect calendar back to square one, everybody. Maybe LA2 will have a star Homegrown player in 2020, when the rest of the league have teams full of productive HGs.

I don't know why ownership that's willing to spend hundreds of millions (expansion plus stadium) wouldn't pay to keep the academy running for two years so they had one of the best development programs in the league right out of the gate.

 

[ActStriker]

SBNation rootability rankings

http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2014/10/27/7071105/mls-cup-playoffs-2014-sounders-galaxy

Team of the People

 

[Arials]

I don't know why ownership that's willing to spend hundreds of millions (expansion plus stadium) wouldn't pay to keep the academy running for two years so they had one of the best development programs in the league right out of the gate.

Vincent Tan is involved. Making bad decisions is his forte.

Wonder what new job he'll find for Alisher Apsalyamov.

 

[xbhaskarx]

Vincent Tan is involved. Making bad decisions is his forte.

I believe Tan will just be one of many who are part of the investment group, but Henry Nguyen will be the leader of the group, running the team and actually moving to LA. Tan just got the headlines because soccer fans know his name.

I'm guessing this terrible decision was made due to lack of knowledge, rich outsider businessmen know that the whole team is a disaster and want a clean break from it, it's not like they're aware of how many talented 12 year olds are in the academy.

 

[Cornballer]

- Brian Straus for SI: With Chivas USA closed, MLS may pay millions to keep Erick 'Cubo' Torres

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

O my god,

Are we finally introducing this

to the Soccer thread?

 

[Osorio]

For Metro-Gaf,

In case you didn't know ESC has been pre and post-gaming at El Pastor in Newark since the opening of RBA. However, it'll be closing it's doors on November 2nd or 3rd if I'm not mistaken. The owner is getting destroyed on his alimony so he decided to sell his bar, which he's owned for the last 26 years to some developers. El Pastor will soon be a bunch of condos. So if you're going Thursday you should stop by there and get their sangria before it becomes extinct.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

No idea where to put this, but Mia Hamm has been appointed to Board of Directors for AS Roma.

I'm as baffled as you are:

http://romapress.us/?p=7415

Official: Former USA women’s national team star Mia Hamm has been approved today as a new member of AS Roma’s board of directors.

The USA soccer icon along with Richard D’Amore, a parter at North Bridge Venture Partners (a venture capital firm), have been added to the club’s board of directors to replace Thomas DiBenedetto, the former Roma president, and Claudio Fenucci, who will join former board member Joe Tacopina in Bologna.

 

[Osorio]

Roma is owned by an American

That's the only possible connection I can think of

Best of luck to her

 

[Esch]

For Metro-Gaf,

In case you didn't know ESC has been pre and post-gaming at El Pastor in Newark since the opening of RBA. However, it'll be closing it's doors on November 2nd or 3rd if I'm not mistaken. The owner is getting destroyed on his alimony so he decided to sell his bar, which he's owned for the last 26 years to some developers. El Pastor will soon be a bunch of condos. So if you're going Thursday you should stop by there and get their sangria before it becomes extinct.

That sucks, sorry man. Losing an old haunt is the worst.

 

[Rafa=FedKilla]

This whole Chivas situation is a complete disaster. They can spin it anyway they want but it's a complete stain on the league.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

This whole Chivas situation is a complete disaster. They can spin it anyway they want but it's a complete stain on the league.

The mistake was probably getting in bed with Vergara in the first place, and tying themselves to Chivas. You are automatically alienating a lot of the mexican-american fanbase by doing that. People that root for Club America or Cruz Azul in LigaMX aren't going to cheer on Chivas USA. I think it's a smart move to position the 2nd LA team as an alternative to the Galaxy and target the mexican market though. I wonder if the new owners will try and keep that angle.

 

[Rafa=FedKilla]

Yeah you have no clue what you're talking about. Practically in Baltimore? Only if you consider 90 miles to be 'practically' in anywhere. It's basically the same thing as saying the Union play where the Red Bulls play.

He has no clue what he is talking about, especially about FCD. I hope it was just a complete joke post.

 

[xbhaskarx]

- Brian Straus for SI: With Chivas USA closed, MLS may pay millions to keep Erick 'Cubo' Torres

MLS executive VP Todd Durbin told reporters during a Monday conference call that details of the draft should be available next week. He added that there may be players whose “situations become so unique that we have to treat them outside the dispersal process.”

That applies to Torres, who played for Chivas USA this year on loan from sister club Chivas de Guadalajara. The MLS club paid him only $152,000, according to figures released by the MLS Players Union, meaning Guadalajara likely picked up a portion of his salary. Torres' loan deal with MLS included an option to purchase his rights at the conclusion of the 2014 season. A source with knowledge of that deal told SI.com on Monday that the transfer fee is $7.5 million.

That’s quite a bit by MLS standards and it may be more than a single team is willing or able to pay. It’s been suggested that the league itself (the board of governors/clubs, collectively) likely will front some or all of the fee because it considers Torres an important asset. That’s how MLS acquired Clint Dempsey from Tottenham Hotspur. It then would find a way to allocate Torres to either the highest bidder or through some other kind of mechanism. Durbin said the league will be consulting with its competition committee and the MLS Players Union over the next few days.

$7.5 million transfer fee from MLS to Chivas in 2015
$7.5 million expansion fee from Chivas to MLS in 2005

This whole Chivas situation is a complete disaster. They can spin it anyway they want but it's a complete stain on the league.

If the league bought Chivas USA from Vergara for $70 million in early 2014 and then sells the LA2 expansion rights to a new ownership group for $100 million in late 2014, how is that a complete disaster or stain on the league? If they weren't choosing to going on hiatus for two years to separate themselves from the Chivas stench it couldn't even be anything out of the ordinary...

 

[Ninja Scooter]

wish there was a way for Torres to go back to Chivas GD for a couple of years and come back to LA2, but that's probably not happening. Vergara you cheap bastard.

on a global scale, do you guys think Torres is currently good enough to draw interest from bigger Euro clubs?

 

[xbhaskarx]

Cal Poly goes bananas for UCSB tickets

The rivalry between Cal Poly and UCSB is on. It’s on like a below average comedy on Wednesday night on CBS.

Hundreds of Cal Poly students lined up on Monday morning to get a ticket for Sunday’s game against UCSB at Spanos Stadium. It’s the return leg of the clash after the first installment ended in a 2-2 draw last weekend.

The Mustangs and Gauchos met for the first time this season on Saturday in front of 14,345 fans at Harder Stadium. It was the fifth largest on-campus crowd in NCAA soccer history.

Sunday’s rematch might be the hottest ticket in San Luis Obispo history. The capacity at Spanos Stadium is 11,075 and the #BlueGreen rivalry game has sold out before.

While neither team is currently ranked, both teams are fighting for a spot in the Big West Conference tournament and need a result for the game. The importance of the game drew out fans from all over who then took to social media to share the joy of standing in line on a beautiful California day.

It's safe to say fans are excited for the match between @CPMensSoccer & @UCSBMensSoccer

 

[Osorio]

That sucks, sorry man. Losing an old haunt is the worst.

Sucks but there are tons of places to move to

You should see the owner tho...

 

[xbhaskarx]

on a global scale, do you guys think Torres is currently good enough to draw interest from bigger Euro clubs?

Who knows. For two seasons he's been scoring on a team that is embarrassingly bad. Let's see where he is in a year or two if he actually has some decent talent around him...

 

[Osorio]

If he does well for El Tri someone in Europe will want him

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

on a global scale, do you guys think Torres is currently good enough to draw interest from bigger Euro clubs?

Right now? Not really. Wait and see.

21 is young. But not young enough for European clubs to make the "He's still young" argument.

EDIT: And depends on your definition of "bigger" too. Clubs like Everton or Sevilla would probably be interested provided his agent lands him a tryout of sorts. Long way to go before he catches the attention of Galactico clubs.

Double EDIT:

Jurgen has been shortlisted for FIFA Coach of the Year. That sound you hear is every soccer writer the world over falling out of their chairs.

http://www.fifa.com/ballon-dor/news...462547.html?intcmp=fifacom_hp_module_news_top

The following 23 men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2014:

Gareth Bale (Wales), Karim Benzema (France), Diego Costa (Spain), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Angel Di Maria (Argentina), Mario Goetze (Germany), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Toni Kroos (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Mueller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Paul Pogba (France), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Yaya Toure (Côte d’Ivoire).

The following ten coaches (in alphabetical order, first nationality and then team) are in contention for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football 2014:

Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid CF), Antonio Conte (Italy/Juventus FC/Italy national team), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Bayern Munich), Juergen Klinsmann (Germany/ USA national team), Joachim Loew (Germany/Germany national team), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Chelsea FC), Manuel Pellegrini (Chile/Manchester City FC), Alejandro Sabella (Argentina/Argentina national team), Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atletico Madrid), Louis van Gaal (Netherlands/Netherlands national team/Manchester United FC).

 

[smokeandmirrors]

Id be willing to bet that Löw gets it.

good for Klinsmann though.

 

[xbhaskarx]

What did Klinsmann do to deserve a nomination over, say, Costa Rica's coach?

Loew winning after all those inexplicable decisions with the center backs, Lahm, Khedira, etc. would pretty much show that it's all about having the best players.

Where is Big Sam, he has West Ham ahead of Arsenal, Liverpool, Swansea, Man United, Everton, Tottenham...

 

[xbhaskarx]

cool

HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR WINTER 2015 ISSUE

What’s next for the U.S. men, plus:

• A profile of DeAndre Yedlin: Our writer was with him the morning he flew to London for his medical with Spurs

• Is Tim Howard the best goalkeeper the U.S. has ever had?

• David Goldblatt on soccer’s contribution to the popular uprisings in Ukraine, Egypt, Turkey, and Tunisia

• Novelist Reif Larsen visits La Masia

• Our correspondent in Manaus: Luke O’Brien on a fevered 72 hours in the jungle

• The man behind @soccerreform and his mission to cajole, harass, and annoy until promotion/relegation becomes reality

• A 14-page timeline of the history of Celtic Football Club

• Nicholas Pugliese on being the first American professional soccer player in Afghanistan

• Two wild weekends with the members of Arsenal America

• Thomas Tuffnell, the forgotten father of American soccer

• A lot more!

Nooooooooooooooooo

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

What did Klinsmann do to deserve a nomination over, say, Costa Rica's coach?

Loew winning after all those inexplicable decisions with the center backs, Lahm, Khedira, etc. would pretty much show that it's all about having the best players.

Where is Big Sam, he has West Ham ahead of Arsenal, Liverpool, Swansea, Man United, Everton, Tottenham...

Loew did very well. Put on a tactical clinic against Deschamps in the quarters. Survived Khedira and Kramer going out in a final. He shouldn't win over Ancelotti or Simeone though.

Klinsmann taking the spot over someone more deserving like Rudi Garcia or Jurgen Klopp is a real shame.

 

[ZZMitch]

Guys, this may just be an error on the MLS website... but do you see a bit of odd thing on the standings page?

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings

 

[B-Dubs]

Guys, this may just be an error on the MLS website... but do you see a bit of odd thing on the standings page?

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings

Central Division? I suppose the league may just grow enough in the next decade to warrant it.

 

[xbhaskarx]

Greg Seltzer: Which European-based players will top USMNT list for Rio 2016 (if the US qualify)?

BACK SUPPORT
GK Cody Cropper (Southampton U-21s)
DF John Anthony Brooks (Hertha Berlin)
DF Will Packwood (Birmingham City)
DF Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham U-19s)
D/M Marc Pelosi (Liverpool U-21s)
Also bears watching: Ethan Horvath (Molde FK)

CENTRAL PARK RANGERS
M Emerson Hyndman (Fulham)
M Junior Flores (Borussia Dortmund II)
M Duane Holmes (Bury)
D/M Caleb Stanko (Freiburg)
M Fabian Hürzeler (1860 Munich II)
Also bears watching: Kris Scott (Leicester City U-21s), Lynden Gooch (Sunderland U-21s), Russell Canouse (Hoffenheim II)

ATTACK DAWGS
F Julian Green (Hamburg)
F Rubio Rubin (FC Utrecht)
F Bobby Wood (1860 Munich)
F Mario Rodriguez (Borussia Mönchengladbach II)
Also worth watching: Zach Pfeffer (formerly Hoffenheim U-19s on loan from Philadelphia Union, Jerome Kiesewetter (Stuttgart II), Andrija Novakovich (Reading U-21s)

MLS on Campus: Top college players who may be available in 2015 MLS SuperDraft

1. Cyle Larin, sophomore forward, Connecticut
2. Cristian Roldan, sophomore midfielder, Washington
3. Leo Stolz, senior midfielder, UCLA
4. Joshua Yaro, sophomore defender, Georgetown
5. Fatai Alashe, senior defensive midfielder, Michigan State
6. Khiry Shelton, senior forward, Oregon State
7. Skylar Thomas, senior center back, Syracuse
8. Brandon Vincent, junior left back, Stanford
9. Seth Casiple, senior midfielder, Cal
10. Eric Bird, senior midfielder, Virginia
11. Nick Besler, senior defensive midfielder, Notre Dame
12. Robert Kristo, senior forward, Saint Louis
13. Connor Hallisey, senior midfielder, Cal
14. Sagi Lev-Ari, senior striker, Cal State Northridge

 

[xbhaskarx]

quoting for the new page...

Made a MLS Playoffs pick-em league

http://bracket.mlssoccer.com/og_objects/mlscup/groups/149?join_key=eqwfoi2242asdofijwe&action=join

NeoGAF
pw: believe

 

[Esch]

lol @ klinsmann getting a nom, i like the guy but this whole euro legend bringing the promethean light of football to the savages narrative must be more influential than i thought

like hasphat's ants said, it's a damn shame Klopp didn't get a nomination

 

[Cornballer]

Random MLS news from today:

- Obafemi Martins signed a 2-yr contract extension with Seattle
- Sean Johnson is doing a 10-day training stint at Hull
- Orlando City traded some allocation money to the Dynamo for Tally Hall

 

[xbhaskarx]

Bad move by Orlando, there will be plenty of unprotected goalkeepers in the expansion draft, hell Hall would probably have been left unprotected.

 

[Cornballer]

- SI: MLS Playoff Predictions: Who will win MLS Cup? What's Donovan's last act?

 

[sazabirules]

Bad move by Orlando, there will be plenty of unprotected goalkeepers in the expansion draft, hell Hall would probably have been left unprotected.

It'll be interesting to see whether the two new teams use the expansion and reentry draft wisely. Our pickups in the reentry draft last year were key to how well we performed this year.

 

[smokeandmirrors]

Random MLS news from today:

- Orlando City traded some allocation money to the Dynamo for Tally Hall

coulda waited for Zac MacMath to be available in the expansion draft

 

[xbhaskarx]

Soccerwire: the MLS rookie experience

From college to the pros
Learning on the job
The dark side
The future

This is surprising given that Porter came from Akron:

In the past two years, rookie players drafted by the Portland Timbers have played a total of zero minutes during the MLS regular season. Not a single rookie player has appeared for the club during the MLS season since Andrew Jean-Baptiste, whom the Timbers drafted in 2012.

 

[Rafa=FedKilla]

Soccerwire: the MLS rookie experience

From college to the pros
Learning on the job
The dark side
The future

This is surprising given that Porter came from Akron:

SuperDraft is dead last in importance now.

 

[smokeandmirrors]

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Looks like an enemy from Wind Waker

 

[xbhaskarx]

SuperDraft is dead last in importance now.

I think it depends on the team. Some seem to use it well, for example New England, Columbus, Dallas, DC, probably a few others I'm forgetting.

Only a few rookies have an impact but after a few years that changes, for example the 2012 Superdraft class, guys who are currently 23-25 years old:

important players: Kelyn Rowe, Luis Silva, Nick DeLeon, Ethan Finlay, Matt Hedges, Dom Dwyer, Ray Gaddis

have had some pro success: Andrew Wenger, Darren Mattocks, Austin Berry, Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Tony Cascio, Tommy Meyer, Calum Mallace, Ryan Meara, Sebastián Velásquez, Warren Creavalle

and there's probably still hope for a few others like Chandler Hoffman

Even just the first group, that's 7 / 38, so 20% of the draft class. All those guys would be deserving of a national team call up (Dwyer if he was eligible)... Maybe that was just a good year but the previous one isn't looking bad either (Nagbe, Kitchen, MacMath, Soares, Sarkodie, Anibaba, Bruin, Meram, McCarthy, Farfan, Jimenez, etc.).

 

[B-Dubs]

Oh magic eight ball, tell me who will win the 2018 world cup!

 

[xbhaskarx]

I like the symbolism...

Red: mother Russia

Blue circles (even looks like the EU flag): Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine

Black: Transnistria, South Ossetia / Abkhazia, Crimea / Donetsk / Lugansk

 

[xbhaskarx]

Agent: Alejandro Bedoya could leave Nantes in January

Alejandro Bedoya has enjoyed a good run with French club Nantes in the year since transferring in from Sweden, but his stay with the Ligue 1 side could be short-lived. Talks between the U.S. World Cup midfielder and Nantes on a new contract have broken down.

Bedoya joined Nantes in the summer of 2013, signing a three-year deal at the time. He has been a regular starter for Nantes, starting in seven of the team’s 11 matches this season. Currently sidelined with a thigh injury, Bedoya has helped the French club enjoy a strong start to the season that has Nantes in fifth place in Ligue 1.

“We had discussions with Nantes on a new contract but we couldn’t reach an agreement” Bedoya’s agent, Lyle Yorks, told Goal USA. “We will explore options with him in January and he could move then or in the summer.”

 

[smokeandmirrors]

Oh magic eight ball, tell me who will win the 2018 world cup!

who wants to take bets now and see how wrong we all are by the time it rolls around?