Major League Soccer 2008 Season thread

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Superliga starts tonight. English streams can be found here: http://superliga2008.com/schedule/

A big laugh to the Mexican league, which is now shutout from the Superliga finals. New England takes on Houston on Tuesday in the final.

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[Chaplin]

So, um, I was just blindsided by the LA Galaxy--Coach Ruud Gullit has quit and the organization pretty much fired GM Alexei Lalas. Cobi Jones is the new interim head coach.

I'm a little speechless.

 

[Zeno]

Lalas being fired isn't much of surprise and is really about time, Gullit resigning sucks for the Galaxy and MLS.

 

[Chaplin]

Lalas being fired isn't much of surprise and is really about time, Gullit resigning sucks for the Galaxy and MLS.

Well, the Galaxy are pretty much dead, so thank goodness I've latched on to Barca and Bayern Munich...

 

[Zeno]

Kasey Keller will be in Seattle next season. That shouldn't surprise anyone, he's 39 his chances to play in Europe are washed up and he is from the Northwest (went to University of Portland I think).

Cory Gibbs is going to Colorado. Surprises me the Galaxy passed on him when they need defense so badly--they had the first allocation and passed...maybe they couldn't afford him?

Clint Mathis is going to Real Salt Lake. I used to be a big fan of Clint but he really is a has-been at this point.

 

[Zeno]

Eddie Lewis to the Galaxy and it looks like Bruce Arena is the front runner to be the coach.

 

[Chaplin]

And... Bruce Arena it is...

Not sure how I feel about it, but I guess of coaches that were available, he's pretty much at the top.

 

[Zeno]

And... Bruce Arena it is...

Not sure how I feel about it, but I guess of coaches that were available, he's pretty much at the top.

Well Bruce Arena is the best American soccer coach ever, he has his faults but this country hasn't produced a better coach yet (at least in the mens game--Anson Dorrance is pretty damn good too but thats on the womens side). We'll see if he can help the Galaxy play defense.

 

[gr000000vy]

Well Bruce Arena is the best American soccer coach ever

hah i was about to jump all over this with a Anson Dorrance return but you beat me to it...

if BA is the best American coach we have then that is pretty sad for us..

how about stevie nicol whenbradley crashes out?

 

[Zeno]

hah i was about to jump all over this with a Anson Dorrance return but you beat me to it...

if BA is the best American coach we have then that is pretty sad for us..

how about stevie nicol whenbradley crashes out?

I'm a big fan of Dorrance believe it or not but in the Men's game Arena is the best this country has produced from what he did in Virginia to DC United to what results he produced at WC 2002-sad but true. Thats why I always though Bradley was not an improvement (for the record I thought Arena needed to be gone, he was in a comfort zone and seemed no longer to think about changing). I think eventually the US will develop someone truly considered a World class coach but not yet....maybe Kasey Keller?


I want Bradley to be fired but the only way he gets fired before the WC is if the US doesn't qualify and I can't wish for that...maybe he can admit he is over his head and resign.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

New England lost 4-0 at home to Joe Public (from Trinidad and Tobago) of all teams, to get eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions League prelims. That's just depressing.

 

[Zeno]

Chivas USA was also eliminated from the CONCACAF Camps League too by a team from Panama. At least DC United and Houston are still in the competition.

DC United won the Open Cup last night...good for them. Charleston Battery proved to be a worthy opponent too.

 

[Zeno]

MLS's refusal to recognize international dates is getting ridiculous. Toronto FC will be missing 9 players this week's match against Chivas USA. They requested MLS to re-schedule the game(Chivas was ok with it) and MLS refused.

Toronto is signing one of their scouts to a one day contract so they have a bench!

Stupid by MLS...recognize Int'l dates and go to a single table, both would go a long way toward making the league more legit.

 

[Chaplin]

MLS's refusal to recognize international dates is getting ridiculous. Toronto FC will be missing 9 players this week's match against Chivas USA. They requested MLS to re-schedule the game(Chivas was ok with it) and MLS refused.

Toronto is signing one of their scouts to a one day contract so they have a bench!

Stupid by MLS...recognize Int'l dates and go to a single table, both would go a long way toward making the league more legit.

Incredibly stupid. Amazing that they don't look at the most successful leagues in the world in Europe and follow their lead.

 

[Zeno]

Incredibly stupid. Amazing that they don't look at the most successful leagues in the world in Europe and follow their lead.

TFC lost 3-1, they had only 4 players on their bench (1 was a GK)... MLS should be ashamed.

 

[AussieCardinal]

TFC lost 3-1, they had only 4 players on their bench (1 was a GK)... MLS should be ashamed.

As a Toronto fan, watching that game showed very clearly the work still needed by the MLS.
How on earth was a team able to use a 3 man bench and expect a decent result?

 

[gr000000vy]

How on earth was a team able to use a 3 man bench and expect a decent result?

Well you only need three subs anyways right?

 

[Milgod]

Well you only need three subs anyways right?

A valid point. Leeds used to not take up the full sub allocation for European games back in O'Leary's days and we did just fine.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Goalkeeper Danny Cepero scores from 80 yards out. Nice.

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2008/10/danny-ceperos-a.html

 

[gr000000vy]

wow sweet goal... haven't seen that clip before...

colorado got a huge win today... i think i may have to try to go and see them play RSL next saturday to see if they can get into the playoffs....

 

[gr000000vy]

Well I'm glad Columbus won the Cup yesterday but I can't lie and wish NY would have won it just to rub it into the MLS face a bit... having your "Western conference" champ be a sub .500 team from the EAST would have been priceless....

they are making more changes in MLS too but it's too bad they wont go to a single table and get rid of the playoffs... and there is still no mention of player salaries....

MLS commissioner Don Garber delivered his annual, end-of-season State of the League address here Friday afternoon. Here are the highlights, and what it will mean for the domestic circuit in 2009:

Icon SMI

Commissioner Don Garber announced changes to MLS roster sizes and schedules.
Expansion update

The news that Montreal is out of the running came as a total shock. A few months ago, Canada's second-largest city seemed like the front-runner to be one of the next two teams to join MLS, and not just among the three Canadian bidders. (Vancouver and Ottawa are the others.)

Montreal has an elite USL team, a new, expandable soccer-specific venue, and strong backers in the Saputo family (on Forbes' 2006 list of the world's richest people) and George Gillett, the billionaire who owns the NHL Canadiens and 50 percent of Liverpool FC. Plus, it would have been a natural rival for uber-successful Toronto FC.

In explaining why the bid collapsed earlier this week, Garber said the cost of expanding L'Impact de Montreal's 13,000-seat stadium was a central stumbling block. (The $40 million entry fee apparently was the other.)

"Montreal had to evaluate what kinds of private capital they needed to renovate their stadium, to fund the expansion fee, [and] what level of public support would exist for their stadium," Garber said. "I'm not sure they were able to come to terms, in this economic environment, [with] the level of private capital associated with that."

While Garber cited the sagging economy repeatedly throughout his speech, the plummeting Canadian dollar, now worth 78 cents on the greenback after being on par earlier this year, apparently had little to do with Montreal's withdrawal. It certainly hasn't dissuaded Canada's other candidates.

"Ottawa blew us away" with their presentation, Garber said. He also heaped praise on the pitch Vancouver's boosters made to league brass here Friday, and admitted that he is intrigued by the possibility of having three teams -- Seattle (Sounders FC debuts in 2009), Vancouver and Portland -- another expansion candidate -- playing within easy traveling distance of one another in the soccer-ripe Pacific Northwest.

As for Miami's high-profile, FC Barcelona-backed bid, Garber was a bit more cautious: "Miami has been a challenging market for pro sports generally. We were there once and were not successful. So if we go back to Miami, we better get it right. … We still have some work to do there."

First steps toward recognizing FIFA calendar

At the All-Star game in July, Garber suggested that shutting down the league during peak summer weekends -- even when top stars are missing because of World Cup qualifying commitments -- would cripple the league financially. But after Toronto FC was forced to field a front-office staffer, retired MLSer Tim Regan, because they didn't have 11 available players for a September match played on an international fixture date, the writing for this move was on the wall. To the league's credit, it responded sensibly.

Other than starting the season a week earlier in 2009, the details haven't yet been sorted out. But Garber stated that teams will get to choose between shutting down entirely during two international weekends in 2009 or playing a reduced schedule during four of the FIFA dates.

Schedule tweaks

First, the regular season. With the circuit swelling to 15 teams next year, some change was necessary. Fielding an odd number of teams isn't ideal, but the upside is that this is the closest MLS has ever come to having a balanced schedule.

Each team will play every other once home and once away in 2009 -- but with a twist: two more intra-conference "rivalry" games, which maintains the current 30-game schedule. Why not just play 28 games, you ask? Because owners are loath to give up home dates, especially now that most teams play in their own stadiums and have access to additional revenue generated from parking and concession sales.

More significantly, Garber announced that clubs won't have their rosters stretched to the breaking point by having to compete in both SuperLiga and CONCACAF Champions League, as was the case this year. In 2009, the top four teams that didn't qualify for the Champions League will play in SuperLiga instead.

Senior rosters expanded, reserve division eliminated

On the surface, and with expansion looming, getting rid of up to six developmental players per team looks shortsighted. Garber argued it's necessary, that putting some of the millions spent on maintaining a flawed reserve system into improving first teams is the proper priority during a financial downturn.

Truth is, it's hard not to agree. The last four members of the current 28-man rosters typically don't get much, if any, first-team action. And while the move might mean fewer Danny Cepero-like stories in the future, if the money saved means a team like New England can afford to retain a World Cup vet like Avery John (who signed with a USL team for more money), it's justified.

The future of the playoffs, and of the MLS Cup

The MLS finale has been played at a neutral site since the league's 1996 inception. That might change at some point over the next few years.

Garber said that in recent years, "I don't think we had the ability in a handful of our markets to be able to play that final game on a week' s notice in any particular stadium," but that as early as next season, it might consider doing so.

Also, beginning in 2010, MLS will consider instituting a single-elimination, first-round playoff at the home of the higher seed, as opposed to the current home-and-home, aggregate-goal series, Garber said.

Quick hits

-- The commish said that all 27,000 tickets for Sunday's finale have been sold. Still, expect to see some fed-up Galaxy season ticket holders dressed as empty seats at the HDC.

-- For a half-hour each on Friday, groups from Ottawa, Portland, Miami and Vancouver lobbied the MLS Board of Directors to become teams 17 and 18. The Atlanta contingent has already met with Garber & Co., while St. Louis gets its shot this weekend. The expansion-sweepstakes winners will be picked before the 2009 season begins, Garber said.

-- Teams will be allowed up to 20 senior players next year, up two from this season.

-- The top two teams in each conference will earn automatic berths in the 2009 playoffs, down from three in 2008. The next four teams in the standings, regardless of conference, earn wild cards, up from two this year.

-- MLS' 14th season kicks off March 21, 2009.

 

[Chaplin]

This league has just about lost me--by August, I had virtually no interest, especially after catching onto the European leagues.

 

[Zeno]

I was more in to this past MLS season than I was any previous season, part of that was me being in Virginia for 5 months and getting to see a bunch of DC United games at RFK.

I do think they are expanding too quickly and that since they got rid of the reserve system in MLS that each team should have a USL affiliate. It has a long way to go but at the same time it has come a long way in the 12 years of its existence.

Going to a single table and observing FIFA dates would go a long way to legitimizing the league too.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

This league has just about lost me--by August, I had virtually no interest, especially after catching onto the European leagues.

Yep, I'm with you. With Donovan now off to Bayern Munich and the great likelihood of a permanent Euro move for him, the exodus of US national players over the last year is basically complete (Really, who's the best left? Chris Seitz?). Don't get me wrong, its a great thing for US soccer that our best play in Europe, but it definitely wrecks my interest in watching MLS. I'd probably jump back on the bandwagon if Phoenix had a team, but the chances of that happening any time soon is close to zero.

 

[Zeno]

Yep, I'm with you. With Donovan now off to Bayern Munich and the great likelihood of a permanent Euro move for him, the exodus of US national players over the last year is basically complete (Really, who's the best left? Chris Seitz?). Don't get me wrong, its a great thing for US soccer that our best play in Europe, but it definitely wrecks my interest in watching MLS. I'd probably jump back on the bandwagon if Phoenix had a team, but the chances of that happening any time soon is close to zero.

I think MLS gives us a chance to see some of the younger American players develop..players like Marvell Wynne & Stuart Holden to name a couple. I'm sure there will be newcomers who develop and become part of the national team pool because of their MLS play.

MLS is in only its 10th year and will continue to be a developmental league for probably another 10 or so. The revenues streams are getting better and its gaining in popularity but the other leagues in the world are just too firmly established for MLS to even think of competing with them head to head anytime soon.