Dynamo vs. F*C* Dallas

[TX Bill]

Well we played our hated rival, FC Dallas this weekend in front of 20,000 enthusiastic home supporters. Tough match though as we were missing several key starters (Davis, Mullan, Clark, Holden) and then our keeper Onstad had to come out with a shoulder injury.

Cracking game and our rookie midfielder, Geoff Cameron hit a cracker in stoppage time to tie the score at 3-3. Report below:

http://www.mlsnet.com//news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080406&content_id=148108&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

 

[teppic]

nice one.

i heard that seattle were going to have a team next year? do they have a multi millionaire owner?

 

[Dylan]

There are rumours abound, and take them with a pinch of salt, that Thierry Henry is going to Seattle. He apparently loves the city and they will have a huge wedge of cash and he could well be their designated player. As his time at Barca hasn't been so good should factor into the rumour too.

 

[TX Bill]

Don't know who the owner is but I could probably look it up.

One of the more interesting rumors I've heard is that Thierry Henry will wait until San Antonio gets an MLS team so that he can be close to his good buddy, San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker.

Personally, I think he ought to come over to Houston now and just have a 3 hour drive.

 

[Dylan]

Joe Roth is the majority owner for the new MLS team. But interestingly, Paul Allen, of Microsoft founding fame is also amongst the people involved with bringing MLS to Seattle. He is worth almost $17 billion so they have the backing. And knowing Allen, he will do what it takes to make sure Seattle is competitive.

Official MLS Seattle page:

http://www.mlsinseattle.com/

Paul Allen wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen

Seattle Soccer wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle,_Washington_expansion_team_in_Major_League_Soccer

 

[Dylan]

Oh, and come 2009, Seattle will be my MLS team. I have adopted all of the Seattle teams from my 5 year tenure up there.

 

[Rook]

Seattle won't have a NBA team in a year or 2; which is why I'm skeptical about B-Ball lovin' Henry going there. Its rumored that Spurs, Man City and HAHHAHAHAHAHABarcodes (well to be honest the way they are playing) are thinking about lining up bids. I think he might go to the prem for a year or two before coming over.

Allen was rumored to buy Southhampton a few years ago as well. They could use him.

 

[Dylan]

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008...-in-advanced-negotiations-with-thierry-henry/

In an obvious attempt to distract Seattle soccer fans from complaining about their choice of MLS franchise names, someone within MLS has leaked a rather juicy rumor -- Thierry Henry may be headed to the Emerald City.

Steven Cohen of World Soccer Daily reported today that the new Seattle MLS franchise is in "advanced negotiations" with the French striker and could lure him out of Barcelona in time for Seattle's inaugural season in 2009. Cohen did not reveal his source -- natch -- but did call it a "very good authority" on matters concerning Seattle. For all we know, though, Cohen ran into a very sloshed Drew Carey in a pub in Hollywood last night.

Either way, it's a rumor that has legs. For one, Thierry Henry has talked in the past about how much he loves America and would like to live here when his career winds down -- which appears to be happening already. Also, if anyone has enough money to bring a player like Henry to America, it's Paul Allen, one of the new Seattle franchise's principal owners. Allen could pay Henry's transfer fee with his petty cash drawer, and it would put fans in the seats instantly.

Of course, the one problem with this rumor is that Henry spent an entire press conference last week moaning about how he never sees his daughter in London anymore, and the distance between London and Seattle is far greater than the distance between London and Barcelona. On the other hand, it's possible that he's using his family problems -- which he helped create by reportedly cheating on his wife -- an excuse for his dip in form this season. Besides, angst like that would be a perfect fit for the city that gave us Kurt Cobain and Chris Cornell.

Bringing Henry to America would be as big a coup for MLS as bringing David Beckham to L.A. The former Arsenal superstar would sell tickets, and his goals would get plenty of run on ESPN. The only question is whether Henry would be happy playing with a bunch of kids who spent their 2008 season playing for a USL club. Perhaps if the price is right, that won't matter. After all, look at the lack of talent surrounding Becks with the Galaxy.

 

[teppic]

one of my co workers is from seattle has he is convinced that henry will go there. it would be amazing if he did.

honestly.. what is the level of the mls? i've never even seen a game! would henry walk the ball in or would he have to earn his million a month?

america could one day be the money league.. but am i right in thinking there is a salary cap for most of the players?

i think it's great for the sport to spread out the talent over the leagues.

 

[Rook]

one of my co workers is from seattle has he is convinced that henry will go there. it would be amazing if he did.

honestly.. what is the level of the mls? i've never even seen a game! would henry walk the ball in or would he have to earn his million a month?

america could one day be the money league.. but am i right in thinking there is a salary cap for most of the players?

i think it's great for the sport to spread out the talent over the leagues.

Well its weird (if you don't understand American sports). The MLS owns all the players so individual teams can't sell a player. Young players out of college and high school declare for the draft and are picked by a team (worst picks 1st best last). Players are swapped through trades. There is a salary cap and its 3M? (TX is the MLS expert) Plus, each team can get 2 players who don't count against the salary cap. For example Beckham makes 8-10M US Donovan makes 900K US on the Galaxy. Chicago has Blanco who makes 2.5M and NYC has Angel who makes 1.5M. The money structure keeps parity in the league.

So if Henry comes he'll prob make Beckham money and get a cut of jersey sales.

There is no relegation and the champion is determined through playoffs in which the top 8 teams qualify for the playoffs (which is about 1/2 the league making the regular season almost irrevelant - MLS's biggest weakness). I think one season the Galaxy won the championship finishing with the 8th best record in the league (Rafael would be proud).

Another problem is that the MLS plays matches on international breaks/touneys. So when the US plays in the Confed Cup in SA next year some of the best players won't be in the side.

The 4 teams who have the best regular? season records go to SuperLiga which pits the best 4 Mexican teams against the best 4 MLS teams. The MLS holds their own against them as well.

I think the best MLS teams could compete for or make the playoffs in the Championship. The worst have talent on par with League one.

The league is financially healthy and buying a team is a good investment if you have 50M lying around. Getting 20K-25K football specific stadiums is important for the league (DC UTD has great fans - but play in a 60K stadium) ditto for NY (whos getting a stadium) Kansas city (5000 fans in a 70K stadium). The league will never have the money to lure all the best players in the world though mostly it will be aging stars.

Players have a ton of space in the league. So Henry could hold the ball for 3-5 seconds before any pressure is applied. There is kind of an unwritten pact between teams to try to play attacking football in the league and successful managers have been fired for Rafaing it up.

 

[teppic]

wow, rook that is a quality post. cheers for that. i'm going to be keeping a keen eye on the mls next season.

my co worker is starting to believe that henry is on his way~!

 

[TX Bill]

You pretty much hit the nail on the head there Rook. Nothing for me to add.

 

[Dylan]

I have one thing to add. Well change, really:

The league is financially healthy and buying a team is a good investment if you have 50M lying around. Getting 20K-25K football specific stadiums is important for the league (DC UTD has great fans - but play in a 60K stadium) ditto for NY (whos getting a stadium) Kansas city (5000 fans in a 70K stadium). The league will never have the money to lure all the best players in the world though mostly it will be aging stars.

This part is true right now. I honestly think, that in the future the MLS will be one of the major leagues in the world. Top players will want to play there and the money will be available to pay for them. Just wait, the juggernaut that is football is overtaking the US.

Bold predicition time: in 20-30 years the MLS will be bigger than the NFL.

 

[TX Bill]

I will say that early in the league's history, we did over pay for some players who were past it (Lothar Mattaeus, Luis Hernandez, etc...) but over the years, MLS has become much more frugal with who they bring in.

Teams now are looking for international players in their prime for their DP slot (Designated Player aka "The Beckham Rule") who aren't here just to pick up a paycheck.

While the amount each team/MLS pays for wages is hardly "professional," MLS has been very careful not to go the way of the old NASL and bankrupt the league because they exceeded what they were bringing in in terms of income (tv revenue, gate receipts, merchandising, etc...)

Where I'd like to see MLS improve is:

• Wages - Some of the low end players and reserves don't even make enough to make a living. Can't be professional if your players aren't making enough. There needs to be a much higher minimum league salary.
• Reserve Matches - They have reserve matches but they're intermittent. Part of the problem there is geography. Most of the matches are played after the main MLS matchup or the next day before the visiting team flies out.
• SSS - Soccer specific stadiums. The good news here is that most teams are building one. When you control you're own revenue streams, it makes things that much easier for the club and for the league.

I wouldn't mind seeing the MLS conform to the rest of the international calendar and play games from Sept to May but they won't do that as they don't want to compete with the NFL and rightly so.

As it stands, the league is growing and getting better in terms of quality. That's also really helped improve the US National Team as well as many players from MLS represent the USMNT, not just the European based players.

 

[Rook]

I have one thing to add. Well change, really:



This part is true right now. I honestly think, that in the future the MLS will be one of the major leagues in the world. Top players will want to play there and the money will be available to pay for them. Just wait, the juggernaut that is football is overtaking the US.

Bold predicition time: in 20-30 years the MLS will be bigger than the NFL.

Never. Interest in the NFL is rising even though its the No.1 sport in the US. Pro football also has the advantage of only having 16 regular season matches/year and only 12/32 teams make the playoffs (4 best records get 1st round byes) so the regular season matters. I'm pretty sure interest in the MLS would never eclipse the Prem or LaLiga either. However Soccer and the MLS could compete with hockey for the 4th pro team sport in this country if they manage it right. For one I'm getting worried by constant expansion if they go over 20 teams in the league (I would stay at 18) they'll dilute the league and fan interest will drop (it happened to hockey when they expanded throughout the south.

My theory is that soccer will become like the Olympics were in this country. Americans will warm up to it, but in small doses. The World Cup will be an event that's bigger than the Olympics ever were. Plus say for example if the US was invited to play in European championships to help expand football popularity (oh sorry I mean to take American TV dollars) that event will also be big as well (I really think this could happen if Euro goes to 24 teams - ESPN just paid 150M for the rights for Euro 2008 imagine what they'd pay if the Americans went). However when its over Americans will go back to ignoring soccer for the next 2-4 years.