The [Horribly Unpopular] Soccer Thread

With the MLS Cup Final done, it's time for the offseason. A few thoughts on this season of MLS and the upcoming offseason.

Best Season Ever?
Given that there was some doubt that this season would even happen, this was a very good season for MLS, perhaps the best ever or at least one of the best ever. Attendance continues to rise, as do TV ratings, and the playoffs included two penalty shootouts and record-breakingly fast goals. With the TAM system, more stars and great athletes are coming to MLS too. Of course, much ballyhooed expansion team NYCFC is going to be playing in Yankee Stadium for the foreseeable future and David Beckham's Miami dreams were stymied for most of the season, but hey Orlando City SC was a huge hit and already are 2nd in attendance, so it's not all bad news on the expansion front.

Records Were Shattered
Cyle Larin destroyed the old rookie scoring record with 17 goals, enough to put him in the top 6 for the golden boot (beyond Bradley Wright Phillips only due to assists being the tie-breaker). Sebastian Giovinco scored a combined 38 goals and assists to beat the old record for combined goals and assists set by Chris Wondolowski. We've had the records for fastest playoffs goal and fastest MLS Cup goal broken, by a long distance. All told, aside from the goals in a season record (that Giovinco was only 5 away from tying) virtually every major scoring record was broken in MLS this year.

The TV Deals Worked Out
Some of the biggest news this season was the start of the new TV deals with Univision, ESPN and Fox Sports; so far it looks like those deals have panned out. Ratings are up and as a fan, I must say knowing that every Sunday afternoon there is at least one game makes it easy to remember, even if I can't see those Univision games on Friday. There were some hiccups and problems, like games being moved to Fox Sports 2 to accomodate NASCAR delays, but overall it was a pretty positive deal. For the love of God though, get Alexi Lalas out of the commentator's booth, he's terrible.

The Future: Free Agents and Foreigners?
Much was made in the last offseason about free agency, for the first time in MLS history we actually have free agents and, from a fan perspective, it's not exactly an exciting group. Due to the heavy limitations on free agents, almost all of them are mediocre talents, guys that have always been just good enough to stick around in MLS, but not good enough to become designated players or jump over to Europe; the only real exception is Mike Magee, and even he is a little doubtful after a year filled with injury recovery and disappointment.

During the season, much hang-wringing was done about Sebastian Giovinco and Didier Drogba coming into the league and being so good after being mediocre in Europe mere months before, so is MLS destined for a future in which foreign players dominate the league? I don't think so, and not just because MLS artificially limits the number of foreign players, after all a lot of other big name European transplants flopped (See: Lampard and Pirlo) and others were actually outperformed by their local counterparts (Cyle Larin outscored Kaka, after all). Ultimately, if our boys can't hack it then that's on the US, its players and its training systems though, not on MLS; coaches are paid to train and field the best teams possible, general managers are paid to assemble the best team possible and team owners aren't owners for charity purposes.

The future, in my opinion, looks bright for the league as it reaches drinking age, and that is unquestionably a good thing for soccer in the US.

Not good enough Everton! Not making our way up the table like we should be!

Talgrath said:

With the MLS Cup Final done, it's time for the offseason. A few thoughts on this season of MLS and the upcoming offseason.

Best Season Ever?
Given that there was some doubt that this season would even happen, this was a very good season for MLS, perhaps the best ever or at least one of the best ever. Attendance continues to rise, as do TV ratings, and the playoffs included two penalty shootouts and record-breakingly fast goals. With the TAM system, more stars and great athletes are coming to MLS too. Of course, much ballyhooed expansion team NYCFC is going to be playing in Yankee Stadium for the foreseeable future and David Beckham's Miami dreams were stymied for most of the season, but hey Orlando City SC was a huge hit and already are 2nd in attendance, so it's not all bad news on the expansion front.

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Plus the Miami Beckhams found a site. It sucks (not very big, bad part of town, parking a mile away) but it's close to downtown so we'll see how that goes.

Records Were Shattered
Cyle Larin destroyed the old rookie scoring record with 17 goals, enough to put him in the top 6 for the golden boot (beyond Bradley Wright Phillips only due to assists being the tie-breaker). Sebastian Giovinco scored a combined 38 goals and assists to beat the old record for combined goals and assists set by Chris Wondolowski. We've had the records for fastest playoffs goal and fastest MLS Cup goal broken, by a long distance. All told, aside from the goals in a season record (that Giovinco was only 5 away from tying) virtually every major scoring record was broken in MLS this year.

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I'd say give Toronto the off-season to build around Gio and Jozy a little more and they might have something special right out the gate in 2016.

The TV Deals Worked Out
Some of the biggest news this season was the start of the new TV deals with Univision, ESPN and Fox Sports; so far it looks like those deals have panned out. Ratings are up and as a fan, I must say knowing that every Sunday afternoon there is at least one game makes it easy to remember, even if I can't see those Univision games on Friday. There were some hiccups and problems, like games being moved to Fox Sports 2 to accomodate NASCAR delays, but overall it was a pretty positive deal. For the love of God though, get Alexi Lalas out of the commentator's booth, he's terrible.

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I think Alexi is okay, though he does say some stupid stuff sometimes. Twellman is getting better but still has his cringey catch-phrases. But the real issue was Ramses at Unimas. Crap on a stick it's bad... that dude has the weirdest cadence, says the dumbest stuff, constantly mispronounces names, and does that "GOOOOOOOOL" hackery.

The Future: Free Agents and Foreigners?
Much was made in the last offseason about free agency, for the first time in MLS history we actually have free agents and, from a fan perspective, it's not exactly an exciting group. Due to the heavy limitations on free agents, almost all of them are mediocre talents, guys that have always been just good enough to stick around in MLS, but not good enough to become designated players or jump over to Europe; the only real exception is Mike Magee, and even he is a little doubtful after a year filled with injury recovery and disappointment.

During the season, much hang-wringing was done about Sebastian Giovinco and Didier Drogba coming into the league and being so good after being mediocre in Europe mere months before, so is MLS destined for a future in which foreign players dominate the league? I don't think so, and not just because MLS artificially limits the number of foreign players, after all a lot of other big name European transplants flopped (See: Lampard and Pirlo) and others were actually outperformed by their local counterparts (Cyle Larin outscored Kaka, after all). Ultimately, if our boys can't hack it then that's on the US, its players and its training systems though, not on MLS; coaches are paid to train and field the best teams possible, general managers are paid to assemble the best team possible and team owners aren't owners for charity purposes.

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Legitimacy was also added with big stars coming over and consistently informing the news back home that MLS is not a retirement league, that it is competitive and difficult to play in. It certain helps our image across the Atlantic and down south... but who cares what they think anyway, I like our product.

The future, in my opinion, looks bright for the league as it reaches drinking age, and that is unquestionably a good thing for soccer in the US.

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The Don has mentioned a couple times recently that the league is now stable. After the CBA scare, it seems as though the fear of folding is in the rear-view mirror. The league is officially at 24 teams: Atlanta Cliche (god, there was so much potential for an awesome name), the LAFC Millenials, Minnesota Cliche, and Miami Part 4. The Board locked in the biggest markets they were shooting for. It's great for the growth of the league but there is still much work to do for all of them: Miami have an upward battle but seem to be on the right track, Minnesota at least is going to the city that really really wanted them, the Millenials need to cut the cooky buzzwords and gimmicky marketing (the fan vote for the colors meant nothing, and it will be apparent when they make the announcement and there is no pink), and Atlanta seems to be doing just fine... just change the name before real business starts. Nip it in the bud.

The Board has given the "OK" to expand to 28. Which is great because Sacramento needs to be given a franchise; they've done absolutely everything right. Then there are cities that have gotten attention lately (San Antonio, Detroit, Vegas, St. Louis) and large markets that have shown interest and would add a lot to the TV viewership (Phoenix, San Diego). Then there are markets to look at that would fill in the gaps (the Carolinas, New Orleans, Canadian Great Plains area).

I have to say I was disappointed in the Atlanta name, I think someone had floated the idea of the Atlanta Phoenix as I recall, keeping with the bird theme; someone even did some sample kits incorporating red, black and I think gold. Would have been flashy and stood out, but no...had to go with Atlanta United. Also, if LA FC (or whatever they call themselves) doesn't have pink, we riot.

Talgrath said:

The TV Deals Worked Out
Some of the biggest news this season was the start of the new TV deals with Univision, ESPN and Fox Sports; so far it looks like those deals have panned out. Ratings are up and as a fan, I must say knowing that every Sunday afternoon there is at least one game makes it easy to remember, even if I can't see those Univision games on Friday. There were some hiccups and problems, like games being moved to Fox Sports 2 to accomodate NASCAR delays, but overall it was a pretty positive deal. For the love of God though, get Alexi Lalas out of the commentator's booth, he's terrible.

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Gonna comment on this briefly.

First, I'd trade Alexi for Twellman any day of the week. I cannot stand Taylor Twellman. He takes a game and turns it into a 90 minute soapbox where he's smarter than everyone (in his mind only of course)

Second there was a massive failure in the deal, and it was in the handling of the knockout round. There's no excuse IMO to have it on Spanish channels only, especially since Unimas has pretty limited viewership. Many folks (like myself) had to watch the games on stream from somewhere.

Qhrumphf said:

Fudge. Just drew Leicester in the FA Cup. Not that I don't think we can beat them (I think we can), but they've been looking very good lately.

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Didn't spurs play Leicester in last years FA cup as well?

Grannyknot said:

Didn't spurs play Leicester in last years FA cup as well?

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Yep. But that was the next round. We beat Burnley first. Foxes knocked us out. However at the time I believe we were in the League Cup, FA Cup, Europa, and PL all at once so something had to give.

Funny thing here is we face Foxes in thr FA Cup 4 days before facing them again in the PL (both at home I believe).

hoppyhoppyhippo said:

Gonna comment on this briefly.

First, I'd trade Alexi for Twellman any day of the week. I cannot stand Taylor Twellman. He takes a game and turns it into a 90 minute soapbox where he's smarter than everyone (in his mind only of course)

Second there was a massive failure in the deal, and it was in the handling of the knockout round. There's no excuse IMO to have it on Spanish channels only, especially since Unimas has pretty limited viewership. Many folks (like myself) had to watch the games on stream from somewhere.

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You know, I completely forgot about that until now, my Sounders had a deal to televise the knockout round on local TV, so it wasn't a problem for me but you are right on that. More problematic is that Univision isn't available nationwide.

Talgrath said:

The Future: Free Agents and Foreigners?

... ...

During the season, much hang-wringing was done about Sebastian Giovinco and Didier Drogba coming into the league and being so good after being mediocre in Europe mere months before, so is MLS destined for a future in which foreign players dominate the league? I don't think so, and not just because MLS artificially limits the number of foreign players, after all a lot of other big name European transplants flopped (See: Lampard and Pirlo) and others were actually outperformed by their local counterparts (Cyle Larin outscored Kaka, after all). Ultimately, if our boys can't hack it then that's on the US, its players and its training systems though, not on MLS; coaches are paid to train and field the best teams possible, general managers are paid to assemble the best team possible and team owners aren't owners for charity purposes.

The future, in my opinion, looks bright for the league as it reaches drinking age, and that is unquestionably a good thing for soccer in the US.

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Unless playing for Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, Cyle Larin is a foreigner and is designated as such by (unfair) MLS rules.

So, a brief commentary on the recent Philadelphia-Houston trade. In case you aren't up to date, the Union gave up Maidana and Wenger for the number 6 overall pick and some allocation money. Given that Maidana seemed to be the only really good offensive piece Philly had last season, it seems insane to trade him away; especially since he had 15 assists (almost as much as Sebastian Giovinco). The allocation cash, seemingly, immediately went to pick up Chris Pontius, the often-injured DC United midfielder/forward. To my mind, this is an exceedingly bad trade, in exchange for your best chance creator and a decent defender you've gained a player who spent roughly half of last season on the mend, almost all of the previous season injured and hasn't had a season with double digit combined goals and assists since 2012 (which was the best year of his career) and a 6th overall pick. The previous two 6th overall picks haven't exactly been stellar talents by the way, Tesho Akindele may have started for Dallas most of the year, but he didn't score most of the goals and Alex Bono (selected this year) is a keeper yet to play a single game. I suppose this draft will be a test of whether building through the draft is even viable anymore, with Philadelphia as the Guinea Pig; I look forward to them selecting two goalkeepers within the first six picks.

Holy monkey balls! MLS just announced they're adding $800,000 TAM per team over the next two years, for a total of $2.1 million (including this season) of TAM money for teams to play with. Expect to see a lot of teams hire guys in the upper six figures or million dollar range this offseason.

http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2015/12/09/mls-targeted-allocation-money-tam

Massive result for Arsenal last night.

Grannyknot said:

Massive result for Arsenal last night.

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Giroud's second goal and the through ball to set it up were both top class.

Talgrath said:

Holy monkey balls! MLS just announced they're adding $800,000 TAM per team over the next two years, for a total of $2.1 million (including this season) of TAM money for teams to play with. Expect to see a lot of teams hire guys in the upper six figures or million dollar range this offseason.

http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2015/12/09/mls-targeted-allocation-money-tam

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A poster on this thread commented on the difference in salary for the middle to lower rostered players in MLS compared to the MX. Hopefully, this will help shore up the quality of the lower end players on each MLS roster.

For how much of a flop Lamela seemed to be through the end of the last campaign, he's come into excellent form lately (with a few bumps and relapses along the way). 39 minutes into the Monaco match, and he's already got the hat trick.

Zlatan is getting discussed cause of an interview where he named his 5-a-side squad. I'm gonna work on that and ask about an indoor soccer team. For those who don't know it's 6 a side including a keeper. Who do you take? No rules, can cross eras can do selective lists. I'm gonna do 2.

First is my all-time list of players I've seen. I'm gonna avoid legends like Maradona and Pele because I didn't see them play much and it's hard for me to compare them to players now.

I'm going for a very fast and attacking minded team.

GK - Oliver Kahn. Simple reason for picking him. It would probably be between him and Casillas, but Kahn is a better one on one keeper, so that influenced my choice
DF - Philip Lahm. I'm not going with any big men defenders. I want to beat teams with the pass and no one can pass from the defense like lahm.
MF - Zinedine Zidane. COuld have gone a numer of ways here. I was debating a deep lying playmaker like Xavi as someone who could sit back and pick apart the defense. But elected to go with the French master
FW - Ronaldo - Even fat Ronaldo scores goals. In his prime he was one of the best I've ever seen.
FW - Cristiano Ronaldo - Physically maybe the most gifted player I've seen. He's tall, strong, fast, has high endurance and it doesn't hurt that he is amazing on the ball and has one of the more powerful shots in the world
FW - Messi - Best player I've ever seen. He has a gift that I've never been able to comprehend what he does. It's like he has a magnet in his boot and the ball is drawn to it. Of course his goal scoring is insane, he's super fast, his vision is second to none. Guy is just a machine.

By second 6 a side is US players. I'm considering national team and club performance for this.

GK - Howard. It was between him and Friedel. Friedel is my usual pick, but I'm shining positive on Howard after his last World Cup.
DF - Bocanegra. Between him and Pope for me. Bocanegra is athletic and large and smart. Shame he crashed out the way he did but that sometimes happens
MF - Bradley - Wasn't sure who to pick between him and Tab Ramos. I'm going with Bradley because I saw more of him than I did of Ramos.
MF - Reina - Best US midfielder ever. Maybe the only player to challenge Donovan for best US player ever.
MF - Donovan - Best US player ever. He'll mainly be used in attack, but he has the ability to defend box to box
FW - Dempsey - edges out McBride. Dempsey has a knack of finding the ball in a deadly position.

This team I imagine lining up something like this

-----Howard-------
-----Bocanegra----
-----Bradley------
-Reina-----------
----------Donovan
--Dempsey

Idea being Bradley and Reina as your primary defensive assist, Landon as your primary attacking assist.

Bournemouth is impressing again it seems (just tuned in). 2/3 through a home match against Man U and up by one. That may be more impressive than beating an out of form Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Or maybe Man U falling out of CL killed their spirit. Looks like the latter most likely.

Cherries have heart, gotta give em that.

Hey guys, so I'm making available the supporters survey I handed out during our Cup final viewing party.

I'd really appreciate the opinions from those not directly involved. It takes maybe two minutes. And if you do take it, please indicate in the comment section that you are from HBT. Thanks!

http://goo.gl/forms/rU9s4Ck2YZ

Reno_eNVy said:

Hey guys, so I'm making available the supporters survey I handed out during our Cup final viewing party.

I'd really appreciate the opinions from those not directly involved. It takes maybe two minutes. And if you do take it, please indicate in the comment section that you are from HBT. Thanks!

http://goo.gl/forms/rU9s4Ck2YZ

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Didn't answer since I'm no where near Reno, but that looks like a pretty solid opinion poll to me.

Chicharito is currently en feugo. 15 goals in the last 12 games,including a hat trick today. It doesn't break my heart to watch the red Devils struggle in the final third while Chicharito racks up goals by the fist full. It has to be another nail in LVG's coffin for letting him go. Buh bye LVG.

Also, I'm glad USMNT doesn't have to face El Tri for a while in WC qualifying.

hoppyhoppyhippo said:

Zlatan is getting discussed cause of an interview where he named his 5-a-side squad. I'm gonna work on that and ask about an indoor soccer team. For those who don't know it's 6 a side including a keeper. Who do you take? No rules, can cross eras can do selective lists. I'm gonna do 2.

First is my all-time list of players I've seen. I'm gonna avoid legends like Maradona and Pele because I didn't see them play much and it's hard for me to compare them to players now.

I'm going for a very fast and attacking minded team.

GK - Oliver Kahn. Simple reason for picking him. It would probably be between him and Casillas, but Kahn is a better one on one keeper, so that influenced my choice
DF - Philip Lahm. I'm not going with any big men defenders. I want to beat teams with the pass and no one can pass from the defense like lahm.
MF - Zinedine Zidane. COuld have gone a numer of ways here. I was debating a deep lying playmaker like Xavi as someone who could sit back and pick apart the defense. But elected to go with the French master
FW - Ronaldo - Even fat Ronaldo scores goals. In his prime he was one of the best I've ever seen.
FW - Cristiano Ronaldo - Physically maybe the most gifted player I've seen. He's tall, strong, fast, has high endurance and it doesn't hurt that he is amazing on the ball and has one of the more powerful shots in the world
FW - Messi - Best player I've ever seen. He has a gift that I've never been able to comprehend what he does. It's like he has a magnet in his boot and the ball is drawn to it. Of course his goal scoring is insane, he's super fast, his vision is second to none. Guy is just a machine.

By second 6 a side is US players. I'm considering national team and club performance for this.

GK - Howard. It was between him and Friedel. Friedel is my usual pick, but I'm shining positive on Howard after his last World Cup.
DF - Bocanegra. Between him and Pope for me. Bocanegra is athletic and large and smart. Shame he crashed out the way he did but that sometimes happens
MF - Bradley - Wasn't sure who to pick between him and Tab Ramos. I'm going with Bradley because I saw more of him than I did of Ramos.
MF - Reina - Best US midfielder ever. Maybe the only player to challenge Donovan for best US player ever.
MF - Donovan - Best US player ever. He'll mainly be used in attack, but he has the ability to defend box to box
FW - Dempsey - edges out McBride. Dempsey has a knack of finding the ball in a deadly position.

This team I imagine lining up something like this

-----Howard-------
-----Bocanegra----
-----Bradley------
-Reina-----------
----------Donovan
--Dempsey

Idea being Bradley and Reina as your primary defensive assist, Landon as your primary attacking assist.

Click to expand...

Well, as always, the issue with including "legendary" players like Pele is that while they were amazing for their day, they wouldn't be as amazing if they played the same way now as they did then. Pele was probably the first player to really show that ball control and positioning are more important than speed and power...but in the modern day pretty much every team knows that. Assuming we don't have the ability to pluck up these players as youths and train them in the new style, you pretty much have to go with players from fairly modern history.

As far as your line ups, for the Americans I like that quite a bit, not sure I'd argue much save for the keeper, Howard is amazing and will go down in US soccer history, but Kasey Keller or Brad Friedel would both have strong arguments to be in there instead of Tim Howard.

For the international bit, I might drop Ronaldo in favor of Xavi in a 1-2-2; with 3 up top it's an all or nothing sort of thing. I might also consider dropping Ronaldo in favor of Andrea Pirlo too, the old man may be too slow and creaky now, but back in the day he was amazing.

Good or bad news depending on how much you like Jermain Jones. Unless Jones can find a non MLS club to serve his six game suspension before the US qualifiers against Guatemala, he'll be ineligible for those games. Rumor was he was already leaving New England anyway, so it's possible he may jump ship and still be eligible for the USMNT qualifiers.

http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/2015/12/12/9924680/jermaine-jones-suspended-six-matches-could-miss-world-cup-qualifiers

Talgrath said:

Well, as always, the issue with including "legendary" players like Pele is that while they were amazing for their day, they wouldn't be as amazing if they played the same way now as they did then. Pele was probably the first player to really show that ball control and positioning are more important than speed and power...but in the modern day pretty much every team knows that. Assuming we don't have the ability to pluck up these players as youths and train them in the new style, you pretty much have to go with players from fairly modern history.

As far as your line ups, for the Americans I like that quite a bit, not sure I'd argue much save for the keeper, Howard is amazing and will go down in US soccer history, but Kasey Keller or Brad Friedel would both have strong arguments to be in there instead of Tim Howard.

For the international bit, I might drop Ronaldo in favor of Xavi in a 1-2-2; with 3 up top it's an all or nothing sort of thing. I might also consider dropping Ronaldo in favor of Andrea Pirlo too, the old man may be too slow and creaky now, but back in the day he was amazing.

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I think Howard and Friedel are better than Keller. Not that Keller is a bum. I just think they're clearly over him.

Which ROnaldo? Cristiano or Brazil's legend?

After a fairly strong start, a horrid performance from Spurs today, bringing our unbeaten run to an end against the Geordies of all teams. This week we're on the list of wacky results (yesterday's Bournemouth/Man U match the other) in an otherwise as expected round. Hopefully the Blues can take down the Foxes tomorrow. So much for winning the league At least top 4 is still well within grasp (and if we stop fecking drawing and start winning again maybe we can do better than that).

Ugh. Time to smash my head against the wall for a bit.

hoppyhoppyhippo said:

I think Howard and Friedel are better than Keller. Not that Keller is a bum. I just think they're clearly over him.

Which ROnaldo? Cristiano or Brazil's legend?

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Sorry, forgot to specify. Cristiano.

In not quite professional but getting caps for the USMNT news, Jordan Morris scored a brace in a 4-0 beatdown by Stanford on Clemson in the College Cup Final. I don't think there's a better time to go pro for the young prospect, and rumor has it there were German scouts in attendance. Morris has already been offered a mid six figure homegrown player contract by the Sounders, but perhaps he could be heading to the Bundesliga. In any case, if you're curious, the link below has highlights of Jordan Morris playing for Stanford.

http://www.sounderatheart.com/thefuture/2015/12/13/10040278/stanford-wins-college-cup-behind-jordan-morris-brace

Would love Morris to go to Germany. I think it would be better long term for his skillset. Main reason why is it would make him uncomfortable. I think every American needs to experience that uncomfort to grow.

I think going overseas is something Hamid needs desperately

Talgrath said:

Sorry, forgot to specify. Cristiano.

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I just can't imagine a team without those 3. I get where you're coming from. But I want to overrun teams with speed, that's why I want those 3 up top. I imagine Zidane would sit behind them and crushing shots on target. I see Lahm as the one who resets things and distributes.

But I want the team to fly. ANd I want Ronaldo of like 3-4 years ago not now. He's a better scorer now, but I want the 2 way player Ronaldo who could score, assist and defend a little.

hoppyhoppyhippo said:

Would love Morris to go to Germany. I think it would be better long term for his skillset. Main reason why is it would make him uncomfortable. I think every American needs to experience that uncomfort to grow.

I think going overseas is something Hamid needs desperately

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From my perspective as a Sounders fan I think Morris needs to go to the Sounders...but from my perspective as a USMNT fan I have to agree that I'd rather see Morris overseas. That said, I just want Morris to get out of college and go to the pros, wherever he winds up, he's not getting challenged there and he won't get better without being challenged. With Hamid I couldn't agree more, he's saving United's butts and he's one of the highest paid keepers in the league for it, but he should challenge himself, I think he could do very well in England.

I think in January Jurgen needs to have a chat with him. Now I don't think Morris goes pro before his school year is up, I assume that won't be an issue with anyone he signs with. I think if I'm Jurgen I tell him that after this camp he won't get another senior callup until he joins a professional team. If education is the most important think to Jordan then elt him have it.

I think Hamid will od well in England, the problem with sending him to England is gonna be the FA. They're notorious for being jerks about work visas. Yedlin (and Miazga when he leaves) was able to get there because he was able to get a European passport and cause of the Eurozone work laws didn't need a visa to work in England. I'm hoping his clout from his recent performances will let the FA let a team bring him in. My only concern with him and Championship level teams is will they be able to pay enough to get him away from MLS. Which is why I think Bundesliga is what makes the most sense for him. Now the downside to the Bundesliga is Germany is one of a few nations in the World that churns out world class keepers. When you look across the bundesliga, probably half the keepers are natives. ANd that doesn't include quality German keepers who left to go elsewhere (Trapp at PSG, ter Stegen at Barcelona)

Huh, I haven't heard anything about Hamid or Miazga. Where are they going?

Reno_eNVy said:

Huh, I haven't heard anything about Hamid or Miazga. Where are they going?

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Miazga didn't extend his Red Bulls contract and has several teams looking for him. Including Chelsea, Stoke, and Leicester.

So as I understand it Miazga can easily go to Europe and has his polish passport so he's good to go. I hope it's not Chelsea.

As far as Hamid it's more speculation on what would be the best thing for him

Qhrumphf said:

Hopefully the Blues can take down the Foxes tomorrow.

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Even as an Arsenal fan, I wanted Leicester to win! I think I hate Chelsea more than I love Arsenal

RustyHorn said:

Even as an Arsenal fan, I wanted Leicester to win! I think I hate Chelsea more than I love Arsenal

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Well, ideally half of each side would have left in a stretcher and the other half of each side would have been red carded for causing the first half to leave in a stretcher.

I hate Chelsea almost as much as I hate Arsenal. But pragmatically, Leicester is much more of a threat at the moment.

Oh well. Leicester faces Bournemouth on the 2nd. I'll be hoping for another surprise

Oh, and of COURSE we draw Fiorentina in Europa again. Can't ever seem to pick up an easy draw.

Qhrumphf said:

I hate Chelsea almost as much as I hate Arsenal. But pragmatically, Leicester is much more of a threat at the moment.

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I suspect that once the offers come in for Vardy, the Leicester dressing room will start to fall apart... I don't think they'll sell him, but it will be unsettling. Top four is a real possibility though.

RustyHorn said:

I suspect that once the offers come in for Vardy, the Leicester dressing room will start to fall apart... I don't think they'll sell him, but it will be unsettling. Top four is a real possibility though.

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I completely agree.

Me being the unrepentant **** that I am, I was hoping for Costa going Tonya Harding on Vardy. Suspension for one, injury for the other.

Rumor has it Wanyma to the Spurs. A day in the life of a Saints fan.

If I'm 17-23 I'd like to play for Southampton. They're quite adept at developing young players to maximize their return.

Qhrumphf said:

I completely agree.

Me being the unrepentant **** that I am, I was hoping for Costa going Tonya Harding on Vardy. Suspension for one, injury for the other.

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I'd have preferred the injury for Costa, suspension for Vardy as the Euro's are coming up Also, seeing Costa in pain would be wonderful.

RustyHorn said:

I suspect that once the offers come in for Vardy, the Leicester dressing room will start to fall apart... I don't think they'll sell him, but it will be unsettling. Top four is a real possibility though.

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I think the holiday fixture congestion will probably prove to be Leicester's downfall. They have rotated very little and will probably start to get overworked and pick up injuries. We saw drinkwater pull his hammy last night. The way those players press for 90 mins, more muscle injuries will come.

As for the transfer window, i see mahrez being a hotter prospect than Vardy.

Grannyknot said:

I think the holiday fixture congestion will probably prove to be Leicester's downfall. They have rotated very little and will probably start to get overworked and pick up injuries. We saw drinkwater pull his hammy last night. The way those players press for 90 mins, more muscle injuries will come.

As for the transfer window, i see mahrez being a hotter prospect than Vardy.

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All very likely.
Vardy will be targeted, but either way, unrest.