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View Full Version : State of the team, tactics and other things that aren't transfer rumours



MartinUtd
07-23-2013, 12:13 PM
We need attack minded players

We've sold too much in the short term considering we haven't brought anyone new in (USL fullback's notwithstanding)

We play lots of long balls

There are still leaks coming from the FO

The globe and mail has egg on their face

Payne and Leiweke talk a big game

Mariner fucked us. Some people think Winter fucked us. We can all agree that ABC have been dry fucking us for 7 years.

Fort York Redcoat
07-23-2013, 01:10 PM
http://cgsva.lbbhost.com/jpgs42/grab-bag.jpg

TOBOR !
07-23-2013, 01:30 PM
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT_tdacZ0vI8Xjktxiinz2lTHGaQ3foD WrBOlkAKtSHySaXAoIC

Oldtimer
07-23-2013, 01:36 PM
We feel like this:

http://www.kcconfidential.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Crying+Baby+Natural+High+for+Some+Moms.jpg

MartinUtd
07-23-2013, 02:11 PM
Sorry, but the rumours thread is nothing but a 160 page cock tease

MartinUtd
07-23-2013, 05:13 PM
Really, the amount they raise the salary cap every year is a joke. In 2007 the league total attendance was 2.9M and last year was just over 6M. The average attendance per match is up around 2000 per match. There is finally some real advertising money and TV revenue floating around and yet every year the cap goes up what, $100K? In 2007 the cap was around $2.3M so the $600K it has increased in the past 6 years doesn't correlate to the actual growth of the league and it's revenue. Until a somewhat real number is put out there the league will be what it is and guys like Silva have to be moved on because you need to either save money or acquire allocation to make real moves. Without blowing the structure to hell I think something around $5M would work in this league and if the Columbuses of the league can't hack it then tough on them for being in a shit market.


All good points but the incremental raises were hammered out during the last CBA. I'm sure the next one will be a bit different now that we're 20 teams with some real financial muscle behind them. Also, they did include new rules like only (i think) your Top 20 earners count towards the cap, so that means any low paid depth signings are not capped against the teams allotment - as they should be.

Yohan
07-24-2013, 08:48 AM
All good points but the incremental raises were hammered out during the last CBA. I'm sure the next one will be a bit different now that we're 20 teams with some real financial muscle behind them. Also, they did include new rules like only (i think) your Top 20 earners count towards the cap, so that means any low paid depth signings are not capped against the teams allotment - as they should be.

MLS has done a lot of little things for teams to get around the cap. But the cap itself won't go up very much. The league itself has some money, but mostly in form of expansion fees. I suspect most teams are still bleeding money, because MLS is still a gate driven league. Until MLS scores a decent TV deal, the cap won't go up much.

I understand the frustration of people who want immediate raise of cap thinking that will automatically improve the level of play. But it won't be that easy. With current MLS rules, unless int spots go up again, only thing a big leap in raise of cap space will do is to cause inflation of salary for domestic players mostly. And I think the number of int spot available is good enough for MLS FO right now. Actually, there are segments of USSF that is not happy with number of int spots for MLS, esp with how easy it is to get a green card for int players. USSF do not want to see MLS turn into EPL in terms of number of domestic players given game mins.

So be ready for minor changes and more slight incremental raising of salary cap in the next CBA.

gdg_9
07-24-2013, 09:41 AM
MLS has done a lot of little things for teams to get around the cap. But the cap itself won't go up very much. The league itself has some money, but mostly in form of expansion fees. I suspect most teams are still bleeding money, because MLS is still a gate driven league. Until MLS scores a decent TV deal, the cap won't go up much.

I understand the frustration of people who want immediate raise of cap thinking that will automatically improve the level of play. But it won't be that easy. With current MLS rules, unless int spots go up again, only thing a big leap in raise of cap space will do is to cause inflation of salary for domestic players mostly. And I think the number of int spot available is good enough for MLS FO right now. Actually, there are segments of USSF that is not happy with number of int spots for MLS, esp with how easy it is to get a green card for int players. USSF do not want to see MLS turn into EPL in terms of number of domestic players given game mins.

So be ready for minor changes and more slight incremental raising of salary cap in the next CBA.

I think I disagree with that... If the number of Int'l spots stayed the same, but the salary cap went up, I would think teams would make sure to use Int'l spots on legitimate higher quality (and higher paid) players, instead of average middling players as many do now.


You wouldn't see Intl' spots wasted on guys like Lambe (not that we should be wasting it now either!).
Those type of roles would all be filled by domestics (as they should be!).

Basically, Int'l spots would end up being used sort of similar to how DP spots are used now - at least the lower level DP's.
Guys like Bernadello, Valeri, Bieler, Kléberson, Morales, even Laba, could just be regular Int'l players, leaving DP spots for true stars (for the teams that can afford the $$$).


At least that would be my thought process if I was calling the shots!

Yohan
07-24-2013, 09:43 AM
I think I disagree with that... If the number of Int'l spots stayed the same, but the salary cap went up, I would think teams would make sure to use Int'l spots on legitimate higher quality (and higher paid) players, instead of average middling players as many do now.


You wouldn't see Intl' spots wasted on guys like Lambe (not that we should be wasting it now either!).
Those type of rolls would all be filled by domestics.

Basically, Int'l spots would end up being used sort of similar to how DP spots are used now - at least the lower level DP's.
Guys like Bernadello, Valeri, Bieler, even Laba, could just be regular Int'l players, leaving DP spots for true stars (for the teams that can afford the $$$).


At least that would be my thought process if I was calling the shots!
probably still count as a DP, if there is a transfer fee involved

brad
07-24-2013, 09:44 AM
MLS has done a lot of little things for teams to get around the cap. But the cap itself won't go up very much. The league itself has some money, but mostly in form of expansion fees. I suspect most teams are still bleeding money, because MLS is still a gate driven league. Until MLS scores a decent TV deal, the cap won't go up much.

I understand the frustration of people who want immediate raise of cap thinking that will automatically improve the level of play. But it won't be that easy. With current MLS rules, unless int spots go up again, only thing a big leap in raise of cap space will do is to cause inflation of salary for domestic players mostly. And I think the number of int spot available is good enough for MLS FO right now. Actually, there are segments of USSF that is not happy with number of int spots for MLS, esp with how easy it is to get a green card for int players. USSF do not want to see MLS turn into EPL in terms of number of domestic players given game mins.

So be ready for minor changes and more slight incremental raising of salary cap in the next CBA.

I'd like to see some way of getting the good quality Canadians back (and Americans for that matter - for the US teams) - the guys that are kicking around in the lower divisions making more than we could/should pay them. I've often wondered if something like domestic DP slots or something might work (IE - cap hit of 200-300k, but allow an actual salary of 500-700k).

gdg_9
07-24-2013, 09:49 AM
probably still count as a DP, if there is a transfer fee involved

True... I was looking at salary only.

If any of those players came on Free Transfers they likely wouldn't need a DP spot with a significantly increased Cap...

But maybe that's something else to look at? How Transfer Fees are incorporated into the Cap system - especially for younger players.

Dreadlocks
07-24-2013, 11:33 AM
I think you'll see a significant change in the cap at the end of 2014/start of 2015 when the TV agreements with ESPN (started 2007), NBC (started 2012), Univision (2013) and UniMas (2007). All of them paid between $8M and $10M (not including Univision). The interesting part is that ESPN got in at $8M in 2007 for 7 years (approx $1M/year) while NBC got in at $10M for 2 years or $5M/year. This tells me that the value of MLS content has gone up by at least 5x which means there should be a big jump in 2014.

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

Sports revenues are based on TV numbers and if the cap is based on revenues then the cap must go up when revenues do I would think. Especially when revenues could increase 5x.

Richard
07-24-2013, 11:48 AM
Ultimately the quality of the league will be determined by the level of play from the domestics, I don't see the league reducing the domestic quota(American) anytime soon. If it was up to me I would start by making all homegrown players cost zero against the cap. Theoretically a DP level quality player would cost zero against the cap, it would provide long-term incentive to develop from within.

Yohan
07-27-2013, 07:27 AM
Convincing Bernardello to come to Montreal was not a hard sell, according to De Santis, thanks in large part to the presence of Di Vaio and Alessandro Nesta."When you have players like Nesta and Di Vaio on your team, that really helps you attract new players. It says to new recruits ‘wow, these are guys that have played at the highest level and they’re playing in MLS. There must be a reason.’ I think that helped us a lot," De Santis said.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/south-america-a-growing-talent-pipeline-for-impact/

As much as I'd prefer not a DP heavy approach to roster building, I do think there is room for one 'big name' DP on an MLS roster, regardless whether the team is rebuilding or not.