The Best MLS Season Ever Thread (2016 obviously)

[HailtotheYo]

And off the news that Kamar is holding out:

 

 

 

 

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[HailtotheYo]

Colorado Rapids have traded Maynor Figueroa to FC Dallas for General Allocation Money.

[Toe]

I'm excited to see the progress made by Toronto FC. They've made some moves to shore up their goaltending and defence. Last season was the first time they had ever made the playoffs. This year, it's time to make a run.

[HailtotheYo]

 

 

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[GoGo Yubari]

So this is the day in Colorado Rapids news: they sold the rights to Maynor Figeruoa to FC Dallas, then one of their defenders (Joseph Greenspan) was assigned to duty with the US Navy this year, and now Alan Pulido has reportedly rejected the contract offer he was seemingly going to sign with them.

This is like that episode of Parks and Rec where Jerry leaves and the law of social groups stated that someone would rise to take his place as the group fuck-up. Congrats to the Colorado Rapids, the new Chivas USA.

[Szumi]

ESPNFC is reporting that Matt Miazga is heading to Chelsea. Shocking decision for both the club and player. Highly rated young American defender, but never going to get first team time at the club. Maybe at Vitesse...

[HailtotheYo]

12 hours ago, GoGo Yubari said:

So this is the day in Colorado Rapids news: they sold the rights to Maynor Figeruoa to FC Dallas, then one of their defenders (Joseph Greenspan) was assigned to duty with the US Navy this year, and now Alan Pulido has reportedly rejected the contract offer he was seemingly going to sign with them.

This is like that episode of Parks and Rec where Jerry leaves and the law of social groups stated that someone would rise to take his place as the group fuck-up. Congrats to the Colorado Rapids, the new Chivas USA.

COL has easily been trying the hardest to be "MLS dipshit" the last couple of years.  Of course, if they land Howard ... but the Pulido bit though probably has more to it as THIS CAME OUT:

 

Which is absurd given that Osorio coached two clubs (CHI and NYRB) .... maybe he's just bitter because he absolutely sucked here.   

 

 

[MDK]

Why do you septics love play-offs? I love me some MLS but for the life of me I will never get why you love playoffs and hate relegation so much.

NY COSMOS FOR LIFE

[Meacon Keaton]

Playoffs gives more teams a chance to win the title, as opposed to it being the same two or three teams up top every year. It's not always the case, but the idea is that anyone in the playoffs has a chance to win it.

As for relegation, I think it's just a lack of soccer clubs in this country that could afford MLS type salaries. So even if a team got promoted to the MLS, they'd more often than not get slaughtered.

[Szumi]

Ashley Cole is finally a done deal. Him coming as a non-DP really makes me like this move a lot better than when it was first discussed months ago.

[GoGo Yubari]

51 minutes ago, MDK said:

Why do you septics love play-offs? I love me some MLS but for the life of me I will never get why you love playoffs and hate relegation so much.

NY COSMOS FOR LIFE

I don't really love playoffs, tbh. They're a weird, arbitrary thing to rest your laurels on as a means of determining the best team of the year. particularly when the schedule means you're playing every other team in the league at least once. Sometimes the best team or a team in the conversation wins them, like the Galaxy in '11 or '14, and then sometimes some garbage team hits a lucky run of form and has good fortune in penalty kicks, NOT THAT I'M NAMING ANY NAMES. But this is America and every sport has a playoff system. If MLS didn't, that'd just be another thing that alienates people who don't watch the Premier League or Bundesliga or whatever.

Pro/rel is a neat idea but absolutely, 100% impractical at this stage for what MLS is trying to do. My hope would be that eventually there could be around 30-40 teams with MLS-level infrastructure and then a second division can be implemented, but right now not only would investors balk at the idea, but a truly cohesive pyramid can't really be a thing because MLS and the NASL don't exactly get along.

[HailtotheYo]

21 hours ago, MDK said:

Why do you septics love play-offs? I love me some MLS but for the life of me I will never get why you love playoffs and hate relegation so much.

NY COSMOS FOR LIFE

We love playoffs because of how our sports developed here (and it also begins to answer the relegation aspect).  In the history of our sports here we've had competing leagues and entities that have started as the "top" or "best" or whatever you want to call it.  That, or a secondary league has popped up and and threatened the established league.  How do you make the case for your league/team being the best?  You have to beat everyone else ... before the leagues consolidated and formed one entity you had to have your best and their best play each other .... once born, the playoff stuck because fans ate it up. 

Promotion and relegation is an absolute non starter here because of several things .... the biggest, is that our sports didn't have the same type of organic already existing base that the likes of soccer had in most places.  We didn't have a hundred football clubs trying to figure things out.  The leagues started after just a couple of clubs were formed and started playing our sports.  It was in conjunction with, not because of.  The roots aren't deep enough in terms of the sport (for soccer) and the structure of our sporting business and sporting culture aren't positioned to make pro/rel a reality.  There's no way that ESPN or Fox or NBC is going to sign on for any significant monies if you tell them they could lose the NY and/or LA market ... business just works differently here because it has always been top down. 

The idea itself, in a vacuum, is great .... I like it ... it just won't ever be anything practical, or needed in my lifetime.  It solves the problem of having too many capable teams for one level to hold.  That's a problem we aren't even close to thinking about.

 

 

 

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[HailtotheYo]

Galaxy sign De Jong

 

 

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[Cymbols]

Oh man that is a nice shirt

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