The Chivas USA Farewell Tour Thread (2014 MLS Thread)

[HailtotheYo]

This is glorious:

[brenchill]

Agree to disagree.

I absolutely see risk in any player 33yrs old, amid a season with injury issues, who will arrive at minimum 1/3 of the way through the season, will miss significant time due to the World Cup, won't be available for an indeterminate time after the World Cup, and will demand a high salary.

I guess we just define risk differently.

He's Ashley Cole. A genuinely good football player. Whether he's 33 or 43, he's more than good enough to play in your league.

[HailtotheYo]

Agree to disagree.

I absolutely see risk in any player 33yrs old, amid a season with injury issues, who will arrive at minimum 1/3 of the way through the season, will miss significant time due to the World Cup, won't be available for an indeterminate time after the World Cup, and will demand a high salary.

I guess we just define risk differently.

He's Ashley Cole. A genuinely good football player. Whether he's 33 or 43, he's more than good enough to play in your league.

I'm not sure where I ever commented on, or debated against his talent level. In fact, I know I didn't. Not sure why that's the focal point here.

He's a LB and regardless of talent is older, on the backside of his career, and is getting the injury bug. Our league's style doesn't lend to helping any especially given the type of player he is himself. The money needed for him is much better suited for attacking players ... and there's plenty of younger models of those out there to be had that are worth the investment that Cole would need to come over.

As a fan of the league, yeah I'd be glad to see a player his caliber ... but as a fan of the league, I'd rather have 2 to 4 more Diego Valeri's than Ashley Cole.

[GoGo Yubari]

Ashley Cole is at worst a short-term risk if he were brought in midseason because he'd be in preseason form. I would not be remotely surprised if he were to play for either New York team in 2015.

[OctoberRaven]

It should be Miami Spice

That's the name of a sex shop in the area. Every time I go down to Miami I see the billboards for it.

That'd be an interesting sponsor though.

Edited February 7, 2014 by OctoberRavenO

[EddieG]

Uhuh, billboards *nudge nudge wink wink*

[HailtotheYo]

Alexander Meier (Frankfurt) interested in MLS move

[HailtotheYo]

“@SoccerByIves: Report out of Brazil claims Brazilian National Team goalkeeper Julio Cesar is set to join Toronto FC" This story has legs...

— MLS Transfers (@MLSTransfers)

February 7, 2014

How the shit would they make that work ? I don't think QPR would eat that much salary to loan him out over here.

[HailtotheYo]

[METALMAN]

This is glorious:

That's just ridiculous. How can they call it their state if they've yet to kick a ball yet and they don't even know if they will get any sustainable support?

Florida Marlins or Miami Dolphins doing it, fair enough, but Orlando City haven't achieved anything and to do something like that is just incredibly embarassing.

[Meacon Keaton]

Well, technically Orlando City is already a club, they just haven't played a game in the MLS. But yeah, the two of them trying to force a rivalry already is cute.

[HailtotheYo]

This is glorious:

That's just ridiculous. How can they call it their state if they've yet to kick a ball yet and they don't even know if they will get any sustainable support?

Florida Marlins or Miami Dolphins doing it, fair enough, but Orlando City haven't achieved anything and to do something like that is just incredibly embarassing.

Orlando City has played 3 seasons (this being the 4th), winning 2 regular season titles and 2 championships and have had very good attendance for a 3rd tier club here in the US.

What are you talking about ?

In terms of the MLS, they were "in" before Beckham's team and will take the field 2 years (or more) before Beckham's does.

[METALMAN]

They are calling Florida "our state"

Oh...okay. Well I'll make some adjustments:

They draw an average of 6,900 fans.

Florida has a population of 19.32 million.

Calling Florida their state when most people don't give a toss about them is ridiculous grandstanding and a bit embarrassing.

They are a small fish. They are trying to manufacture a rivalry with a club that doesn't even exist. A club that far more people care about. It's embarrassing.

I might have been wrong about how long they've been around for (only four years) but I hope that doesn't invalidate the rest of my point.

[HailtotheYo]

They are calling Florida "our state"

Oh...okay. Well I'll make some adjustments:

They draw an average of 6,900 fans.

Florida has a population of 19.32 million.

Calling Florida their state when most people don't give a toss about them is ridiculous grandstanding and a bit embarrassing.

They are a small fish. They are trying to manufacture a rivalry with a club that doesn't even exist. A club that far more people care about. It's embarrassing.

I might have been wrong about how long they've been around for (only four years) but I hope that doesn't invalidate the rest of my point.

Yes, and it's a clearly specific aim.

Check the numbers for minor league sports here in America.

And ? Perhaps you don't have an understanding of the "Major vs Minor League" viewpoint that American Sporting Culture has.

Perhaps, but again ... this was targeted to quite the specific audience. It's clearly a publicity stunt, so what ? That doesn't happen in England ?

Small fish ? Well yeah, they're a D3 club until next year. They'll have a 7 or more year head start in terms of people actually having a connection to the club and people being able to truly care about it. Also, you should research Miami's history as a sporting city. People might care about Beckham, but caring about him doesn't mean caring about the club.

[brenchill]

Blimey, I'd love to see the standards of your D3.

[HailtotheYo]

Blimey, I'd love to see the standards of your D3.

The lower divisions of soccer here have been all over the place. Our current divide with 2nd and 3rd tier only happened in 2010. Last season the lowest attended club had less than 400 on avg in D3, which makes Orlando's 8K look pretty damned good.

[Meacon Keaton]

It's where our poor Americans go to play when those dirty foreigners come in and steal their spots in the MLS.

[brenchill]

It's where our poor Americans go to play when those dirty foreigners come in and steal their spots in the MLS.

Yeah, fair point.

Bit like our leagues...

[HailtotheYo]

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/02/07/report-brazilian-national-team-goalkeeper-julio-cesar-set-loan-move-toronto-

Looks like Cesar is happening. Wow.

[OctoberRaven]

They are calling Florida "our state"

Oh...okay. Well I'll make some adjustments:

They draw an average of 6,900 fans.

Florida has a population of 19.32 million.

Calling Florida their state when most people don't give a toss about them is ridiculous grandstanding and a bit embarrassing.

They are a small fish. They are trying to manufacture a rivalry with a club that doesn't even exist. A club that far more people care about. It's embarrassing.

I might have been wrong about how long they've been around for (only four years) but I hope that doesn't invalidate the rest of my point.

19.32 million people in a state larger than England and Wales combined, in a country where the sport isn't considered a major sport with very young leagues.

Also, of the Florida teams that have existed in recent years (that is, since the MLS formation), only the now-defunct Tampa Bay Mutiny have drawn more consistently (Above 11,000); Fort Lauderdale Strikers (formerly Miami FC) has averaged 4,100 this year (up from the previous years, impressive considering the first half of our season was absolutely abysmal); Tampa Bay Rowdies match Orlando at around 6,900; Miami United have a hard time getting as many people on the stands as are on the pitch; and Miami Fusion never drew more than 2,000 (though one can argue that being the "Miami" Fusion but having their games 40 miles away from Miami a part of their woes). So a team that doesn't get any kind of non-local media coverage like Orlando drawing what they do is actually pretty impressive, and they'll probably beat the Mutiny levels when they join the MLS.

And like HTTK said, people don't care about Miami Beckhams FC, they care about Beckham. Like Jimmy Buffet and a thousand others investing in the Dolphins in 2009, it won't mean much more than hype in the end.

Edited February 7, 2014 by OctoberRavenO