Local
Temple gets a new head coach for the men’s team. While in Maryland, he worked with Zac MacMath.
MLS
Kekuta Manneh is hopping on a train destined for Liga MX.
FC Dallas accidentally leaks transfer targets.
Around the globe
The head of Russia’s Football Union has temporarily stepped aside.
Not that Manneh would have commanded much of a fee, but why is it that a guy who was heralded as one of the best things going in MLS and US Soccer can ship off to Pachuca on a free transfer? What am I missing?
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Contrast that witg the Virgil VanDijk transfer business.
Southampton paid Celtic $15 million (pounds) in 2015 for the player. Now Liverpool coughs up an astonishing $70 million + 5 million in incentives for VanDijk and Celtic gets another 10% of that fee. I know this deal is in a different state of the sport, but it is a shining example of how much profit there can be in producing talent and reaping the rewards.
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Things need to change so that MLS clubs can start conducting business in a normal way. Not to make any excuses whatsoever, but I guarantee MLS nonsense rules have probably been a steeper learning curve for Ernie Stewart than he anticipated.
Well he should have Chis Albright to help shepard him through this.
I think there’s been this idea, right or wrong, in The MLS to focus on retaining talent and not being a feeder league. More of a marketing perspective to have Americans here than touting selling the local guy (now who plays up the local thing?) to the Alsvenskan.
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So the rules about how much The MLS skims from the top back to the Al O’Cation safety welfare scheme disincentivize teams from selling. Once you get to the last year of a player’s contract, no one is lining up to buy a guy who can be presigned for free in six months. So they walk.
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Not sure how much the stigma of Americans abroad plays into this and how many Euro coaches look down on The MLS. Maybe Pulisic is turning some attitudes around. But things won’t really change until clubs keep 100% of the sale.
I think you’re right on MLS not wanting the league raided of talent that would attract fans to the club. It’s clearly why so many clubs have worked hard to bring in USMNT players. But I know that teams like Atlanta are counting on those financial restraints to open up. I heard an interview with their sporting director/GM who said if MLS is seen as a good platform to be sold to Europe, the league will have a much easier time attracting the sort of South American players with which Atlanta has already set something of a standard. AS it is now, it’s hard to argue MLS is anything other than a dead end. They need to change that rule so that clubs keep the entire transfer.
I read a stellar article proclaiming MLS has it ass backwards and actually needs to reinvent itself into a selling league first and Homegrown League second.
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Nothing says up and coming quality infrastructure better than having 50 Weston McKinnie’s running around the greatest leagues in the world all proclaiming random MLS Academy produced the player.
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I am an enormous fan of Promotion Relegation as many know, and enjoy strong arguments for both sides but until a local franchise is incentivized to produced players we will forever be behind the eight ball.
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I marvel in slack jaw amazement at 8 years of ‘professional’ academy soccer —– only to lose 99% these players to collegiate, amateur National Signing Day. My word at least allow the outlier in every age group with an eagerness to go abroad for $2,000,000 help generate revenue for the self sustaining franchise pipeline.
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Besides that…..the amount of wealth to be generated is staggering… instead we have academy with a governor switch controlled EZ Go Golf Cart.
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Know what I used to do to the cart…. stick a golf tee in it and pry that thing wide open….
Until they settle training fees and solidarity payments, college is hard to compete against. There was talk of a final solution coming but I guess that has been stalled in the courts.