Photo: Paul Rudderow
Philadelphia Union
All quiet on the Union front.
Local
Temple University men’s team signed four summer transfers.
USL
Bethlehem Steel’s goalkeeper, Todd Morton, made the USL Championship Team of the Week.
Fourteen-year-old Francis Jacobs, his family, and his club (Orange County SC) are working to make sure he’s not the next Freddy Adu.
MLS
The Dynamo cut coach Wilmer Cabrera. Davy Arnaud is the interim coach. I wonder if Arnaud will flail around in the coaching area like he did on the field as a player.
Speaking of Houston, DaMarcus Beasley believes MLS needs promotion and relegation.
Mike Petke admits poor judgment, says he and RSL agreed he would continue coaching before firing.
Atlanta United’s manager, Frank de Boer, calls equal pay for women’s soccer “ridiculous.”
D.C. United fans prepare for life after Wayne Rooney.
Super Bowl winner Russell Wilson, his Grammy award-winning singer and wife Ciara, and rapper Macklemore have become part owners of the Seattle Sounders.
NWSL
Cute:
Earlier this season, @uswnt star @roselavelle met a young lady who was also named Rose Lavelle and it melted our hearts.
Their reunion at a @washspirit match was everything we could have wanted. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/uxDAA43ETv
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) August 13, 2019
Around the globe
Manchester City avoids a transfer ban for signing young players. It’s all about the money, Lebowski!
Will the way Frank Lampard played at Chelsea prevent him from adjusting his tactics as manager to cover for the club’s chief weakness?
France’s Stephanie Frappart has no concerns about today’s UEFA Super Cup between Liverpool and Chelsea when she becomes the first woman to ref a major men’s match in European competition.
A tornado destroyed Louisiana Tech Women’s team‘s complex in April. Now, they prepare for an unconventional season with 14 road games and 6 home matches at an off-campus site TBA.
Highlight of the day
Don Garber Orders Revolution To Change Name Citing League Politics Policy https://t.co/QZA0Grx489
— The Nutmeg News (@TheNutmegNews) August 13, 2019
It’s a real bloodbath out there for MLS coaches. Have to wonder why De Boer would even offer an opinion on equal pay. Just keep your trap shut, man!
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Enjoyed Beasley’s remarks. MLS will have pro/rel when pigs fly, but it’s nice to read that experienced players see the benefits.
He readily admits he doesn’t know how they could do it but states just get it done. I wonder if the answer comes back 50% wage cut across the board for players so we can create parachute payments, will he be agreeable?
How much would parachute payments cost if you only relegated two clubs? Cutting wages across the board in half seems extreme. As a fan of the sport, it would make the league more interesting to me. And I’m sure to others as well. And I believe it would spur interest and investment. But blah, blah, blah. There’s no end to the discussion. I don’t see pro/rel ever happening. But I would like the playoffs to be cut in half or reworked somehow. Not a fan of half the league in the playoffs in any sport. NBA, NHL, etc.
It is extreme and I’m willing to bet that most MLS player’s wouldn’t take personal financial responsibility for what some see as necessary to advance their game. Simple question is how much would it take to keep Talen Energy stadium open if the Union had to live on Bethlehem Steel crowds for X number of years? It cost Chicago sixty million to walk away from Bridgeview and going forward this is part of the financial equation, no? Extreme will happen for every team & the players that invested in the safety net of single entity coming to an end.
I think one of the biggest changes pro/rel would have is on our 2nd division. With the opportunity to go up, you’ll see a lot more incentive to invest in USL 1. I don’t know what the Union would need to keep the lights on if they were relegated. The entire wage bill is less than $9 million. If you have an active promotion campaign with well funded clubs in Div. 2, which do exist amazingly without promotion, you might be OK. If any club went total Sunderland — was relegated and then failed to be competitive in Div. 2, that club right now would be in huge trouble. But that’s how the market works, right?
If I were DeBoer, I would watch out AFTER they play the Union here at the end of the month. Union = coach killers this season 🙂
John conveniently seems to always forget about the pumping of money into the game… focusing only on the relegated teams. Makes me smile.
Pumping money into the single entity system part of the game is undeniable. Money invested in the lower divisions is significantly less investment but still happening I’ll agree. Could the Philadelphia Fury invest the same amount into players to be promoted that LAFC did while not investing in a stadium or an academy? It could get promotion with little investment but it’s that sustainable and is that fair to those who invested into the current system? Is it a question that isn’t relevant or should we only look at the benefits that might happen and are not guaranteed. Something you conveniently never have a problem writing off.
Not this year but last, when USL was announcing the formation of its division 3 league, USL,One, Jake Edwards did not exclude the possibility of promotion and relegation between USL Championship and US One in the future. Not now, he was eminently clear on that.
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USSF would have to relax stadium size requirements for divisional certification, as well as requirements for ownership financial resources.
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My own bet is that it will not happen until TV money dominates club revenue streams.
Pro/Rel discussions are always about how to spend OPM. (Other People’s Money) Until it is your money you are discussing, your opinion doesn’t ultimately matter.
If MLS were to aggressively expand, say to 40 teams/cities, you could have a pseudo hybrid pro/rel between a MLS1 and MLS2. Financially I don’t see how it could ever be implemented when teams paid “expansion fees” to get into the league in the first place – unless they gave out refunds (stop laughing at me!).
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Maybe it will happen someday, but beyond the league itself, I just don’t see a television partner being especially thrilled to see a Philadelphia or Chicago market being relegated and replaced with Boise FC or the Pensacola Penicillin Providers after a magical 3 year run up the pyramid…
There is nothing more tiresome than these pro/rel discussions.
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Maybe it would be a good thing. (Maybe not.) It doesn’t matter.
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It. Is. Never. Happening.
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It is so completely antithetical to American sports culture that it is simply impossible to conceive of, realistically. From owners who’ve already paid huge franchise fees to casual fans of other sports who will be completely baffled about why their beloved team is suddenly in “the minor leagues”, it is an absolute non-starter. There are plenty of things I can criticize Don Garber about, but this isn’t one of them.
Looks like the Swedish media have picked up the de Boer bit (https://twitter.com/Expressen/status/1161673836988981253?s=20). They’re quoting him as “Equal pay would be a joke”.
So Cabrera is the 3rd coach this year that was fired after losing to the Union…
I would love the pro/rel format in the states. Gives the guys struggling a reason the play. There is nothing worse than a Phillies v marlins game in September when both teams are finished. That being said it’s crazy to think the $ we have in this area and we can’t find proper investment in the club. I see Seattle, LAFC, Atlanta getting great financial from its supporters. We can’t get something from Laurie or the sniders or any other source of wealth in the area…. how great would it be to see Bradley cooper or mike trout at a Union game?
It’s a two way street. Who says Sugarman is offering opportunity for investment in the team? Who says he’s offering favorable terms? Graham invested as a partner involved in a specific part of the organization. The rest is Sugarman’s do with as he sees fit and I’m sure that probably suits him. He’s invested his money, and brought the team into existence and on the verge of relevance. Why would he give up any part of that?
DeBoer used the appropriate word to the describe the current version of “equal pay” and then succinctly explained why in three sentences. I salute his honesty.
Meanwhile, why has nobody commented about the Union killing their third opposing coach this season?? PLUS chasing Rooney back to the UK…