We've got an EPL and UCL thread floating around but with the MLS season starting in less than 30 days I thought we could have a topic to discuss the season. If it's anything like last season we're in for a real treat because the playoffs were absolutely nuts.
If you're unfamiliar with MLS, it's basically the same game rules as the EPL and all other leagues until you get to rosters and promotion relegation. I don't even pretend to understand all of the rules with rosters and players.
As for me, I'm a huge DC United fan. The last two seasons have produced extremely good early to mid seasons only to fall behind later and crash out of the playoffs early. I'm making plans to head up to a few matches this season so I'm pretty excited. I think NYRB are going to come back pretty strong this season, and Columbus too so the east should be pretty competitive. LA Galaxy got a huge addition in Nigel De Jong (they have like 6 designated players I swear) and that's a huge piece to their midfield. Sounders were able to hold onto Jordan Morries and he'll be very exciting to watch.
So who's everyone rooting for this season? I'm sure we have other DCU fans! #VamosUnited!
Comments
I have been an L.A. Galaxy fan from the start. Really excited to see a team coming to Atlanta just hope my job keeps me here long enough to get to some games. I wish that MLS would adopt the relagation/promotion process. With the talent starting to come out of the MLS schools it would be good to pull the NASL in and do this IMO.
I would love to see that too, but it won't happen while the league is still trying to expand.
No teams will want to pour money into a new team only to be relegated immediately.
Galaxy fan from the start here too.
Are there still rumors of DC United moving to northern VA? I haven't heard anything about that in a while.
No, United finalized their new stadium deal with DC to be about five blocks from Nats Park
#VamosUnited! It will be interesting to see how they piece the midfield together in the next week or so. Boy do they need help there.
Absolutely. I'll feel really good if this deal is done and all that crap with Nocerino gets worked out. Those would be two great additions to the center of the pitch.
I am also a United fan but we got extremely bad knews when it was determined last month that home grown phenom goalie Bill Hamid would need surgery to fix his knee, he is now expected to miss as much as four to six months from the start of the season. He is critical for them to have the type of season they had last year again.
Yes I didn't mention that because I'm trying not to think about it. I think Dykstra can do well in Hamid's absence but Hamid returning at 100% will be critical in the long run.
I'd be surprised if Hamid is in DC through the summer.
Ehhh... If he'd been healthy to start the year, I could potentially see that.
I do wonder if teams will be scared off by his recent injury history though.
RCTID Baby!!! Where the Cup currently resides...Timbers!
City Till I Die..
Yessir Rose City Till I Die!
Don't have a squad, just a big fan of the game. Saw Patrick Nyarko is on DC United now.
#vamosunited Birnbaum might get more looks with the USMNT, maybe the whole Copa America, can't believe how big the league has gotten, been following it from day 1 when DC United lost to the SJ Clash. The Clash.
remember that well, and then lost the next week to Columbus at Ohio Stadium on a field the size of a postage stamp. the league has come a long way.
Vamos United! Hoping Hamid's injury isn't too terrible and they remember that you are still allowed to play well in August and September.
The problem with those months for United has always been that unlike a lot of other MLS teams that use that period as a sort of rest break, United schedules themselves to participate in a multitude of other tournaments outside MLS. Essentially by September they are more run down than alot of other teams.
Vamos United! I was super excited when we got former Hokie Patrick Nyarko. Doubt he gets first team action but should be a good option off the bench.
I'm trying to go to the home opener against Colorado. Anyone else trying to go?
EDIT: Nigel de Jong doesn't have a DP contract. When Stevie G leaves LAG next year, de Jong will take his spot.
I was planning on it but it's a Sunday night so we're heading up for the FCD match.
Yeah they used TAM. The MLS has a lot of super confusing rules
Orlando City!
The Orlando City v. RSL game is exactly why I love the MLS. Two red cards in the first half, a two goal deficit erased in stoppage time. No lead is ever safe in the MLS.
Edit: Highlights
all in front of 60k fans... was a pretty wild one for sure.
and the player with the biggest reputation on the field's name is Kaka
he didn't even play.. he's hurt with a groin issue
guess his groin is kaka....i'll see myself out
I've never followed the MLS closely whatsoever. I do remember watching Freddy Adu at DC United in his early days when he was supposed to be the greatest player on the planet in a few years. I also like DC United for their tribute jerseys to VT after the 4/16 tragedy.
Kind of feel bad for Freddy. I think getting thrown into the spotlight that early took a lot away from his development as a player because it became more about delivering now than continue to learn the game. Hard to have watched after his initial United stint, considering he has played for 13 teams all over the world and his career is considered by many to just about be over at the ripe old age of 26. Last I saw he was down in the NASL somewhere. When many would just be starting their careers post college, Adu already has 12 years of professional soccer behind him.
True. And maybe the fact that he was American also added pressure because we want the best in every sport and push for it at a very young age.
I thought there was a scandal that he lied about his age. The guy was good no doubt but is perfect evidence of what happens when you put a ton of pressure on players to be the next big thing
also I think it was the media starting up a hype train about something they didnt completely understand. If a kid really is that good hes being scouted by the Bayern Munichs, Barcelonas, and Real Madrids of the world. (case and point tim howard, zelalem, and even holden who I thought couldve had a great career had injuries not crushed him) He was just drafted in the MLS at a really young age and certainly had some potential but I think we claimed he was the next big thing because we wanted a face for our soccer program at the time. I think that entire situation was bungled from top to bottom.
He flat out wasn't "the next pele" and the media tried way to hard to make him something special
A pretty recent article about Freddy Adu where he talks about the pressure that was on him and taking responsibility going forward. Interesting read to get his perspective.
Columbus Crew fan here, I think they will have another shot this year. I wish the game was popular enough to have a minor league system like MLB where players could be called up from smaller clubs in nearby cities. Columbus could have a hell of a "farm" system with Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron, Toledo, and Dayton able to host teams.
Columbus here as well. I think Crew SC needs to start figuring out how to get by when Higuain decides to disappear, but otherwise is very well set up to have another big season. Berhalter is probably one of the better team managers in the league and seems to find ways to make players succeed. Still mad at Clark, so hopefully he does some atoning for that early on.
Lone Red Bull fan checking in. You can call me Red Bull Leader.
Starting following the MLS two seasons ago and randomly chose the Timbers, turned out to be a pretty good pick haha. Love Diego Valeri, RCTID.
Well last night was less than ideal for DC United. Thought the match was poorly officiated but DC did itself no favors.
Scoreline was certainly ugly, but I didn't feel it was indicative of the way United played.
While there's a prevailing thought in MLS circles that DC United is going to be bad this year, I disagree. The new pieces will take a little while to gel and at the very least, they're going to be a lot more fun to watch this year. Probably not as defensively sound as before, but Acosta is the real deal and DeLeon was all over the field. I think he'll find his shot, and the supporting cast has much more technical ability than the teams over the past couple years.
Acosta and DeLeon were on top of their game last night and Neagle was quite dangerous. However, this league is geared toward LA Galaxy's success and their roster shows it. They'll be tough to beat. I shouldn't care about last night's match as much as I do but Galaxy are the Duke of MLS and last night showed it.
But I agree. I normally wouldn't have stayed up past halftime but they were so fun to watch in the first half. Unfortunately we had nothing in the second.
I understand that sentiment. Regarding the Galaxy, I think they might actually be a better team without Dos Santos. He & Keane want to play in a similar way and it ends up messing with their spacing... but with Magee in his place, he allows Keane to make his runs and then Magee drifts into the open spaces.
DCU will figure things out. Might be some growing pains (much like Buzzketball this year), but I think they'll be a good time once they get it together.
Was sitting right behind United's bench last night. Olsen was ripping into the 4th official all night. Thought they might have scored to early, but LA got it together in the second half. Magee had a heck of a half. That De Leon shot kicks in off the post instead of out, and it's an entirely different result.
The allotment of salary and the unbalanced assortment of stars that seem to end up on the Galaxy and the Red Bulls really bothers me because MLS negotiates and manages all the contracts at the league level. It seems pretty lopsided in terms of assigned salaries and really shows a significant bias supporting the teams in the larger TV markets.
Someone at the DC United blog Black and Red United crushed it when talking about how the Galaxy get these kind of players.
Game recap and subsequent comment can be found here. I hate to seem so bothered by it but even before I got into MLS and DC United it seemed like they were getting so many good players. Then Gerrard and Dos Santos went to LA and it was pretty obvious who MLS wanted to succeed.
I understand the sentiment that a lot of fans have towards the Galaxy (and now NYCFC) as "league favorites." The Red Bulls used to fall into that category too, but they've deliberately moved towards a more Moneyball, system-based organization that is pumping lots of money into youth development instead of relying on aging Euro stars.
But for all the gripes (real & perceived) fans have about MLS gaming the system in favor of New York & LA, you have to look at the alternative. We've also seen this recently with Droga going to Montreal... those big name stars in the twilight of their career dictate where they want to go. They aren't coming at all if they don't get to end up in their preferred destination since they have plenty of options.
If the league isn't run as a single-entity, then it's a moot point. But it is, and that's how the league survived through its lean years. Making MLS a place that accommodated the wishes of aging stars like Beckham helped get it to the place where it is today.
Also: Black and Red United is easily the best source for DC United on the web. In my opinion, it's probably in the top 3 in terms of team-centric MLS blogs.
To be honest, the Beckham deal I didnt really have a problem with because the league was still in that crux of survival mode and he was the first top tier big name player but that was NINE years ago. Hard to believe that this is the 21st season of MLS. For it to be continuing now is becoming detrimental to the league because you are getting to the point of selective growth in terms of new teams, stable income in terms of television and league wide attendance, and people starting to tune out because their teams are regularly not competitive based on the personnel structure. To show how bad the salary disparity is: In 2015, Toronto FC and LA Galaxy both were above $21 mil in salary. DC United, NY Red Bulls, FC Dallas were all below $4.3 mil in salary. Only five teams surpass the $10 mil mark. NYCFC, Seattle, and Orlando City being the other three. Orlando City is just over $11 mil because Kaka was raking in $7.1 so the rest of the roster got about $4.1 mil. Toronto had three players combine for $18.35 mil of their teams $22 mil total. LA had four of the top fourteen paid players in the league in Gerrard, Dos Santos, Keane, and Omar Gonzalez.
I have a group of buddies that I play indoor soccer with regularly and we used to go to probably 6 or 7 DC home games a year. Now we may make it to 1 or 2 depending on their opponent more often than it being DC. Its a direct result of the reduced talent DC regularly has unless it comes out of their academy system and even that has proved difficult to retain. The top players for DC sparkle for a year, go to Europe for a base contract, return to MLS and get assigned to a more high profile club. Waiting for that to happen with Hamid and Deleon to be honest. Its sad when you are expecting to get raided because your club cant rate the salary of the chosen ones. I dont really begrudge these guys their shots at the top leagues in Europe. Thats what they all have to shoot for compared to almost every other top sports league being US based.
Its especially frustrating for DC fans from the beginning because back then DC had a huge wave of success as this league worked through its fledgling status. United won four of the first eight championships. They played in one more, so were involved in 5 of the first 8 finals, and then the league changed its methods of player assignment back in 2004 and its never been the same for the Black and Red, not having reached another final since that season and honestly only having the talent to potentially reach it in maybe two of the last twelve seasons. To have enjoyed such early success as fans when the league was more balanced only to have devolved into mediocrity as the league changed is extremely frustrating to say the least.
The only fans I have ever felt worse for are probably the Revolution fans. All of their other New England teams came through and won them championships, while the Rev have made it to five finals without a win.
Dang...just be happy you're not relegated because you don't have the money to compete. I don't like the way the MLS is set up, but be glad that there is at least some regulation. Otherwise NYC/LA would have all players a la a Man U/Chelsea/City/Arsenal mold.
Sorry but for all of the seasons to beat home this point this may be the worst one. Furthermore the EPL is the WORST league to pick on. Revenue sharing has allowed teams like Stoke city to get hotshot players like Shaqiri or teams like Leicester city to land players like inler. It's not as unbalanced as say LA liga where it's the top 4 and then everyone else. Do man u and city have more talent on their rosters? Sure but they're competiting in more competitions and soccer is a team sport anyway. There's a reason Leicester city is succeeding and it's not because they blew big bucks on a few players.
Furthermore relegation is great for the sport. Relegation battles keep scrappy teams competitive and caring. It sucks when owners don't care over the course of decades and sell all of their good players (Pittsburg pirates of the late 90s and early 2000s) rather than just not caring and getting the number one overall pick. Take the Colts a few years ago when Andrew luck was on the table. Do you think the owner really cared when he was set to get the best qb prospect in the last 2 decades?
Furthermore it punishes teams like Newcastle with awful owners. Frankly I think the best thing that could happen to Newcastle is to get relegated get a new owner and then promoted again in a few years. That'd inject a lot of energy into a really passionate fan base.
TL DR relegation is not that bad/big of a deal and makes for amazing headlines late in the season and gives everyone an excuse to play late in the season
Shaqiri and Inler aren't exactly a Sanchez and Ozil. They're good players. Leicester are the exception, not the rule. Similar to Blackburn 20 years ago, maybe even more impressive. It's a once every 20 year thing because the teams with money will buy up their players. Look at Southampton. They did it the "right" way. Successive promotions--IIRC--and did it through their youth academy. They sold the likes of Shaw, Chambers, Lambert, Lallana and the bunch because of the teams that could offer more money. Look at Fulham, did some solid development and buying, made it to the Europa Final, sold off Dembele and Dempsey and are in a dogfight to avoid League 1 for the second straight year.
Soccer is the have's and the have not's. That's why it's refreshing this season to see Leicester and Tottenham at the top. It's the exception, not the rule.
And you can also argue that the MLS playoff structure isn't the to benefit of the bigger clubs. It helps the teams outside the big markets with the deeper pockets have a shot.
No they aren't but Shaqiri is also half a decade younger. More resale value. But what other league in the world could you talk a player from a title challenging team (inler from napoli) to a potential bottom feeder in leicester. Besides yeah man u and city throw tons of money at players but it's because they're forced to for the talent. Teams know they have the money so they force them to pay extra for it.
Also Blackburn is an awful example they dropped a ton of money on players regularly in the 90s. In fact a lot of their issues came from giving huge contracts to aging talent.
My point is that teams don't have to sell off talent like they used to due to revenue sharing. Yeah southampton sold some players but I think they came out the better selling lambert to get Shane long. They also had a replacement for lallana in ramirez. Yeah ramirez was awful but that's on the scouting department. Just like it's on city's scouting department for the mangala screw up. Fullham had a lot more issues than just selling dempsey and dembele. Dempsey went to Tottenham didn't you just say Tottenham was one of the little brothers?
There's a reason there's tons of parity in the premier league. And no it hasn't just been this year. Last year was a similar script. Chelsea just gave themselves a huge cushion.
Furthermore if the MLS playoff format is so great then why is it that the LA galaxy are in the finals 5 times in the last decade and Houston have been in the final 4 times in the same time period. That doesn't exactly scream balance to me.
My point on Blackburn was that they were promoted, struck gold with Shearer (ie Vardy) and started competing and finally won the league.
I never said Tottenham was a "little brother." I said there are generally a top 4 (Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, City). Swap out Liverpool and Man City the further you go back until TV money wasn't huge. Then add Tottenham, always right around 5th and 6th.
It's a top four. A competitive 2 or three to challenge for that last spot and the occasional outlier. That's how the season goes every year.
And the Galaxy go to the final cause they are generally the best team. The playoff format allows teams who drop points throughout the season to be on a level field, clean slate with the top teams. It's not just a points race, which I think it should be.
Then watch the champions league that's the obvious championship tournament in europe.
As for the domestic league city wasn't even in the conversation a decade ago. I'll agree in the past it has been rich get richer scenario but I think the league is completely changing. The league is far more balanced now and will continue to trend that way. I think years ago this kind of thing would be impossible but I think it's going to become a lot easier for the pesky underdogs to find their way into Europe
I just don't understand how one can preach Balance in the MLS when the same teams make the championships year in and year out.
Let me ask you this do you consider the bundlesliga balanced? How about la liga?
Since 2007, 11 teams have either won the Supporters Shield of MLS Cup. More balanced than most leagues. I hate the way the league is structured, but it's all because it makes more money for the league. I wouldn't say it's imbalanced though. It might cater to the big markets, but that doesn't necessarily translate to success. Portland/Columbus/Kansas City/Salt Lake have been quite successful.
I honestly don't follow the Bundesliga as much as I'd like, so I don't have an answer for you. La Liga is a mess.
Successful yes but like you said the playoffs are the important part. And there have been so many repeat contenders and appearances in the final. The league has become completely top heavy even with a salary cap. There's a reason the LA galaxy has such a glut of stars. NYCFC is about to get a lot bigger too. I'm shocked that they haven't started farming city youth products yet for playing time being a sister club.
I agree that the EPL is not full of parody however it's definitely become the best European league as far as parody goes. Any team can beat any other team any week. The same cannot be said in just about any other league. but I think it's a little hypocritical to call the EPL unbalanced while calling the MLS balanced I think they're in a similar conversation. The MLS is just earlier in its development than the EPL. Trust me 10 years from now I think it's going to be a very similar kind of domination by a few teams.
Take a look at some of the other leagues if you wanna see imbalance. My God bayerns grip on the league is kinda disgusting. La liga is almost as bad...that's the result without league sharing of TV deals luckily the EPL has it and gives the little guys more of a chance. You get beautiful and great stories like bournemouths rise
If you're looking for a little more parody it's all about the champions league. Atletico Madrid and borrusia dortmund making it chelsea winning it all. The rotation of power among the different countries over the last 2 decades has been impressive to. First Italy and England dominates it. Now Spain and germany are dominating the top. That's more like the MLS cup than anyting else in europe and that's the comparison you should be making
What Leicester city doing is literally unprecedented. Yes literally. They were in last place in May last year, set a new record for team to be in last the latest in the year and not get related, and have skyrocketed to first in a legendary calendar year. April 1st 2015, LCFC were bottom. They've played a full season of games since; P38 W24 D10 L4 Pts82. It's absolutely astonishing. 82 points in a season is tremendous for ANY team.
as Eshiben5 noted, EPL had the best revenue sharing to allow for more equality than other sports leagues.
The invisible hand ("blind draws? anyone") That the mls uses to assign designated players top teams illustrates they care about maximum profit to big city teams, selectively growing profit not the league
Agreed if I were a small market club I'd not be happy how that system works. It's doomed to failure
Tottenham has never been an elite club. They've only won the league twice and over the course of their history have always had flair players (Greaves, Ardiles, Hoddle, Klinsmann, Bale) who are some of the best the world but never could find the consistency to compete at the top level. They've always been a cup team and are definitely the little brother not just in London, but North London. What they've put together this year after blowing the Bale money is impressive, but I still don't see them winning the league. Plus their stadium is too hard to get to via the train, despite being so close to Arsenal, who have their own stop on the tube. I really think they have an inferiority complex to Arsenal.
Tottenham is a selling club. They'll sell Kane, and Lloris will go eventually as well. It's only a matter of time. Poch will starting getting looks too (I'd love to see United pick him up but we're too incompetent to get out of our own way).They'll be top three this season but I doubt they see an extended time up top.
the failure of LVG at United is surprising (but very welcome to a Liverpool fan) as he's been a success at most of the places he's been (if not all). It wasn't so long ago that he took AZ Alkmaar to the Eredivisie title. I don't know anything about them but that's a tremendous accomplishment. He also turned Ajax into a force (er, more so) in mid 90s with a young team that dominated the likes of Barcelona and the great Italian clubs (my how things have changed, huh?). That's always been the Spuds problem, show flashes of greatness then fark it up good and proper, and it usually takes them the better part of a decade to get back to relevance. The job Pochettino (sp?) has done there is remarkable, they're at Bale levels within a couple of years, wish LFC would rebound like that after the sale of Suarez.
All LFC/Hokies have to be truly excited now though...Klopp and Fuente. I'm chuffed.
Sporting KC. Never really paid much attention to it until I got to KC. They won the cup two years ago and Sporting Park is like 20 min from my house. Then two of their players were on the World Cup team and Graham Zusi was a captain. Soccer was pretty awesome in KC for that as well.
Toronto FC! Season 10 - hopefully we will finally win a playoff game. C'mon you Reds!
New England Revolution. I have been a fan for a majority of my life and am especially excited for this season, not so much because of the Revolution itself, but for the league as a whole. With the quality on display this past Sunday it is hard to not be hyped for whats to come. As usual the Revolution are being exceptionally frugal and its trying as a fan to cheer for a team that has had 4 MLS cup appearances with nothing to show for it. Currently we have 1 DP who has a torn ACL and doesn't even start until the summer, but our roster depth is excellent and the team dynamic clearly works given how much of a joke our spending is compared to the rest of the league. Frugality aside, all I really want is a stadium in a reasonable location (Foxboro sucks) and a crest that doesn't look like it's been made in MS Paint.
Edit: 5 appearances (blocked the 2014 appearance from memory) Thanks for pointing that out
You actually have five appearances. Salary level is minorly effected by your current ownership group and more so by the MLS management level, so you dont get much say there. Same thing going on with United even with the recent roster overhaul. Completely understand the stadium issues, try having to go to decrepit RFK on a regular basis, wondering when the overhang is going to break lose and fall down on you. At least United is on its way to a stadium deal down near Nats park, although its looking like 2019 before it will open now.
"Salary level is minorly effected by your current ownership group and more so by the MLS management level"
This isn't true at all. The reason some teams have vastly higher salary spend is due to designated players, which are at the discretion and paid by the individual MLS franchises. In terms of salary Corporate MLS spends just about the same amount on each team with some degree of variation due to Generation Adidas players and allocation money. The variation is not significant enough to account for the large disparity between the teams.
For example, DC United hasn't spent a lot of money on players because it is on the verge of spending over $100 million dollars (can't remember the exact amount coming out of their pockets, but I am pretty sure it is even higher than that), and its ownership group is not interested in amounting heavy losses. LA Galaxy on the other hand are out of their own pocket spending $4m dollars on Gio Dos Santos, $4m on Robbie Keane, and $6m on Gerrard (all approximately).
Also the reason that LA was able to get so many "stars" on their team is because of LAG management, location, and luck rather than anything underhand by MLS (http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-galaxy-european-players-20160...).
This isn't to say Corporate MLS won't favor certain teams in the form of providing some financial assistance, but that is to help a team who is aggressively (i.e. spending a lot of money out of their own pocket) pursuing a player that Corporate MLS considers important for the league as a whole, but as far as I am aware the Dempsey transfer is the last that has occurred.
For all the most roster rules, MLS has documented them here: http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/content/roster-rules-and-regulations
thank you for saving me the trouble of typing it out. i hate MLS' shady behind the scenes operations as much as the next guy, but the DPs are paid for by the teams, not the league. The league can use league funds to help with transfer fees, but salaries are paid by the teams. DCU could go out and sign DPs if they wanted to, but they don't want to (yet...fingers are crossed for the future when they have revenue from the new stadium!)
A top flight US league can never be like a top European League. The US spans over 3000 miles and 4 time zones. The US has tens of cities that should have pro sports franchises in most sports including soccer. No European country has to deal with that. For all of MLS' flaws, i think they have done a decent job of incubating this league to ensure it doesn't fizzle out as many before it have. Soccer fans, like myself, have trouble getting our heads around split tables, unbalanced schedules and playoffs, but MLS has to be creative in ways leagues in Europe don't have to (and don't kid yourself, those Euro Leagues are looking at US sports for ways to increase excitement and $...see the Championship promotion Playoff and relegation playoffs in England and Germany respectively).
We complain about there being too many teams while simultaneously clamoring for markets like StL and Detroit and Miami to have teams. MLS is going to be a 30+ franchise league at some point. Could they consider splitting into their own MLS1 and MLS2 to have a self contained promotion/relegation structure while attempting to keep the top 18 or so teams in the MLS1 year to year? Maybe, but more likely you will continue to see a 34 game regular season with expanded playoffs to feature the top teams rather than an increased focus on the regular season.
You make valid points (never believed that United was especially well off in the first place) and I have edited my original post to note that there are 5 appearances.
Long story short we are a team that has shown time and timeagain that there is tons of potential but havenever truly capitalized and become something special. We are a 20 year-old team with an incredibly successful owner yet we face the same issues year in and year out. We have heard loose talks of a stadium since Gillette field was built (yes I am aware that they were not the original sponsor), have 5 MLS cup appearances but no wins, and in the last few years have floundered when it comes to DP's. The stadium itself isnt so much the problem, but the location is laughable given that we should be taking advantage of the Boston area, which is practically guaranteed to increase attendance numbers and elevate the brand. Many are losing faith in the ownership, which is alarming given that the MLS is making great strides. As a MLS fan I love where the league is heading, but as a Revs fan it appears as though we are becoming increasingly irrelevant. I will always support the team but it sucks knowing that it will only become far more difficult to secure the cup, and the coaching/roster is only a small part of the problem.
http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110/major-league-soccer/2016/10/20/28649...
Little article about Virginia Techs own Patrick Nyarko who currently is killing it for DC. Thought Lane Stadium was the soccer stadium at first.
I long for the day when we have to play soccer games in Lane to have seating for all the fans
I'll settle for United selling out Buzzard point regularly
I'll settle for not having to go to RFK...
as great as that sounds, I don't think Worsham Field is large enough for soccer. even if you could fit a field in there, I think the corner flags would likely be against the walls.
I've been wanting to get into MLS, as I've always enjoyed soccer, but I've never really had a team. I guess the closest to me are the San Jose earthquakes, unless the Sacramento Republic FC ever gets into the league.