Oso planning to go pro
They've won three of their five matches since the restart. If that is them "asleep" I'd hate to see what they do when awake and ready.
And a great away win today.
My Real Madrid plays Atletico at 7am Sunday...any idea who will broadcast it here in USA?
Cool of you to support a plucky upstart!Unfortunately, LaLiga has the worst TV package in the US of the 4 major Euro leagues. It will be on BEin Sports, which is not in most cable packages
I have always loved soccer but have put it on the backburner since there are US sports in better TV time slots. It's been oddly nice dedicating my viewing time solely to soccer. Having a lot of fun watching Premier League/having it in the background while working, even with the title already decided.Hoping Fulham earns a promotion spot through the playoff but I have my doubts with Scott Parker in charge.
I'll stick with my opinion on Gold. He'll be in foul trouble within the first eight minutes.
Chelsea did a video of Pulisic:"Every single touch"https://twitter.com/ChelseaFC/status/1281532716023009281?s=19
My best friend is a big soccer guy but he’s always been amused/borderline annoyed by the Pulisic treatment that ESPN/NBCSN/etc gives. Like Chelsea would win 3-0, Pulisic would play 15 min with little action and the headline would be “Pulisic and Chelsea triumph 3-0. Or the top players under 22 list that ESPN did that didn’t have Pulisic top 5-10, I think he was in the teens, but he was on the headline graphic with Sancho and Mbappe. This sort of feels a bit pandering to the US market like that.THAT BEING SAID, I’d argue he may very well have been Chelsea’s best player since the restart and he deserves all the attention and praise he’s getting. I never had an issue with the slanted coverage cause he’s literally the best American prospect in years, perhaps ever, and he’s getting regular and meaningful action for one of the biggest clubs in the world. It’s super fun.I remember being super excited at the thought of Clint Dempsey joining LFC awhile ago. He would have never been more than a bit player there, much like he was at Spurs, but it was still a moment. This far surpasses that
Certainly there is a marketing/sales aspect to his coverage. But his level of play post re-start has been legit both statistically and eye test. And there is potential for a few to several American players to play more consistently, at higher levels in Europe's top leagues, than ever before. It's fun, it's a positive.Take MLS for example, one can be a critic of the level, only accepting the game's leagues at the highest levels etc...or one can accept its longevity compared to other leagues and be a part of the building process. The ages of some elite Americans are much younger today, teens, early 30's vs later 20's to early 30's and the level is high. Fitness, skill sets etc...one can appreciate Dempsey or McBride etc...or these guys now all for different reasons, in different ways at different times.I'm personally not a fan of the snobby nature of some. I'm a big soccer person, (among some other sports) since I was a small child. It was very big in my world.
I don’t disagree. I think it was likely more a reaction to relentless hype which hasn’t lead to positives for young Americans with pressure as of late. But CP is clearly bucking that trend.I think the snobbery towards the MLS is founded in some legit gripes. It tries too hard to pretend to be a Euro league (Real Salt Lake and Inter Miami are both cringey. Shocked we don’t have Dynamo Louisville yet) but refuse any of the tenants due to the league ownership demands. Pro/Rel, the league determining who gets foreign stars, etc.. that’s where I think legitimate soccer fans who developed their fanship in European or South American leagues get annoyed.But I agree the caliber of soccer has only continued to improve as the league has grown. It’s a legit feeder league that attracts from a lot of legit league and more and more “Star” players near their prime are coming as opposed to large paycheck seeking guys in their late 30s
Copying team names is much older than MLS.But anyway, I generally agree. It's never going to be one of the world's elite leagues, but that's fine. And it can serve as the home base for much of the national team, with its top players playing overseas.
I don't disagree with you, but I also think this is the reality we are dealing with. MLS is going to be where a lot of these guys play because it is home, and because they can pay. A lot of the domestic leagues you mention don't have their national team playing there because they don't pay that well. I mean, outside of the big three, how much money can someone make playing in the Netherlands? Probably not as much as MLS.This is why I would like to see where Jesse Marsch goes the next couple of years, because I think his MLS background with European success is how you are going to be able to blend the two together at the USMNT..
One thing to keep in mind about MLS finances is that it has become a Billionaire owner league. You need big bucks for increased expansion fees, expenses etc....the Billionaire Ingram family in Nashville, the Billionaire Taylor family in St. Louis and so on.
It's never going to be one of the world's elite leagues, but that's fine. And it can serve as the home base for much of the national team, with its top players playing overseas.
My biggest problem with football is how quickly they can managers. Slav was so good for them for a number of years, has one bad season, and gets shown the door.
I actually think MLS has done more to help the rest of CONCACAF than it has the USMNT. It's provided a higher level of competition than players from Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, and others were able to get access to. The paychecks have also drawn quality Americans back home prematurely, lowering the level of competition they face (Bradley, Altidore, etc).I love the idea of a stronger domestic league, but I think to date it's done more to help our competition and hurt our own domestic national team than anyone affiliated with MLS would like to admit.