Official World Cup, Champions League, Premiere League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A, MLS Thread

[spdirty]

Originally Posted by McDman

Why are people in this thread if they don't like soccer? Jesus.

To annoy you .

[elsid13]

Originally Posted by Kid A

I've always thought that most of the potentially best US soccer players aren't even in our pro football, basketball, baseball leagues. They're guys who were athletic as kids, got pushed toward football or whatever, were probably good in high school but then were nothing special beyond that. Odds of having a skill set to be pro level in soccer AND a sport as different as football or basketball? Very low. Unless they actually played soccer, no way of knowing if they had a special blend of agility and vision to succeed within the structure of that sport.

Lionel Messi is born in the US to a dad who doesn't like soccer? A guy that small? He probably turns into an all-state point guard or something, but odds are he doesn't have the full skill-set to make it as a college player.

Vice versa, there are probably a few fat kids in Brazil who just never had the speed to break the starting 11 as kids who would have gone on to be awesome offensive tackles given the chance!

Excellent post, the only thing I would disagree with is Messi wouldn't most likely would have turned into skater, lacrosse or some other extreme sport because he doesn't match the "typical" profile of HS athlete

[IndelibleScribe]

Being a athlete and being a athlete who is good at a particular sport are two separate issues.
The learning curve for every sport is different and the adjustments needed are steep.

People say this about Basketball players translating into football or track stars into football.
Futbol is a completely different type of animal and being a athlete isn't the end all of a great player.

[enjolras]

Originally Posted by Lestat

Futbol

We can call it soccer. It's just fine.

[frerottenextelway]

Originally Posted by Mogulseeker

Lebron could probably play any pro sport he wanted... Except maybe hose jockey.

Search for him taking batting practice clips, you'll change your mind on that.

[Mogulseeker]

Originally Posted by frerottenextelway

Search for him taking batting practice clips, you'll change your mind on that.

lol... or Charles Barkley trying to play golf.

[frerottenextelway]

Originally Posted by Mogulseeker

lol... or Charles Barkley trying to play golf.

It's always amusing when you see these world class athletes massively fail at another sport lol

[frerottenextelway]

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...s-at-baseball/

Snip:


"Just after James was drafted, he took batting practice with the Reds in Cleveland. There was some kind of Nike-Ken Griffey Jr. connection. Anyway, James was the single worst hitter I’ve seen among athletes taking BP. He looked like he had never swung a bat. He hardly got any out of the cage. Tom Hume was throwing. He kept slowing it down and down. Finally, he was just trying to hit James’ bat...."

[Arkie]

It wasn't hard to recruit athletes away from soccer when the rookie wages of MLS were still below the poverty level a few years ago.

[Mogulseeker]

Originally Posted by Arkie

It wasn't hard to recruit athletes away from soccer when the rookie wages of MLS were still below the poverty level a few years ago.

I don't think it was THAT bad. Then again, my uncle was drafted into the MLS... after a brief stint on loan to a team in Ecuador, he quit because he decided he could make more money as a CPA.

Then again, Beckham made $6.4 with LA Galaxy.

Top five paid players in MLS

2014 MLS salaries for the top five players
The following totals are rounded to the nearest dollar.

Name Team Position 2014 Guaranteed Compensation
Michael Bradley Toronto FC M $6,500,000
Jermain Defoe Toronto FC F $6,180,000
Clint Dempsey Seattle Sounders F $6,695,189
Robbie Keane L.A. Galaxy F $4,500,000
Landon Donovan L.A. Galaxy F $4,583,333

http://blogs.denverpost.com/rapids/2...s-union/25753/

Looks like the highest paid member of the Rapids is Edson Buddle at $325,000

Damn, Kroenke needs to open up the pocket book a little.

[extralife]

only the designated players make that kind of money. and you'll note that most teams don't have one.

[extralife]

Originally Posted by enjolras

I'd argue that they play basketball. The raw power of a football player doesn't translate well to soccer. But someone like a Lebron James would dominate at Soccer (if they could develop the foot skills of course).

lebron is waaaaay too big to be a soccer player. our soccer players are primarily point guards and cornerbacks, I'd say.

[enjolras]

Originally Posted by extralife

lebron is waaaaay too big to be a soccer player. our soccer players are primarily point guards and cornerbacks, I'd say.

Can't you just imagine Lebron taking a header off of a corner? It'd be astounding.

[IndelibleScribe]

Originally Posted by Mogulseeker

I don't think it was THAT bad. Then again, my uncle was drafted into the MLS... after a brief stint on loan to a team in Ecuador, he quit because he decided he could make more money as a CPA.

Then again, Beckham made $6.4 with LA Galaxy.

Top five paid players in MLS

2014 MLS salaries for the top five players
The following totals are rounded to the nearest dollar.

Name Team Position 2014 Guaranteed Compensation
Michael Bradley Toronto FC M $6,500,000
Jermain Defoe Toronto FC F $6,180,000
Clint Dempsey Seattle Sounders F $6,695,189
Robbie Keane L.A. Galaxy F $4,500,000
Landon Donovan L.A. Galaxy F $4,583,333

http://blogs.denverpost.com/rapids/2...s-union/25753/

Looks like the highest paid member of the Rapids is Edson Buddle at $325,000

Damn, Kroenke needs to open up the pocket book a little.

In fairness, the MLS salary cap is ridiculously low. It's like 3.1 mil and the only way around that is a designated player and that only counts as a certain % against the cap.

[elsid13]

Originally Posted by Arkie

It wasn't hard to recruit athletes away from soccer when the rookie wages of MLS were still below the poverty level a few years ago.

They aren't exactly poverty level (median is around $80K) but compared to other professional soccer leagues they are low. The average is higher when factor in the "star" salaries, but MLS needs to starting paying the players more if we want a great professional league.

http://www.sounderatheart.com/2013/5...rts-and-tables

[extralife]

MLS salary has nothing to do with our ability to produce soccer talent. any top tier American soccer player is going to go play in Europe, same as any top tier soccer palyer from any other country.

[ZachKC]

Great read on Matt Besler. One of the nicest guys you will meet.

Matt Besler Quietly Sets the Standard in U.S. Defense




BY Brooke Tunstall Posted
June 27, 2014
7:09 PM

THE CURRENT WORLD CUP has seen its share of unexpected developments, from Spain and England shockingly being eliminated after two games to one-time also-rans like Costa Rica and Algeria advancing to the knockout stage.

And then there’s the United States national team and its defense, which fans and pundits alike worried would be the team’s Achilles’ heel—particularly given the high-caliber attackers they’d be facing in the Group of Death.

This concern was a combination of the unit’s inexperience at this level—for the first time since 1990 none of the center backs on the U.S. roster had previous World Cup experience—along with some shaky performances in tune-up games earlier this year.

And while there have been some hiccups, for the most part the central defenders have been up for the moment. And none has been better, or more consistent, than Matt Besler. The Sporting Kansas City center back has been a model of consistency, though what he is most pleased with is his team’s, and the backline’s, fighting spirit.

“The way we battled, the way we defended, was great,” Besler told reporters in Recife, Brazil, after the U.S. held Germany to one goal in a "successful" 1-0 loss. Of group play, he added, “It was a grind for sure, tough physically. A lot of ups and downs emotionally but that’s what it’s about. All three games took a little bit of a toll on everybody. The great thing is now we’re going through. And we can find that extra level now that we’re into the knockout rounds, and the great thing is we get an extra day” to rest.

Unlike the other center backs the U.S. has used in Brazil, there has been no signature spectacular play from Besler. There have been no game-winning goal like Jonathan Brooks scored against Ghana, no series of blocked shots like Geoff Cameron had in the same game, and no last-second lunging tackles or headers to break up an attack like Omar Gonzalez had against Germany.

Despite battling a misbehaving tight hamstring that caused him to miss the second half against Ghana, Besler has used his trademark smarts and composure to be in the right place at the right time and anchor a unit that has exceeded pre-tournament expectations and is a large reason why the U.S. has advanced to the Round of 16, where it’ll face Belgium Tuesday.

“It’s funny, there were a lot of doubts cast early about that area of the team but that’s one area of the team that’s been solid,” said Notre Dame coach Bobby Clark, who is both a former Scottish World Cup player and Besler’s college coach.

“People talked about his inexperience but I suppose the only way you get experience is to play. Matt’s more than paid his way. If he didn’t do that they wouldn’t be where they are today.”

While lacking that one defining moment, Besler’s steady-as-she goes approach has not gone unnoticed by one of his predecessors on the U.S. World Cup back line.

“I think he’s been fantastic,” said former central defender Eddie Pope, a veteran of three World Cups for the U.S. “We’ve played, obviously, three very difficult teams and he’s had a very good game every time. To do that in your first World Cup is not easy but he’s been outstanding. As a former center back, and a U.S. soccer fan, we all had high hopes but also some questions, for our center backs.
"But he’s stepped into those shoes and done very well.”

Pope noted that with Besler leading the way, the U.S. defense has both exceeded expectations and outperformed some other big-name defenses.

“What he and the rest of them has done shouldn’t be discounted. This World Cup there’s been some poor defensive performances by big teams with some big-name players from the best clubs in the world. But for all intents and purposes, [the U.S. has] been pretty good and certainly exceeded expectations. I’m extremely proud.”

An academic All-American at Notre Dame who graduated a semester early with a 3.52 GPA in pre-med, Besler’s lack of signature plays, according to Clark, come from using his brain.

“He’s very fast, one of the fastest in the squad, actually," he said. "But he doesn’t look fast because he’s always thinking and rarely puts himself in position where he has to chase. If you’re a smart player you never seem to be chasing and he’s usually been in the right spot at the right time.”

Pope, now the No. 2 official at the MLS Players Union, has been impressed with Besler’s composure in the World Cup pressure cooker.

“Number one, he’s very calm, he doesn’t ever really panic,” he said. "It’s one of those intangibles, you don’t always see it because there’s a little bit of a nuance to it. But he has it. He’s very measured. He’s intelligent and his distribution is good, good in the air. Those are great attributes as a center back and he’s using them all right now in the World Cup, which is when it needs to click and it’s clicking for him right now.” Besler’s composure was born out of the chaos that comes from being the oldest of three active, athletic boys growing up in Overland Park, Kan., a Kansas City suburb.

“Our house, there was always a lot of activity, lots of different sports and very hectic and crazy because we were so active,” said youngest brother Nick Besler, a rising senior at Notre Dame, which he helped lead to an NCAA title last fall. “But even though there was that kind of chaos and we drove our Mom crazy, Matt was always focused and organized and not easily distracted. He’s organized off the field and I think you see that same approach to his game on the field. He’s always thinking a play ahead.”

At six-foot, Besler is the smallest of the U.S. center backs, and growing up he was always a bit on the small side. “We just grow late in our family,” Nick Besler said. “Matt probably was still growing through his junior year (in college).”
As a result, Besler was never a U.S. youth national team player and had to contact Notre Dame to express his interest in the school. His junior year of high school he was participating at a tournament in Arizona and Clark dispatched his son Jamie, a former MLS player and then an assistant at New Mexico, to evaluate Besler.

“Matt was a lanky kid with a good stride who covered a good amount of ground," Jamie Clark said. "He made good decisions and was an honest (central midfield) player that didn't do any one thing that ‘wowed’ you. But over the course of 90 minutes he did all the little things to help his team win,” recalled the younger Clark, who eventually coached Besler as one of his father’s assistants at Notre Dame. Clark is now soccer coach at the University of Washington.

“Once you got to work with him every day, a few things stood out. He was quietly very confident and this allowed him to become a very composed central defender,” continued Jamie Clark. “You watch his first touch and entry passing and it's as good as it gets. He sees the channels very well and disguises his passes, which allows him to be very effective in build-up. That said, he understands pressure and knows when to be safe with the ball. He's just a very intelligent young man and this shows up on the field with his play.”

Besler, and the U.S., will need all of that intelligence and composure against a Belgium team that features some dynamic attackers—like Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard.

Besler is undaunted.

“We’ve shown we have a really good foundation, able to fight for every ball," he said. "That gets us a long ways but we all understand have to play better. Belgium’s another very talented team. We’re going to have to keep the ball better than we did today. Obviously everyone is so excited and proud of what we accomplished.

"But we’re still hungry.”

Brooke Tunstall is a veteran journalist who has covered Major League Soccer since its initial player dispersal draft. Follow him on Twitter.

[McDman]

Originally Posted by spdirty

To annoy you .

You're so cool.

[SonOfLe-loLang]

Mex came to play. Netherlands is gonna have trouble in this heat. Already losing de jong

[enjolras]

This is a preview of what every game would look like in Qatar.

[Bronc0guy]

Originally Posted by SonOfLe-loLang

Mex came to play. Netherlands is gonna have trouble in this heat. Already losing de jong

I love Mexico's coach.

[enjolras]

Man the Dutch just got screwed.

[IndelibleScribe]

Originally Posted by extralife

MLS salary has nothing to do with our ability to produce soccer talent. any top tier American soccer player is going to go play in Europe, same as any top tier soccer palyer from any other country.

Playing time will trump the pay day though. The more they play the more they improve and the more potential money they can make.

[enjolras]

Wow...Mexico...Wow.

Although why in the name of **** do I have to listen to this idiot Mexican announcer?

[ColoradoDarin]

Dang it. I hate the raiders, I mean Mexico.