2015 Soccer Thread

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dmiles2186
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2015 Soccer Thread

Post by dmiles2186 »

EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Champion's League, World Cup, MLS, NASL, USL-Pro, college footy....whatever you want to talk about goes in here.

Also....COME ON YOU BLUES!

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Last edited by dmiles2186 on Tue Feb 17, 2015 12:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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St. Louis is getting a soccer team again!

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http://www.stlouisuslpro.com/
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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Could that be the stepping stone to the MLS? Like, if they do well, draw good crowds, etc., could they change leagues?
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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cardsfan04 wrote:Could that be the stepping stone to the MLS? Like, if they do well, draw good crowds, etc., could they change leagues?
I think that's the hope. Several of the most recent 'expansion' franchises in the MLS--Seattle Sounders, Vancouver Whitecaps, Portland Timbers, Montreal Impact, Orlando FC all came from the lower ranks. In the case of the first 3, those teams had different incarnations throughout several leagues, but were all in what is now USL-Pro prior to them being called into the MLS.

St. Louis would have had an MLS club long ago if someone with pockets would have backed them.

So this is the 'prove it' method. We get local outdoor pro soccer and if the team is supported like some of these other team, it will make people take notice and see us as a viable option for an MLS team. The key is support. People have to go to games. AC STL, which was around in 2010, had great early support but then it waned under the cloud of instability before the team folder. But if this team seems like it's going to set up roots here, people will come. They've already got the St. Louligans as their supporters group. Excited to see what comes of this.
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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Here's a good write up from one of the Louligans.

http://stlouligans.com/?p=347
The season’s are starting to change, and that means it’s almost time for the outdoor soccer season to start. MLS started a few weeks ago, and the other leagues start up in April. We know we have the Lions and FC Bordo starting up soon. But that’s just where we are today, and a lot of people don’t understand how it all relates.

We sit at one of the strangest places in US Soccer history. We have a top division who doesn’t really explain their transfer/player allocation rules, who makes it up as the different players become available, but is growing at an amazing rate. We have a 2nd division that, quite honestly, is not quite a well-defined 2nd division. We have a third division that is really a second division in nature but not in cash. And then there’s a few 4th divisions who really don’t compete nor cooperate. It reminds me of the multiple leagues in St. Louis in the first half of the 20th century. (I highly recommend reading “Made In St. Louis” by Dave Lange for that story.)

Speaking of St. Louis, we’ve dipped our toes into multiple levels of that pyramid. And we haven’t been really satisfied with what we’ve had. But I truly believe today that we need to change that, and we have that opportunity.

Let’s work our way forward in time from 2010. We all know that we had AC St. Louis for a whole season. That taste gave us soccer junkies the worst jones for the past 4 years. And that’s been a good thing; it’s driven the Louligans to keep working, to keep trying.

But what we don’t talk about is the mess that was, and still is, NASL. The league was created because a group of individuals didn’t get what they wanted. Not the most auspicious of beginnings. And personally, I don’t feel it’s where St. Louis should be.

The foundation of the NASL was a group of USL-1(now known as USL Pro) owners upset with the integrity of the USL after Nike sold the league to NuRock Soccer Holdings instead of the owners. In hindsight….What the F**K was Nike thinking? I mean, really. Can you imagine the NFL owners not having the strongest voices in the league? This friction caused several teams to split off, and create the NASL with the St. Louis franchise. (That’s a summarization…I’m avoiding the legalese and the technicalities as it’s pretty absurd.)

But, as time has gone on the NASL really hasn’t been good for US soccer. Several of those initial teams have folded; one moved back to USL Pro; others moved on to MLS. The split-season format is confusing to many, and isn’t very easy to explain to newcomers. And Traffic Sports Marketing was heavily involved with owning several teams and players rights. (This is not a disservice to Traffic; moreso that having one entity responsible for so much of a league questions the integrity of the actions and the stability.) The NASL originally created a schism where none was needed, and hasn’t really set itself apart from USL-Pro to justify the 2nd division badge, other than spending.

The “third” division is USL-Pro. I use the quotation marks because for all intents and purposes, the USL-NASL levels are more 2a and 2b. The level of talent is virtually interchangeable, and there’s no real distinguishing features that indicate one is better than the other in terms of on field-product, save the NASL’s ability to pay a bit larger salary.

USL established what we know as their Pro league system in 1996, with FIFA granting a 2nd division designation. The league had granted franchise rights to the St. Louis area to Tony Glavin, when the Lions started playing in USL-PDL. Those rights being taken in St. Louis ignited AC St. Louis being involved in the NASL breakaway.

With that time and experience, USL has established a foundation for soccer in the United States. The PDL is a developmental league; MISL was an indoor league (although that situation is a disaster and probably isn’t worth what I’ve already said); and now with the MLS affiliation, the relationship between USL-Pro and MLS teams creates a direct correlation between the two tiers. This gives the opportunity for players to grow their game along a path to and in the professional ranks.
So….

We’ve been going to Lions games since the 2011 season. It’s been a unique situation: we try to give our all, but it’s different than it would be with a pro team. The short season is just a tease. Eight home games go quickly over the course of two-and-a-half months, especially with a few 2-game weekends. But PDL talent isn’t to be confused with the pro ranks; these are college kids that are working on improving their game to go to the next level. It’s not wildly different than the college game; the more senior guys see more time, the younger work their way into the squad over the course of the two to four years they are on the team. Most of the time, once you’ve grown familiar with a player, they move on. Except Jonny Brown. (Love ya, Jonny!)

As of 2012, St. Louis is ranked 19th in the Combined Statistical Area (this including St. Louis, west past St. Charles, south to Farmington, and the Metro East). The top 10 have MLS franchises playing or planned. The 11-20 range is a little more divided: 6 MLS teams, with one just announced (ATL). Five of those seven teams started in the USL, and were some of the most recent additions to MLS. Suddenly a pattern is exposed of the maturation of a soccer franchise.

You see, if there was a cartel of very rich individuals willing to spend their money to get us a MLS franchise, we’d have one. Geographically, historically, and population respective, we’re an ideal candidate. Instant geographic rivalries with KC and Chicago. The birthplace of soccer in the United States. Over 30,000 kids playing in the various youth organizations around the area. We have all the boxes checked, save the money one. And sadly that’s the 1st box; if you can’t get past the first question, you’re done.
Time for Plan B.

usl_pro_1

Plan B is a bit more DIY than splashing cash. Plan B is get a USL-Pro team, work at it for a while, and get enough financial support while having the support at the gate. Once that achievement is unlocked, it’s a short path to the MLS. Just ask Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Montreal, Orlando. Six of the last eight expansion teams were teams that moved up from a lower division. The partnering with MLS teams gives the USL teams a leg up on an NASL franchise getting an expansion slot. You can’t put a price tag on that familiarity.

Well, how do we get there since you said there’s no big money men?

Fielding a USL-Pro franchise takes much less start-up capital than a MLS or NASL team. You’re not looking for billionaires, just multi-millionaires. “Just” being a relative term here. But in our case, it’s vital. An ownership group can be made up of more multi-millionaires, which are more common than billionaires. And getting more people with less is much easier than getting few people with the most.

Sadly, the last thing left is time. Time for all the investors, time for the approval, time for building a staff, time to wait until kickoff in 2015.

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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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Watch for a former Blue in this video, among others.

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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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You soccer fans are just plain weird/nuts...

http://msn.foxsports.com/buzzer/story/t ... fan-050314
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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Can't say I'd ever chuck a toilet bowl at someone over any sport.

But it also kind of renders you 'soccer is boring' argument useless, since baseball fans aren't chucking porcelain objects at each other. :mrgreen:
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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I never said the antics of soccer fans were boring. I said the game is boring. Soccer riots are just a way for people to liven up an otherwise coma-inducing sport.
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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Liverpool conceded 3 goals in the final 10 minutes to cost themselves a shot at the EPL title, most likely. Nothing boring about that at all.
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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EPL season is only 3 1/2 weeks away!
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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dmiles2186 wrote:EPL season is only 3 1/2 weeks away!
Can't wait. Actually going to Denver with my brother this weekend to see AS Roma vs Manchester United. It'll be a blast.
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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ComradeT wrote:
dmiles2186 wrote:EPL season is only 3 1/2 weeks away!
Can't wait. Actually going to Denver with my brother this weekend to see AS Roma vs Manchester United. It'll be a blast.
Are you a fan of Roma or Man U? Or just going because it's close?
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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dmiles2186 wrote:
ComradeT wrote:
dmiles2186 wrote:EPL season is only 3 1/2 weeks away!
Can't wait. Actually going to Denver with my brother this weekend to see AS Roma vs Manchester United. It'll be a blast.
Are you a fan of Roma or Man U? Or just going because it's close?
Man U fan. Trying to forget the previous season :facepalm:
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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ComradeT wrote:
dmiles2186 wrote:
ComradeT wrote:
dmiles2186 wrote:EPL season is only 3 1/2 weeks away!
Can't wait. Actually going to Denver with my brother this weekend to see AS Roma vs Manchester United. It'll be a blast.
Are you a fan of Roma or Man U? Or just going because it's close?
Man U fan. Trying to forget the previous season :facepalm:
I really thought Moysie was going to do much better than he did. And now to see Martinez in his place really turning the tide at Everton, maybe I overestimated his ability all those years he spent as our head guy. Hope he lands on his feet, but Van Gaal was a great get for you guys.
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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dmiles2186 wrote:
ComradeT wrote:
dmiles2186 wrote:
ComradeT wrote:
dmiles2186 wrote:EPL season is only 3 1/2 weeks away!
Can't wait. Actually going to Denver with my brother this weekend to see AS Roma vs Manchester United. It'll be a blast.
Are you a fan of Roma or Man U? Or just going because it's close?
Man U fan. Trying to forget the previous season :facepalm:
I really thought Moysie was going to do much better than he did. And now to see Martinez in his place really turning the tide at Everton, maybe I overestimated his ability all those years he spent as our head guy. Hope he lands on his feet, but Van Gaal was a great get for you guys.
Agree on all counts. Seems like Everton's problem wasn't the squad after all. United still has the name but the road only gets tougher now that Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham all strengthened significantly compared to prior seasons, and Arsenal and Chelsea are very good also.

And I haven't even gotten to Man City yet...
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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dmiles2186 wrote:Liverpool conceded 3 goals in the final 10 minutes to cost themselves a shot at the EPL title, most likely. Nothing boring about that at all.
That game against Crystal Palace didn't cost us (Liverpool) the title. Even if the Reds had won and not conceded a goal they still would've lost the title on goal difference. No way were we going to score 11 goals in two games. People want to say it was the Chelsea game losing 2-0 that killed us but none of the other teams Arsenal and Manchester City beat Chelsea either so you can't think that way. The Reds went 12-1-1 in the last 14 games. I think drawing against West Brom and Aston Villa is where we lost. I could even blame the 3-3 Blues draw too LOL. City just had the money players to survive the title race. We gave it a heck of a run though...

See you in the Champions league...oops I forgot you are not in the CL...LOL

I like Everton when we don't play them :wink:
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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ComradeT wrote:
dmiles2186 wrote:
ComradeT wrote:
dmiles2186 wrote:EPL season is only 3 1/2 weeks away!
Can't wait. Actually going to Denver with my brother this weekend to see AS Roma vs Manchester United. It'll be a blast.
Are you a fan of Roma or Man U? Or just going because it's close?
Man U fan. Trying to forget the previous season :facepalm:
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

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Misc. Blues wrote:
dmiles2186 wrote:Liverpool conceded 3 goals in the final 10 minutes to cost themselves a shot at the EPL title, most likely. Nothing boring about that at all.
That game against Crystal Palace didn't cost us (Liverpool) the title. Even if the Reds had won and not conceded a goal they still would've lost the title on goal difference. No way were we going to score 11 goals in two games. People want to say it was the Chelsea game losing 2-0 that killed us but none of the other teams Arsenal and Manchester City beat Chelsea either so you can't think that way. The Reds went 12-1-1 in the last 14 games. I think drawing against West Brom and Aston Villa is where we lost. I could even blame the 3-3 Blues draw too LOL. City just had the money players to survive the title race. We gave it a heck of a run though...

See you in the Champions league...oops I forgot you are not in the CL...LOL

I like Everton when we don't play them :wink:
Oh, Red Shite fans...looks like you are still a bit bitter at coughing up the title. :mrgreen:
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Re: 2014 Soccer Thread

Post by JesusNEVERexisted »

Why do you guys think FCSTL will succeed when ACSTL didn't? I talked to a guy who went to some ACSTL games and he said attendance collapsed towards the end. I see the same thing happening with FCSTL although I agree they will sell out in the beginning.

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