If I Ran The Vancouver Whitecaps
by Arizona via Slough on Jul 25, 2010 5:36 PM EDT
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The chances of me ever being put in charge of a Major League Soccer team are, admittedly, very slim (relying on a string of events that would bear a passing resemblance to the Blockbuster movie "2012") but should such a situation occur, here a few measures that I would implement in the Whitecap's first year in the MLS (after the jump)
1) Don't sign an ageing superstar. This may make commercial sense for some teams but the World Cup showed that Vancouver has plenty of soccer fans without the need for a "celebrity" signing.
2) Be ambitous in who you do try to sign. By this I mean try to sign players who wouldn't normally consider the MLS. Good quality Championship players for example (Wade Elliott, Robert Earnshaw). They could make a genuine impact in the League and help other teams by sending out the signal that the MLS is a serious destination for a player who hasn't quite made the grade at the top in Europe.
3) Spend money on scouting- Picking up young players before other clubs get to them not only saves considerable amounts of cash, it also creates a bond with the fans. To see a player develop from the beginning of his career is far more satisfying than simply buying in talent.
4) Don't Americanise (Americanize?) the experience too much. There is nothing wrong with making the games more family friendly than many European stadiums, but one of the main allures of the sport is the passion of it's fans. Keep that if you can.
5) First impressions are important- How the fans are treated in the first season will go a long way to deciding how the team is viewed for years to come. Keep ticket prices reasonable. Don't overcharge on concession items. Offer genuine special deals to season ticket holders.
There are a few other ideas that bear considering, but these basic five would go a long way to at least ensuring a successful beginning to Vancouver's life in the MLS, although I will add one, final, measure that is probably the most important;
6) Stay friends with Steve Nash. He is very rich!
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The Whitecaps do develop their own players
their residency program is probably the best in all of the US and Canada. The rivalry with Seattle is already there and the one with Portland will develop. Not to mention rivalries with Toronto and then Montreal. The fans in Vancouver, which has a very large and diverse population to draw from, already love the game and I expect the franchise which to this point has been maybe the model franchise in the USL for the last 10 years to continue in the same vein in MLS.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Jul 29, 2010 4:53 PM EDT reply actions
Their academy is strong enough that it might be what forced some changes for MLS rules
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
Well whatever the reason
MLS needs to change their rules. By the time a player is done playing college or university soccer they are 22 years old. Wayne Rooney for example made his Everton debut when he was 16 and was at United by 19. Won his first title at 22. MLS needs to get good young American players on the pitch as soon as possible and develop them as professionals. The academy system works for developing players and all MLS would need to do is set up scholarship programs for players who don’t make it and want to go back to school.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Aug 1, 2010 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Agree with this.
MLS is trying to fit the standard American sport model into soccer, which means that US players are playing catch up on their counterparts.
"The stars don't shine down upon us. We're in the way of their light."
by Arizona via Slough on Aug 2, 2010 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions
there are some exceptions around the league. Look at Philly’s roster. quite a few 18 and 19 year olds. Including our top pick Mwanga. So it can be done.
"I will never have my best season," Brian Dawkins
"There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." Bruce Lee
"This fucking game is over!" Chuck Bednarik
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" Mike Tyson
by Talon Talent on Aug 2, 2010 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Same is true for LeBron
But Ray Allen is still a damn fine player
College ruins nobody
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
Who said it does?
But as Arizona above rightly pointed out MLS is trying to force the American model of sports onto soccer. But it’s a sport where players are in their prime from 22-28 and sometimes earlier than that. As I said they should have scholarships and partnerships with Universities for players who don’t make it. But if American’s continue to try and develop soccer players in Uni then they will continue to have a laughable league and a mediocre national team.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Aug 2, 2010 4:48 PM EDT up reply actions
Every sport is a sport with players in their prime from 22-28
And every sport in America works just fine with college being a major part of development.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
Well call me when the best payer in the world
is American. And when an American who went to college, or is still in college, is in the running for world player of the year at the age of 20 or 21 like Messi and Ronaldo were. Until then maybe you should trust someone who has been following football all over the world for their entire 30 years when I tell you that the academy system is the best way to develop top players.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Aug 2, 2010 7:41 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm asking you why
And I won’t accept that you are smarter than me about this just because you claim you are.
Why do the best athletes in just about every other sport in the world come through a scholastic system, whereas for soccer it is the academy system?
Could it be that soccer is a secondary sport in the pre-teens rather than a primary? Could it be that NO ONE that grows up playing soccer gets the 10,000 hours in that they need in order to be an expert?
Why?
That’s all, telling me you are smarter than me isn’t an answer
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
It has nothing to do with me being smarter
all the evidence backs me up. I don’t need to prove anything to you. You have the burden of proof. Prove to me that college kids turn into elite soccer players. Cause I don’t see where the evidence to support that exists.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Aug 3, 2010 3:46 AM EDT up reply actions
I'm saying the blame lies in the pre-college
As there are no Americans who are succeeding before college, and certainly they aren’t as good as those that have college
I’ll take a collection of american collegiate soccer players over the non-college ones.
And I’m still asking you why soccer is different.
Your answer of “It just is” isn’t an answer
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
Soccer is different because of the nature of the game
players enter their prime younger and it doesn’t last as long. Why is that? I am not sure. Maybe the pounding on the joints of all the running and twisting and the massive amounts of training you have to do to be elite? I am not sure. but a 22 year old entering MLS is already a year or two into his prime years. And that is a waste. Look at the resumes of guys like Messi, Ronaldo, Rooney and more. They are already winning caps, trophies and individual awards at the age of 19, 20, 21. Young elite American players stagnate in college. The aren’t getting better as fast as they could in an academy setting.
A collection of collegiate American soccer players has never won anything on the world stage. And no Gold Cups don’t count. Any tournament we Canadians have won doesn’t count.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Aug 3, 2010 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions
The best athletes in hockey
don’t come through college. The VAST, vast majority come through junior hockey programs. And the same can be said for baseball. It’s only the NBA, although the best athletes skip college or they used to when it was allowed which kind of proves my point again, and the NFL.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Aug 3, 2010 3:48 AM EDT up reply actions
Wrong on baseball
On average better players went to college.
As for Hockey, many of the juniors players go to college and then the league.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
I think that
part of the problem is that the standard of play isn’t as high in college soccer as it is with other sports.
But the question isn’t "college or no college. The question is “how can a young player best develop?” and in most cases that will be through an academy.
"The stars don't shine down upon us. We're in the way of their light."
by Arizona via Slough on Aug 3, 2010 1:21 PM EDT up reply actions
I totally agree with that
It is the pre-college years where American soccer suffers
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
Jason Heyward? Michael Stanton?
Hanley Ramirez and more? Not to mention all time greats like A Rod and Ken Griffey Jr.
There are more examples of elite and hall of fame talents not going the college route than the other way around. And most of the top young players in the game right now turned pro after high school. Not to mention all the Dominican and other Latin players that have taken over MLB in the last decade almost none of whom went to college.
And please don’t tell me about Hockey. Hockey is what I do for a living. The VAST majority of players play for the US development team and then head to play junior hockey or turn pro. Some of them go to school for a year or two but the elite ones like Patrick Kane and Erik Johnson don’t. Mid level talents and smaller kids who still need to develop strength like Jordan Schroeder go to University but elite world class talents almost never do. Here in Canada where developing elite hockey players is somewhat of an art very, very few elite players, I can think of one Jonathan Toews, go the college route. They play what is called Major Junior and then pro at 18 or 19 if they are elite or 20 or 21 if they are not.
In fact you could argue that going the college route damaged some players. Kyle Turris being an example.
"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor
by Section 312 on Aug 3, 2010 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions
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