RSL Soapbox

Which company has done the best job with World Cup kits?

2010-03-09T22:17:51Z

24 of the 32 teams in the World Cup will be wearing kits from either Adidas, Nike, or Puma. I have been critical of the Adidas effort in MLS, too much cookie cutter for me, I am not a huge fan of the Nike USMNT kits, but I thought their green efforts were very cool.

This is a huge business with over 10 billion dollars in annual sales, Adidas has been the leader for as long as most can remember, but Nike has stepped up their efforts and is taking a bigger and bigger chunk of the pie. How important is this segment of the market, well Nike paid a reported $64 million dollars a year to be the official kit of the French National team from 2011 to 2018. That is four times what Adidas was paying.

The article in the Oregonian quotes a NPD analyst as saying if the US makes it to the semi finals, 1 in 10 could purchase a team shirt, that is 30 million shirts sold in less than 3 months.

So I thought I would put it up to a vote, which company did the best job on World Cup kits?

Images are from worldsoccershop.com (which is offering all of the following for purchase)

Here are the Adidas offerings:

Nike and Puma after the jump:

Puma's offerings:

Nike:

I am not sure why but Nike's Slovenia away kit wasn't there but it clearly is an homage to Charlie Brown:

So cast your vote, let your voice be heard.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Poll

Which company has done the best job on 2010 World Cup kits?

CBA talks begin, opinions are still being formed

2010-03-09T20:25:09Z

Today will be the first day that the MLS and MLSPU sit down with their new best friend federal mediator George Cohen, and while I don't expect a lot of news to come out from either side today, the soccer community is still offering up some opinion pieces on both sides:

From the Columbus Dispatch: MLS Should Give Free Agency

Uncommon Cents offers up: Why the MLS owners are fighting the union so hard

Match Fit USA had this to say last Friday: MLS CBA: The Mediator if you want a good primer of the issues MFUSA is a great place to get info, look to the right nav for a series of articles on the MLS CBA

It is now midday on the East coast and still there is little information coming out about today's CBA session, if I hear anything major I will post it as soon as I can.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Team USA announces camp roster for US vs. Mexico at Rio Tinto Stadium

2010-03-09T00:36:30Z

From US Soccer:

CHICAGO (March 8, 2010) - U.S. Women's National Team head coach Pia Sundhage has named 24 players to a training camp surrounding two matches against Mexico taking place on March 28 at Torero Stadium on the campus of the University of San Diego and March 31 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.

The match in San Diego will kick off at 2 p.m. PT and will be televised live on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español. The match in Utah will kick off at 7 p.m. MT and be televised live on ESPN2. Fans can follow both matches online via ussoccer.com's MatchTracker and at twitter.com/ussoccer. The U.S. Women are coming off an emphatic championship run at the 2010 Algarve Cup in Portugal where, led by four goals from Lauren Cheney and three goals from Abby Wambach, the USA defeated the seventh, fourth and second ranked teams in the world, including an exciting 3-2 victory over Germany in the title game.

The matches against Mexico will mark the first two domestic games of the year for the U.S. team and will come just days before the opening of the second season of Women's Professional Soccer on the weekend of April 10 and 11. The U.S. call-ups will leave WPS pre-season camps to start training in San Diego on March 24. Sundhage will suit up 18 of the 24 players in camp for each match.

Sundhage named all 19 players from the 2010 Algarve Cup squad, including San Diego product Rachel Buehler, who was an All-American at Torrey Pines High School. Buehler, along with Amy LePeilbet, played key roles in anchoring the center of the U.S. defense during the Algarve Cup. Buehler and Wambach were the only two players on the Algarve roster who played every minute of all four matches.

More after the jump:

The naming of the roster also marks the return of Kristine Lilly to the national team. Lilly, the most capped player in the history of international soccer, men or women, with 342 games played, returns to the team for the first time since December of 2008 when she came off the bench in two matches against China following the 2008 Olympics. Lilly, 38, had a daughter in July of 2008, but came back strong and earned WPS All-Star honors while playing every minute of every match for the Boston Breakers during the inaugural season last year. Lilly is also the world's second all-time leading scorer for international soccer, having scored 129 goals for the USA, behind only Mia Hamm. If Lilly makes the game roster and gets into one of the Mexico matches, she will have represented the USA in four different decades.

In addition to Lilly, Sundhage added four uncapped players, three of whom were first round picks in the 2010 WPS Draft. Defender Brittany Taylor (sixth overall to Sky Blue FC) and forward Kelley O'Hara (third overall to FC Gold Pride) will attend their third training camps with the full team while defender Whitney Engen (fourth overall to the Chicago Red Stars) gets her first call-up to the senior side. Rising senior Alex Morgan from the University of California, who was one of the stars of the U.S. team that won the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, also gets her third call-up. Morgan was in the USA's January training camp, but suffered a hamstring injury after just three days and returned to Berkeley for rehab.

The Mexico matches will mark the 24th and 25th meetings all time between the two neighboring countries, but the first since the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in April of 2008. During that tournament, the USA defeated Mexico, 3-1, in front of a huge crowd during the group finale. The match featured a wild first half in which all four goals were scored.

Like the USA, Mexico is preparing for CONCACAF qualifying for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup to be held in Germany. Qualifying is tentatively scheduled for the fall of this year, but the host country and dates have yet to be finalized.

The U.S. Women will be making their fourth appearance at Torero Stadium, one of the best small soccer venues in the country. The most recent match at Torero was quite eventful as Wambach suffered a broken leg in a 1-0 win against Brazil on July 16, 2008, in the final match before the USA left for the Beijing Olympics. The U.S. team has never played at Rio Tinto although this will be the second match for the American women in Utah following a 5-0 victory against Ireland at Rice-Eccles Stadium on the University of Utah campus in 2002.

The match in San Diego will mark the 30th appearance in California for the U.S. Women, by far the most of any state, even though the U.S. team did not play a match in California for the first 11 years of the program before facing the Netherlands at Titan Stadium in Fullerton, Calif. in 1996. Even more remarkable is that the U.S. Women have never lost in California, going 26-0-3.

U.S. WNT Roster by Position Detailed Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Jill Loyden (Chicago Red Stars), Hope Solo (St. Louis Athletica)
DEFENDERS (8): Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Stephanie Cox (Boston Breakers), Whitney Engen (Chicago Red Stars), Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers), Heather Mitts (Philadelphia Independence), Meghan Schnur (Sky Blue FC), Brittany Taylor (Sky Blue FC), Cat Whitehill (Washington Freedom)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Yael Averbuch (Sky Blue FC), Shannon Boxx (St. Louis Athletica), Kristine Lilly (Boston Breakers), Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia Independence), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC), Heather O'Reilly (Sky Blue FC), Megan Rapinoe (Chicago Red Stars)
FORWARDS (6): Lauren Cheney (Boston Breakers), Alex Morgan (California), Casey Nogueira (Chicago Red Stars), Kelley O'Hara (FC Gold Pride), Amy Rodriguez (Philadelphia Independence), Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom)

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Different sides weighing in on the CBA and some thoughts on Landon

2010-03-08T21:04:18Z

So as we found out on Friday the union and the league will sit down this week to continue work on a new CBA, this time they will be joined by a federal mediator. I really hope things go well and both sides can come to an agreement before the season starts, but it seems that some folks are still lining up behind one side or the other (which I think is a part of the problem):

Big Apple Soccer: Points to some lessons from the NASL player strike in 1979

A writer from the Houston Chronicle offers: Major League has major problems

Both of these articles have some valid points but then both have some points I disagree with, I do like that finally someone has chosen to mention what should have been the rallying cry for the players from the start (in my opinion), which is the injustice of Stuart Holden making under $35,000 last year and while Houston offered him a significant raise in the off season, they should have done so two years ago. The only problem with StuHo's situation is that he took the option to leave after his contract expired and go to Europe, not every MLS player has that option.

For me this has never been about sides, despite what some think, it has been about what is best for the sport. It is that reason that I side with the players on raising salaries, quality of life issues, and why I tend to side with the league on issues like guaranteed contracts, and neither side on the sticky "free agency" issue. The latter is one that given the current league structure could be a disaster if it was done blindly, but one that with an eventual restructure of the league to more team control, I fully support.

Whatever happens in the talks this week, I just hope that both sides realize that much more is at stake than what either side is wanting. Soccerlaw.com does a nice job of pointing out that both sides will likely need to moderate their current position in order to come to a new CBA

after the jump an update on Landycakes:

Well it is time for Landon to head back home to LA according to the original loan terms, but when he headed to Everton did anyone expect him to be so successful? So should he head back to MLS for two months, then off to USMNT camp to prepare for the World Cup, and then I believe back to Europe?

I think LA would be wise to allow him to continue his loan period until the end of the EPL season, it would be good for Landon and would be great for the USMNT to have him playing at the higher level of the EPL. I also believe this would be in the best interest of MLS and the LA Galaxy as it is likely that the transfer value of Landon will likely go up if he continues to show as well as he has in recent weeks.

The rumors have already started about Chelsea wanting in on the Landycakes bid-a thon, and I have to believe that the value will continue to rise if he finishes out the rest of the EPL season strong. I think MLS and the LA Galaxy really need to think before making a decision, I know it hurts the league to lose their "poster child" but to tell a player that they won't let him go play in the very best league in the world because he is needed here to be the face of a smaller and less talented league, could hurt the long term relationship with all players.

We have seen some players get offers from teams in Europe only to have the league say no, if the league is going to convince the players that they are serious about them having opportunities to grow and become better players it will mean that the negotiations need to be much more balanced in the future.

So I say let Landon stay, let him continue to contribute, let him come back for the USMNT camp, and then let the bidding begin. If anyone has paid their dues it is Landon and he is showing the world that he has the talent and class to play at the top level of the beautiful game, to deny him that chance is simply unfair to him, the fans, and to the sport.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Yura Movsisyan, be back in action this weekend

2010-03-07T02:02:58Z

So after the MLS Cup and the end of the MLS season Yura Movsisyan headed off to join his new club in Denmark, Randers FC. This weekend they will return to league action after their winter break and face Esbjerg, who currently sit in 3rd place in the Superliga. Randers is sitting in 11th place, but considering the league only has 12 teams that isn't very good, in fact they are 13 points behind FC MIDTJYLLAND and safety from relegation.

Randers are 1-5-12 with just 13 goals scored for and 33 against, it is clear that for Yura the task is simple, score and do so as often as you can.

Yura will be in the 18 on Sunday as Randers FC start their season back up, He will be joining 3 other new faces on the squad according to the Randers website:

When Randers FC Sunday meetings Esbjerg 14.00 on Blue Water Arena can start drawing contain no fewer than four SAS League debutants. Club quartet of new players, Anders Egholm, Soren Jensen, Morten Karlsen and Yura Movsisyan is all included in the squad of 18 players who Ove Christensen take with them into play bus Sunday.

The squad is as follows:
Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard, Peter Friis Jensen, Alexander Fischer, Nicolas Bøgild, Robert Arzumanyan, Soren Pedersen, Kasper Lorentzen, Mads Fenger, Michael Byskov, Morten Karlsen, Anders Egholm, Ricki Olsen, Søren Berg, Marc Nygaard, Søren Jensen, Jonas Damborg, Mikkel Beckmann, and Yura Movsisyan.

I have send off an email to Yura in hopes of catching up with him and seeing how his transition to a new team in a new league in a new nation, the Randers FC front office has forwarded it to him and hopefully we will get an update soon.

I haven't found a feed for the match but you should be able to get updates on soccerway.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

A new supporter group for Real Salt Lake fans

2010-03-06T18:33:53Z

View full size photo »

As Real Salt Lake begins defense of their 2009 MLS Cup Championship, excitement is all around the community and building on that excitement is the newest supporters group, The Royal Pride.

The Royal Pride strives to engage soccer fans with both Real Salt Lake and the local community. The Royal Pride promotes fan involvement throughout Rio Tinto Stadium and participates in local community and charity events in an effort to extend the RSL community and increase the excitement for our team.

While still in their infancy the group will be hosting an event this afternoon (1-3pm) at Rio Tinto Stadium in the 100 Lions Club area, so interested people can come out and learn more about the group. You will also have a chance to have your picture taken with the MLS Cup. (sorry it appears the Cup is missing in action, we hope it will show up later)

The group has a facebook page and a new website

I hope to see you there.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

CBA talks take a very interesting turn, mediator anyone?

2010-03-06T00:20:12Z

Well it has been announced that after a couple weeks without much in the way of talks the MLS and the MLSPU will sit down next week, that isn't too much of a surprise with the season less than 3 weeks away. The big news is that they won't be alone as George H. Cohen, Director of Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services, will be joining them.

This is a huge step and hopefully will lead to the talks moving forward, but mediation often means that both sides will have to give up items on their lists of wants and demands.

Director Cohen is a Obama appointee who has a background as a labor lawyer (which could be important), here is the brief bio for him from the White House website:

George Cohen has had an extensive and distinguished career as a labor lawyer, negotiator, and mediator. During the period 1966-2005 he was a senior partner at Bredhoff & Kaiser, a Washington, D.C. law firm with a national practice, specializing in representing private and public sector labor organizations in collective bargaining involving a wide variety of industries and government entities. Prior to entering into private practice, Mr. Cohen served as an appellate court attorney with the National Labor Relations Board. He is a graduate of Cornell University and its Law School and earned a LLM degree from Georgetown Law. In the past three years he has been engaged in a solo practice as a mediator. He is a member of the prestigious Mediation Panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and has successfully mediated numerous complex, high profile disputes. From the mid 1970's thru 2005, Mr. Cohen was an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law School where he taught the Art of Collective Bargaining and other labor courses.

So what does a mediator bring to the table? Learn more after the jump:

From the FMCS website

What can a mediator add to collective bargaining negotiations?

A - The mediator can improve the bargaining process in a number of ways:

Help establish groundrules for the negotiations, and realistic expectations.
Help the parties decide what form of negotiation will be most effective in a particular situation: traditional, interest-based or a hybrid.
Help clarify and crystallize issues and differences. Mediators try to deal in the world of interests rather than positions. Frequently, the parties both want a similar outcome. They just have a different view of how to get there, or sometimes, they just phrase it differently. Often, their goals are separate, but not contradictory. When the parties understand the underlying interests that drive bargaining positions, they can identify and agree on matters that are not really in dispute and then focus on the real issues that separate them.
Help the parties define the problem. What is perceived as a personal or relationship problem may actually be a systems problem. Just as importantly, the mediator can help the parties fully explore and understand long and short-term alternatives to their proposed solutions. If there is no agreement on a particular issue, what happens? If there is no agreement on a contract, what is the worst alternative? What is the best alternative? What are the costs of non-agreement or continued disagreement?
Convene and adjourn bargaining sessions and joint meetings. An effective mediator knows when joint or separate meetings are productive and when they're not. They know that, sometimes, it's important to let the parties vent in joint meetings, and sometimes it's better to adjourn and give one or both sides time to regroup, reconsider, or just cool off.
Help keep the talks moving along, focused and on track.
Generate new options. It's very natural for negotiators, who've been developing and living with contract issues, to "lock in" on one approach. The mediator, as a neutral third-party, can take a more objective view and suggest options that more smoothly achieve bargaining aims.
Help improve communication, which is usually the greatest impediment to successful outcomes. This can range from rephrasing statements so that all parties clearly understand what is being said and what is meant, to mediator "supposals." These supposals allow exploratory proposals to be offered for discussion by the mediator without ownership and attendant risk to either party. Mediators can also meet off the record with the parties, and they often engage in "shuttle diplomacy," moving back and forth between separate meetings of the parties carrying offers and counter-offers.
Provide or share information. When both parties have access to the same information, miscommunication and misunderstanding can frequently be avoided. Obviously, there might be information that one party considers proprietary and does not wish to share, but just as often, there is information that both parties can use to better evaluate the situation. And sometimes, it's as simple as the mediator letting both parties know what's going on elsewhere in the country or in a particular industry that would be relevant to the negotiations.
Handle or help manage relations with the news media. Mediators understand the sensitivity of negotiations. They may ask the parties to refrain from making any statements to the news media while the talks are in progress, or at least, to avoid trying to negotiate in the press. At other times, the parties may ask the mediator to handle the press contact. The mediator can assess the impact of the negotiations on a community and decide what to say and what not to say.

I am no expert in mediation but here are some of the results this department has gotten lately:
Release Date: 2/12/2010

With the help of a federal mediator, the GRTC regional bus company in Richmond, Va. and its workers' union have reached a tentative agreement on a new, short-term employment contract. The Amalgamated Transit Union's Local 1220, which represents 278 members of GRTC's 492 employees, rejected the company's contract proposal last month. After meeting with a federal mediator, the union and GRTC officials were able to reach agreement and resolve the impasse. Members of the workers' union still must ratify the proposed contract settlement before it goes into effect.

Release Date: 2/5/2010

Representatives of the 2,500-member Clay County Education Association teachers union and the Clay County, Fla. School Board reached a tentative agreement on compensation following eight months of contentious negotiations. After the union declared an impasse in December, federal mediator Sergio Delgado was assigned to work with the two sides and is credited with helpng the parties reach the tentative agreement during the first meeting. The School Board approved the contract with a vote on Feb. 11.

I hold out hope that both sides will enter with open minds and that a deal can be worked out.

A very interesting week, work and RSL both provided some surprises

2010-03-06T00:01:19Z

Well it has been an exciting week for me, but unfortunately not all of it has been good. It was a crazy work week with my companies Global sales meetings taking place here in SLC, but good to catch up with some friends from the UK. We just held a celebration of "National Employee Recognition" day, what made it cool was our presenting Olympic Athlete rings to a couple of team USA members in a stand up meeting. It was great hearing from them how important the rings are in helping them celebrate their accomplishment.

On the down side I headed out to Rio Tinto on Wednesday to try and do a couple interviews with the players, and then to help out with the sizing of them for their Championship rings celebrating their MLS Cup victory. It should have been a good day, but I was told that I was now considered "persona non grata".

It seems that when I suggested that the players union might want to stop parading wealthy players (those making over $150,000 a year) around as victims of the evil league (which one article compare to Wal-Mart), that it got under the skin of a player or two. I can fully understand that, and I know they are passionate about what they believe is best for the players, and I hope they consider best for the league as well. I have for months championed the raising of both the minimum and maximum player salaries in the league, as well as moving the salary cap up.

More after the jump:

It seems they then have "spread the word" that I am against the players, funny since I am fan who spends thousands on tickets and I have promoted the players, the team, the league, and the sport that I have supported since 1996, for the last 3 years I have done so in part by blogging..

Anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis vs. grabbing a statement out of context knows that I am no fan of the MLS powers and "the Don". Heck I have on a regular basis been critical of a number of their policies and in recent weeks even called for a change in leadership of the league, but because I don't support "free agency" at this point of the league (for a couple of reason).

It is clear they players are willing to talk to the media about the CBA only when and if they can simply make their points without any questions, heck just today De Rosario did an interview about it in which the player who has made over $300,000 a year for the last several years is quoted as saying "We want to start the league but we want our just reward and we're not asking for much."

That statement would be much better taken by myself and other fans coming from players like Robbie Findley, who makes under $70,000 a year, or a Stuart Holden who was making under $40,000 before leaving the league.

I understand that the MLSPU is keeping tight control over who says what and to whom, I would only suggest that while using some bigger name players seems like a good strategy, it has a downside when they are by MLS standards (77k league average) some of the highest paid players.

It was just announced that the league and the MLSPU will meet again next week, this time they will have a federal mediator present, I hope this will lead to a new CBA and that the season can progress.

I still think that a much larger effort to grow the sport in the US is needed, and that should involve US Soccer, MLS, USL/NASL, the players, the fans, and the media. The sport that elicits such passion from both fans and players is on the verge of becoming a major sport here in the US, something that has been talked about for almost 20 years, but all parties involved need to understand that we are not there yet.

An Open Invitation

On Wednesday, I offered up a open mic for several players to come up and speak their mind, none chose to do so, but in the spirit of fairness I am going to extend the following:

If you are a RSL player (or any other team), a fan, a member of the staff, or anyone else that I have upset with my opinions or statements, here is your chance to set the record straight.

You can call me (Trey has my phone number), you can email me (both Trey and John have multiple email addresses for me), you can even create an identity and post something here.

I will in no way edit what you write on here, or if you want I will post your emails unedited as well. Heck even if you just want to tell me how wrong I am offline, go ahead. Tell me what I don't understand.

Here is your chance to have your voice heard, to talk to the fans.

That is what this blog is, a fan talking and sharing his opinions with other fans.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

OK, so I may not be a fan of the new USA "sash" kits but

2010-03-05T17:58:49Z

I have to say I love the job Nike did on this:

which is available for preorder in gray or blue from world soccer shop. Yes I did already order both of them, and I can say I am happy they are keeping the DTOM theme going.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Seattle finds a new striker, RSL is now on the clock

2010-03-04T18:48:58Z

The Sounders suffered a bit of a power outage at the end of 2009, at least their home scoring was way off the standard they started the season with and while they rebounded to score a few in their final regular season match, it was no surprise to me that they were one of many teams looking for a striker.

I am a bit confused on how a team with a DP already can sign the leading scorer from a top Dutch team with the restrictive MLS salary cap, but I am sure the details will eventually come out on the addition Switzerland National Team player and current FC Twente captain Blaise N'Kufo, who will be joining the club after the World Cup.

So far he has 9 goals in 23 matches and at 6'2" he is a real target up top for them, his age 35 could have been an issue over a full MLS season, but coming for the final few months might be just the thing that both he and the Sounders need.

I am still waiting to see if RSL will find their striker, and this should remove Seattle from the many rumors about Alvaro Saborio (check out Keepin' it Real for latest rumors and updates on him). I understand that finding a striker who fits in with the RSL "The Team is the Star" mantra can be difficult, add in the requirement that Jason and the staff believes everyone should play their share of defense (something most strikers loathe) and it gets even tougher.

Here is hoping that perhaps one of the players not on the roster that were at practice today, or some deal still in the works will bring some help up top for Real Salt Lake

Dear Don, can you focus for a minute?

2010-03-04T18:17:21Z

So MLS is sitting without a contract with it's players and the comish is off on a working holiday in Europe. Wasn't he there just a few months ago telling the EPL that they need to establish a salary cap? Now he is over there telling them that they should be investing in MLS teams? Read More here

My god man get yourself back in the US and maybe focus on getting your league closer to a contract with their players, soccer in the US is still a fringe sport and while associations with European teams would be helpful, there are still some very large issues that need to be addressed and in my opinion are a hell of a lot higher priority than "the Don" hanging out in Europe at a 3 time a year convention.

I would love to see a real plan for growth of MLS and soccer in the US, not a try to convince Barca to put a team in Miami and when that fails see if Man City will start a team somewhere. There are real things that can be done in the US with MLS and US Soccer to grow the sport and the league, how about we come up with a 5 year, a 10 year and a 20 year plan to get the US a World Cup title, and to move MLS into the top 4 sports in the US and out of the fringes?

I have over the past month listed 10 things that I believe could get MLS out of the "niche" sport market and into the mainstream of American sports.

Check out the list after the jump:

Part one of my list included:

Larger Rosters (28 players at least)
A real 2nd division, complete with partnerships between each MLS club and a 2nd division club
A nationwide youth system, a partnership between MLS and US Soccer to create a talent based youth system

Part two of my list included:

Better Pay for players, including higher min and max salaries as well as a larger salary cap for teams
Improved Play, better officials along with a performance based incentive system for players and clubs
Better Promotion of the sport, finding a TV partner who will play matches in HD in prime time slots, and better overall marketing and promotion of the sport.

Part 3 included:

Embracing the Fans, no more lip service but real things like away sections in every stadium, league and team support in merchandising and marketing supporter groups
Reduction of League Control, the move to teams controlling their own business more, things like owning player contracts (which could lead to free agency), jersey deals with vendors and sponsors.
New Television Deal, with only 20 teams getting the sport on TV is the only way to get other markets involved and this is key to long term success and larger TV revenue deals
New Leadership, I have a ton of respect for what "the Don" has done over the last few years, but moving forward I believe a leader who is willing to turn over control to the teams and work without a strangle hold on every detail is needed.

I would love to see US Soccer, MLS, MLSPU, and the NASL/USL sit down and really come up with a plan on growing the sport in the US. It is time for turf wars and power struggles to end, the sport and the fans deserve better.

So for me to hear that the leader of MLS is off in Europe trying to get people to invest in teams, while we have a league without a contract and are just 3 weeks away from the start of our season is a very disturbing thing. We are paying this guy a million a year for this? The owners want to give him a new contract with the potential to earn more than the salary of an entire team, and we don't even have a decent TV deal for every team, oh the madness will it ever end?

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Things got cold today for Real Salt Lake

2010-03-04T01:50:47Z

So it has become a bit of a tradition since Jason took over as coach to have the team do some group outing before the season starts, and with the team getting ready to head to Charleston in a couple days today was the day.

After the time in the cold the players headed back down to Rio Tinto Stadium to meet with the press, get sized for their Championship rings, and record some promo spots for the big screen. I noticed that the pitch was still covered and there was some snow around the edges left over from the sno-cross event in January, maybe it was the snow that was responsible for the chilly reception.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Real Salt Lake to face San Jose one more time

2010-03-03T23:45:04Z

Well today the start of the road to the US Open Cup, 8 MLS teams will actually play in the tournament and six of those slots are already occupied (Columbus Crew, LA Galaxy, Houston Dynamo, Seattle Sounders, Chicago Fire and Chivas USA) while the other 9 US based teams will fight it out for the remaining two slots.

Today matchups and locations were announced based on yesterday's coin toss (via online meeting) and here is what we know. The teams have been seeded based on 2009 regular season finish and the games will be as follows [home team listed first]:

Game A (8 v 9/Expansion): New York Red Bulls v Philadelphia Union
Game B (1 v 8): Game A Winner v New England Revolutions
Game C (2 v 7): San Jose Earthquakes v Real Salt Lake
Game D (3 v 6): Kansas City Wizards v Colorado Rapids
Game E (4 v 5): D.C. United v FC Dallas
** Play-in games A-E will be completed by the end of April. Teams will announce the date and times of games in the near future.

Game F: Game B winner v Game D winner
Game G: Game C winner v Game E winner

Winner of Games F and G qualify as the final 2 teams in the 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
**Play-in games F & G by will be completed by the end of May. Teams will announce the date and times of games in the near future.

So we will open our season in San Jose and then have to travel back there for our US Open Cup qualifying match. If this sounds familiar to you, last year we opened on the road at Seattle and they were also the host of our qualifying match. Unlike last year, I don't think RSL will lose either of those matches.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Real Salt Lake trims roster to 26

2010-03-03T23:01:14Z

So it was made public yesterday that RSL parted ways with: Thompson, Davis, Banghart, and El Khaifi but that hasn't solved all their issues as they still have 26 players on their roster as of today:

#	Player		Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Birthdate	Hometown		College	Status
12	Jean	Alexandre	MF	5-11	185	8/24/1986	Delray Beach	FL	Lynn
5	Kyle	Beckerman	MF	5-11	165	4/23/1982	Crofton,	MD	--
2	Tony	Beltran	DF	5-8	150	10/11/1987	Claremont,	CA	UCLA
6	Nat	Borchers	DF	6-2	175	4/13/1981	Pueblo,	CO	Denver
19	Pablo	Campos	FW	6-3	200	11/29/1983	Sao Paulo	Brazil	FP
23	Raphael	Cox	MF	5-6	140	7/7/1986	Tacoma,	WA	Washington
16	Fabían	Espíndola	FW	5-9	160	5/4/1985	Buenos Aires	Argentina		Int'l
10	Robbie	Findley	FW	5-9	165	8/4/1985	Phoenix,	AZ	Oregon State
21	Luis	Gil	MF	5-8	150	11/14/1993	Garden	Grove,	CA	--
22	Nelson	González	MF	5-6	156	9/22/1988	Buenos Aires	Argentina		Int'l
20	Ned	Grabavoy	MF	5-7	150	7/1/1983	New Lenox	IL	Indiana
33	David	Horst	DF	6-4	200	10/25/1985	Pine Grove	PA	Old Dominion
8	Will	Johnson	MF	5-10	155	1/21/1987	Woodridge,	IL	--
30	Rauwshan	McKenzie	DF	6-1	185	11/19/1986	Hoffman Estates	IL	Michigan State
1	Tim	Melia	GK	6-1	195	5/15/1986	East Islip	NY	Lynn (Fl)
11	Javier	Morales	MF	5-9	165	1/10/1980	Buenos Aires	Argentina		Int'l
7	Alex	Nimo	MF	5-5	135	3/21/1990	Portland,	OR	--
25	Tino	Nuñez	FW	5-8	185	8/22/1984	Long Beach	CA	UCSB
4	Jamison	Olave	DF	6-3	210	4/21/1981	Medellin,	Colombia	--	Int'l
24	Kyle	Reynish	GK	6-3	190	11/3/1983	Valencia,	CA	UCSB
18	Nick	Rimando	GK	5-9	185	6/17/1979	Montclair,	CA	UCLA
3	Robbie	Russell	DF	6-1	200	7/16/1979	Amherst,	MA	Duke
28	Chris	Schuler	DF	6-4	185	9/6/1987	Aurora,	IL	Creighton
26	Collen	Warner	MF	5-10	170	6/24/1988	Denver,	CO	Portland
77	Andy	Williams	MF	5-8	170	9/23/1977	Herriman,	UT	Rhode Island
17	Chris	Wingert	DF	5-11	170	6/16/1982	Babylon,	NY	St. John's

So the question remains will RSL find a way to loan a couple young players, if they should find another striker to add where to they clear some room if MLS stays with a 24 man roster? I have to believe one move will be going to 2 GK's, which can be a risky move but most teams are wanting more field players and with 7 additional matches in 2010 RSL might be forced to make the same move.

The loan of Alex Nimo last year cleared a roster spot for the team, could he, Tino Nunez, Chris Schuler, or others be offered up to 2nd division teams for loans? It is clear in looking at the 26 names on the roster, that losing anyone will be tough on the club.

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Who will make the final 24 for Real Salt Lake?

2010-03-02T20:28:11Z

This could be a mystery worthy of Jack Bauer, and without a new CBA it looks like the rosters, which were due to be set yesterday but that deadline was extended, will remain at 24 players 20 senior players and 4 developmental.

So what do we know for sure is that we currently have more bodies than we have slots:

Goal Keepers(3): Nick Rimando, Kyle Reynish, Tim Milea

Defenders (10): Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Tony Beltran, Robbie Russell, David Horst, Rauwshan McKenzie, Justin Davis(r), Chris Schuler(r), Chris Banghart(r)

Midfielders (11): Javier Morales, Kyle Beckerman, Will Johnson, Andy Williams, Raphael Cox, Jean Alexandre, Ned Grabavoy, Nelson Gonzalez, Alex Nimo, Collen Warner(r), Luis Gil(r)

Forwards (5): Robbie Findley, Pablo Campos, Fabian Espindola, Tino Nunez, Abe Thompson

By my count that means we have 5 more players than slots, will RSL find a way to loan out a couple rookies for the season to clear some roster spots.

So who do I think will make the cut? Find out after the jump

I think RSL is likely to keep 2 of their 4 new defenders and based off my very limited exposure to them at practice I would say it is likely that Justin Davis and Chris Schuler will stick, and I hope maybe we can loan either McKenzie or Banghart to one of the second division teams.

The midfield really is a tough one for me as there is so much talent there but without playing minutes guys like Raphael, Jean, Nelson, Collen, and Luis will have their development really slowed. This year will be one with lots of minutes but how to keep so much talent on the roster.

Up top it will be a question of who can step in and fill the shoes of Yura Movsisyan? Will it be Fabian returning to his form of 2008, or will Pablo Campos become a two way player and get more playing time?

These decisions would be much easier were the new CBA or the league bump the roster to 28, I just saw on twitter that Keeping it Real is reporting RSL will release Justin Davis, Chris Banghart, Abe Thompson and finalize the release of Rachid El Khalifi. That gets us close but not down to 24 unless some other deals are in the works, I do consider the release of Davis to be a bit of a surprise since he has shown in college to be able to play almost any position. I will try to keep everyone updated if more news comes out, thank goodness for lunch breaks.

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A Crazy Week

2010-03-01T17:08:47Z

OK, there are a couple weeks a year that are very crazy for me away from the world of soccer and this is one of them. I am hoping I can find someone to whip up some content for you all this week, but I will be busy with my companies annual sales meetings.

It is a bit of a bummer since RSL is in town for a few days before heading off to Charleston to begin their defense of the CCC (Carolina Challenge Cup).

A quick update on the Luis Gil deal, it appears the International slot is only a one year deal. So we traded a second round draft pick in 2011, 25% of any future transfer fee we might get for Gil, and one year of an international slot, for a 16 year old who was recently voted the best US player under 20. While I am not sure what his future will hold, you have to believe for a kid to get attention from Real Madrid and Arsenal, there has to be something there.

Don't forget that Real Salt Lake's Robbie Findley will be suiting up for the US vs. Netherlands on Wednesday that match is at 12:30 MST, and will be on ESPN2 and ESPN360 (I hope to be able to at least listen to it live from work).

OK, that it is for me. If you want to write something just just the Fan Post option and I will try to promote your post up to the main page.

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One month and counting down to San Jose

2010-02-26T22:19:10Z

In 30 days I will be in San Jose waiting for the match to start. While it is too early to guess at the starting lineup with any real facts (as the team has just one scrimmage so far) and by then we could see the players and their union change their "work without a contract" stance, or the owners change their "no lockout" position. But let's look at what we do know about RSL.

Goalkeeper: I imagine that RSL will likely go with just two keepers in 2010, the starter is clearly Nick Rimando and the backup is Kyle Reynish. Nick is coming off a year in which he was solid in goal but suffered an injury that kept him out of a couple matches, but he still was the man in net for 26 regular season matches and posted a 1.14 GAA. Nick shined in the playoffs, with a 0.64 GAA in the 4 matches and two shutouts, plus add in winning in two PK shootouts and a MLS Cup MVP honor and it is clear that Nick is the man when it comes to RSL goal keepers.

Defenders: Real Salt Lake featured 5 players on defense last year, RSL's Ironman Nat Borchers missed just 21 minutes of action in 2009 and we can expect more of the same from him in 2010. Chris Wingert played over 2400 of the 2700 minutes last year and while he still hasn't scored a goal in a MLS league match, he has been a solid defender and should have no problem keeping his starting spot. Jamison Olave is a question mark as he is still recovering from off season surgery, when healthy and playing in control as he did at the end of 2009 he proves fans right "Olave is a Verb". If his injury keeps him out of a couple matches it will likely be Robbie Russell who will fill in as he did so often in 2009, with good size and great speed Russell spent time filling in for Olave and Beltran on the back line.

More after the jump:

It was the other "Robbie" who made the shot heard round MLS in November, and Russell has to still be riding a good boost of confidence from his play in the playoffs last year and I look for him to be an important part in 2010.

If I had to pick a most improved player for RSL in 2009 that honor would go to Tony Beltran, not only is he a machine on the dance floor but with Tony there truly is "more than meets the eye", as players in the EPL are finding out covering Landon Donovan is not an easy task. Tony proved that he was up to that task and more, he took on the best and brightest one on one in a number of matches and most often he came out on top of the matchups.

I think we could see more of a couple players getting time on the backline, David Horst, and Jean Alexandre have the size and toughness to fill in on the backline. We also have some young players who will be challenging to get their names in the 18 for match days; Rauwshan McKenzie who comes off waivers from KC, draft picks Chris Schuler and Justin Davis both will be looking to work their way into playing time this year.

Midfield: With almost 2,000 minutes of playing time and 7 assists to go with his 2 goals, the departure of Clint Mathis will add some pressure on the RSL midfield, most notably on Andy Williams. Javier Morales appears to have fully recovered from the injury he suffered in the MLS Cup and has been active in practices all preseason, Kyle Beckerman has spend little time with his teammates as he has spent a majority of his off season in USMNT camps and played in both of their matches so far in 2010. Will Johnson got a call up to the Canadian national team in the off-season as well, so the likelihood that our starting 4 midfielders in a couple of weeks will be the same as it was in the MLS Cup match is very high. Super sub Ned Grabavoy looks posed to play a larger role with the departure of Clint Mathis as well, his performance in the Eastern Conference final and the MLS Cup both have made people pay more attention to how well he has done.

There will be some real competition for first team minutes as Nelson Gonzalez continues his development, Collen Warner has a lot of people looking close at RSL's first round pick, and then you have the continued development of both Raphael Cox and Jean Alexandre. One thing is clear there will be a lot more minutes for RSL this year as they play at least 7 additional matches this year, in the midfield those minutes will have a lot of people fighting to claim their share of them.

Forwards: With the departure of Yura Movsisyan there is a hole in our front line, and while RSL golden boot Robbie Findley is going strong off 3 straight callups to the USMNT there is a huge opportunity for someone to step up. Can it be the Fabian Espindola completes a return to his high scoring 2008 form after off season surgery? Will journeyman Abe Thompson finally deliver results worthy of his talent? Can Pablo Campos gain favor with the staff and work his way back into the lineup?

Of all the positions this one has most fans the most concerned, many thought RSL would go looking for an off season pickup. They are right they did but none of them have panned out, by no means does that mean that I think they have finished looking.

So what will the starting 11 look like in 29 days?
Rimando
Wingert-Borchers-Russell-Beltran
Williams-Beckerman-Morales-Johnson
Espindola-Findley

The 7 on the bench? I am going with Reynish, Horst, Alexandre, Grabavoy, Warner, Cox, Campos

I will be there along with over 100 RSL fans to see if my picks are right or not.

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Nike unveils their new 2010 kits for the World Cup

2010-02-26T20:31:35Z

View full size photo »

So I have made fun of the new design of the US kits since they were first leaked a month or so ago, but I have to give Nike some huge credit as well. Their approach to making the new kits by using plastics from recycled bottles is a great thing and should be shown as an example for other companies. Here is the information about the process they used:

To make the 2010 national team kits, Nike's fabric suppliers sourced discarded plastic bottles from Japanese and Taiwanese landfill sites and then melted them down to produce new yarn that was ultimately converted to fabric for the jerseys.

This process saves raw materials and reduces energy consumption by up to 30 percent compared to manufacturing virgin polyester. By using recycled polyester for its new range of national jerseys, Nike prevented nearly 13 million plastic bottles, totaling nearly 254,000 kg of polyester waste, from going into landfill sites. This amount would be enough to cover more than 29 football pitches. If the recycled bottles used to make the jerseys were laid end-to-end they would cover more than 3,000 kilometres, which is more than the entire coastline of South Africa.

The teams wearing Nike's new national team jerseys in South Africa are: Brazil, The Netherlands, Portugal, USA, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Serbia, and Slovenia.

Here is the official vid:(it takes a minute or two to load the frame)

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No strike, and Robbie gets another shot

2010-02-25T22:27:13Z

Well there have been a lot of nervous people all around MLS and soccer in the US today waiting to see what would come of the CBA talks, well nothing, zip, nada. The league stated earlier that they would not lockout the players if no agreement was reached, and they were willing to move forward into the season using the expired CBA until a new one can be finalized.

"Effective at midnight tonight, our collective bargaining agreement with MLS will expire," MLSPU executive director Bob Foose said. "While we expect that negotiations with MLS will resume at some point, there simply hasn't been enough progress made in the negotiations to date to warrant an extension of the old agreement. We have advised our players to keep working for the time being, but as of Friday they will be doing so without a CBA. In the meantime, all options are being considered as the process continues. We are completely committed to forging real changes to the way MLS players are treated."

So we move forward for now without any type of agreement, I hope both sides sit down and give serious consideration to what the future of MLS and the sport should be in the US, and to some extent Canada.

Another shot for Robbie Findley
Today Bob Bradley announced his roster for next week's US vs. Netherlands friendly (3-3-10 12:30 MST on ESPN2) and to the surprise of some Real Salt Lake's Robbie Findley was on the list as one of 3 strikers. I believe this is Bob giving him a shot to play with the European based players to see if he fits in with them.

Here is the complete roster for the US:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tim Howard (Everton)
DEFENDERS (7): Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (7): DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Landon Donovan (Everton), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), José Torres (Pachuca)
FORWARDS (3): Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki)

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All 3 RSL players start for USMNT

2010-02-25T00:09:30Z

Rimando, Findley, and Beckerman all are getting the start from Bob Bradley tonight and will face off against El Salvador. It will be a chance for each of them to make their impact and see if they can crack the squad that will head off to South Africa.

I would say that Findley probably has the best shot, as the midfield is a very solid and for defensive midfielders fairly deep, the corp that will play up top is still a wide open race and could be decided by who gets hot in the spring. Nick will face an uphill battle as the US has more depth at keeper than any other position.

We see Kramer in the first crowd shot of the night and he looks cold, but it looks like a good time down in Tampa.

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