MLS Box2Box

This is will be a giant leap forward for the Fire. Pretty ideal downtown location, beautiful & well conceived, and construction costs are 100% self financed.

My only quibble is that I would’ve liked to see a capacity of 25 to 30K so I give it a 9/10.

I understood the need for the first force Majeure. A big chunk of the season was lost & it only extended the CBA by a year, but I absolutely agree w/ you re the 2nd. Kicking it out another 2 years was really opportunistic IMO & had to leave a really sour taste in the MLSPA’s mouth.

Nice, thanks again!

Not only is MLS risking losing the post World Cup “bump” it’s been hyping for years, but it now looks like there is a real chance of a work stoppage that would take this league backwards.

MLS, through both decision & indecision, has taken a series of positions that have put it at odds w/ both fans & players recently.

Hosting the CWC & WC is a generational opportunity for MLS & it seems to be doing everything it can to squander it. In this case playing hardball over found money.

It's officially the midway point of the MLS season! So instead of the usual Sunday night column, I've got:

- mid-season awards
- tactical trends to watch
- best coaching adjustments

Don't stay up too late reading!
www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-mid...

Dog killing adulteress says what?

This does not bode well for the next CBA negotiations.

5 Things We Learned: Chicago Fire at D.C. United - MIR97 Media Let’s just get this out of the way: It’s important not to over-index the Chicago Fire’s 7-1 victory over D.C. United. Both teams put out heavily rotated lineups, and were missing a combined 20 players...

Don't read too much into a game where a team ships 7 (on either end), but here's 5 things we learned in the Chicago Fire's rout of D.C. United last night

meninred97.com/5-things-we-...

#cf97 #VamosFire

I’m still hopeful that USL gets it done & is successful. More successful clubs, fans, & exposure does nothing, but move the game forward in the US.

However, @jeffreycarlisle.bsky.social did a great job laying out the myriad of challenges USL will need to overcome. 🤞🤞

Meeting those standards is gonna require major investment & new investors to make it.

While USSF could & probably will relax some standards, @ least initially. If there’s no revenue sharing, it’s all the more critical for USL teams to meet those standards to generate enough revenue to survive.

I still believe Pro/rel is worth the risk, but these facts make an already steep hill to climb steeper IMO.

It was always gonna be a tall task for USL to meet stadium, market size, & owner wherewithal requirements not just for the initial division 1 teams, but also for teams that are promoted.

3. There will be no parachute payments for relegated sides.

There’s a lot in this article I didn’t know, including:

1. Due to USL’s franchise structure, there is no revenue sharing & all nat’l tv & sponsorship stays w/ the league’s owners.

2. Both the league office & vast majority of teams are losing money w/ the San Diego Loyal losing $40M over 4 yrs.

Excellent piece by @jeffreycarlisle.bsky.social on USL’s plans to institute pro/rel & both the possible benefits & the many hurdles the league & teams have to clear to make it happen.

FCD just began a $180M renovation of their stadium. Over the next 3 yrs they’ll be completely renovating the East, North, & West sides & adding a roof. The 1st stage is the east side, which is why it’s covered. Unfortunately that’s the side the cameras are pointed at. Has nothing to do w/ Messi.

Yeah, sorry I meant to say Bridgeview, my bad.

You can also add scheduling conflicts to the list. The Fire have had to move 3 games to Bridgeport this season.

Chicago Fire stadium location is once-in-a-lifetime parcel in downtown Chicago:

2 blocks from three CTA rail lines, about 1 mile S of Sears tower.

About 1.5 miles down the road from the Fire's new, $100m training facility

#cf97 #mls

Top speed:

1) Emiro Garces (23.54 mph)
2) Jayden Nelson (22.74 mph)
3) Peyton Miller (22.51 mph)
4) Mounsef Bakrar (22.35 mph)
5) Alonso Martínez (22.33 mph)
6) Miles Robinson (22.31 mph)
7) Joseph Paintsil (22.25 mph)
8) Thiago Martins (22.22 mph)

SMH. I get that this is kinda difficult to navigate given the budget charge language in the CBA, but the players should get, at a minimum, 50% of the prize money. Stop fing around & add a carve out provision.

MLS teams would absolutely still sign U22s, but I wouldn’t want them to continue to use as large a percentage of their budget on them because that hasn’t proven to be an effective team building methodology.

That’s the whole point.

To what end? To develop a better, younger domestic player pool, which is more important than bringing in a 20 YO Colombian.

That said, again, you can still sign that player. It just wouldn’t be the only way you can improve your roster if what you really need is a competent CB.

Just to add to it. There are 3 times as many HGs & college developed players amongst the top 50 outbound transfers in MLS history as U22s. Frankly, I’d rather see MLS lean into that. Longterm it’s better for the league anyway.

I think that’s a bit of a false choice TBH. You can still sign young exciting players w/o the U22 rule & the data just shows that U22s don’t have as much impact as they should &, relatively speaking, not that many are making big moves either.

MLS should & likely will always have a DP rule to sign players like Messi, but he’s absolutely right that simply looking at revenue & current spending & simplifying rules to allow FOs more flexibility in how they spend would, in all likelihood, yield better results on the pitch.

There are certainly success stories to be found & I’m all for MLS signing good young talent.

However, teams shouldn’t be forced to do so as one of the only ways to spend in the transfer mkt more freely.

However, MLS has never been good at recognizing obvious flaws in its rules & making changes that don’t necessitate an overall increase in $ outlayed, but will result in a better rosters & on field product.

So, despite its flaws & waste, the U22 rule is likely here to stay thru the current CBA

Given that U22 signing represent ~30% of overall transfer expenditures, I think you can reasonably conclude it has been a failure.

Given the data, it’s obvious to me that MLS should:

1. Retain a mechanism for HGs.
2. Shift the rest of the $ being into a higher budget.

Fantastic analysis. I’ll have more once the MLSPA releases salaries, but overall what the recent analyses of the U22 program have shown is:
1. Overall It hasn’t been profitable.
2. U22s take significant time to develop & many never do.
3. From an on field perspective it’s best used in domestics.