- May 3, 2021
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OT: 2024 Soccer and Vancouver Whitecaps Thread
- Thread starter Jyrki21
- Start date
I think it's bizarre to follow a franchise in a non-elite league where neither the league nor the owners of said franchise give a crap about ya, but you know, people and their eachin' owns.
You’re basically saying that 95% of the soccer fans in the world should stop following soccer, which is weird.
- May 3, 2021
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- Aug 28, 2011
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League football is weird. For some markets...There's literally zero expectations to win or do anything to a build a contender.
I can criticize the owners for being cheap asses between 2013 and 2018 when there was more parity in the league. Right now...we cannot outbid LA and Miami, and have nothing that we can offer to attract top talent.
Admittedly I know next to nothing about the player budgets or how MLS teams operate, but does the league have any sort of salary cap? If not, then it seems teams in some of the larger cities like New York, L.A. or Miami might have a huge advantage.
Obviously there are a lot of small market teams in places like Nashville, Austin, Cincinnati, Portland and Columbus. So Vancouver isn't alone. I assume those teams have as much trouble attracting top international talent as do the Whitecaps?
Yep, that's one of the most shocking thing about this version of the 'Caps--their road record. After last night's win in Austin, Vancouver has one of the best road records in MLS. How do you figure it?
They go from having one of the worst away records in the league to one of the best in a single season. I suppose it could bode well for the playoffs, where you pretty well have to win road games to advance.
Suddenly, this team looks good. Players playing well and getting calls into their national teams.
What happened to Adekugbe?
What happened to Adekugbe?
Bubbles
Die Hard for Bedard 2023
I believe the "official" salary cap is $5.4 million. But the MLS allows 3 Designated Player slots, which don't count at all in the cap. There are other weird rules which allow circumvention, like GAM or TAM.
Messi and Busquets don't count on the cap. Suarez is a "TAM" player and not DP and doesn't count against the cap as much.
Messi is on the books as $12 million but actually paid $20.4 million in real money. Not to mention he gets up to $50 M via different endorsements.
MLS is unlike the NHL in terms of salary. It's a bit of the Wild Wild West there.
No, Armstrong is a DP midfielder. White isn’t going anywhere, he’s the team’s main striker.
Oh yes, he is right now (concussion) but it’s not related. It will be a pretty threadbare lineup this weekend, and even worse if White can’t play.
- Aug 28, 2011
- 17,470
- 21,855
I think it's bizarre to follow a franchise in a non-elite league where neither the league nor the owners of said franchise give a crap about ya, but you know, people and their eachin' owns.
yet you follow the canucks. curious
Stuart Armstrong had a quite a fan following in the Scottish Premier League. He was a threat almost every time his touched the ball in front of goal, and his YouTube highlight package includes some crackers from distance.
Might be one of the missing ingredients on the Caps.....an upfront player who's actually a threat to score from well out. He's still only 32, so should have a few good seasons left in the tank. Strikes me as a solid, late-season pickup by Vancouver.
Might be one of the missing ingredients on the Caps.....an upfront player who's actually a threat to score from well out. He's still only 32, so should have a few good seasons left in the tank. Strikes me as a solid, late-season pickup by Vancouver.
Stuart Armstrong was a regular EPL starter for 5 straight years from 2018-2023 and a starter on a promoted Championship side last year which is still miles better than MLS. It's probably one of the highest-pedigree signings in the history of the franchise.
Hasn't played club football since May but he was part of Scotland's Euro 2024 squad much more recently than that so he shouldn't be that far from getting match-fit.
Hasn't played club football since May but he was part of Scotland's Euro 2024 squad much more recently than that so he shouldn't be that far from getting match-fit.
They played surprisingly well considering the strength of their lineup. I thought Ocampo looked promising in his debut, and even though Caicedo failed to score on two glorious chances, it is promising that he got them (and the second one wasn't his fault – just stellar goalkeeping).
The expected goals told a pretty stark story that this Whitecaps B-team dominated. And that's really encouraging. It wasn't a boring game to watch either, for 0-0.
Yep.....the momentum in CONCACAF is definitely swinging, and COPA America was no fluke. But still no change in the FIFA rankings. Canada still in the low 40's and the U.S. at 16th overall.
Do the results of 'friendlies' have any bearing on the overall rankings? Obviously that's a ridiculous gap in placing between the two nations, given the results recently.
