Except all of the Canadians at FCE didn't sign short terms contracts and some of them should have the opportunity to move up. TFC allegedly paid $500,000 for Joao Platta. Why not spend a transfer fee on someone like Shaun Saiko?Originally Posted by Opie
Also if you get a wage thats compareable to what an MLS club would offer, but you actually get to play and be appreciated for doing so then what so wrong with that?
Not all sports men are souless money grabbing SOB's. Some actually think outside of that perticular security box.
We should in all honesty gun for more MLS teams as well. If a Canadian city like Edmonton or whatever has a chance of getting one, the city should bite no matter what...even if their NASL team gets dissolved as a result. I know some guy with horrendous, short-term thinking is going to say "Why? Just so we can have another MLS team with barely any Canadians playing...." In the short term, that may be the case. However, the long-term benefits of having an MLS team over an NASL team will show with regards to Canadian player development.
How many NASL teams? That's out of our hands. If there are 8 NASL teams, then only 2 of them can be Canadian, according to the need for the NASL to be 75% American. FC Edmonton is in, Ottawa is coming in 2014, so Canadian content in NASL is already maxed out. The only way to increase the Canadian NASL teams is if 2 more US NASL teams are formed.
However, Canada isn't restricted to just NASL. USL Pro is an option, as is a Canadian domestic league. However, the latter doesn't seem likely to happen.
I think we need a pro team in Calgary, to join Edmonton and Ottawa, because that would mean a pro youth academy in all 6 Canadian cities with a population of 1 million or more. We need pro youth academies in more cities than that, though, if we are to develop ALL our potential. Nothing less than teams also in Victoria, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Quebec, and Halifax if we are to bring a pro soccer academy to within reach of most Canadian youth.
Then that is their misfortune. Most lower division players are smart enough to sign short term deals. If they tie themselves to a D2 club with club options, then they can't complain if they get stuck at said club getting low wages. They should know by now that MLS doesn't pay transfer fees. You move up by being a FA. And European clubs aren't exactly scouting the NASL for players to buy.
And FCE would quickly go out of business if they had to compensate these players by giving them D1 salaries.
[quote]Maybe because Plata came from a higher league(Ecuadorian First Division) and was a much hotter commodity? There is not exactly anyone beating down FCE for Saiko. If FCE can sell him to a lower division European team, say in Norway or Sweden, then they should do it. But MLS has no interest in paying the NASL or USL for players they'll end up with anyway.
Because any player should want to challenge themselves by moving to a better league. Just like MLS players move to better European leagues when they reach a certain level.
Playing in a league with small crowds and no real national exposure should never be any player's goal. Your skills only get better by playing against better competition. And the NASL is poor competition.
Being appreciated means nothing when your skills aren't challenged. If you are a minor league player with no real MLS or European future, than you have nothing to worry about. But if you are a pro with a future, you have to get out of D2 in North America as soon as possible.
Last edited by Opie; 06-14-2012 at 10:53 PM.
Well Mark Abbott, the president of MLS was interviewed during halftime of the Montreal Impact opener. He said there was definitely no plan to go to Canada in the near future, if Canada got another franchise, it would be a long time away. His focus was in New York.
In terms of NASL, for Calgary to get a franchise, people need to show they will consistently bring Clarke Stadium to their new maximum capacity seating limit for FC Edmonton to prove the model can work in Alberta. They won't just arbitrarily go "Okay, let's open up in Calgary now." Ottawa was a more natural fit because Ontario has started to prove soccer culture. Not saying a team in Calgary won't happen...more saying they would wait to see what happens with FC Edmonton first.
Puerto Rico Islanders don't count as an American team so they are apart of that 25% foreign teams. Ottawa is coming in under the presumption that NASL will be adding more Americans sides. Their commissioner has said they'll announce two more expansion markets in the new couple weeks which would bring them up to the expected quota of American teams.
For the next Canadian market to join the NASL there will need to be at least 12 American sides. It is current at six with the assumption they will be at eight by 2014. However, don't let this get anyone down seeing as how 1. the USSF has been relatively lax on enforcing this rule, 2. the NASL has ridiculous expansion plans with a hope of 20 teams by 2020. If this were to become reality, we could have 2 more Canadian teams by 2020!
Yeah, I read that interview. I don't think it would be that long away. After New York gets placed, every city is fair game again.
But that does not automatically equate with Joining MLS.
If NASL has plans on getting more clubs out west, I think Calgary has to be considered a natural fit simply in it's proximity to Edmonton. I've heard Eugene thrown out there, perhaps our own version of the Cascadia?
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks