New England Revolution: Dear Revs, It’s Not You, It’s Me…Maybe

Sometimes I write about soccer here.  But many times life happens.  Jobs get crazy.  Wives travel.  Kids need their parents, or maybe parents need their kids.  And then, I don’t write.  And that’s OK. But I sit here tonight, watching the New England Revolution play the last home game of a difficult, frustrating and fruitless season, and I figure it’s worth dusting off my very neglected blog. It’s been so busy in “real” life that I am as out of touch with team news as I have been in any other time in the last few years.  Heck, I just realized that earlier today I told someone that this Kansas City game I’m watching is the Revs' last game of the season…of course, it’s not.  It’s the last home game of the season.  Oh well… (And trust me, it pains me to admit something in the blathering, pointless, obviously biased and often irrelevant Revolution TV commentary corrected my thinking.) But I have been busy before, and with this blog being over a year old, I don’t think I’ve had such a long hiatus from it before. So while outside factors have significantly impacted my ability to comment, it may be that something larger is at ...

The MLS Million Dollar Challenge: What Was Learned, Revolution Comparison

Digging into MLS salary numbers is a bit like knowing I’ll get a hangover, but opening that next bottle of wine anyway.  The problem is, understanding the salary cap and restrictions are core to understanding the league. The hardest part of finishing up this series of around building an MLS roster for $1 million in total compensation is that there are so many interesting ideas to follow up with that it’s hard to keep focused on a few key points. But let’s give it a try… First, I wanted to point out that my use of total compensation rather than base salary information exaggerated the challenge, since base salaries are more relevant for the MLS salary cap, which is currently around $2.5 million for a full roster. However, at worst, it made the challenge more difficult.  When using the more salary cap-relevant base salary information, the team I picked would have cost $844,960 in base 2010 salary.  This means that the team, which I still think would be competitive in MLS, would only be one third of a typical MLS club’s budget. Not bad. It’s also worth pointing out that in creating this exercise, I’m dealing in a completely implausible world, where I can sift through ...

The MLS Million Dollar Challenge (Part Two): Picking the Team

So the challenge was simple enough: Pick an MLS starting eleven that which has a total 2010 Guaranteed Compensation under $1,000,000. The results were simple enough too. A pretty good team, I’d say. (Review it here.) But as it turns out, the process of choosing the team and some insights about the league that came from it are probably what was the most interesting. So, let’s look at how the team was picked. Really—and this is no surprise—a challenge of this nature is mostly an exercise in finding the MLS players you think are the biggest discounts and picking a group of them that fit together to play a certain style, or at least effective, soccer. Staying my course of hoping and dreaming for attractive, inventive soccer, I aimed for players I hoped could deliver that. I also wanted to focus on balancing the strength of the team across the field, for instance, avoiding deep sacrifices in midfield to pay for a top forward (who would then probably never get good service anyway.) But, with such a limited budget, goals for attractive soccer and team balance are not easy to achieve.   Goalkeeper Frankly, this was probably my easiest choice. Being the beautiful-soccer dreamer that I am, I tend ...

Legal Immigration, Soccer Style

The political landscape surrounding US/Mexico borders and legal and illegal immigration is surrounded by strong emotions, loud arguments, and both educated and ridiculous opinions. Luckily, this is a soccer blog, not a political blog. My opinions on the US/Mexico immigration issue are not the focus on this post. I won’t be talking about whether Arizona’s attempts at a stricter new state law should mean they never see an MLS team or that we patriotically move them up to next in line for expansion and award them the Arizona Cosmos tomorrow. I won’t discuss whether lettuce will cost us $24 a head if we cut off the cheap labor influx or if finally jobs will open up for hard-working Americans. Well, actually, there are some cross-border jobs worth discussing here. That of Mexican soccer players coming to MLS, and (more importantly) the American players heading to Mexico to play professionally—potentially as the Mexican Football Federation’s version of cheap imported labor? Mexican players have always played a part in MLS as those of us around that first season remember Jorge Campos and his acrobatic and unpredictable goalkeeping.  But starting with Cuauhtemoc Blanco, and now followed by Nery Castillo and Rafa Marquez, and Omar Bravo in 2011, it feels ...

Oh No! The New England Revolution Might Be Good

There is a strange feeling hovering around the New England Revolution’s most ardent fanbase right now.  And it is hard to describe. The Steve Ralston retirement debacle was the last in a series of “Can you do anything right?” moments.  (Yes, I know “it was the league office’s fault," but please, he’s a Revolution player, the Revolution promoted the game as his retirement send-off, and fans expect the Revolution front office talks to the league more than they do. It was sad.) However, over the last few weeks odd things have been happening on and off the field.  Good things.  And it’s not clear the fans are at all sure how to deal with good news.  And maybe rightly. What’s been going on? Well, for one, the Revolution have been winning some games.  They might not be beautiful, they might mostly be SuperLiga and not MLS games, but they are not losing. That’s a start. In fact, they are even heading to the final of the odd, but nonetheless interesting, SuperLiga competition.   It’s a great showing by the team, and something every supporter is happy to see. Second, the Revolution front office decided that in 2011 there would be seating on both sides of the field ...

Taking in the Seattle Sounders: Sorry Revolution, I Cheated

It’s no secret that I’ve been an admirer of the success that the Seattle Sounders have had since joining MLS, heck... who hasn’t admired its success.   I’ve asked it to stop rubbing its success in our collective New England faces and I’ve gone as far as to call it my soccer mistress . Well, that mistress and I, we finally went all the way. After countless business trips to the greater Seattle area, I finally made it to a Sounders Game, as they beat the Colorado Rapids last night.  I was in the second level, first row, mid-field line.  Arguably, for a non-chanting supporter, the best seat in the house. And in all honesty, I’m struggling with how to describe it in any reasonable way relative to what my “norm” is within MLS. You see, I have been lucky enough to be at games in many countries, and attended matches in many of the most revered stadiums in the world, but I cannot compare games I’ve seen in London, Milan, Rio de Janeiro, etc. to Foxboro.  Far too different, far too distant, far too much history for that. But, in theory, this game should be similar.  And in many ways, it was. But in just as ...

Is the MLS Not Friendly with Summer Friendlies?

There’s an interesting article over at Match Fit USA called “#trophiesnotfriendlies ” that builds on an idea that was seemingly started by Dave Clark over at Sounder at Heart .   The idea is pretty simple (though I paraphrase somewhat roughly), MLS clubs should be focusing-on and promoting Cup competitions with “real value” and not “meaningless” friendly matches. In theory, it’s hard to argue. Some games matter, some games don’t. But nothing is ever quite that simple… One issue that Jason at Match Fit USA focuses on are that the friendly games are included in Season ticket packages, but US Open Cup (USOC) and the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Champions League Games are not. However, I feel as if I might not have all of the information about the business side of things here. I wonder about there being a revenue-sharing arrangement with CONCACAF or US Soccer that would be muddied by the tickets to those competitions being “comp’ed” as part of a season ticket package? Sounds like an accounting nightmare. I think that could be a major, if not the only major, issue that makes these games get a non-Season Ticket holder treatment. Let’s presume that is not the issue… ...

No Revolution Here, You Still Get What You Pay For

A quick peek at the comments on the official Revolution Facebook page, the Revolution blog or (if you can handle it) Big Soccer, and it’s clear that there’s a significant amount of (negative) energy floating around the New England Revolution right now. Since I already lobbed my questions toward Mr. Bilello (here and on the Revs Blog), and Mr. Burns (here and on the Revs blog) I decided to let my thoughts settle for a bit around the “damage control” Questions/Answers sessions the front office had offered, and how they went so very wrong. Instead, I decided to follow up on my last post about how Real Salt Lake so easily out-manned the Revolution. Basically, I suggested that RSL was a superior roster in all positions. Admittedly, for someone, who despite the blog-based critiques and criticisms, still considers themselves a Revolution fan, that’s some tough love to dish out. It made me wonder WHY our players didn’t seem up to the task. So I did a bit of playing around with MLS Salary information, and found some interesting bits of information. Of course, if you feel there is no truth whatsoever to the old adage of “you get what you pay for” than stop ...

New England Revolution Out Manned, Out Played by Real Salt Lake

After two full World Cup games, I still managed to catch Real Salt Lake trounce the New England Revolution on DVR into the wee hours of this morning.  (A decision that might leave some to question my sanity.) Luckily, I escaped post-game nightmares, as they all played out right there on the TV before I went off to bed. I have been contemplating if it is worth blogging any thoughts on last night’s game or just add some snarky commentary (and there’s so much there waiting to be lavished on Twitter.) Given the beautiful weather, the World Cup games at hand and the ridiculousness of the current situation in New England, I’ve decided to keep this simple. In a league built around parity, I would submit that RSL had better players in every position.  It does not give me any pleasure to say this, but it seems arguably true, at worst… RSL vs.  Revs Nick Rimando vs.  Matt Reis Robbie Russell vs.  Kevin Alston Jamison Olave vs.  Cory Gibbs Nate Borchers  vs.  Emmanuel Osei Chris Wingert  vs.   Seth Sinovic Andy Williams   vs.   Sainey Nyassi Ned Grabavoy  vs.  Jason Griffiths Javier Morales   vs.  Shalrie Joseph Will Johnson  vs.  Chris Tierney Alvaro Saborio  vs.  Marko Perovic Fabian Espindola  vs.  Zach Schilawski You ...

Some New England Revolution Questions That Needed Asking (Pt. 2)

Having submitted a few burning business/operations questions to Revolution COO Brian Bilello already, I figured I would continue to take up the Revolution’s generous offer and ask some of Mike Burns as well.   (See the first discussion here .) The good news is on the “soccer side” of things; I don’t know of anyone who can question the soccer specific focus or knowledge of the staff. Steve Nicol is nearly sainted in these parts, and Michael Burns (if not everyone’s idol) certainly seems worthy of respect. I’ll caveat this blog with the understanding that I only have public information. Luckily, that includes a decent review of salary information from the MLS Player’s Union and statistics from websites near and far. I do not, however, know all the intricacies of contracts and the detail of some MLS transfer and personnel rules. Some of this is easy to find, some not. If my assumptions are off base, I’d love to understand more by those who know it. Question: I’m sure this is a question that will be posed time and time again, but can you describe the roles of both Steve Nicol and yourself when scouting, drafting and acquiring players? Why I ask: To be fair, ...