Esky takes a leave
by denz on Mar 11, 2010 3:12 PM MST
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It is a sad day for a lot of fans, as after numerous injuries and concussions Alecko Eskandarian has decided to step away from soccer as a profession indefinitely. Earlier in the day Esky mentioned that he would be making an announcement and many of us feared the worse. Soccer Insider is reporting that he will be sidelined indefinitely.
If you have watched Esky play you know he is a fun player to watch, if you have had the privilege to talk to him off the pitch you realize he is a great person. His career saw him score 30 goals in just 125 matches, he added 12 assists to go with those goals, he was always a threat to score or contribute to the offensive attack. Last year he only played only 460 minutes or so with the two LA teams, but managed 3 goals.
His presence on the pitch will be missed, I hope someone at FSC is smart enough to get him signed up to be one of your announce staff. He would be a great color commentator.
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The MLS players say strike
by denz on Mar 11, 2010 2:12 PM MST
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Steve Goff (Soccer Insider) is reporting:
MLS players have voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike if a collective bargaining agreement with the league is not reached in time for the season openers in two weeks, the Insider has learned.
In a written vote, more than 350 players supported a strike and only two opposed it, a source close to the situation said.
"We will not start the season without a new agreement," said a veteran player, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations. "To be quite blunt, it doesn't look good at all."
Of course I am not surprised, as it is clear that there are a number of veteran players who are very actively encouraging others in the locker rooms to support their viewpoints. The union has been careful in who they allow to speak to the media (ensuring they will get the coverage they want), and what they are allowed to say.
It does seem interesting that a day after an official statement from the league and the union that they are going to continue talks, that now we have one side doing a lot of talking about a strike. It started within an hour of yesterday's official announcement, with Nick Garcia talking with the CBC:
Major League Soccer's simmering labour dispute heated up Wednesday as Toronto FC defender Nick Garcia said he expects the players to strike if a new collective bargaining agreement is not negotiated before the start of the regular season - in two weeks.
For a lot of lifetime soccer fans, this situation really has them looking back at 1979, Boston.com writer Frank dell'Apa provides this thought:
Major League Soccer teams having been training all over the world in preparation for the league's 15th season. But an impasse in collective bargaining is raising doubts about the season opener, a Seattle Sounders-Philadelphia United match scheduled March 25.
Those who experienced the work stoppage in the North American Soccer League in 1979 are wondering whether both sides are familiar with the history of labor problems in professional soccer.
House of Soccer offers up his time machine thoughts about Frank's article, love the "Back to the Future" references.
I have said it before and I will say it again, both sides have some valid points, one would hope that with the guy handpicked by the President of the United States to lead the federal department that deals with labor issues and mediation that some middle ground could be found and that a deal could be reached.
Maybe it still will be, if not one has to wonder if the fans will be forgiving? The NHL, and MLB both have yet to reach the level of fan support and popularity as they did before they went on strike, the NBA and NFL both are facing CBA talks of their own and could face some sort of work stoppage. A lot can happen in two weeks, hopefully something will.
OFF MY SOAPBOX
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Well it appears that the mediator isn't getting through in the MLS CBA talks
by denz on Mar 11, 2010 7:24 AM MST
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So after two days of meetings the MLS and MLSPU officially released this statement yesterday:
Major League Soccer and the MLS Players Union met in Washington, D.C. under the auspices of George H. Cohen, the Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). MLS and the Players Union have agreed to continue collective bargaining agreement discussions with the FMCS.
Of course it was then time for the latest round of the PR comments, this time from Toronto's Nick Garcia who says players will strike on the 24th:
Major League Soccer's simmering labour dispute heated up Wednesday as Toronto FC defender Nick Garcia said he expects the players to strike if a new collective bargaining agreement is not negotiated before the start of the regular season - in two weeks.
It will be interesting to see if the mediator can make any progress in the next couple weeks, while this isn't a situation where the mediator can mandate a decision and new contract, one would hope that someone who is an expert is listening to both sides, looking at the facts, and trying to help both sides find middle ground would be given the time to do so.
I know the current CBA leaves a lot to be desired by the players and I still think they have some legit points and demands, at the same time the league is trying to protect the last few years of growth and success after 10 plus years of huge losses. It will mean some tough decisions on both sides to get to an agreement, meanwhile fans are left sitting with season tickets that may not be worth anything, making travel plans to matches that may not take place.
One thing is clear, a lockout or strike, will have victims and they will be the fans.
A little bright news
It appears (according to KIR) Alvaro Saborio has agreed to a loan deal with MLS and has joined RSL in Charleston. Many people have been waiting for RSL to add a striker to replace Yura Movsisyan and give Real Salt Lake some more offensive punch.
If you haven't been following the ongoing drama around Saborio, several teams were interested in him but RSL owned the discovery rights on him in MLS, so when he joined the league he was assigned to RSL. Saborio is a 27 year old striker who has an impressive resume including a lot of national team duty for Costa Rica. You can read more on his wikipedia page.
So the next couple weeks could get real exciting for RSL fans, last year we had to fasten our seat belts and enjoy the crazy ride the last two months of the season. It looks like the 2 weeks before the regular season could be just as crazy this year, so buckle up and enjoy the ride.
OFF MY SOAPBOX
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Which company has done the best job with World Cup kits?
by denz on Mar 9, 2010 3:17 PM MST
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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:
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CBA talks begin, opinions are still being formed
by denz on Mar 9, 2010 1:25 PM MST
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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.
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Team USA announces camp roster for US vs. Mexico at Rio Tinto Stadium
by denz on Mar 8, 2010 5:36 PM MST
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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:
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Different sides weighing in on the CBA and some thoughts on Landon
by denz on Mar 8, 2010 2:04 PM MST
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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:
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Yura Movsisyan, be back in action this weekend
by denz on Mar 6, 2010 7:02 PM MST
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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.
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