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2021-22-23-24 News Thread

Three bills for Spurs plus an exorbitant debt???? The Man U money makes some sense since we're talking about one of the most popular franchises on earth, but Spurs???? Villa were obviously bought at their low point from a person who couldn't spend money without the permission of the Chinese government or whatever, reason but the controlling stake in the club was around 40 mil. London is obviously more attractive than Birmingham for a team and Spurs have been more successful as of late which cancels out Villa's much greater historical success, but there's no world where they are 100 times as valuable of a franchise. The stadium is obviously nice to have, but if you just want a nice new stadium in London, West Ham would cost you a hell of a lot less.
 
andyt said:
He is a private equity ghoul but didn’t buy the Suns. He’s a minority owner and kept his stake when the Ishbia brothers bought the team, which closed last week. He’s listed as an alternate governor.
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Shoulda Googled instead of relying on my memory. Either way, private equity money is always so non-invasive, I've found. Everything always goes swimmingly well after they axe two thirds of the workforce. Like the Wrexham takeover, in reverse. Fun.
 
VinatieriDefinesClutch said:
Three bills for Spurs plus an exorbitant debt???? The Man U money makes some sense since we're talking about one of the most popular franchises on earth, but Spurs???? Villa were obviously bought at their low point from a person who couldn't spend money without the permission of the Chinese government or whatever, reason but the controlling stake in the club was around 40 mil. London is obviously more attractive than Birmingham for a team and Spurs have been more successful as of late which cancels out Villa's much greater historical success, but there's no world where they are 100 times as valuable of a franchise. The stadium is obviously nice to have, but if you just want a nice new stadium in London, West Ham would cost you a hell of a lot less.
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IIRC, the majority of the debt is for stadium costs and would be structured out so that revenues take care of the construction and operating loans. That part wouldn't be a concern, normally ... especially if the valuation is even remotely accurate.
 
She Believes Cup got underway in Orlando yesterday. The US beat Canada 2-0 behind a Mal Swanson brace and Brazil beat Japan 1-0 on a sweet Marta to Debinha hookup. Alex Morgan earned her 200th cap with the start and she played a part in both goals ... assisting Swanson's first and causing the turnover that led to her second with some determined pressure. The US will take on Japan on Sunday followed by Brazil/Canada

This is a World Cup year, but even so 90% of the news leading into She Believes this year is the Canadian team's war with their federation. They're playing under protest after a proposed strike was ruled illegal ... so the players faced individual damage charges. Good of the Canadians to completely scuttle their relationship with their players in a World Cup year. Genius.
 
The USWNT wrapped up another She Believes title with a 2-1 win over Brazil. Mal Swanson scored in all three games and was named MVP. Rose Lavelle only got heathy in time to play the final, and the US had issues in midfield all tournament long. Still, even without their best finisher (Sophia Smith), they are just too strong up front for most opponents. With Lynn Williams back at full speed, the depth of options up front is truly mind blowing. Cat Maccarrio should be healthy soon as well.
 
The Canadian WNT isn't the only one dealing with a player revolt. France has seen three world class players walk away in recent days ... Reynard (former Captain), Diani and Katoto ... largely in a dispute over the churlishness of their coach, Corrine Diacre. Diacre famously removed the captain's armband from Reynard pretty much immediately upon taking the job, only to give it back to her when she stripped Amadine Henry of the role 2 years later. The French federation took this setback in the most French was possible ... with a shrug and a statement that no individual is bigger than the team. Unless of course, that individual is your unstable nut-job of a coach. Of course, the French federation itself is currently under police investigation into sexual assault and toxic working conditions, so ... fun.
 
jeffbear said:
The Canadian WNT isn't the only one dealing with a player revolt. France has seen three world class players walk away in recent days ... Reynard (former Captain), Diani and Katoto ... largely in a dispute over the churlishness of their coach, Corrine Diacre. Diacre famously removed the captain's armband from Reynard pretty much immediately upon taking the job, only to give it back to her when she stripped Amadine Henry of the role 2 years later. The French federation took this setback in the most French was possible ... with a shrug and a statement that no individual is bigger than the team. Unless of course, that individual is your unstable nut-job of a coach. Of course, the French federation itself is currently under police investigation into sexual assault and toxic working conditions, so ... fun.
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The Federation is meeting on Tuesday and Diacre may not be the only one to go. The Federation President, Noel Le Graet, is also under pressure to resign.
 
Canada's Federation President Nick Bontis resigned yesterday, as leaders among both the womens and mens teams saying they don't want him involved in final CBA negotiations. They've made similar statements about General Secretary Earl Cochrane as well, as was a particular target of the men's team's ire. Presumably he'll be the next to go.

In NWSL news, the league has decided on their next three expansion markets according to The Athletic. The Utah Royals will be returning with new ownership on a cut price deal negotiated under the former leadership team when that owner was forced out and the team relocated to Kansas City. That is to be formally announce in March, with the team joining the league for the 2024 season. In addition to Utah, the league will be returning to the Boston market (RIP Breakers, 2013-18) and adding a Bay Area (Cali) team as well. Both of those clubs would be paying full freight on the expansion fees. The timing of those announcements is uncertain.
 
I wonder if the Krafts are involved with the Boston team, it would be a nice package with the Revs if he’s serious about building a soccer specific stadium in Boston. The Breakers played on Harvard’s soccer field, which has a capacity of 4,100. But the Revs offices and training center are in Foxborough, behind Gillette Stadium. So despite his statements to the contrary, I don’t think they’re leaving Foxborough.

The Bay Area hasn’t had a women’s team since WUSA folded in 2003. The San Jose CyberRays played in San Jose State’s football stadium. But the San Jose Earthquakes have a soccer specific stadium with 18,000 capacity, so that’s a possibility for them too.
 
andyt said:
I wonder if the Krafts are involved with the Boston team, it would be a nice package with the Revs if he’s serious about building a soccer specific stadium in Boston. The Breakers played on Harvard’s soccer field, which has a capacity of 4,100. But the Revs offices and training center are in Foxborough, behind Gillette Stadium. So despite his statements to the contrary, I don’t think they’re leaving Foxborough.

The Bay Area hasn’t had a women’s team since WUSA folded in 2003. The San Jose CyberRays played in San Jose State’s football stadium. But the San Jose Earthquakes have a soccer specific stadium with 18,000 capacity, so that’s a possibility for them too.
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Kraft was involved in discussions about saving the Breakers in 2018 but apparently didn't want to commit much in the way of cash or resources. I just don't think he cared much about the women's game, honestly. Maybe that's changed, but I doubt it. Most of the reporting I've seen about that market hinted at some major corporate female led ownership powering the bid.

And there are a lot of former players apparently involved with the Bay Area effort. Teaming up with the Quakes makes sense, at least as a tenant. That's a really nice facility in San Jose.
 
The French Federation finally sacked Diacre today. Now they have to repair relations with multiple players or it could be a short trip down under. They have a pretty easy group though with debutantes Panama, Jamaica in their 2nd World Cup and Brazil.
 
There's what? One international window left before the World Cup? And all the multi-nation tournaments were in this past window. So, you're bring in a new manager just in time for the tuneup friendlies because ... why? We're French and thus infinitely stubborn?

That's a lot of questions marks ... because I really, really don't see why these federations put so much value in coaches/managers/directors who treat their players like garbage.
 
US Soccer released the report on Berhalter's domestic violence accusation, and while it clears Berhalter to be a candidate EVERY single other detail is disgusting. Claudio Reyna is a giant child still trying to dodge responsibility for his actions in Qatar (and well before, it turns out), his wife Danielle is outed as the worst kind of horrible friend/tiger mom combo. Earnie Stewart, while handling himself pretty much by the book in a tough situation, is shown to be pretty cowardly in the face of needing to tell a long term friend to STFU. Just an unmitigated mess ... and none of these people need to ever be on staff at US Soccer or any other sports franchise EVER again. And if Reyna wants to play for the US again, it needs to be made very clear that his parents' input is not required and neither is their physical presence.

 
Not that anybody really cares, but the USMNT qualified for the final four of the CONCACAF Nations League with a 1-0 win over El Salvador last night. Depending on results tonight, they are likely to be the 1st seed in the final this summer (in Vegas, which tells you how brainy they are at CONCACAF) with a possible 1-4 matchup with Mexico. It's kind of a meaningless tournament, but hopefully by the finals the federation will have hired a new manager. Plus, with qualifying off the table this US team needs as much international action as they can get between now and 2026.
 
jeffbear said:
Not that anybody really cares, but the USMNT qualified for the final four of the CONCACAF Nations League with a 1-0 win over El Salvador last night. Depending on results tonight, they are likely to be the 1st seed in the final this summer (in Vegas, which tells you how brainy they are at CONCACAF) with a possible 1-4 matchup with Mexico. It's kind of a meaningless tournament, but hopefully by the finals the federation will have hired a new manager. Plus, with qualifying off the table this US team needs as much international action as they can get between now and 2026.
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They will indeed play Mexico. Canada v. Panama is the other semi.

They’ll have the Gold Cup this summer too. It’s very CONCACFy to have 2 tournaments the same year, no?
 
andyt said:
They will indeed play Mexico. Canada v. Panama is the other semi.

They’ll have the Gold Cup this summer too. It’s very CONCACFy to have 2 tournaments the same year, no?
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I think it's spelled out in the charter that they have to stage their tournaments in the stupidest, least helpful possible ways
 
NWSL made their expansion into the SF Bay area official yesterday. They'll start play in 2024 and while there's a corporate majority group, the minority group features several former USWNT players ... Brandi Chastain being the most well known. There's a $53 million expansion fee, plus they're planning to build out team facilities from scratch. No word on a home stadium, but as I've said before I'll be shocked if they don't at least start out at PayPal Park where the San Jose Earthquakes play. Stanford Stadium would also be an option, I guess, but a soccer specific venue is obviously more desirable and PayPal is very nice.
 
Mallory Swanson suffered a torn patellar tendon in a friendly against Ireland yesterday. Typical recovery time is 6 months, so shes out for the World Cup.
 
andyt said:
Mallory Swanson suffered a torn patellar tendon in a friendly against Ireland yesterday. Typical recovery time is 6 months, so shes out for the World Cup.
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Terrible luck for Mal ... and the US. She was among the hottest forwards in the world over the last few months. Of course, the US is comedically over-supplied with forwards so it's nothing like the impact of an injury to the midfield would have.
 
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