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2021-22-23-24 News Thread

The Premiere League has made a Summer Series 2023 in the US official. Pre-season tournament/traveling road show in the US will feature 6 Premiere League teams ... Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton and Leeds are the list for now, but the last slot is subject to change if Leeds end up getting relegated*. Venues will all be in the East, with Atlanta, DC, Orlando and NY playing host ... final list pending. You can sign up for ticket info here https://www.premierleague.com/summerseries

I'm planning to hit a Villa game if personal availability allows

*looks like some promotional material includes Fulham's logo, so that's going to be your replacement for Leeds, pending results.
 
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OK, this one is kind of muddy but let’s try to unravel it…

L’Equipe in France reported that OL Groupe is selling OL Feminin in France, to Michelle Kang, owner of the NWSL Washington Spirit. Not so fast, my friends, OL Groupe says they’re not splitting OL Feminin from the men’s team. However, they’re selling their NWSL team, OL Reign. They’ve contracted Raine Group to handle the sale. Raine Group is involved in the Man U sale and is also the lead advisor on the sale of OL Groupe to American businessman John Textor, who is also the majority owner of Botafogo in Brazil, a co-owner of Crystal Palace and a minority partner in Q Belgian 2nd division club.

www.sounderatheart.com

OL Groupe start process to sell OL Reign

Raine Group has been hired to look for a buyer.
www.sounderatheart.com www.sounderatheart.com
 
andyt said:
OK, this one is kind of muddy but let’s try to unravel it…

L’Equipe in France reported that OL Groupe is selling OL Feminin in France, to Michelle Kang, owner of the NWSL Washington Spirit. Not so fast, my friends, OL Groupe says they’re not splitting OL Feminin from the men’s team. However, they’re selling their NWSL team, OL Reign. They’ve contracted Raine Group to handle the sale. Raine Group is involved in the Man U sale and is also the lead advisor on the sale of OL Groupe to American businessman John Textor, who is also the majority owner of Botafogo in Brazil, a co-owner of Crystal Palace and a minority partner in Q Belgian 2nd division club.

www.sounderatheart.com

OL Groupe start process to sell OL Reign

Raine Group has been hired to look for a buyer.
www.sounderatheart.com www.sounderatheart.com
Click to expand...
Nope. I think I'll wait for whatever happens to actually happen. I've learned my lesson about wasting time reading speculation* from the French sports media.

*meaning ... crap we make up entirely on our own
 
Italy’s highest sports court has overturned the 15 point deduction assessed to Juventus. It moves Juve from 7th to 3rd, 16 points behind top of the table Napoli but back into a Champions League spot, pushing aroma to 4th and AC Milan into the Europa League.

www.reuters.com

Italy sports authority scraps 15-point penalty for Juventus, orders new trial

Italy's top sports body on Thursday cancelled a decision to dock Serie A club Juventus 15 points in a case centred on the club's transfer dealings, ordering soccer authorities to hold a new hearing.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
 
jeffbear said:
The Premiere League has made a Summer Series 2023 in the US official. Pre-season tournament/traveling road show in the US will feature 6 Premiere League teams ... Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton and Leeds are the list for now, but the last slot is subject to change if Leeds end up getting relegated*. Venues will all be in the East, with Atlanta, DC, Orlando and NY playing host ... final list pending. You can sign up for ticket info here https://www.premierleague.com/summerseries

I'm planning to hit a Villa game if personal availability allows

*looks like some promotional material includes Fulham's logo, so that's going to be your replacement for Leeds, pending results.
Click to expand...
Following up on this ... tickets are on sale now and the pricing varies wildly by matchup and venue. I'm going to see Villa play Fulham in Orlando because the tix were like 50% cheaper than the ones for the match in DC. Plus, I can finagle free lodging in Orlando, so ... win/win.
 
Apparently NWSL has a rule that an interrupted game is considered complete so long as they reach half time. Courage took all three points when their 1-0 lead in a game at Houston was washed out by this awful storm front on Friday. Seems pretty short to me. Thoughts?
 
jeffbear said:
Apparently NWSL has a rule that an interrupted game is considered complete so long as they reach half time. Courage took all three points when their 1-0 lead in a game at Houston was washed out by this awful storm front on Friday. Seems pretty short to me. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
It’s not terribly dissimilar from the MLB rule, but halftime of a soccer game seems too short. Maybe 60 minutes?
 
andyt said:
It’s not terribly dissimilar from the MLB rule, but halftime of a soccer game seems too short. Maybe 60 minutes?
Click to expand...
Yeah, baseball has such a long regular season that tossing one game aside is less of a problem. With only 22 regular season games, you'd think they'd be more careful. Yeah, I'd say 60 minutes should be the absolute minimum.
 
FIFA has approved a one time nationality change for striker Folarin Balogun to switch from England to the US. He was born in Brooklyn but moved to England when he was 2. He was also eligible to play for Nigeria. He was capped 4 times for the US at U-18, but represented England at U-20 and U-21. He’s been in Arsenal’s academy since he was 8 but has only made 10 senior appearances. He played on loan at Middlesbrough last year and is on loan at Reims in Ligue 1 this year, where he has 20 goals in 36 appearances, 19 goals in the league, good for 6th.
 
Hard to judge how important Balogun will be based on his career so far. I get that the fan community is over the moon right now, but they get that way every single time a dual national with any hype at all lands with the US. Adding another young striker to the mix certainly isn't a bad thing, but projecting 21 year olds who have only played a season and a half at a decent level is tough. CONCACAF is gonna be a physical challenge for him, that's for sure ... and he never looked comfortable with the banging in the Championship. Like a lot of 20-somethings in Europe, his next move is going to be critical for development. I doubt he gets in Arsenal's gameday squad, and he's not likely going to be comfortable going on loan for the third season in a row. Where ever he lands, I just hope he can secure playing time.
 
The USL Super League (women) is shifting gears and applying for Division 1 status with 8 initial franchises. Previously they were thought be be seeking initial approval as a Division 2 league, which would have set them up as a defacto minor league to NWSL, but this being America and all, the owners and league have decided to throw caution to the wind and go after the top slot. While NWSL is still rebuilding its rep after a scandal ridden couple of years, they do seem to have competent leadership now and finally have a decent relationship with the players union as well as a grown up CBA. They're also generating actual expansion fees for the first time and have plans to continue growing the league over the next 2-3 years. Personally, I think the time for the USL to shoot this shot was last year, but here we are ... once again facing the prospect of two leagues competing for a talent pool that's only deep enough for one. NASL called and said this was dumb, but carry on.

If this new league can manage to get up and running, I do think it will have a negative impact on US college soccer, which has been a game changing element of the US national team development program. More opportunities for a paycheck will see more young players forgoing the NCAA for pro soccer and pro development programs. I'm not optimistic about the USL's chances here or about the impact this will have on US womens soccer as a whole. My bet is that the new league will simply end up providing a couple of ersatz expansion teams to NWSL when they find this whole enterprise more difficult than it looks.

Worth noting that at least four of the announced franchises are located such as to be direct competition for existing NWSL franchises ... DC, Tampa (Orlando), Charlotte (NC/Cary/Raleigh), Spokane (Seattle) and Lexington KY (Louisville) ... but they haven't announced if the game calendars would overlap. Aligning with the European calendar might give the new league an advantage, and only Charlotte and DC would really struggle with the weather impact of a late summer to spring calendar that could be aligned with traditional international breaks and summer tournaments.

www.espn.com

USL Super League confirms cities for first season

The USL Super League formally announced the eight markets that will take part in the inaugural season set to begin in August 2024.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
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jeffbear said:
The USL Super League (women) is shifting gears and applying for Division 1 status with 8 initial franchises. Previously they were thought be be seeking initial approval as a Division 2 league, which would have set them up as a defacto minor league to NWSL, but this being America and all, the owners and league have decided to throw caution to the wind and go after the top slot. While NWSL is still rebuilding its rep after a scandal ridden couple of years, they do seem to have competent leadership now and finally have a decent relationship with the players union as well as a grown up CBA. They're also generating actual expansion fees for the first time and have plans to continue growing the league over the next 2-3 years. Personally, I think the time for the USL to shoot this shot was last year, but here we are ... once again facing the prospect of two leagues competing for a talent pool that's only deep enough for one. NASL called and said this was dumb, but carry on.

If this new league can manage to get up and running, I do think it will have a negative impact on US college soccer, which has been a game changing element of the US national team development program. More opportunities for a paycheck will see more young players forgoing the NCAA for pro soccer and pro development programs. I'm not optimistic about the USL's chances here or about the impact this will have on US womens soccer as a whole. My bet is that the new league will simply end up providing a couple of ersatz expansion teams to NWSL when they find this whole enterprise more difficult than it looks.

Worth noting that at least four of the announced franchises are located such as to be direct competition for existing NWSL franchises ... DC, Tampa (Orlando), Charlotte (NC/Cary/Raleigh), Spokane (Seattle) and Lexington KY (Louisville) ... but they haven't announced if the game calendars would overlap. Aligning with the European calendar might give the new league an advantage, and only Charlotte and DC would really struggle with the weather impact of a late summer to spring calendar that could be aligned with traditional international breaks and summer tournaments.

www.espn.com

USL Super League confirms cities for first season

The USL Super League formally announced the eight markets that will take part in the inaugural season set to begin in August 2024.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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I can’t see US Soccer sanctioning another Division 1 league.
 
MLS formally names San Diego as their new franchise and hits 30. Mo Mansour is the owner, with the increasingly traditional parade of minority partners including the Sycuan Tribe and Manny Machado. That should make board meetings fun, if nothing else. Expansion fee was $500 million, which is an increase of almost 50% over what Dave Tepper paid for the Charlotte franchise. Chances are pretty good that they'll add two more by the time the World Cup happens in 2026

fox5sandiego.com

San Diego announced as location for MLS expansion team

The Commissioner of Major League Soccer is holding a news conference at Snapdragon Stadium, where San Diego is expected to be announced as the location for the league’s 30th team.
fox5sandiego.com fox5sandiego.com
 
Catarina Macario ruled herself out for selection to the World Cup roster. She tore her ACL last June but said she’s not “physically ready” and is focusing on long-term recovery. She’s expected to move from Lyon to Chelsea in the summer. She’s only 23, so this won’t be her last kick at the cat, but it does delay the transition to a younger front line.
 
andyt said:
Catarina Macario ruled herself out for selection to the World Cup roster. She tore her ACL last June but said she’s not “physically ready” and is focusing on long-term recovery. She’s expected to move from Lyon to Chelsea in the summer. She’s only 23, so this won’t be her last kick at the cat, but it does delay the transition to a younger front line.
Click to expand...
Yes, and no on the last part. With Swanson and Macario out, chances are higher that Alyssa Thompson makes the squad and she's a literal child. Still, it's almost certainly going to mean that Alex Morgan plays a more central role, while I think Vladko was hoping to use her off the bench to save her legs. Hopefully it will also mean a firmed up role for Lynn Williams who is playing the best soccer of her career right now. As always the bigger problem for the US is finding three up front who play well off of each other. The talent level and depth up front are still off the charts even with the injury losses.
 
While Gregg Berhalter is still twisting in the wind, US Soccer announced the departure of interim coach Anthony Hudson to pursue other opportunities. Assistant BJ Callaghan will take charge for the Nations League and Gold Cup. Callaghan has been an assistant for 4 years.

www.espn.com

USMNT hires 2nd interim amid coaching search

B.J. Callaghan will replace Anthony Hudson as the USMNT's second interim manager while the search for a new coach continues, the USSF said Tuesday.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
So far as I can tell, Berhalter is interviewing for jobs in Europe. I think he's done twisting and ready to move on. This is just an extension of the interim situation while Crocker gets to work on the actual hiring process. Apparently Hudson either wanted to be considered for the permanent job or let loose to apply for other positions. Which is fine. I know the fan community is freaking out, but there's no reason for that. For some reason they have this wild idea that you just find a famous manager who's out of work, make a call and cut a big check. Nothing works like that. With World Cup qualifying a non-issue, the US can really concentrate on widening the player pool this summer. Results would be nice, but nobody's gonna give a crap about Nations League or the Gold Cup two weeks after they're over.
 
Reigning Ballon d’Or winner Karin Benzema is leaving Real Madrid and headed to the Saudi League. And Eden Hazard is also leaving by mutual consent.
 
The Saudis are gonna be throwing a lot of money around this summer. That experiment with CR7 went pretty well for them, apparently.
 
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