General Soccer Thread

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slide_into_first
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Re: General Soccer Thread

Post by slide_into_first »

click the one below to watch it on youtube
Last edited by slide_into_first on May 13 12, 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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slide_into_first
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Re: General Soccer Thread

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[/youtube]

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slide_into_first
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Re: General Soccer Thread

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MrSaigon

Re: General Soccer Thread

Post by MrSaigon »

Thanks.
Look at those stats: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=318011&cc=5901
I'm happy MU didn't win, but now that City has their$, I'll be rooting for anyone outside Manchester next year.

greenback44
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Re: General Soccer Thread

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I used to work with a guy who's a big ManU fan, which I gather is akin to being a big Red Sox fan. I think I'll congratulate him on ManU's big win today.

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Re: General Soccer Thread

Post by thrill »

greenback44 wrote:I used to work with a guy who's a big ManU fan, which I gather is akin to being a big Red Sox fan.
They're akin to the other loathsome AL East team.
slide_into_first wrote:How did QPR not get relegated?
Bolton needed to beat Stoke to relegate QPR.

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lukethedrifter
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Re: General Soccer Thread

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I'm getting a sense that this pro soccer thing is going to be more complicated than going pro in other American sports. Nephew finished is first season of college, got added to the U20 roster for games in S America this summer, had thoughts about transferring to different school, trained with DC United and will train with Colorado MLS team this summer and has started to hear things from pro teams.

So here is where I'm trying to figure out how to help out my sister if I can. She mentioned that she doesn't feel like she can stop him from signing a professional deal (nor is she sure she would want to) before he graduates if a good one comes along. Thing is, how to know what a good one is? GK's seem to play longer so maybe he doesn't hurt himself, career wise, by finishing his 4 yr degree but I don't think he feels that way. But there are sooooo many pro teams in so many places, how the hell do these young guys and their families figure out what a good option is for them? If you don't have good academic options it's one thing but he has a scholly to Georgetown so he would really be giving up a lot.

Thoughts?

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Re: General Soccer Thread

Post by JackofDiamonds »

Ask Bob Thrill about the team. I've always been one to push for going pro instead of college. He can go back to Georgetown afterwards if it doesn't pan out (though, probably not on scholarship).

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Re: General Soccer Thread

Post by thrill »

Other than quality of life, IE, where you live, MLS teams are pretty much interchangeable. He won't get better money at one rather than the other. That said, if playing time is important, there are a few teams he should avoid. If further development is important, there are a few teams he should try to latch onto. DC is a problem because Bill Hamid is like 20 and a total stud in goal. Chicago has a similar guy in Sean Johnson.

I'm not an expert on in's and out's of all this stuff, but I do know that there are some notoriously bad deals set up for young Americans. There's an agency called Traffic Sports that signs up young players, owns their rights and then send the players to teams that cut deals for them. There have been some really promising young youth internationals that sign with traffic sports, get sent off to some team in Europe and then never play and can't get a transfer because Traffic already made their money and have no interest in moving them.

College is honestly not a good option if he wants to take a real shot at being a pro. They only play like 18 games a year and their season is short, so the most important thing, daily reps and active game experience, suffers.

I assume he'll make himself eligible for the MLS entry draft and go from there. MLS is a potentially less lucrative, but much safer route. We develop keepers well here and like I said, there are some sketchy representation situations for young players who are looking to move overseas early. If he signs with a reputable agency, that's great, but if that's not an opportunity he should probably stay in here. MLS may be a longer route to the overall goal of Europe, but it's not like it kills the dream. Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Brad Friedel, Dominic Cervi, Troy Perkins, Joe Cannon and some other dudes started out in MLS and made it over.

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Re: General Soccer Thread

Post by lukethedrifter »

It's the overseas options that I think are worrisome. Are you available for representation?

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