FC Dallas
Soccer Potpourri
Recent stories I don’t link to because I’d only be adding churn to a widely covered topic
- Robbie Rogers declares his sexuality and leaves futbol
- Anything about Landon Donovan
MLS
- FC Dallas: The FC Dallas Way: Affiliate Program – Last week I linked to a story of LA’s youth program. Here’s a look at the very successful program in Dallas.
- Dave Laidig: Money & Performance in MLS – Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3
- WV Hooligan: Get your 2013 MLS team previews here.
- Matthew Doyle: Opta Chalkboards a new MLS feature
- Central Winger: More to possession stats than meets eye
- Kitsap Sun: Tucson turning into MLS’s Cactus League site
- L.E. Eisenmenger: MLS and diversity in media
- WV Hooligan: The Mess Of Discovery Claims
Interesting Reads(or Views)
Read the rest of this entry »
CCL(11-12) Attendance
I had a little extra time, so I put together this chart of the last three years attendance in the CONCACAF Champions League knockout rounds along with last year’s group phase numbers. As with all my posts, if you find any errors, please let me know by commenting.
There isn’t much we can glean from the numbers. Some of the stadiums outside of the USA, Canada and Mexico are small. Columbus draws terribly for this tournament, not unlike how they’ve been drawing in recent league play.
One thing to look for is if the change in the tourney’s structure effects group play attendance. Going from 4 groups of 4 to eliminating the preliminary rounds and going with 8 groups of three means there are 4 group games versus 6. Only the group winners advance, vs the top two in the old model, adding importance to each match. Whether that shows up at the gate is something we will find out shortly.
The MLS 500 Club – Dallas
The charter clubs of MLS are crossing the 500 regular season games played threshold this season. This is the third in the 9 part series with all time records in league play. Dallas played its 500th game on Wednesday. Colorado, New England and the Red Bulls will join the club this weekend.
Soccer Potpourri
MLS
- MLS soccer to train at Kino Stadium in Tucson
- Academy: Evaluations of the MLS Academies
- J Hutcherson: The Brooklyn Nets, San Jose Earthquakes, And Building Stadiums
Interesting Reads
- WC14-CONCACAF: David Beckham, MLS and the North Atlantic sporting chasm
- Shin Guardian: It’s Departure Time Again For MLS Scheduling
- David Hills: Said and Done
- Euro Club Attendance: Average Attendances Across Europe
Tourneys
- CONCACAF CL: Seattle and Santos book spots in quarterfinals
- Copa Sudamericana: Copa Sud Update
- UEFA CL: UEFA Champs League update
- Europa League: Europa League update/strong>
- WC18-Asia: Myanmar thrown out of 2018 WC qualifying
The Business of Soccer
- Guardian: Premier League TV deal relies on clubs’ exploits in Champions League
- Howard Hamilton: Entrepreneurship and Soccer Analytics
Soccer Potpourri – Some Tasty Story Links
USMNT
- Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know by now that Bob Bradley has been replaced as the USMNT coach. With everyone and their mother writing about it, I give you … Fake Sigi: Juergen Klinsmann to replace Bob Bradley as coach of USMNT
- Steve Davis:
U.S. players that may be helped, and hurt, by Klinsmann’s hiring
MLS
- A Fun Series from Houston: Be the GM, What would you do? – Part 1 – Part 2
- CONCACAF Champions League: Dallas with rare MLS CCL away win
Interesting Reads
- Steve Davis: Shifting calculus of the summer friendly season
- Seth Vertelney: Major League Soccer’s summer sideshow problem
- Simon Bird: Cutting edge gizmos that show how much pain footballers suffer during pre-season fitness drills
- ESPNSoccernet: Argentinian league to change
- Raphael Honigstein: Europe’s top clubs threaten FIFA revolt
- Guardian: Should European clubs revolt against FIFA?
- Guardian: Six key questions on why top clubs could stage a European revolt
- Independent: Click and buy: How scouting embraced the 21st century
- Soccermetrics: CONCACAF Club/League Coefficients: 2011-07-26 version
- FIFA: Mohamed bin Hammam banned from football for life by FIFA
- Africa: Soka Afrika sews together a string of issues to uncover the world of African football trafficking
- Turkey match-fixing: Season postponed until September
- Spain: Trouble in Paradise as Spanish league turns into two-horse race, just like the Old Firm
- Run of Play: Reenchanting The World
- Dexy’s Den: Expensive price for home grown talent
Tourneys
- Copa América: Luis Suárez and Diego Forlán shoot Uruguay to record 15th Copa América
- WC14: Thailand through, Palestine out of World Cup
- WC14: Burkino Faso among top African seeds
- CONCACAF Champions League: The CCL preliminary rounds get underway
Soccer Potpourri
Starter Fun
- Special 1 TV: Wayne’s Redemption
MLS
- Kyle Martino: MLS’s Strange Spending Practices
- Avery Raimondo: MLS Designated Player Dissection: Import Guti
- Steve Davis: Talking Tactics: Houston’s Set Pieces
- Kevin McCauley: MLS Tactics: FC Dallas Without David Ferreira
The Business of Soccer
- Guardian: Manchester United top Forbes List of World’s Richest Football Clubs
- Christopher Savino: Business Off The Pitch: Advantages of competition between kit suppliers and what MLS is missing out on
Around the World
- UnProfessional Foul: Sepp’s plan: Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money
- David Hills: Said and Done
- HexagonalBlog: A roundup of Central American Action
- Brotherly Game: A Lower Tier American League Player’s Story – Part 1 – Part 2
- Stephen Wade: Death and Violence Scar the Argentine Game
- Rob Hughes: Deep Reserves, Off the Field and on the Bench
- Independent: Wenger Failed to React When Chelsea Moved the Goalposts
- Keith Hickey: Where is America’s La Masia?
- Reuters: Relegation in Argentina – Is the System Fair?
Postscript
- Check out the attendance page and let me know if there are any improvements/additions that you’d like to see. Thanks.
Friday News and Views
MLS
- Vancouver: #1 overall SuperDraft pick Omar Salgado has been granted a waiver by FIFA and will be eligible to play before his 18th birthday. I saw Omar play during preseason in Arizona and he looks to be the real deal. Whitecaps fans are in for a treat.
- Ginge: MLS Apparently Institutes Gestapo-Like Tactics Against Supporters
- Maria Burns Ortiz: Major League Soccer is Poised to Overtake the NHL as the 4th Most Popular Professional Sports League in the U.S. – This piece has made the rounds already, but it’s here in case you missed it. Of course, it’s tough to fully support the proposition in the article title when hockey has 41 home games vs 17 in MLS.
- On Football: Why the Ortiz Post(see above) is an Example of Misleading Averages
- MLS UK: Two New Entries in the ‘Diary of an MLS Convert’ Series
- Guardian: MLS Football Quiz – I find it interesting that the Guardian is running this. Wonder if our friend, Glenn Williams MLS_UK website has anything to do with it?
- Stategy: 3 defenders a thing of the past?
Interesting Reads
- BBC: Cracking Coaching’s Final Frontier
- Game Intelligence: The Quiet Revolution: Russian Football’s Ominous Rise – Don’t know why the author chose the adjective ‘Ominous’ to describe the improving football in Russia.
- Best Eleven: Explanation of FIFA Rankings Point Calculation
Tournament News
- Copa Libertadores: Velez, Flu and Catolica victorious
US Development Academy Winter Showcase Pics
On the last day of the Winter Showcase ChivasUSA and FC Dallas Academy teams played. Here are pics from the U-18 clash.
US Development Academy Winter Showcase Pics
Some random picks from this terrific event in Phoenix.
MLS Tactics, La Liga TV Money, Player Stories, MLS Draft Info
MLS
- San Jose: How the Quakes Beat RBNY
- Rapids: How the Rapids Exploit Weakness
- Dallas: FCD Uses Harris to Befuddle Galaxy
- Locker room leadership; how it counts in MLS playoffs
- MLS Drafts Explained for a British Audience
- Timeline for Drafts(excluding SuperDraft)
- Jason Davis: On Ending Restrictions on Academy Signings
- Steve Davis: Cup Final Preview
- Jeff Carlisle: Cup Final Preview
Interesting Reads
- Kyle Martino: “Can you Play”, Don’t Ask the Athlete
- Gale Agbossoumonde: Regrets signing with Traffic
- The Run of Play: On talent and using it
- Jacob Steinberg: A terrific read about Jose Antonio Reyes
Around the World
- Brasileirao: 3 way race for Campeonato with 3 left to play
The Business of Soccer
- La Liga: TV Rights Deal Threatens Split