Good morning all. It was a busy weekend, with the MLS Draft and US-Sweden friendly, as well as the full European soccer slate. I had to take a break from the blog on Sunday, but am back today with a full schedule of posts.
I’ll start the day with some news items to tide you over this morning:
The U.S. men’s national team is expected to unveil a new uniform this year. No word yet on what the design will look like but I am working to get some details on the new look.
Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio is headed back to South America on Tuesday on his quest to sign some offensive-minded midfielders. He is headed to Colombia and is expected to also visit Argentina.
New England draft pick Mike Videira is expected to head to Europe for some trials and would prefer signing abroad than with MLS. You can expect the Eastern Conference champions to make a strong push to convince the local boy to stay close to home and give the Revs a sorely-needed attacking midfield option.
Notre Dame defender Ryan Miller was selected by the Columbus Crew and NOT FC Dallas, as stated on Major League Soccer’s website over the weekend.
There was at least one trade consumated after the draft last Friday. It involved a veteran defender in the Eastern Conference heading West. I’ll provide the details later today. (The deal is the Curtin to Chivas USA deal I reported on this morning).
Speaking of the draft, here were my MLS Draft Grades following Friday’s draft.
I’ll be back shortly with some more posts so stay tuned.
Videira’s got some attacking skill but he’s really projected as a holding d-mid in the professional ranks…
I’ve watched Mike Videira play a few times here in Durham for Duke and he’s very skilled with the ball. I’d love to see him play a couple years with the MLS in the first team capacity and then head over the pond. I think the MLS will help toughen him up and be good for him.
Having said that, I would bet those student loans are fairly expensive and a paltry MLS salary isn’t going to help pay off Sally Mae.
Hincha Tim, I completely agree. I understand that there is marketing involved, but there arent’ that many US jerseys being sold as they continue to update them. I find it completely moronic that we haven’t decided on a jersey format at this point. There are small changes in the Dutch, Italian, Brazilian, and German kits, but they’re always recognizable. Always pretty much the same. And yet, we decide to make ours hideous like the MLS uniforms. Why can’t we just make a basic kit and stick to it?
I wish the USMNT would just stick to one uniform and make it a long term recognizable symbol of the team.
Ives, how do loans work as far as working into the MLS salary cap, etc.? Also, how would a transfer fee work (it seems all the transfers so far have been when they’re free, the player’s contract is up. What about transfers from S.A. where MLS teams might be able to pay a modest transfer fee of 300K or 400K?)
If I was a young and talented player who was drafted by the Revolution, I’d definitely look abroad too. You might never get another opportunity.
I will guess it is Vanney, Mendes, Curtin, or Tyrone Marshall.
It looks that Marcelo Gallardo who is playing now in France (PSG), it’s going to play in the mls.
Posted by: tinchox | January 21, 2008 at 10:16 AM
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Where did you hear this rumor?
It looks that Marcelo Gallardo who is playing now in France (PSG), it’s going to play in the mls.
Hey Ives,
Is Osorio heading back down to complete this “double swoop” you were talking of? Or is he just looking for some new players? Also, what are the chances are possible left-wing signing is Colombian Elkin Soto, who Red Bull previously made contact with last year I think.