New York City FC

So there it is. As expected MLS has announced an expansion team in New York City and the Manchester City FC is the primary owner.

NEWS: #MLS announces New York expansion team: New York City FC (@nycfc) --> soc.cr/lfiAY#NYCFC
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 21, 2013

I'm not sure exactly how to feel about this. On one hand its nice to see someone ready to spend, that amount of money on soccer in the US, but on the other hand I'm wary about the direct involvement of Manchester City.

Previously the reports focused on Manchester City's owners rather than the club itself, and while it may seem like semantics to some, it would be easier for NYCFC to have its own independent identity had been Sheik Mansour personally owning the club rather than Manchester City. 

Chivas USA has shown all too well how these kinds of brand extensions are extremely difficult in soccer. You reject the people who dislike the mother brand and many of the brand loyals of the mother brand will just see the extension as a cheap knock off.

Manchester City has been doing good things in New York and across the country building soccer fields and supporting talent development, but I fear that New York City FC will fail if this is just an attempt, at creating new Manchester City fans and selling more MCFC shirts.

This is a risky move for MLS as it would reflect very negatively on MLS' image and brand if this experiment fails, something the league doesn't need as it has been going through a very positive development over the last decade.

Breaking through in the New York media landscape would be a major accomplishment for MLS, but the stakes are high.

It will be very fascinating to see what NYCFC does in terms of brand and identity, and what the specific relationship to Manchester City will be.

Why the New York Cosmos will likely fail

What makes a brand a good brand? If you boil it down, it is all about the brand promise. You can have a product of sub-par quality, but if what you are promising consumer is a low price, rather than a quality product, you can still have a good brand, as you are giving consumers what they expect.

That is exactly what good branding is about. Defining what your product is, find out, who wants that, tell them that they can get from you, and finally ensuring that what they are receiving is what they expected.

These core principles of branding, are extremely relevant when you talk about the "re-birth" of the NASL and the New York Cosmos. When a brand is reintroduced by new owners, you have to deal with the fact, that you infact do not own the brand fully. The fans of the original NASL and its team, have strong associations of the meanings and connotations of those brand, and the new NASL will have to deal with these expectations.

This is where, it becomes problematic for the NASL 2.0 and Cosmos 2.0. Because what NASL 1.0 stood for was glamour, foreign stars, and a somewhat high standard of play, by virtue of these old, foreign stars. When people think Cosmos they think Pele and Beckenbauer. When you think of the LA Aztecs they think of Johann Cruyff and George Best. Ironically, these are also the players associated with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in addition to Gerd Müller.

So when a fan of the original Strikers go to a Strikers game in 2013, he or she is bound to be disappointed when its a Andy Herron, rather than a Gerd Müller leading the attack.

There are high expectations generally associated with the old NASL names, and by virtue of the money and infrastructure involved the NASL, I have a hard time seeing those expectations being met. Especially when it comes to the Cosmos. They are THE team, that people remember from the original NASL and I am very much curious as to how, they will connect the brand to the product that they will be fielding in the fall.

Some might point to the Cascadian teams and ask why they work, so well in spite of the issues I have put forth, but I see the reason why those brands fit and work well, is that they transcended the NASL and continued in other forms throughout the years and stayed relevant to the community.

When the Cosmos are back and when the suggestion is made that Chivas USA rebrand to the Aztecs, consumers aren't so stupid that they think that this is the old team coming back. There might be some immediate curiosity, but also a strong sense of scepticism, as it is clear that new people and new organizations are trying to capitalize and monetize on an old brand that the consumers held dear, without having a real connection to organization and the community behind the original brand name.

These Cosmos name carry a lot of baggage and it i to be used successfully it will take a huge marketing and community effort by the front office, to tell the fans of the original team, why this new team should be accepted as the Cosmos and why, what will see, will be very different from what they saw then.

If that can be done I will applaud them. Not only for succeeding with such a huge task, but I also think that succeeding with this will be to a benefit for American soccer.

Good luck Cosmos - you'll need it.

Wilhelmsson moving to UAE, will stay at Galaxy if DP

Wilhelmsson is moving to the United Arab Emirates to play, according to Swedish website fotbollskanalen.se. Wilhelmsson's agent confirms that the players want to move back to the area as "the soccer, life, and circumstances there are good. So that is the main target right now." The agent adds: "It could even be a continuation in MLS, but only if he becomes a player outside of the salary cap."
In other words, Bruce Arena can keep Wilhelmsson, but I doubt that he and the Galaxy management is ready to use a DP spot on an aging Swede.

On Cascadia Cup and MLS

So there has been a big controversy over the fact, that MLS has tried to trademark the "Cascadia Cup" name. A lot of accusations of stealing has been thrown around, and there hasn't exactly been a public dialogue.

I write the following, obviously without having all information, and should new information come my way I will adapt my stance accordingly.

So, MLS tries to trademark "Cascadia Cup". Whats so wrong with that? If it is indeed true, that they wanted to do it, to protect it from being stolen from someone not related to the soccer environment in Cascadia, thats a fair point. Though the way the went about it was wrong. Everyone knows, that the Cascadians are a proud bunch of people, who make a point out of being there before MLS was around. So rather than discretely filing for the trademark in court, MLS representatives should have contacted the supporters groups and said: "Neither of us is interested in the name being highjacked, how do we best protect it?"

Some have asked why the supporters groups hadn't already trademarked it, and to that I answer: They're soccer fans, not an organized business. They probably never even thought of the necessity, and because MLS didn't take a collaborative approach with the supporters groups, they are perceiving MLS to be exploiting the fact, that they didn't do this.

MLS lives of its fans, and the fans in Cascadia are a source of great PR for the league. MLS should immediately choice a more collaborative approach, and show the sports fans of North America, that MLS is a league that sees the fans as partners, rather than milking cows. For sports leagues and teams, fans are not just consumers, but co-producers. When their actions and communication fail to acknowledge this, they end up looking bad.

Diskerud still open to Norway

So Mikkel Diskerud is part of the January camp. Good he is talented young player, who could be a good player for the US.

However until the qualifiers nothing is certain.

As late as October 2012 Diskerud was asked by a Norwegian newspaper: "Do you want to play for Norway?" To this Diskerud replied: "Yes, I do. But I do not think Drillo (the Norwegian coach) wants me - based on what he said earlier - and I am not sure that I want to play in Drillo's preferred system."

What to make of this? Not sure, but it does show how international soccer is complex, when it comes to young dual citizens. Norway isn't like to change their coach anytime soon and such Diskerud will probably stay with the US. But if I was Klinsmann I'd bring him to Honduras and give him a few minutes if possible, just in case.

The role of unions in North American soccer

Unions can be a highly controversial topic, as it touches upon some of people's basic political opinions. But at the risk of alienating readers I will delve into this topic.

With its single entity structure and its USSF sanctioned status as the only Division I league in America, MLS has a monopoly on top tier league soccer in the US. As is it is employers usually hold bargaining power over the majority of workers as they have more resources available, but when the employer has a monopoly the workers are few alternatives, and the ones they have have big consequences. In this case it would mean a lower level of soccer, or moving to another country, both of which would mean big changes in either the careers, the personal lives or both of the players.

This position has allowed MLS to keep costs down, which not only helped them in the early formative years, but also continues to be a source of pride (source) for the league. As many American and Canadian players have gone to college prior to their career and many seem to have studied business, they might have the a bigger appreciation and understanding of the necessity of this, but as employees with bargaining power that is comparatively smaller than their counterparts in other leagues as they have a harder time pitting the teams against each other for the players' benefit, they need another tool.

This tool is the players' union. It is the union that gave the players the leverage pressure MLS to raise the minimum wage for developmental players from $12.900 to $33.750 as soon the economics of the league allowed it. It is also exactly these players that the players' union should fight for. The top players have the value of their skills to get non-trade clauses, and other extra benefits, but for the young guys, they need the union the ensure that they have proper health care, some level of job security, and other somewhat quite rights. Ensuring these basic rights will also allow the players to focus more on their career and develop as players.

The fact that the MLSPU has focused on job security (guaranteed contracts) and the minimum salary, rather than more grander demands, show that they acknowledge that they are in a completely different situation than the NHL players' association, and that this is responsible representation of player interests, rather than class warfare.

One overlooked issue however, is the position of semi-pro players in the US and Canada. MLSPU only represents MLS players, and Eddie Pope confirmed to me via Twitter, that despite the fact that they can seek advice from MLSPU, there is no union for NASL, USL-Pro CSL players.

I think Eddie Pope and the rest of MLSPU should consider a change, where they go from being a league specific union, to representing the interests of all professional soccer players in the US and Canada. I am certain that the semi-pro players have an even more urgent need for representation to help them. Not so much to increase wages, but more so to ensure the basic things that allow them to improve their quality of life, but also to help them with career advice and career planning, that will help them make choices that are good, not just for their career, but also their lives.

Lessons of the Chicago Rhythm

One thing I will recommend is for my reader to subscribe to the Pitch Invasion podcast by Tom Dunmore and Peter Wilt. They get really good interviews and really delve into topics that other parts of the North American bloggosphere doesn't manage to do in the same degree.

On the most recent podcast Peter Wilt talks about the process of starting up the Chicago Fire 15 years ago. How he had to fight against Nike to get the "Fire" name rather than the team name being the "Chicago Rhythm". While some people might dislike the Fire name it is a lot better than the Rhythm. I also like how Wilt made an effort out of going against the trend the late 90ies with cartoonish logos and colours for sports team in North America. This decision seems to have been validated by the fact that most other original MLS teams have rebranded themselves, either with a new logo and colours like the Galaxy and the Rapids or a total change including the name like Sporting KC and FC Dallas.

Some MLS 2.0 fans or Europeans tend to look at the early MLS team names, colours and logos as silly, and while there is merit to this opinion, it is important to understand why. MLS was brand new, wanted to be major league at an instant, and in that situation it can be tempting to just go with current fads and trends, rather than trying to build an identity that can last.

While there have been minor adjustments, the look of the Chicago Fire, D.C. United, and to some extent the Columbus Crew, has been consistant since they joined the league. This shows, that the identity and the symbols to represent it, have been chosen in a manner that has reflected over which community the team is in, and how to resonate with that in the long run.

I think this is a good lesson, no matter if the context in soccer or business in general. Go about your business in a way that reflects your identity. If you let fads and trends control your business plan, you as a business runs the risk of becomming a fad itself.

Soccer Newsday column on Canadian World Cup qualification

Another column on Soccer Newsday:´
I've reflected over the Canadian games against Panama, the results, what they meant, and what a qualification to the hex and to Brazil could do for Canadian soccer.

Loss must not dash Canadian World Cup hopesbit.ly/QFSMgj #CanMNT #CMNT #CanWNT
— Soccer Newsday (@SoccerNewsday) September 12, 2012

"Where is our Jogi?"

Full disclosure: I watched the Canada game last night (what an awesome result) and then caught the last part of the US game afterwards. Though I still feel the following holds merit:

So. The first US loss to a Caribbean country since 1969. What to make of it?

After a while with Klinsmann as coach, I think it has become clear what his strengths and weaknesses are. He is a great motivational speaker that can bring something out in players on special occasions, but he has also shown clear faults in his tactical understanding of the game. Based on the last part of the Jamaica game and many other games, the US has shown a lacking ability to impose their will on teams and really dominate the game.

If you have such a situation either pick different players or pick a different tactic. There is not even any development in the game of the US. And I think this is down to the skills of Herr Klinsmann. As Germany coach, he was the one to inspire the players to believe they could do it and Joachim Löw, was the one that told them how to do it.

I saw this challenge from the beginning and the exact day that Klinsmann was announced I pointed out the need for a tactically savvy assistant:



And it seems clear that neither Andreas Herzog or Martin Vasquez are the assistant that Klinsmann needs. The US national IS better than Jamaica. They should have won, and with the right player choices and tactical approach it could have been won.

This falls back on both Sunil Gulati and Klinsmann, but in the end it was probably Klinsmann's decision and he needs to realize his own shortcomings.

Fans of the US team should rightfully ask "Where is our Jogi?", because the team needs him.

Christian Wilhelmsson signs for LA Galaxy. Not a DP.

So Christian Wilhelmsson, former Nantes, Roma, Anderlecht and Bolton player, whom LA confirmed is on trial with the club, has confirmed personally to Swedish media that he has signed with the LA side. He had offers from Russia, Qatar and Dubai, but preferred MLS and the Galaxy. He compliments the rising quality of the league and hopes to stay on the Swedish national team. He also says he had offers that paid more, but the chance to play in MLS and live in LA was worth more. Fotballskanalen.se also reports that he won't be a designated player, but will earn $300.000 a year on a 6 month contract with an option for 3 more years. How the hell can LA afford that?

Post script:
I just noticed, that the interview where Wilhelmsson confirms the contract is from SUNDAY the 2nd and the salary article is from last Thursday. Why hasn't LA confirmed anything yet, when Wilhelmsson is speaking openly about it in Swedish media?

Post script 2:
Just to underline: The interview was made the day after the Arena confirmation of the trial, where Wilhelmsson confirms to have signed contract. If it is signed, why isn't LA announcing it?

The Cleetus case and why MLS must sometimes sell big names

Whenever a talented MLS player is transfered to a European league, there is always someone who starts complaining, that MLS will never become a top tier league, if they sell their biggest players.

This idea is partially true, but mostly wrong.

MLS of today is a developmental league. Some people might oppose to that, but the way soccer has developed it is really only La Liga, the Premier League and perhaps the Bundesliga, that cannot be described that way. Most of the best players in Ligue 1, Serie A, the Eredivisie leave for bigger and better leagues and I'm sure thats company MLS and its fans wouldn't mind being a part of.

The thing about players is that most of them are ambitious people. They want to be the best and play with the best, and when you as a club want to sign a player you need to convince them that along of an acceptable salary you can help them achieve that goal. MLS is a good league yes, but there are plenty of leagues, where the quality is higher and the salary is better. Consequently, what MLS must do to attract talent, is tell the players that what it can offer them, is a good league to develop in and when the right offer comes from a foreign club, they won't stand in the way (Unlike the Clint Mathis to Bayern München situation). If MLS and its clubs has a reputation of standing in the way of the players getting to bigger clubs, it will become harder for them to attract the talented players, both foreign and domestic, and this will have a negative impact on the league.

Obviously MLS shouldn't sell any asset at a discount rate, and big efforts should be made at convincing players to stay, but as we saw with Clint Mathis, there are also big downsides to forcing a player to stay, that saw a chance to move on.

Post script:
A more contemporary example: If Fredy Montero decides that he wants to go to a top European league and a club fields a good offer, MLS should accept it. Yes, MLS would lose a top player, but they would earn a good buck and it would send the signal to young South Americans like Montero that MLS is a good, stable league to develop in, in order to get recruited by a top European team and being that stepping stone will help MLS increase its quality as more talented players go there to be spotted.

New Soccer Newsday column: Women's soccer and MLS

My weekly column on Soccer Newsday got moved to Wednesday, but go give it a read.

CanWNT Success Creates Chance For MLS To Unite Gendersbit.ly/Rhhvdu#canwnt #cwnt #whitecapsfc #whitecaps #mls #wwc #wpsl #wleague
— Soccer Newsday (@SoccerNewsday) August 15, 2012

Sporting KC and why soccer is more than an immigrant sport

So I have these friends from Edmonton, Alberta, and when I told them about my interest in North American soccer, they rejected any interest any interest in soccer in North America outside of groups of recent immigrants and their kids.

I've heard this many times and in different versions and I've never been able to fit it to my impression of North American soccer fandom.

That is why the outburst of passion that we have witnessed around Sporting Kansas City. This isn't New York or Chicago. This isn't a multicultural metropolis that attracts people from all the world every day. This is heartland America. And they love soccer.

Surveys show that soccer, not MLS, but soccer in general has surpassed hockey in popularity in the US, and what we see in KC is that it is not just because of recent immigration, but a general embrace of soccer by Americans.

It is however also clear, that it is not enough, just offering soccer. You new to have a strategy that shows the local community that the organization is a passionate part of it and that it is committed to creating a winning team.

Americans are soccer fans, but what it takes for American soccer to capitalize on that is a commitment to the community and the fan experience.

Something about Hoilett, myself and this site

Guess what? People actually read this blog. Some guy (Mike Firpo) even thought that what I write here has quality enough for me to write for his site: www.soccernewsday.com.

Today I had my first piece about David Hoilett, which I think all of you guys should read.

I'm really honoured to have the opportunity to write for what will hopefully be a bigger audience and that Mike has faith in my writing abilities. I hope to repay that faith.

It does however also have an impact on this site. Everything Canada will now be on my Soccer Newsday column and as such this site will get a more American flavour. Though everytime I write a column I'll post a link for it here.

Again. Thank you Mike. Really.

Dispatches from Central Europe

So I go on holiday by train through Europe and all of a sudden MLS goes crazy!



Toronto looses Koevermans, trades for Hassli goes on a winning streak and has actually overtaken the Timbers on goal differential.

On that notes it seems as if it didn't help firing John Spencerp and that Portland is just a poor team.

The Galaxy also seems to have finally gotten their mojo back and it is this kind of late season resurgence that could help the 2012 Galaxy copy the 2005 Galaxy and help them win the entire tournament considering the goals by Keane and the quality play of the DPs in LA, a successful play-off run could true show the value of high quality DPs.

Mariner will save Toronto FC from relegation

Had MLS had relegation TFC would be in big problems. Especially had they continued with Winter. Having seen the team under Mariner, it is now clear that Winter lacked the ability to  instill fire, passion and the willingness to fight in the players. Personally I liked what Winter was trying to do, but soccer is also about winning, about grit and fight, and the TFC of Winter lacked that.


Should MLS decide to introduce relegation tomorrow, I'm not sure if TFC would get relegated. Under Mariner they have gotten 1.25 PPG and this would mean 33 points when the season ends. This would obviously not lead to play-off participation, but in leagues with relegation and similar amount of games 33 points often would save a team from relegation, and I am also pretty sure TFC will get more points than that.


So whats the point of this, you'd might ask? Well, it shows how TFC has changed. Under Winter I almost expected TFC to lose every time (which they did), but with Mariner I really believe that we can get something out of it. Mariner has only lost two games (!) and they comeback against the Whitecaps shows that Mariner has created a team, that fights to the end and it if they sign a proper defender after the de Guzman trade, unlike the Aceval and that other guy they signed in the off-season, I think we could see a second half surge that would save Toronto from the nonexistent relegation and give the fans something to be happy about and something to hope for in the future. 

John Spencer chopped down

So that was it for John Spencer in Portland. While I find both the Timbers and John Spencer likable, I can't really say I'm surprised. After finishing 6th in the West (12th overall) with 42 points (1,24PPG) a lot of people, including myself, were expecting Portland to do better in this season, in large part because of people expecting Kris Boyd to be goal scorer that he was at Rangers.


After 19 points in 17 games (1,12PPG, 8th in the West, 16th overall), Gavin Wilkinson and Merritt Paulson had to decide whether or not John Spencer could right the ship. With only 16 goals for Portland and only 5 for Boyd, its easy to see where the problem is and the task for the new coach will be to introduce a style of play that will either give Boyd more scoring chances or work with Boyd to make him convert more of the chances he gets.


Who knows? But good luck to Merritt Paulson with putting together a good team, Portland deserves that.

The truth about TFC and MLS (sort of)

So I finally convinced someone to watch MLS with me and thanks to an early kick-off I could watch TFC play against Philly at 22pm Danish time along with my sister's boyfriend. It was cool to share it with someone else here, but I was also curious about what his thoughts on the level and style of play would be. If you have an emotional attachment to something, it is easier to unconsciously perceive it as better than it perhaps is, so it was fun getting his more independent opinion. This was the result:


He found that it was easy to see that it was a game of two bottom teams, but not a relegation fight, but was very impressed by the speed of the game. He was a bit ambivalent about the quality of the passing as there were many very good diagonal crosses (especially from Philly), but also many missed passes and bad runs.


On the more than well-known topic of the TFC defense, he noticed how they were playing very compact, but that they seemed to lack communication and little happened going forward from them.


On the other hand he was very impressed by the the wide play of Philadelphia, but also missed more attempts from outside the box from both teams.


In the end he was overall impressed with MLS and is looking forward to watching two better teams play.


Do we have a convert? I don't know yet. But he has an open mind and I will continue to expose him to the league. 

The Impact of Montreal's player strategy

#IMFC now have 10 players on their squad over 30 years old. 5 of whom are over 35. They are officially the Golden Girls of #MLS
— Bobby Brasz (@BobbyBrizzo) juli 6, 2012

This tweet made me chuckle, but also made me think about the pros and cons of having an old squad in the first season.


In the Montreal-Kansas City game the Impact's starting 11 had an average age of 27,8. This was however without players such as Matteo Ferrari (32), Bernardo Corradi (36) or Eduardo Sebrango (39).


Being an expansion team is difficult. Most of the players haven't played together before and at the same time you need to convince the local citizens of your product. In that sense having an older team in the beginning makes sense. You can use the experience of the old players to get instant success, which will help you established the team in the market (Yes, Montreal needs to reestablished itself - there is a huge difference between selling out the old Stade Saputo in the NASL and the new Stade Saputo in MLS.). 


With that in mind it makes sense for Joey and the Impact to go after players such as Ferrari, Corradi, Rivas, Di Vaio and Nesta. However, the strategy doesn't really seemed to have worked. The instant success hasn't appeared. They aren't Toronto FC bad (then again, who is?), but if you are going with older players in order to achieve something now, you can't really be happy about being behind New England in the standings.


At the same time Montreal soccer fans has failed to make an impact in the stands. They filled the Olympic Stadium for the home opener against Chicago and against LA, but after the attendance wouldn't even fill the new Stade Saputo. After moving into their right home, the Impact's attendance has collapsed with only 12.000 against Houston and Kansas City and only 14.000 against arch-rival Toronto.


Being a Toronto FC fan I could easily use this to make fun off and ridicule Montreal, but I won't. I want soccer to grow in North America and I want every single team to have some degree of success (obviously everyone can't have that at the same time) and I want them to fill their stadiums with passionate fans. Seeing 12.000 at Stade Saputo makes me sad and I hope Joey Saputo is taking this seriously and hopefully knows that in the long run, it will take more than signing Alessandro Nesta to put people in the seats.

MLS and its embracement of Canada

Whenever I talk about about MLS I try to make an effort out of calling it a NORTH American  league, rather than just an American one. Obviously it hasn't always been that way, not only because the league didn't have a Canadian team, but also in the way the MLS website and its premiere podcast ExtraTime Radio have covered Canadian content.


Even after Toronto FC's entry, the league was still very much American, and the news was primarily focused on the USMNT and almost all stories had an American angle.


Having followed the league for 10 years, and having paid special attention to Canadian content the last 5, I can really say the the coverage this year has been amazing. Yes, Montreal also joined the league, but last years when it was Vancouver and Toronto, the quality wasn't there yet. The season there has been an abundance of stories about Canadian soccer in and of itself. No American angle, just Canadian soccer. The CMNT has received more prominence and Canadian players abroad have been covered more. 


MLS has stepped up its game, and embraced and included Canada, and I for one, applaud it.


P.S.
 I just have to point out this tweet:

MLS is a North American league, NOT an American league. @extratimeradio
— Henrik Høgholt Lønne (@henrikloenne) January 24, 2012

If I put on my megalomaniac hat, I'd like to think it changed after that ;-)