Soccer Europe

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The 20th MLS franchise to be in New York City? Posted: 24 Aug 2012 06:20 PM PDT If you're a soccer fan living in the New York metropolitan area like me, you can't help but notice that one of the big debates going on right now is that of the proposed expansion of MLS into New York City. Let me first add that I think this idea is risky, but it is one worth taking. I hope MLS makes New York it's 20th franchise. Let's take a look at the pros and the cons of the move: The Pros To really understand why such a deal is even being considered, you have to look at the geographical nature of the New York area. The new MLS team is considering expanding to Queens near the United States Tennis Center and Citi ,which is home to the New York Mets. Geographically the distance is around 20 miles between the proposed new site and the Red Bull Arena, the location for the other New York-area MLS team. In New York time, that might as well be on another planet. To get from the outer-boroughs and into New Jersey is an all-day journey even when using mass transit. To go from the outer-boroughs, or from Long Island, to Red Bull Arena you can either drive through two series of bridges and tunnels with the biggest city in the country in between (that's just one way), or you can take the train to Penn Station in midtown, get on the slow moving PATH, change trains once in New Jersey, and arrive at the Arena. My friend recently did the train-PATH route and it took him over 90 minutes from Brooklyn (a distance of about 18 miles). It is a miserable commute. Recently, the New Jersey Nets, of the NBA, played their last game and elected to move to Brooklyn. Virtually none of their fan base is expected to stay with their club despite the 14 mile move. That being said, the good news is that while the Red Bulls draw better crowds these days with numbers approaching 20,000; the huge market of Long Island and much of New York itself remains untapped to MLS. A second MLS team in Queens would not cannibalize the Red Bulls market. Instead, it would create more MLS fans. To build on the pros of the deal, you can see that some of the most successful MLS teams, in terms of passionate fanbases, are the newest ones.  Seattle, Portland and Toronto are prime examples of newer, successful teams. The reason being that these franchises did not have to endure the growing pains of the league. They walked into a much more established product. Now imagine that a huge segment of the already large New York base would walk into a new market and not have to get turned off by the antics of 90's era-MLS. The Red Bulls/Metrostars are still trying to win back fans it lost from the early days. The new New York team would not have this problem. The final big pro in this argument is that the investors in such a team are talking big money. Already, there are reports that a new stadium, costing over $300 million, is being planned. That would well exceed what Red Bull Arena cost to build and, thus far it is the nicest stadium in the league. Capital investment of that amount is too much to look beyond. The Cons While the pros overwhelm the cons in this debate, you have to at least understand why this move has some serious risk. The first is that while Long Island and most of New York City have a tough time getting to Red Bull Arena, it doesn't mean that the new team and the Red Bulls won't have to compete for media time in a very crowded media market that is dominated by two baseball teams, two football teams, two basketball teams, and three hockey teams. It's just as likely that a second team could create more soccer coverage, but there is also a pretty good chance that the limited soccer coverage that exists could just get divided between the teams. The New York area is big, but the sports networks are already cramped with a wide range of sports. On a personal note, I see the rumors flying that the new team could be called the Cosmos. I hope that this isn't true. A team needs a new identity. Most soccer fans in the United States have no recollection of the Cosmos of the late 70's and early 80's. That team failed because it wasn't built for long term success. It was a flash in the pan and that's not something the league should replicate. Go for it The bottom line is that MLS needs to go for this. No other expansion possibility offers this much opportunity. Soccer needs a big presence in the country's biggest city. The league is doing well these days and now is the perfect chance to go for the big time.

Liverpool FC weekly round-up: Reds top Hearts in anticipation of Manchester City Posted: 24 Aug 2012 06:00 PM PDT (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) Liverpool clashes with Manchester City Sunday afternoon, hoping to gain three points against the defending league champions. This will be the first of their three matches against top-end opponents stacked at the start of the 2012-2013 English Premier League campaign. Next weekend the Reds will host Arsenal, followed by a visit from arch-nemesis Manchester United in three weeks’ time. Fresh off a 1-0 win over Hearts in Edinburgh in the first leg of their Europa League qualifying round yesterday, Liverpool will want to carry on with another victory when they return home. Several big names were rested on Thursday including: Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez and Glen Johnson. While these high profile players were left in England’s northwest in anticipation of the game against City, other young and fringe players looked to make their mark and impress new boss Brendan Rodgers. One player that certainly did so was teenager Raheem Sterling. The young winger showed pace and enthusiasm in his first competitive start for Liverpool, and was always a nuisance to the Hearts defense blazing up and down the left flank for 90 minutes. An interesting position to watch on Sunday for Liverpool will be the center back that plays alongside Martin Skrtel. Daniel Agger, the Slovakian's normal CB partner, will miss the game through suspension due to his red card in the 3-0 loss at West Bromwich last Saturday. Jamie Carragher is the likely replacement, but many fans will want to see young Uruguayan Sebastian Coates in Rodgers' starting 11. Carragher has long been a solid servant of the club, but many will feel he has lost a step of speed and doesn't fit into Rodgers' short-passing, possession-based tactics. A radical move for the manager to make would be to play three defenders (Skrtel, Glen Johnson, and Jose Enrique), and field a more aggressive, attacking lineup. Against a team as dangerous as city, this may be unlikely. Finally, as the transfer window is inching nearer to a close, there is still much speculation surrounding potential Liverpool dealings. The long-rumored move of American Clint Dempsey from Fulham has caused all kinds of drama, with the American's current club having logged a formal complaint to the FA regarding Liverpool's continued pursuit of their player. Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin is also expected to complete a loan move, to the Merseyside club, within the next 24 hours. Both players would certainly help boost a Liverpool attack that has failed to convert chances into goals as of late.

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