FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Let's hope he can head off to a good club in a solid league. Preferably La Liga, EPL, or Serie A, Bundesliga.

Encouraging to see more American's getting chances abroad. Not sure if it's all early enough to allow them to get settled and get enough time to truly benefit them in 2010, but an exciting time anyway.

Its ironic, good, solid, proven MLS players can't get good money from the league and have to go abroad but washed up risks (hello Denilson) get 3 or 4 times what he's asking for no problem. Good for him if he leaves, the league really needs to address this cap

The cap is the biggest problem with the MLS for sure, but if they could pay him more they would. Hes kenny cooper for pele's sake... the sport still isn't big enough here to compete financially overseas. Close, maybe. Hopefully in 20 years or the sport will be a lot bigger here (it's grown significantly in the last decade alone) and the money will start to flow in to clubs so they can keep their stars and even import a few.

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 10:59 AM ET  11.22 by Red Devils99

Its ironic, good, solid, proven MLS players can't get good money from the league and have to go abroad but washed up risks (hello Denilson) get 3 or 4 times what he's asking for no problem. Good for him if he leaves, the league really needs to address this cap

yes, they need to drop even more money despite the fact that only a few teams are truly profitable O.o

does the cap need to be up'ed?? yes it does...
can we, as a league, truly afford it right now?? no we cant...

the cap will increase after the 09' season, but not as much as everyone is wishing....

anyhow, even if cooper was offered DP money to renew his contract, he'd still make the move abroad... the competiveness in the MLS is not to the level we'd want our better players playing in.....

bundesliga seems a great fit for cooper, IMO...

Hope it happens and I agree with The Special One. May he be transfered to one of the better leagues in Europe, La Liga, Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, where we can all check on his progress.

I hope its not one of the Scandinavian leagues.

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 12:31 PM ET  11.22 by Otergod

yes, they need to drop even more money despite the fact that only a few teams are truly profitable O.odoes the cap need to be up'ed?? yes it does...can we, as a league, truly afford it right now?? no we cant...the cap will increase after the 09' season, but not as much as everyone is wishing....anyhow, even if cooper was offered DP money to renew his contract, he'd still make the move abroad... the competiveness in the MLS is not to the level we'd want our better players playing in..... bundesliga seems a great fit for cooper, IMO...

Otergod, I wouldn't say the league is that much financial peril. Of course everyone will be hurt by the current economic situation but I don't think the cap is linked in any way to revenues, its an arbitrary number. You don't necessarily have to bump the cap significantly, but, its how you account for it (DP players perhaps counting less, drafted/academy players not counting fully, etc). I'm sure Cooper would stay if the money is right, and Europe isn't exactly flushed with cash either (except Man City). Its a classic case of do you sell from a business perspective or do you keep him and try and grow your league. Are you a feeder league or do you want to build something? He seems open to staying, its just a money thing. Considering they sold Edu and Altidore this summer, plus Donovan is all but gone, the league is doing ok from a transfer fee revenue.

$325k-$375k per year for the 2nd leading scorer and one of only few truly gifted players in the league?? that's mickey mouse.

oter/reddevil, i think were at a critical time for the mls, do we pay stars we develop and forego the aging big name (currently we cant do both) or send them off to greener pastures to make better money overseas. im not sure theres an answer i like

Now see this is why the MLS never gets better. They don't keep the talent they have. The teams are too set on finding a older, more washed up player from Europe, that is ending his career in years to come and give him loads of money then growing a pair and offering a young extremely talented player the kind of money he deserves.

QUOTE(#11):

Originally posted 12:27 AM ET  11.23 by 1231

Now see this is why the MLS never gets better. They don't keep the talent they have. The teams are too set on finding a older, more washed up player from Europe, that is ending his career in years to come and give him loads of money then growing a pair and offering a young extremely talented player the kind of money he deserves.

Thats the problem with MLS: no long term vision. It's not about trying to get that 10 year old kid to put on a Kenny Cooper jersey, its getting a Beckham shirt on his back. It's not about taking their time and building a generation of fans, its frantically trying to pick up casual people now. In the 30's, the NFL almost went out of business. So obviously it didn't become the force it is overnight. It took generations. Too bad the brass at MLS headquarters can't see past next Thursday....

Someone will break that mold, the one where superstar has-beens only get DP money. It's probably not going to be Kenny Cooper. If Adu and Landon couldn't get it, Cooper doesn't stand a chance.
At some point MLS will start to handsomely reward what it has here, maybe then they can ask for higher transfer fees when these players are enticed by a Euro club.
Hopefully Cooper won't be going to a Scandinavian league, although with his size it wouldn't surprise me. Kenny, if it's not one of the big leagues in Europe, just stay home collecting good pay.

QUOTE(#9):

Originally posted 01:45 PM ET  11.22 by PootieTang: Derby Day

$325k-$375k per year for the 2nd leading scorer and one of only few truly gifted players in the league?? that's mickey mouse.

~400k is not mickey mouse when your league has a salary cap of >3M... get a clue

QUOTE(#10):

Originally posted 11:53 PM ET  11.22 by Pawn

oter/reddevil, i think were at a critical time for the mls, do we pay stars we develop and forego the aging big name (currently we cant do both) or send them off to greener pastures to make better money overseas. im not sure theres an answer i like

at the moment, selling our talent and producing more is the only route.... until teams can get out of the Red, upping up the cap by all that much seems futile.... after the 09' season, we'll see an increase in the cap, but not that much...

things the MLS need to get:

-better tv rights
-improved Dev. salaries
-improved salary cap
-improved youth development

i think the TV rights needs to come first.... the other 3 can go in any order and still make sense.... ive been a big fan of the MLS working with a cable provider like TBS, TNT or even FX and have the air the games..... for the fans, i heard that MLSlive.tv is going to be Free next season, but airing commercials during halftime (or something like that)...

there are alot of things that need to improve, but given the tough economy and the fact that we are still fighting for consistant fans i dont see an increase in the cap that would keep all our talent home being the best option.....

QUOTE(#12):

Originally posted 01:20 AM ET  11.23 by Red Devils99

Thats the problem with MLS: no long term vision.

i think youre right, the original purpose of the mls (if im remembering correctly, correct me if im wrong) was to assist in developing local talent for the usmnt, our players just couldnt get good enough when they werent playing year round. in that respect, i think its fine if hte mls is similar to the brazilian or dutch leagues, developing talent for the big leagues while making the mnt better and cooper going overseas is a massive success
however, the whole dp thing put a twist on it, where do we go from here?

QUOTE(#14):

Originally posted 01:13 PM ET  11.23 by Otergod

~400k is not mickey mouse when your league has a salary cap of >3M... get a clue

It is mickey mouse in the grand scheme of things. The league isn't as poor as it makes itself out to be. By no means are they flushed with cash, but, you have to pay for quality. One of the problems with the cap isn't strictly the number, its how players are accounted for. They need to look at that, maybe re-signing your own guy doesn't count fully against the cap (like the Larry Bird rule in the NBA) or DP players don't count as much as they do since its the individual teams that foot most of that bill, not the central player fund. If you're only spending 3M on players per team, then what are they doing with the rest of the money? They raked in over 12M in transfter fees this summer, plus they're going to score $80M is expansion fees from this round of expansion (and they've already brought in over $120M in fees from Seattle, SJ, Toronto and Philly). I realise certain people who bled money the first 10 years deserved a lot of that revenue to make up their losses, but, the financial situation is a lot more stable now than it was before. ESPN is actually paying a fee, thats a big step. The league is afraid to open the books because the CBA is up at the end of next season, they'd have no grounds to justify paying a player on the roster $24K a team.
I can't help but feel that in some respects, its still Minor League Soccer in how they operate. They want to be taken seriously but they're too arogant to change and evolve. They're too stuck up trying to be the anti-NASL to see how they alienate their fanbase. Get an actual soccer guy in charge, not an NFL Europe reject.

reddevil- i had this elaborate post written but decided against it....

to put it simple, the quality of income is going to slow with the ending of the expansions in the near future.... tv rights need improving but are stuck through 2013 (if i recall from Ives correctly)....

i agree that the cap needs to improve, and it will after 09', but i simply dont think it'll increase nearly as much as most people are hoping... and i know you kept claiming that part of re-signings and DP cost shouldnt count as much towards the cap to open up more for the rest of the roster, but that money still comes from some where.... the league still has to pay it and you may as well inc. the cap at that point....

in my opinion, i would rather the league take it cautious and thrive, rather then open their sails and hope all works well...

QUOTE(#18):

Originally posted 11:35 PM ET  11.23 by Otergod

in my opinion, i would rather the league take it cautious and thrive, rather then open their sails and hope all works well...

I believe they're at the point where they need to open it up. I can understand taking time and being cautious before, but, soccer isn't the dirty little secret anymore. I'm not saying go and double the cap and add all these mechinisms to essentially make it redundant, but you have to open it up some. Allow the teams more autonomy. Much like the DP, have teams pay a luxury tax or something. Kenny Cooper is a home grown guy who could be marketed a little better. Really, he just wants to get paid, MLS or Europe. It's not as if he's too good for the league and needs to test his skill and ambition at another level like a Donovan. If you're too conservative, you miss out on opportunities and become stagnant. The time is right, interest in the sport has never been higher IMO....

Hopefully it is somewhere that FSC or GolTV or Setanta broadcasts games...if he ends up in Norway, Sweden, or Finland...that stinks for the USMNT fans looking to see US players on their club teams.