[Football] Miami FC

[peterward]

It takes time to build a squad and a team - especially if your only management experience has been at International level. They should give him the time to get the squad right.

It may take time, but employing a Neville brother as a manager looks like the sure fire way to guarantee losses and go backwards. Both were great footballers, both are pants managers.

 

[Beanstalk]

Do you think our dog-eat-dog pyramid system is that much better, with everyone scrambling over everyone else to try and get even higher? As you say in the USA the League is the thing but at least they do try and make sure that all the franchises are equal, all make a profit, and thus survive. Our clubs (all varying sizes) are individual entities and think solely of themselves with the big clubs always dominating and always wanting more and more. At least the 'flat' franchise system avoids that.

I think our dog-eat-dog pyramid is fundamentally better for fans, definitely not for owners. It is limiting to look at football as just a business interest, especially in this country.

The enjoyment in the pyramid system is also not exclusive to spending big. Watching the Albion compete as a community club at a community athletics stadium as a kid was great fun. You lose that in a franchise system without promotion and relegation - what's the point in finding new, intelligent ways of competing if you're due profit regardless?

 

[Brovion]

I think our dog-eat-dog pyramid is fundamentally better for fans, definitely not for owners. It is limiting to look at football as just a business interest, especially in this country.

The enjoyment in the pyramid system is also not exclusive to spending big. Watching the Albion compete as a community club at a community athletics stadium as a kid was great fun. You lose that in a franchise system without promotion and relegation - what's the point in finding new, intelligent ways of competing if you're due profit regardless?

Tell that to the fans whose clubs go bust trying to climb the pyramid. I don't disagree with you BTW, I just don't think our system is SO superior that we can afford to sneer at the way American sport is run.

 

[Lower West Stander]

Would agree with that, and also other posters who've said the standard is about League 1. I followed New York Red Bulls for about 5 years on and off, being a season ticket holder for 2. Prices for admission and season tickets were good value and being owned by Red Bull drinks I don't think they had any real financial issues and their new stadium was state of the art when it was built including some standing areas. I liked that they treated spectators as paying customers not just bums on seats, also being able to take your beer back to your seat was nice. They had a good youth academy bringing some promising players through and some decent players like Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez and a few English players like Bradley Wright Philips. I started losing interest for a few reasons; a long journey to New Jersey to watch them play, Kick Off times which were all over the place including late on Sunday nights and the fact that you never ever got that same atmosphere you get at PL games in England. Also since 2013 NBC Sports (who took over from Fox Sports who were rubbish) was screening live every PL game in England including Brighton since 2017

Had a season ticket as well when I lived in NY.

Biggest issue for me was the fundamental inability of fans to stay seated for 45 mins. There are breaks in all other large US sports which speaks to the average attention span of an American fan.

Memorable occasions include a whole family who went to get a pizza literally 30 seconds before kick off and a guy who decided to get up for some reason just as a free kick was about to be taken on the edge of the box.

Miami is massively Latino so support should be guaranteed. Meaning Neville will be gone soon.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Beanstalk]

Tell that to the fans whose clubs go bust trying to climb the pyramid. I don't disagree with you BTW, I just don't think our system is SO superior that we can afford to sneer at the way American sport is run.

Oh 100%. Please don't take my reply as sneering towards the American way of doing it. I just think the pyramid is fundamentally better as an idea. Yes, clubs can go bust, but they can also come back and rise as phoenix clubs. Look at Wimbledon, look at Newport, look at Accrington. All were driven to despair, all are now great examples of how to run football clubs.

Both are capitalistic structures; one is a meritocracy, one is a closed shop.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

what's the point in finding new, intelligent ways of competing if you're due profit regardless?

Haven’t you answered your question? If everyone is due a profit regardless, then “new and intelligent ways of competing” will be where the competition is, and therefore encouraged?

 

[Beanstalk]

Haven’t you answered your question? If everyone is due a profit regardless, then “new and intelligent ways of competing” will be where the competition is, and therefore encouraged?

Not at all. If you finish near the bottom of the table because your players or coaches aren't good enough, why would you dramatically invest in your squad to compete at the other end of the table? Relegation isn't on the table so you don't have to worry about improving part way through a season either. I obviously understand that this is minimalist view and the organisation has a wider interest in creating a competition that is widely competitive because in theory that should bring in a larger audience and therefore more money.

The problem is, on an individual level that doesn't really happen in the MLS. Chicago Fire were a great team in the first ten years of their existence. They have consistently been terrible for the last decade, attendances haven't changed, and they've only had 4 managers in that time. Their owner makes a profit regardless. At a fan level, why wouldn't you want the jeopardy of relegation to make a club care about how their season goes? FC Cincinnati are another good example. They've spent three seasons in the MLS after their expansion from the USL and they're awful and showing no signs of having a strategy for improvement (I'm not just talking about Jaap Stam and Jurgen Locadia).

 

[Crispy Ambulance]

Just drawn 1-1 at home to Philadelphia.

 

[super-seagulls]

Not at all. If you finish near the bottom of the table because your players or coaches aren't good enough, why would you dramatically invest in your squad to compete at the other end of the table? Relegation isn't on the table so you don't have to worry about improving part way through a season either. I obviously understand that this is minimalist view and the organisation has a wider interest in creating a competition that is widely competitive because in theory that should bring in a larger audience and therefore more money.

The problem is, on an individual level that doesn't really happen in the MLS. Chicago Fire were a great team in the first ten years of their existence. They have consistently been terrible for the last decade, attendances haven't changed, and they've only had 4 managers in that time. Their owner makes a profit regardless. At a fan level, why wouldn't you want the jeopardy of relegation to make a club care about how their season goes? FC Cincinnati are another good example. They've spent three seasons in the MLS after their expansion from the USL and they're awful and showing no signs of having a strategy for improvement (I'm not just talking about Jaap Stam and Jurgen Locadia).

That’s the whole point.

The strap-line for the League could be:

The MLS - “It doesn’t matter”

 

[Albion my Albion]

Why are Americans so reluctant to have promotions and relegations in the MLS?

The Americans just end up watching The Premier League.

It would be interesting to see it tried but at the same time it would be a nightmare explaining it to the average Joe American sport fan.