MLS/Liga MX Season Thread Now Featuring Inter Messi
Your Defending Champs:
Canada - MONTRÉAL
MLS Cup - Seattle
US Open Cup - Atlanta
Liga MX - Los Rayados de Monterrey
CONCACAF Champions League - Los Rayados de Monterrey
2020 MLS Cup Odds:
CONCACAF Champions League Bracket:
Biggest Departues:
Nacho Piatti from Impact to San Lorenzo
ZLATAN from LA Galaxy to AC Milan
Wayne Rooney from DC to Derby County
Brian Fernández from Portland to jail (I think)
Nico Gaitán from Chicago to Ligue 1 side Lille
NEW Players (w/summaries just for 72o):
Chicharito to LA Galaxy (age: 31) - needs no introduction. All time leader for El Tri (México) w/51 goals. Broke in w/Man Utd, notching 3 straight 10+ goal seasons, more recently bagged 16 goals in 55 matches for Westham, and comes to LAG from Sevilla.
Claudio Pizarro to Inter Miami (age: 25) - another fairly important piece for El Tri where he has 23 caps. Comes from los Rayados where he's already won a few titles in only a couple seasons. Although probably not a top 3 player for Monterrey, they'll be glad to part with him for the 20 million price tag Inter Miami agreed to pay. When he's on he's very good, but he's also very inconsistent. Should dominate in MLS though imo.
Jürgen Locadia to Cincinnati (age: 26) - IMO, the most interesting signing. Notable in that he's the only player in the top 8 most valuable MLS players who doesn't play in LA or ATL. I'm still not sure how Cincy pulled this off. Big time goalscorer w/45 in 127 matches for PSV Eindhoven. He's be a golden boot frontrunner if he played for a better team.
Mauricio Pereyra to Orlando (age: 29) - Uruguayan attacking mid comes from Russian side Krasnodar w/23 goals in 154 appearances. Caps w/Uruguay's U20s but never made an appearance for the nat'l team.
Alan Pulido to Sporting KC (age: 28) - The Mexican isn't really in the nat'l team picture anymore, but is coming off a great season for Mexican giants Chivas where he finished as joint golden boot winner.
Robert Beric to Chicago (age: 28) - 25 caps with Slovenia and comes from Ligue 1 side Sainte-Étienne w/a pretty solid goal scoring record, 26 goals in 81 matches over 5 seasons.
Lucas Zelarayán to Columbus Crew (age: 27) - The Argentine attacking midfielder has been a key player for Liga MX's best side in recent years, Tigres, with 113 appearances and 21 goals over 5 seasons.
Edison Flores to DC United (age: 25) - Yet another player from Liga MX. The Peruvian winger has been a stalwart for their national team with 13 goals in 47 appearances and was a regular for Morelia over the past 2 seasons.
Felipe Mora to Portland (age: 26) - Wildly inconsistent, but can bang in goals when he's on. Comes from Liga MX's Pumas.
Lucas Cavallini to Puebla (age: 27) - Has been great for Canada w/11 goals in only 17 apps. Another player from Liga MX (Puebla) w/ a very respectable 29 goals in 75 matches for a Liga MX bottom feeder side that doesn't score often.
Luis Binks to MONTRÉAL (age: 19) - Comes from Tottenham's academy thanks to Thierry Henry's connections. Supposedly Tottenham's 2nd best young CB.
Intra-league Moves:
DARWIN from Minnesota to Houston
Walker Zimmerman from LAFC to Nashville
Wil Trapp from Columbus to Inter Miami
Katai from Chicago to LAG
Nagbe from ATL to Columbus
Gressel from ATL to DCU
Romell Quioto from Houston to IMFC
was trying to look up what teams signed which players over the off-season and noticed that the new season is actually starting on wednesday lol, with messi fc, naturally
The regular season is scheduled to begin on February 21 and end on October 19. It will be paused from mid-July to mid-August for the 2024 Leagues Cup, which comprises all MLS and Liga MX teams
ugh
The league will not pause matches for the 2024 Copa América, which will be played in the United States from June to July. Most matches will be played on Saturdays and Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. local time.
lol
FC Cincinnati are the reigning Supporters' Shield holders; the Columbus Crew are the reigning MLS Cup champions.
mls goes through lolhio
anyway ... signings!
atlanta
Stian Gregersen (D) - Bordeaux - $2m
Bartosz Slisz (M) - Legia Warsaw - $3.5
chicago
Hugo Cuypers (F) - Gent - $14m
colorado
Zack Steffen (GK) - Manchester City - undisclosed
Djordje Mihailovic (M) - AZ Alkmaar - $3m
(didn't montreal sell this guy for way more not long ago? lol)
dallas
Enes Sali (F) - Farul Constanta - $3.2m
Petar Musa (F) - Benfica - $10.8m
la galaxy
Gabriel Pec (F) - Vasco da Gama - $10m
lafc
Hugo Lloris (GK) - Tottenham Hotspur - free transfer
Omar Campos (D) - Santos Laguna - $5m
miami
Luis Suarez (F) - Gremio - undisclosed
Julian Gressel (M) - Columbus Crew - free transfer
montreal
Matias Coccaro (F) - Huracan - $2m
Josef Martinez (F) - Inter Miami - free transfer
nyfc
Agustin Ojeda - Racing Club - $7.5m
nyrb
Emil Forsberg (M) - RB Leipzig
orlando
Nicolas Lodeiro (M) - Seattle Sounders - free transfer
portland
Kamal Miller (D) - Inter Miami - trade
Maxime Crepeau (GK) - LAFC - free transfer
(new canmnt just dropped?)
seattle
Pedro de la Vega (F) - Lanus - $7.5m
loltfc spotlight
Ins
Deybi Flores (M) - Fehervar FC - undisclosed
Outs
Michael Bradley (M) - retired
Franco Ibarra (M) - Atlanta United - end of loan
Cristian Gutierrez (D) - out of contract
CJ Sapong (F) - out of contract
Greg Ranjitsingh (GK) - out of contract
Tomas Romero (GK) - out of contract
Themi Antonoglou (D) - out of contract
Victor Vazquez (M) - out of contract
bold move as the worst team in the league to do basically nothing but dump a bunch of players, lets see if it pays off for them. guess this will be a rebuilding year, hopefully their meaningful prospects get some run
lolvwfc spotlight
Ins
Fafa Picault (F) - Nashville SC - free transfer
Bjorn Inge Utvik (D) - Sarspborg - undisclosed
Belal Halbouni (D) - 1. FC Magdeburg II - free transfer
Outs
Thomas Hasal (GK) - out of contract
Simon Becher (F) - AC Horsens - undisclosed
picault was a useful player last time i noticed him a couple years ago, and hopefully the new defenders will bolster things. wish they'd done more to improve, but not much lost replacing the backup keeper and an extra forward who also barely played, so overall it could be a step up
any other big moves out there? loads of free transfers and undisclosed fees, not sure which other ones are relevant. also, anyone know anything about these signings? some decent fees there, which hopefully represents some quality
hype!
this is a list of MLS transfers in & out:
https://www.espn.com/soccer/transfers/_/...
there are a kazillion of them. many unknowns and retreads. a couple other dudes I have actually heard of not on 72off's list:
Billy Sharp - from LAG to Hull City
Miles Robinson - from ATL to CIN
Sam Vines - from Antwerp to Crapids
I'm gonna have to mashMGM Sporting to ship the whole competition at +3000 iirc
Montreal actually spent $2M on another guy, Yankov, from the Russian League. No idea if either are any good, but fans are going crazy b/c Saputo actually spent something. Those two $2M transfers and the 2nd and 3rd biggest in MTL history, to give an idea of how little they spend. The Josef Martinez signing seems really bad, unless his salary is miniscule (which I doubt it is). I think he'll be a TAM/GAM player, which usually means like the 4th or 5th biggest salary.
The regular season is scheduled to begin on February 21 and end on October 19. It will be paused from mid-July to mid-August for the 2024 Leagues Cup, which comprises all MLS and Liga MX teams
Nothing like taking a month out of the middle of the season. Montreal only even has 4 months where the average monthly high temp is >17 Celcius, and you're taking one of those away.
Re: TFC, 2 years ago they had the most valuable roster by a good margin and last year were 2nd (only b/c of Messi). This year: 3rd from last. Not sure what they're even doing there. YHTSI
My player to keep an eye on: Max Anchor. He's a 19 yr old GK, 3rd on the depth chart for VWFC, but can't think of a better GK name than Max Anchor.
you know anything about any of these guys signed from mexico or south america? or the euro ones too i guess
Montreal actually spent $2M on another guy, Yankov, from the Russian League. No idea if either are any good, but fans are going crazy b/c Saputo actually spent something. Those two $2M transfers and the 2nd and 3rd biggest in MTL history, to give an idea of how little they spend. The Josef Martinez signing seems really bad, unless his salary is miniscule (which I doubt it is). I think he'll be a TAM/GAM player, which usually means like the 4th or 5th biggest salary.
mls is so funny with half the teams run like this
and yeah josef prob on tam/gam wages, unfortunate as he seems quite washed up. hasn't really been the same since that knee injury in 2020, was somehow quite bad on messi fc last season. seems old and busted, but it'd be cool if he turned it around in montreal. at least long enough for them to sell him for a fee lol
MLS HYPEEEEEE!!!
The annual part of the year where I pump myself up for MLS before being reminded about 2 months in how dumb this format is and how nobody cares. But for now I've lumped on Orlando City to win the Supporters Shield at +3000. Muriel is so so so so good and is still in shape and form for a big time team in Italy and joins an already really good and well balanced team. Obv lol Messi All-Stars is the play but after them Orlando is worth a punt.
Actually have some optimism for my local Red Bulls with the Forsberg signing. Another mega player who's only 32. And if Vanzier can survive being racist for the first couple months they could be fun to watch. I'll def be going to some games.
Guy I'm most hyped to see is my LPF transfer dude Pedro de la Vega in Seattle. I'll be tuning into some games on the most unwatchable pitch in MLS that isn't a ****ing baseball stadium to watch him.
All of my hype depends on T-Mobile giving me free MLS Season Pass again.
luis muriel? wow. not the player he was in 2020, but should still be good enough for mls
similar story with forsberg. has been declining, but might still have enough to produce
you know anything about any of these guys signed from mexico or south america? or the euro ones too i guess
mls is so funny with half the teams run like this
and yeah josef prob on tam/gam wages, unfortunate as he seems quite washed up. hasn't really been the same since that knee injury in 2020, was somehow quite bad on messi fc last season. seems old and busted, but it'd be cool if he turned it around in montreal. at least long enough for them to sell him for a fee lol
I moved away from Latin America about 3 years ago so my knowledge of Liga MX/MLS has fallen off a cliff. Just too difficult with the timezone difference. Although MTL is spending a bit and might be decent and same with Pumas in Liga MX. So I might have to watch the odd match here and there. And if Messi goes off, then I'll probably catch some of their matches.
Josef signing makes 0 sense to me. A CF was one of their 2 big signings so Josef probably won't even start. He's taking up big salary on a team that doesn't spend much and even if he has a "great" season, he'll probably bag 6-7 goals and will be too old anyway to sell to anyone. Maybe you'll get 500k-1M of GAM or whatever that BS is, but just seems like a waste.
I see CCL is underway, but with Leagues Cup, I think it lost any momentum it was gaining and now noone will care about either unless Messi is playing. Big story is cruizn's club Toluca being upset by Herediano, and I guess VWFC losing to Tigres, although that was always gonna be a big ask playing an in form top Liga MX team in the MLS offseason.
luis muriel? wow. not the player he was in 2020, but should still be good enough for mls
similar story with forsberg. has been declining, but might still have enough to produce
Muriel was regularly scoring goals for a mega Serie A side (admittedly mostly off the bench) and Forsberg held down a place in the starting XI til literally his very last game before moving to MLS
Alright, I've started an MLS Fantasy League for all of us MLS Die Hards! I set it to run starting Week 2 so we can bring in late comers (unless we get it the regs to join today). It's probably too ambitious to get us to throw $10 each in this late in the game (lol MLS only opened the game 6 days ago lmao) but maybe fun for bantz and to keep us engaged when I inevitably stop caring 2 months from now. Here's the code:
I'm in as 702crapids.
My team sucks but that's kinda intentional. Couldn't bring myself to pick Zardes for maxlulz tho.
It’s actually tough to fill a lineup which is a testament to MLS
Also not sure if you’ve done MLS fantasy before but it’s unlimited transfers each week so not like prem fantasy
Muriel was regularly scoring goals for a mega Serie A side (admittedly mostly off the bench) and Forsberg held down a place in the starting XI til literally his very last game before moving to MLS
yeah, i'm just saying that if you look at their numbers there's been a constant, gradual decline the last couple years for both on a per minute basis, which makes sense given their age (maybe forsberg's position has also shifted deeper idk). bit of a worry considering that the biggest adjustment to mls is probably all the games and the travel, hopefully they both still have the legs for it
De La Vega the real stud newcomer in MLS this season so :shrug
first xi of the season:
18 Alba J.
6 Aviles T.
5 Busquets S.
1 Callender D. (G)
20 Gomez D.
24 Gressel J.
27 Kryvtsov S.
10 Messi L.
9 Suarez L.
16 Taylor R.
2 Yedlin D.
lettuce messi
I realize maybe like 2 people care, but Concacaf CL is going right now.
Caught a little bit of Cincy FC at Cavalier FC (Jamaica)...and I think there were 200 fans in the stands. Obv this hot take is not original but...
Maybe do a mid-season tourney in the USA mid-week during the summer with 32 teams to attract interest? Very few MLS fans care about this tourney but at least you could drum up some more fans of both teams during the summer in the USA? Otherwise this tourney really seems pointless. There is no world-wise prestige in winning it.
Bump for MLS opening weekend!
Spoiler
No hype I see :(
Benteke hat trick is the highlight
lol defending supporter's shield champions being completely stymied by the mighty toronto fc squad.....at home.
can't score a single goal.
quite the effort.
3 MLS matches today:
two 0-0 finals
LAG - Inter Messi 0-0 at HT (LAG missed a PK lulz)
MLS always brings the excitement
hype!
Knew I should bet Sporting double-chance yesterday
man did the LOLGalaxy bottle that one late
but at least an entertaining finish for neutrals
