Riquelme has some big-name suitors willing to spend €9 million, or, as of today, $13.3 million. Inter, Juve, maybe Real Madrid are interested: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBD2cV6jdip2yXHT7VE-cu7x_d2w

Anyone want to re-hash last week's debate on how DC could get him for "not much more" than Veron would cost?

England game is pay-per-view?!? Dat sux.

With red hot guy like Riquelme who wouldn't want to pay that much money. Villareal is crazy. Our winning chance is 0 to none and I don't think DC has even thought of it. Veron's rumor is getting heavier and I think it's real. As critical as I am for Veron at least he doesn't do ineffective flasy like Denilson does.

"This and That." What about "the other thing," will you update later?

Need to be away from the internets for 24 hours? Yeah, my wife gets on my case as well.

The england game is being replayed Saturday (i think) on FSC. save the 15.00 for more beer!

Does anyone know if the MLS Cup will be replayed on TV? I was at the Game and I would like to see how it looked and sounded on TV.

So did Dorman sign with someone or does he just really not want to play in MLS?

If he would stay in MLS for more money he might be an interesting replacement for Gros...

The england game is being replayed Saturday (i think) on FSC. save the 15.00 for more beer
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You are correct at i think 8 pm on Fox Soccer Channel

"If he would stay in MLS for more money he might be an interesting replacement for Gros..."

You're right, but there's no free agency in MLS, and the Revs would want a king's ransom to allow him to play for DC or any other eastern team, even if they're too cheap to pay him more.

There's as much free agency in MLS as there is in the NFL. Which is why Gomez is free to talk to anyone he wants (his contract is up) and Boswell is playing to get to the end of his contract to have the options. Salary cap, big name players have more leverage than role players, minimal trading between teams...sounds similar and reasonable to me.

Dorman's going to look like an idiot when he doesn't get an offer. Seriously, he had a good run, by why would anyone want a guy who can't crack the Revs starting lineup?

Zeb442 - no, there is not as much free agency in MLS as there is in the NFL. All players sign contracts with the league itself, not with the individual teams. In fact, the teams themselves are but just wholly-owned subsidiaries of the parent MLS. The "owners" are actually mere "operators."

I suppose there is some ability for a player at the end of his contract to wait until his current team has actually discarded him and then go to another MLS team to seek a job. But he'd still be signing a contract with the league - and I believe there are some limitations even for such a move by an out-of-contract MLS player.

Now, if you're talking about the worldwide market for player services, that's another story. However, player movement is limited there too because of work visa requirements in most of the upper tier leagues. A player must generally have some sort of national team experience or other soccer pedigree that would make that player eligible to essentially take away a job that might have been given to a native countryman. I believe there was some fear back when Bobby Convey went over to England that he did not have the necessary credentials to get the visa...can't remember what resolved the issue - but obviously, he was able to eventually sign for a premiership side.

He can definitely go to a USL team though and see what he can get...they run a normal system (each team offers players contracts individually). Just ask Jay Needham.

Dorman's contract with MLS expires in December and he is Welsh. His odds of making a leap to the other side of the pond are not so bad...

Somebody may have answered this question before, but instead of a CONCACAF Champions League, wouldn't it be better to do a Western Hemisphere Champions League involving clubs from both North, Central and South America (and not this inviting a couple clubs from outside South America like the Copa Sudamericana does)?

I'd have to take any of the 3 South American qualifying games on Wednesday over those games

Juan-John. South America is just too far. Can you imagine an away game in Santiago or Buenos Aires? Over 10 hours! You could almost fly to London and back in that time.

Juan-John, it's also an issue of CONMEBOL teams not wanting to give up slots in whatever tournament your proposal would replace. For MLS fans, it would be great, but for fans of less-than-humungous South American clubs, it would mean giving up competitive games, and CONMEBOL is accountable to South America, not MLS.

I hate to say this, but the best way for MLS to break the Libertadores door down is for an MLS team with a huge, internationally-known player to be on a team good enough to compete in Libertadores.

Goff,

Don't forget Chile vs. Paraguay LIVE on GolTV also Wednesday at 8:30pm. The albiroja (Paraguay) currently sit in second place.

I was the one who pointed out Riquelme's availability a couple of months ago. My only point was that Villareal was in a bind in terms of what they can get for the transfer fee. Riquelme's salary with another team is obviously something else. I think he's a better investment at this point than Veron or even Beckham. However, I don't think DC has the money or inclination to sign him.

For those wanting to watch the England-Croatia match it's probably available over the Internet via P2P sharing. Check out this website tomorrow for details: http://www.myp2p.eu/ I was able to watch the Scotland/Italy and Holland/Luxenburg matches last Saturday this way. You do need a fast connection and must download one of the applicable P2P sharing programs.

Nice move by the Globe to promote the fact that Dorman will probably go overseas so the Earthquakes are less likely to take him tomorrow.

GOFF, How about you write a nice long article tonight indicating that a lot of European clubs are interested in Rod Dyachenko.

Is there any information on what sort of TV audience the MLS Cup final attracted, despite its awful time slot?

According to the WSJ on Oct. 31, Dallas is currently having a debate on how to develop a large portion of land on Trinity River. The proposed plan is to include "30 miles of trails and 22 soccer fields."

That's an awful lot of football! It'll be interesting to find out if the plans go through and why Fenty can't put 1 soccer field on his shabby scrap of land.

"The proposed plan is to include "30 miles of trails and 22 soccer fields. That's an awful lot of football!"

The MD Soccerplex-o-rama has 20-something outdoor fields and two indoor ones. I guess it's big, but it's so well laid-out that it doesn't seem that large when you drive through.

"The proposed plan is to include "30 miles of trails and 22 soccer fields. That's an awful lot of football!"

The MD Soccerplex-o-rama has 20-something outdoor fields and two indoor ones. I guess it's big, but it's so well laid-out that it doesn't seem that large when you drive through.

Posted by: I-270, Exit 1 | November 20, 2007 05:21 PM

Don't forget Colorado:

"Dick's Sporting Goods Park field complex consists of 24 full-size, fully-lit sports fields, including 22 natural grass and 2 synthetic turf fields. The natural grass fields are available for rent to the public from April - November, weather permitting. The synthetic turf fields are available for rent to the public year-round. "

Good for Colorado and MD and hopefully Dallas can follow too. It sucks that MR FENTY is a lost man.

I'd have to take any of the 3 South American qualifying games on Wednesday over those games

Posted by: World Cup Qualifying
_____________________________________________
hell yes. I've been following Argentina and the CONMEBOL WCQ's have been some of the best matches of the year. Uruguay has been fun to watch too.

Am I the only one hoping Croatia wins so we don't have to hear the British hype machine telling us how 'great' that cut rate squad known as England is for a couple years?

don't know which will make the British press "worse" - England winning the game by more than 2 goals leading them to win the Group or to have them lose and having to deal with passing around the blame for the next few years

GolTV is reporting that BOCA has been pursuing Riquelme for a while and perhaps will seal the deal soon. He will likely play for the club world cup then. And of course the Inter, Juve, and Medrid all supposedly going after him.

To be honest though I am getting pretty sick of hearing all about England National team.

NYT reports that NYRB may buy out Reyna's contract:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/sports/soccer/20soccer.html

That would the best option for NY.

td, you might wanna drink some Ginger Ale before reading this...

AP says Becks might be riding the pine at the Croatia game:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/11/20/bc.eu.spt.soc.england.beckham.ap/index.html

And thanks to all for the answers re: hemisphere-wide club tournament. Ya learn something new every day... :-)

The SoccerPlex rents its 20+ fields for $300 per game. You could cover Boswell and McTavish salaries for one year in one weekend.

Meanwhile you've got a quality local DC youth club (Stoddert) that would kill for more fields; in fact I believe they rent from SoccerPlex in Germantown for some of their "home" games.

Can anyone more familiar with the names on the expansion list then me offer a summary of how many d-mids are available who might be more interesting than Carroll, and how many A-mids are available who may be more interesting than Dyachenko? My guess is that because of his cost there are better d-mid candidates, which means Dyachenko is in real jeopardy of being drafted, again. But hey we fished him back from Toronto and maybe could do so again from SJ.

"to have them lose and having to deal with passing around the blame for the next few years"

The British press will place (has already placed?) the balme on McLaren. No passing around here.

td, you might wanna drink some Ginger Ale before reading this...
AP says Becks might be riding the pine at the Croatia game:
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Oh boy! He is left out but McLaren will put him on the 70th minute. No matter what I think McLaren is gonna go.

Italy-Faroe Islands, 4 p.m., GolTV
how many goals would Italy score? Will they be a little easy or go full force. I predict 9-0

Hypothetical question from my close contact who is working on one of the opposing bids for Poplar Point. He thinks DCU could still get Poplar Point if they had more direct community involvement.

After a few beers and shots he brought up the following idea (he is also a DCU fan).

Would DC United ever consider letting the fans and community fund the needed infrastructure in exchange for some sort of voting right? It seems like DCU could sell 14,000 shares at $100 apiece and easily have the $1.4 million they need for infrastructure development and more.

However, would they be willing to give up some sort of ownership rights to the club? Would they do something like Seattle and let the share holders vote on the GM of the team or maybe something else?

Just to let you know the biggest reason why the DCU bid failed was because they were asking for way too much financial support from the city. The bid my contact/friend presented required 1/8 the amount that DCU was asking for, so maybe offering shares would be a way of public financing of the stadium without getting Fenty or the city council involved.

Alarm Clock -- Aren't you off by orders of magnitude? Post says DCU was looking for $300 million in infrastructure, not $1.4 million.

"Would DC United ever consider letting the fans and community fund the needed infrastructure in exchange for some sort of voting right?

I doubt that Ward 8 residents would buy shares in DC United. Furthermore, this plan would involve transfer of the funds to the DC government. Raise your hands those who still trust the DC government to manage your money.

Alarm Clock -- Aren't you off by orders of magnitude? Post says DCU was looking for $300 million in infrastructure, not $1.4 million.

Posted by: WNT fan | November 21, 2007 10:06 AM

The 14,000 was just an example of what could be offered to the local community and businesses so they have a part of the team and feel more connected to the organization. I think the rest would be made up by the supporters groups and other larger investors.

I doubt that Ward 8 residents would buy shares in DC United. Furthermore, this plan would involve transfer of the funds to the DC government. Raise your hands those who still trust the DC government to manage your money.

Posted by: I-270, Exit 1 | November 21, 2007 10:36 AM

I think they might surprise you. A lot of local businesses near Poplar Point or who want to be involved in Poplar Point would probably be interested in buying shares to have a say in what's goes on.

The other thing is that with the share offering is that it goes straight to DC United not the City.

OK, now we're in "who wins, a Balrog or Optimus Prime" territory (which is a hot topic for my son BTW - any ideas?). DCU will move to MD way before they put themselves in some quasi Green Bay Packer situation.

Surely the Drew Carey gimmick in Seattle is going to be about as on the level as the "fan vote" to rename the Bullets last century?