MLS is Back Tournament - 2020

If you can get a really good player around 31 years of age in the clubhouse maybe it’s not a bad idea for an MLS team?
Juventus signed 33 year old Ronaldo.
Yeah but Ronaldo didn't go to Juventus to retire. If a 31 year old is coming to MLS, you know it's because they're ready to retire, and that makes a huge difference on how they play, usually.
 
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Aging superstars in MLS - officially a Good Idea again!
I mean, Nani came over at 32 and was quite clearly a top 5 player in the tournament, maybe even the MVP so far. I think guys with experience at the highest levels still have value, especially in leadership roles and on MLS rosters that get younger every year.
 
Nani was there last year right? Who did they bring in to make that team go from being one of worst teams in the league to finalists in the 2020 MLS Tournamnet? Is this primarily the same team that avoided the label of worst team of 2019 thanks to a Cincinnati expansion squad and by having just 1 more win than Vancouver? Is it simply What the coach brought to the organization?
Orlando could have hardware next week. It doesn’t seem right.

Nani was there last year. I'm not saying he would have carried the team to the MLS cup had it been a regular season like last year. But he's a quality DP at a reasonable age when he was signed. His quality and experience has allowed him to lead orlando in a world cup style tournament. He has been big for them this tournament and came through when it was needed. Something a big name DP should be able to do.

Add to that the quality coach and players who buy into that coach and you've got an Orlando team that's never made the playoffs, but has a chance to have a trophy before us. SICKENING.
 
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I mean, Nani came over at 32 and was quite clearly a top 5 player in the tournament, maybe even the MVP so far. I think guys with experience at the highest levels still have value, especially in leadership roles and on MLS rosters that get younger every year.

It depends so much on a player’s injury record. Nowadays most sportsmen look after themselves so well that if they can avoid heavy injuries, they might still have it all at around 34-35. At 37, Villa looked sometimes like a 27 old himself. A striker is often dependant on his pace, and a knee or hip injury will most certainly slow a player down. A midfielder who tackles a lot and is tackled a lot can count himself lucky if he can still play on the highest level at around 33-34.
Center-backs and goalies are more like wine, until ofc a certain point.

And yes, Nani definitely looks as good as ever at 33.
 
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Willian is 32 this month. Would love to have him, but rumor has it he's headed to Arsehole on a 3 year deal
 
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Anyone watching the final tonight? I really don’t care. I guess I’d rather Portland win just because of issues we’ve had with Orlando fans over the years. I’m not sure how premier league is doing in the domestic market but it doesn’t seem like MLS really made a splash here with coming back. Is it that people aren’t interested in sports right now or is the league/team losing some of the fans it’s worked so hard to build.
Some of the viewership stats I’ve seen show great numbers but it looks,like for us at least, people are tuning out.
Over the last few years since we’ve lost our super stars less and less people have come back after each season. I really noticed it this year both on here and social media engagement. I think we’ve really hit a low with fan engagement.
 
Anyone watching the final tonight? I really don’t care. I guess I’d rather Portland win just because of issues we’ve had with Orlando fans over the years. I’m not sure how premier league is doing in the domestic market but it doesn’t seem like MLS really made a splash here with coming back. Is it that people aren’t interested in sports right now or is the league/team losing some of the fans it’s worked so hard to build.
Some of the viewership stats I’ve seen show great numbers but it looks,like for us at least, people are tuning out.
Over the last few years since we’ve lost our super stars less and less people have come back after each season. I really noticed it this year both on here and social media engagement. I think we’ve really hit a low with fan engagement.

Game is at 8:45 PM. I have a dinner reservation at 8:45 PM. When I get back home I'll be watching. Rooting big for Portland.
 
it doesn’t seem like MLS really made a splash here with coming back.
There was an episode of Allocation Disorder about this exact topic. Basically, there's a baseline level of viewership for televised MLS games, and that number did not get any larger even when MLS was the only domestic sports league on TV.

The MLS on-field product isn't quite good enough to capture the limited soccer-watching attention time that many US-based soccer fans have (it gets spent on better leagues), and the league and sports media (ESPN, FOX, etc.) don't do a good enough job crafting narratives about teams and players which would pull in general sports fans.
 
Anyone watching the final tonight? I really don’t care. I guess I’d rather Portland win just because of issues we’ve had with Orlando fans over the years. I’m not sure how premier league is doing in the domestic market but it doesn’t seem like MLS really made a splash here with coming back. Is it that people aren’t interested in sports right now or is the league/team losing some of the fans it’s worked so hard to build.
Some of the viewership stats I’ve seen show great numbers but it looks,like for us at least, people are tuning out.
Over the last few years since we’ve lost our super stars less and less people have come back after each season. I really noticed it this year both on here and social media engagement. I think we’ve really hit a low with fan engagement.
Here’s my take on MLS awareness and promotion of the league. Despite watching KBO baseball in the morning, on ESPN I might add, various random soccer during the day, and the Mets in the evening, and also being on and off Twitter all day, I neither saw nor heard one single mention of the match the whole day. So I forgot it was yesterday and missed it. Good job MLS PR department!