Pep Gaurdiola waaaaaaaa!

[Unregistered]

How does playing a group of MLS All-Stars prove that the league's aren't far apart? Bayern playing an actual club team like Chivas is more telling of how comparable the leagues are. A club team playing all-star team doesn't tell me MLS is all of the sudden close to the Bundesliga. MLS has lost 3 of the last 5 All-Star games - getting better, but still not close...

MLS detractors mock the league as a bunch of guys who can't make it in Europe. Well, the MLS all stars played against a team FROM Europe. Granted not the first team, but players good enough to be part of Europe's best team. And these players (Bayern Munich) practice together on a regular basis and have been training for the start of their season. The MLS all stars were just there for one game and had not played together for one minute prior to that game. Yet the MLS team beat them, and they did it in dominant fashion. You didn't even notice Julian Green on the field. Completely shut down. Landon Donovan took on two world class defenders and goalie and scored the winning goal.

I contend the man in the girl pants (little peppy) realized the same thing. He was embarrassed that his team got beaten and that was the real reason for his petulant, classless behavior. Little peppy is the coach of Robben, one of the most talented players ever, yet little peppy obviously condones the continuous diving antics of Robben which does more to damage the game than any tackles committed by MLS players on his fragile team. He wants to train his players to whine and cry (certainly the guy for the job) in an a attempt to win calls, well the MLS players gave him something to cry about.

[Slow Xavi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j109mZMQtw

Funny video. Think both the Alonso tackle and Johnson's bump look worse from those angles than they do from others; I though Johnson's was completely accidental initially, from that angle (close to where Pep is watching from) looks worse.

MLS detractors mock the league as a bunch of guys who can't make it in Europe. Well, the MLS all stars played against a team FROM Europe. Granted not the first team, but players good enough to be part of Europe's best team. And these players (Bayern Munich) practice together on a regular basis and have been training for the start of their season. The MLS all stars were just there for one game and had not played together for one minute prior to that game. Yet the MLS team beat them, and they did it in dominant fashion. You didn't even notice Julian Green on the field. Completely shut down. Landon Donovan took on two world class defenders and goalie and scored the winning goal.****

Can be a Timbers/US fan and recognize we are not at the same level as one of the big 4 European leagues. Heck, MLS teams have been dramatically outperformed by Mexican teams in CONCAF Champions League for years, even though our national team is now consistently outperforming Mexico. Timbers are a fantastic entertainment $ spent in my opinion and I thoroughly enjoyed the all-star game (even though I thought the tickets were overpriced for season ticket-holders); can support that and enjoy a good night for the MLS, but until we start winning our region's Champions League, lets not get ahead of ourselves.

US consumers continue to speak on this - they watch EPL games in the early mornings more often than they watch MLS games on TV.

Not sure what your point is about Green: lots of folks thought there were plenty of better US players - including Donovan - for the World Cup, Wednesday night doesn't really prove anything; a great WC goal notwithstanding, he hardly played for the first team last year and assume his inclusion in the US tour was more about publicity and potential.

Donovan's goal (as well as the other 2 in the game) was awesome as was Valeri's service.

******

I contend the man in the girl pants (little peppy) realized the same thing. He was embarrassed that his team got beaten and that was the real reason for his petulant, classless behavior. Little peppy is the coach of Robben, one of the most talented players ever, yet little peppy obviously condones the continuous diving antics of Robben which does more to damage the game than any tackles committed by MLS players on his fragile team. He wants to train his players to whine and cry (certainly the guy for the job) in an a attempt to win calls, well the MLS players gave him something to cry about.

Pep is no angel (nor is Caleb); suspect he hates losing at anything just like Caleb. Depending on the angle, the Alonso/Johnson plays look bad, and their were some other moments in the game that were somewhat chippy. Further, Schweinsteiger had the crap kicked out of him in the WC final; Pep's reaction may have been as much about protecting his beat-up leader, as it was objectively responding to contact in soccer game . . . Pep should have shook his hand no matter what (and if I am Caleb not sure I would follow him around after the brush-off, almost like he was validating Pep's response) and if he cared about winning should have taken the game more seriously, but he's an ubercompetitive coach trying to assure his team is healthy in defending its Bundesliga title and compete for Champions League . . . plenty of local youth coaches would be pissed if they thought their stars took unnecessary hits in friendlies ahead of regionals. Losing was some salt in the wound.

[Unregistered]

Pep didn't do any favors for Bayern Munich. Bayern Munich is currently in a large marketing push to improve their brand, especially in the US. It is a major part of their strategy to increase revenue and club value. I watched the game. Entering the game I felt the urge to become a bayern Munich fan. After Pep's antics, I left the game with a sour taste about them. Might be the difference in me buying a jersey or not. I don't think that's the image Bayern executive staff was looking for. I would go as far as to say that I bet Pep got pulled into a room and scolded for his actions.

Other than the Alonso tackle, I thought the game was reasonably clean. It made my stomach turn watching a grown man act like a giant baby throughout that game. And the handshake was simply ridiculous.

[Slow Xavi]

Pep didn't do any favors for Bayern Munich. Bayern Munich is currently in a large marketing push to improve their brand, especially in the US. It is a major part of their strategy to increase revenue and club value. I watched the game. Entering the game I felt the urge to become a bayern Munich fan. After Pep's antics, I left the game with a sour taste about them. Might be the difference in me buying a jersey or not. I don't think that's the image Bayern executive staff was looking for. I would go as far as to say that I bet Pep got pulled into a room and scolded for his actions.

Other than the Alonso tackle, I thought the game was reasonably clean. It made my stomach turn watching a grown man act like a giant baby throughout that game. And the handshake was simply ridiculous.

I generally agree with you that Pep did Bayern no favors that evening, although some of his players did after the game when they came over and recognized the TA section. ONE EDIT - other than he was doing what he thought he needed to do to protect his players in a game that played out differently than he expected.

I've had someone refuse to shake my hand after a game and felt it reflects more about them than about me; however, one way to look at it is that Pep felt Caleb broke some gentleman's agreement and the response from Caleb kind of reinforced that perception. Either way, they are both human (the glorification and demonization of these guys is rather shallow), have good nights and bad nights, and Pep had the bad one that night.

The fact folks are still talking about it is not an entirely bad thing for the MLS - drama gets some attention. Sure soccer-haters will use the footage of Pep to reinforce their anti-soccer feelings; I stopped caring what those folks think a long time ago.

Further, Pep saying he wants to bring a team back next year sounds more like a tour that they will take seriously. This game clearly had meaning to some of the MLS players, including Donovan, whose experience playing in Germany is 1 blight on an otherwise stellar America soccer player's career; don't think Bayern will take it so easy next year.

[Unregistered]

I'd be surprised if Bayern is back for an event like that next year not for lack of interest, but for lack of an invitation. Nobody like an arrogant sore loser. Plus, it's time for a big Spanish club to join in. They're on the same money grubbing mission as everyone else.

[Slow Xavi]

I'd be surprised if Bayern is back for an event like that next year not for lack of interest, but for lack of an invitation. Nobody like an arrogant sore loser. Plus, it's time for a big Spanish club to join in. They're on the same money grubbing mission as everyone else.

Don't know about the first part - Pep has a number of followers (including Caleb) in this country . . . one bad night doesn't change that, whether or not they are arrogant or a sore loser. Spanish clubs are already in on the US $ grab: Real Madrid in front of all those people in Big 10 country being one example.

[Unregistered]

Don't know about the first part - Pep has a number of followers (including Caleb) in this country . . . one bad night doesn't change that, whether or not they are arrogant or a sore loser. Spanish clubs are already in on the US $ grab: Real Madrid in front of all those people in Big 10 country being one example.

That would have been all the Man U fans.

[Unregistered]

I'd be surprised if Bayern is back for an event like that next year not for lack of interest, but for lack of an invitation. Nobody like an arrogant sore loser. Plus, it's time for a big Spanish club to join in. They're on the same money grubbing mission as everyone else.

In terms of revenue Portland isn't a great option due to the small stadium. You look at the numbers of fans packing other stadiums across the US on other summer tours for Madrid, Liverpool and United for example. Portland cannot provide anywhere near that kind of money through ticket sales and all the game day spin offs that generate cash.

[Unregistered]

The leagues are miles apart. Just like the US Men's national team is miles behind Germany.

There is a difference between playing physical and being hacks. Johnson was a hack and there was no need for it in a friendly.

I am glad we won. I am glad we played to win. However, it is ludicrous to think our players are even close to on par. Our top players are all retired European players! 36 year old Henry was one of the best players for us.

[Unregistered]

In terms of revenue Portland isn't a great option due to the small stadium. You look at the numbers of fans packing other stadiums across the US on other summer tours for Madrid, Liverpool and United for example. Portland cannot provide anywhere near that kind of money through ticket sales and all the game day spin offs that generate cash.

This is about TV rights and merchandise sales, not the one day take at the gate. You can't compare Bayern to Real, Liverpool or United in terms of branding, particularly in the US. Bayern isn't close. That's why they're did the US tour and opened the NYC marketing office.

[Unregistered]

This is about TV rights and merchandise sales, not the one day take at the gate. You can't compare Bayern to Real, Liverpool or United in terms of branding, particularly in the US. Bayern isn't close. That's why they're did the US tour and opened the NYC marketing office.

Game day spin offs are TV rights, merchandise sales etc

The post that was replied to was talking about getting a big Spanish team to Portland. It won't happen when they can make far more money in other parts of the US.

Don't underestimate what having 40,000 more people in a stadium provides in terms of revenue though ticket sales, merchandise and concession sales on a game day.

[Unregistered]

Game day spin offs are TV rights, merchandise sales etc

The post that was replied to was talking about getting a big Spanish team to Portland. It won't happen when they can make far more money in other parts of the US.

Don't underestimate what having 40,000 more people in a stadium provides in terms of revenue though ticket sales, merchandise and concession sales on a game day.

How many of those other games had 60K plus other than the Real/United game in Michigan? I think the other post was referring to a Spanish team to play in the MLS All-Star game. That would be the rematch. Not a game in Portland.

[Unregistered]

How many of those other games had 60K plus other than the Real/United game in Michigan? I think the other post was referring to a Spanish team to play in the MLS All-Star game. That would be the rematch. Not a game in Portland.

There were quite a few games besides that one that had 60K plus attendances. All the English teams (Liverpool, Utd, City) had sell out games for example. Take a look at the link below to see the stadium capacities for the games -

http://internationalchampionscup.com/about/venues/

[Unregistered]

They played in big venues but generally not to sell outs. The average attendance for the tour was just under 50 and the final with United and Liverpool drew 51.