Queue discussion about the FO courting Vancouver's Vietnamese population.

Why a weighted lottery? Don't tell me MLS couldn't find a draft appropriate for this guy.

MLS is truly byzantine

He's 25 years old and was a good-but-not-great player in the Vietnamese league, which ain't exactly the EPL. He's also a reported attitude case who's already been out of soccer for six months.

Noooooooo thank you.

How are they weighting the lottery anyway? Is it like a draft lottery, last place/expansion teams have the most chance of winning? Or is it weighted in favour of the teams he would prefer to play for? Or the team with the best lemongrass chicken?

And can you opt out of the lottery? What if, for example, the Caps aren't interested in signing him, for whatever reason (attitude etc.), yet they are put in the lottery and win?

Seems a little weird to me but that's not surprising, I suppose.

Apparently, the contract value will be disclosed to all teams. Each team will get to opt in or opt out of the lottery, and is weighted based on league position last year, meaning Vancouver (or possibly Montreal, not sure how it works for expansion teams,) has the best chance to obtain his MLS rights.

But since LAG's Balls are golden aren't they already weighted more?  ok bad joke

I have to agree that all these drafts make to follow it difficult to follow the league and definitely take away my personal enjoyment of the league.

One thing lost in this lottery system is that we can sign any returning Canadians we want without any of this non-sense. We only have 21 players to make up 30 in the squad. We have 6 draft picks, and no international spots. Rennie has indicated that he isn't that impressed with the re-entry draft quality. So where are these players coming from? It would seem smart to look at repatriating some Canadian talent.

At least were headed in the right direction:

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6520002/mls-academies-kill-college-game-soccer

RaybanOriginal said:

Chris, with respect, you are the only one who ever defends the MLS.

He always says what I'm thinking better than I do. I don't want some shitty Scottish Premier League with a handful of teams that have any chance of winning and the rest can go suck eggs. I want parity, not prima donnas. MLS's system isn't perfect (too many drafts, but again even the MLS front office knows that) but it's better than what most leagues do.

That and I would love to see MLS publish how many Allocation Money, and International Spots each team has, and include the amount from trades. 

TunnelBandit said:

Brenton said:

How bizarre is it to sign with an entire league and then get shipped to either Vancouver or (insert random city here)? MLS is ridiculous. 

Agree completely. And I wonder, besides me laughing my ass off, what happens if no one wants him and every club in the league opts out of the lottery?

Then MLS wins, in a sense.

I read somewhere this morning that the purpose of the lottery is to prevent a player from negotiating with MLS, deciding to go elsewhere, then coming back and making bigger demands.   

Nguyen nearly signed with Dallas a while back, chose to go to Vietnam instead.  Now that he wants to come back to MLS, they basically will put the previous offer on the table (possibly improved if the player has accomplished something in the interim), and once the player signs, they get thrown into a lottery so the player can't dictate where they go.

Lord_Bob said:

RaybanOriginal said:

Chris, with respect, you are the only one who ever defends the MLS.

He always says what I'm thinking better than I do. I don't want some shitty Scottish Premier League with a handful of teams that have any chance of winning and the rest can go suck eggs. I want parity, not prima donnas. MLS's system isn't perfect (too many drafts, but again even the MLS front office knows that) but it's better than what most leagues do.

No one wants another Scottish league. End point.

When did anyone say they didn't want parity? Parity is great, but the MLS takes it way way to far. I can't keep up and I don't understand all the rules and apparently neither do some of the FO's around the league and that's not a good thing.

I agree with Piltdownman - its too complex

WhitecapsFutbol said:

At least were headed in the right direction:

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6520002/mls-academies-kill-college-game-soccer

I think he's probably way off base.   Full disclosure - I work in an NCAA athletic department, so I do have a horse in the race.  Having said that, we aren't at a level where we're regularly sending guys to MLS (1 emergency keeper, total), and I'd agree that academies are generally the best way for MLS to go because you have kids in YOUR system of development.  There is no question what the Whitecaps have done is brilliant, and I'm in full support of it.

But the idea that the academies are going to kill NCAA soccer is far-fetched, and the apparent attitude of some on here, that killing off NCAA soccer would be a good thing, is stranger still.  There really is no reason a hybrid system can't exist.  It exists in hockey, it exists in baseball.   Take the hockey example - a lot of the same claims could be made that junior hockey provides far more games and more training than college hockey.  But college hockey continues to produce a good number of NHL players.

More specific to soccer, the academies as currently structured go through U-18.  At about that point, a decision has to be made.  If in a given age group, the senior club pulls up three players, that's a bonanza.  In most years, its going to be one or two, and some years none.  There apparently has been a restructuring of rules for NCAA Division I that will mean playing at an academy will no longer threaten a prospect's eligibility - the old rules would make somebody in a residency program ineligible for Div. I.  In Division II, that threat hasn't existed for a few years now unless the player stays in the academy or residency program for more than a year after completing high school. 

So, really, while a handful of players, maybe 25 or 30, opt for MLS contracts rather than college, it isn't that many, and some of those would likely be guys who did a GA after a year or two anyway.  In return, NCAA soccer gets more polished players from the academy system than they did previously from the club system.  I'd add two things to this: 1. Many NCAA programs do a fair bit of overseas recruiting, getting players who fall through the cracks in their clubs (Steve Zakuani is a good example); 2. The NCAA will still provide an avenue for late bloomers, and given the nature of the sport here, where players tend to start later and get fewer reps, late bloomers aren't uncommon.

Finally, I do think some of the abuse NCAA soccer gets is misplaced.  To be fair, Div. I is talking about more restrictive off-season rules, which would render a lot of what I argue pointless, but in the present ...
People seem to think NCAA players play a 3-month season and get about 20 games.  But in reality, there's a championship segment in the fall that has three pre-season matches, 20 regular-season matches, and for any half-decent program, conference and NCAA tournaments.  Thus, the real number of matches, just in the autumn, for the high-caliber programs producing MLS-standard players is  more like 25, pushing toward 30.

But it doesn' t end there.  There's a spring segment where teams can practice and play roughly four days a week for six weeks, and add an additional half-dozen matches.   And the best players also play PDL for 8-10 weeks in the summer, getting in about 14 matches plus cups and playoffs.  Add the whole thing up, and the top players from the top programs, the real target for MLS, are playing 45-50 games and playing eight months a year.  I accept the quality is uneven, but as a secondary system, it isn't bad.  For the player who doesn't get the immediate jump to MLS, there's a case to be made that the NCAA route is a better one long-term than slogging away for a few thousand dollars in NASL or USL. 

It's good that they're able to do that. Most of these kids won't make any more than I make annually, playing MLS. The downside of increased development in academies ( and jr hockey) is decreased education opportunities.

His age is good, and from his
Tweet "I'm taking my talents to the MLS..." He's obviously not lacking in confidence. If he is a team player, and not too egotistical, he could be great for us.

Chris said:

Facts of life in MLS: the mediocredraft will exist so long as there is a strong NCAA system developing American soccer players.

The NCAA system isn't strong. It's pretty laughable relative to how player development happens elsewhere. 

Although I'm not sure who failed to hold their end of the bargain, Nguyen did have his choice in Dallas and signed there. Because he didn't end up playing in the MLS he lost the right to choose where to sign.

Not sure I understand it all but I think this is the theory.

CapsConvert said:

Although I'm not sure who failed to hold their end of the bargain, Nguyen did have his choice in Dallas and signed there. Because he didn't end up playing in the MLS he lost the right to choose where to sign.

Not sure I understand it all but I think this is the theory.

That's how I understand it, although I think it's merely because he negotiated with Dallas & MLS, not that he bailed on a signed deal.  MLS keeps the hammer this way - sign the first time or you'll come back on our terms.

EDIT: I accept it's not entirely fair, but in a system trying to hold down costs, that's the logic.

Vancouver Whitecaps waive Lee Nguyen

Whitecaps FC Link

Whitecaps FC also announced today that the club have waived midfielder Lee Nguyen.

Nguyen, 25, joined Whitecaps FC last December via the Major League Soccer weighted Lottery process. Prior to joining Vancouver, the native of McKinney, Texas, played the last three seasons in the Vietnamese V-League.



Wow, that was one costly tweet for him. I guess they are really serious about homophobia.

Wow, I remember standing with Peter Schaad at practice and Shaddy said he was impressed by him.

Good job Shaddy isn't a scout :))

Exact same feelings as Ajax79.

He started off training flying but then as others improved and looked more dangerous every game, Lee went a little backwards and off his game and then just stood still.

Really surprised they didn't trade him to Dallas though. Especially as Dallas are here in Orlando.

Of course, if we didn't fancy him, maybe no other team did either.

not even a future draft pick... that we could later cut.

I think Rennie loves Nanchoff. He's said several times that he's known him since he was 16. Which, although mathmatically impossible based on my understanding of Rennie's arrival in Cleveland and Nanchoff's age, certainly sounds like he's followed the player for sometime and was glad to find him already with the Caps.

I'm disappointed he's gone, because he looked like a very good player, but we have so much depth on the wings and the players are just as good, if not better. I'm loving Nanchoff so far in preseason, glad that Rennie is giving him a chance. Plus we have Chiumiento, who's probably going to work harder this year, Teibert, Harris, and Camilo. Not to mention Barbara who (if I remember correctly) plays on the right wing as well.

All the best to Lee. Any team who picks him up will be lucky to have him.