North American Soccer League (NASL) Discussion Thread

[LittleOzzy]

Website: Link
Schedule: Link
News: Link

Atlanta Silverbacks
Carolina RailHawks
FC Edmonton
Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Indy Eleven
Jacksonville Armada
Minnesota United FC
NY Cosmos
Ottawa Fury FC
San Antonio Scorpions
Tampa Bay Rowdies

[Batu7]

Btw, how tough/competitive is football in Canada? I have a dream to join my girlfriend in Toronto and try my chance at professional football.

[LittleOzzy]

Btw, how tough/competitive is football in Canada? I have a dream to join my girlfriend in Toronto and try my chance at professional football.

Depending on how much experience you have of course the NASL is probably a little too skilled.

The Canadian Soccer League or United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League would be a lot more likely for a first time player in Canada. Both have teams in around the city of Toronto.

http://www.canadiansoccerleague.com/
http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/

[Batu7]

http://canadiansoccerleague.com/teams/team.asp?ID=10

Look at the team logo. Lol, there should be a copyright law against this.

Thanks for the info.

[MonkeyBallZJr]

Btw, how tough/competitive is football in Canada? I have a dream to join my girlfriend in Toronto and try my chance at professional football.

How good are you, are you playing in a lower division in Turkey right now? the only real professional league in North America is MLS. The lower tier leagues NASL, USL, CSL, OSL in respective order are more or less semi-professional. Although really only the NASL and USL actually pay their players, albeit relatively little and not enough to live on. Some CSL teams pay their players, some don't pay any of them, some pay only their star players. If you are good enough, CSL is probably what you should target but it's no guarantee that they will pay you anything, and even then it's a very small sum.

[Batu7]

I missed my chances at playing at the U18 divisions, but I'm fairly good. I train every week, and occasionally play against lower league players in 7 a side games. I'm still fairly young, so I have the potential to achieve something if given the right training. How small is that sum?

[Foye]

I missed my chances at playing at the U18 divisions, but I'm fairly good. I train every week, and occasionally play against lower league players in 7 a side games. I'm still fairly young, so I have the potential to achieve something if given the right training. How small is that sum?

How old are you? I would say the ship of going pro here in Europe pretty much sails when you're 16 and not playing in one of your best national youth leagues.

When I was like 15 or 16 (I played in the U19 team back then in my lower league club) we had some guy from Eintracht Frankfurt at a game and he asked me why I play in this low of a league.
I pretty much told him I had no intention of playing for a better team because I didn't have the right attitude. IDK. I'm just not a competitive dude. It's never really been my dream of going pro.

[Batu7]

I'm 18. I know the ship has sailed in Turkey, but I might have a chance in a country where football isn't as good. I was grossly overweight in my childhood(1,62 m long 90 kg when I was 13), then lost 14 kilos and grew 16 inches in 1,5 years. While I'm not a monster, I'm still in good physical shape and can play competitive football in a friendly environment(Unlike the butchers in Turkey) It's still a looooooooooooong shot though, I just wanted to get some info on the league.

[LittleOzzy]

04/15 8:30 pm Fort Lauderdale Strikers vs NSC Minnesota Stars
04/16 7:00 pm Carolina RailHawks vs Montreal Impact
04/16 7:30 pm Atlanta Silverbacks vs FC Edmonton
04/17 6:00 pm FC Tampa Bay vs Puerto Rico Islanders

Here is the schedule for this week. All games are streamed on http://www.nasl.com/ so if you want to check out the talent level of the league you can.

I would suggest watching the Carolina/Montreal game or the Tampa Bay/Puerto Rico game.

[magik9113]

Have a few relatives from Italy who seriously considered attempting a run at the MLS or other paying leagues. It is a common belief in Europe that it's simple to accomplish going pro here in the states, but that's not the case.
However with some of the people I played against in high school/my older brothers have played with (Benny Feilhaber, Marcus Tracey, Kyle Martino[retired due to career ending injury]) currently playing pro, it isn't too far-fetched of an idea. In the U.S. they look for strength, speed, and height (over six feet tall) as basically the first cut before you even touch a soccer ball...it's a hell of a lot more difficult to even be considered if you're short, scrawny looking, or "average" speed. You also have to be incredibly fit (running probably five miles a day in the off-season)

Anyways, I have never actually seen a NASL game...how does the skill compare to the MLS?

[Batu7]

They have that belief in basketball, we have it in football.

I don't think I'm good enough for the MLS though, if I had the physical tools it would have been a different story.

[magik9113]

same with me...way tooo short lol

[Foye]

Have a few relatives from Italy who seriously considered attempting a run at the MLS or other paying leagues. It is a common belief in Europe that it's simple to accomplish going pro here in the states, but that's not the case.
However with some of the people I played against in high school/my older brothers have played with (Benny Feilhaber, Marcus Tracey, Kyle Martino[retired due to career ending injury]) currently playing pro, it isn't too far-fetched of an idea. In the U.S. they look for strength, speed, and height (over six feet tall) as basically the first cut before you even touch a soccer ball...it's a hell of a lot more difficult to even be considered if you're short, scrawny looking, or "average" speed. You also have to be incredibly fit (running probably five miles a day in the off-season)

Anyways, I have never actually seen a NASL game...how does the skill compare to the MLS?

That's basically the worst possible approach.
Soccer should be 1st and foremost judged by technique and talent.

[Batu7]

same with me...way tooo short lol

I have the height and strength, but lack in the speed/quickness department.

This thread should be re-named as "Can someone on RealGM make it in North America as a soccer
player", lol.

That's basically the worst possible approach.
Soccer should be 1st and foremost judged by technique and talent.

Well, if you take that approach you end up with some overhyped U17 players who eventually become busts. The real strong and fast ones who grew up early(Altidore, possibly Adu) dominate the U17 competition because they can simply force their way through the net, but if you lack the talent you will struggle against the professional players(Especially defenders) who are strong as well.

[Slava]

So basically guys like Xavi would not cut it in the MLS?

[Batu7]

So basically guys like Xavi would not cut it in the MLS?

I don't know much about the MLS, but I seriously believe that Xavi will struggle greatly if he played in the Turkish league. It just shows how far we are from "real football".

[magik9113]

absolutely soccer should be based on talent/skill, technique...I think what Batu said about the busts does happen in most countries, but due to america's lack of talent they receive more undeserved hype...COUGH ADU
The only real way for someone of small stature to make it would be to score a lot of goals in high school and on their "club" so they attract attention from college scouts, many of which still wouldn't want to bother with them. It just shows how the U.S. won't really ever be that great until their youth academies start to develop more and the high school/college system stops ruining and neglecting talent.

Clearly Xavi would cut it haha, but if he grew up American, clearly he doesn't become the player he is. Giuseppe Rossi did himself a great justice by going to Europe at age 14 from New Jersey to pursue his soccer career.

This thread should be re-named as "Can someone on RealGM make it in North America as a soccer
player", lol.

[and1GS]

same with me...way tooo short lol

I have good size but the best two players I've ever played with/against in America were under 5'5."

One ended up being an All American and is the best player on the best team of the top amateur division in California.

The other went to a private college in California and got buried on the depth chart due to his height. He then went to a CC and slowly became a fatty ballhog because that was the only way scouts would notice him.

They LOVE height/strength/speed in America. Measurable stuff. Vision comes fourth or fifth.

[LittleOzzy]

Ottawa Officially Joins NASL, Will Begin Play Once Stadium Is Ready

Ottawa will join the NASL and begin play once their new stadium is finished, it was officially announced on Monday. Construction on the the 24,000-seat stadium is expected to start later this year, which likely means the team will begin play in the 2013 season. The team will be operated by John Pugh, who currently owns the PDL's Ottawa Fury.

"We welcome Ottawa to the NASL," NASL Commissioner David Downs said in a statement released by the league. "As we continue to expand and collectively grow professional soccer in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, Ottawa is a natural market with a vibrant business community, large soccer fan base and an exceptional ownership group."

How the NASL will look in 2013 is still an open question. The Montreal Impact will be replaced by the San Antonio Scorpions in 2012, meaning the league will be in compliance with the USSF's requirement that 75 percent of league's teams must be based in the United States in order to be sanctioned as Division 2. The addition of Ottawa, though, would throw that balance out of whack as three of nine teams (Ottawa, FC Edmonton and the Puerto Rico Islanders) would be based outside the country.

In order to meet the 75 percent requirement, two U.S.-based teams would have to join the league or one of those three teams would have to relocate. One possibly saving grace could be USL-Pro teams like Orlando City or the Rochester Rhinos joining the NASL's ranks. Both ownerships had considered NASL and would seem a more natural fit for Division 2. Their choice to join the USL-Pro seemed to be rooted in their belief that the NASL would be unable to get USSF sanctioning.

http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2011/6/2 ... m-is-ready

For NASL that is a huge stadium. I hope it all works out in Ottawa, great to see soccer growing in Canada.

[LittleOzzy]

Marc Dos Santos Resigns

The Montreal Impact announced Tuesday that Marc Dos Santos has resigned as head coach. Montreal Impact President Joey Saputo gave the coaching duties to sporting director Nick De Santis on an interim basis, starting today. “I’ve accepted Marc’s resignation, because the team is having a difficult and unacceptable sequence," said club president Joey Saputo. “This is too important of a year to let it go like this. From the start of the season, I said it was important to finish our journey in second division on a positive note in order to start MLS on a high. Our goal today hasn't changed, we want to make the playoffs and get as far as possible.”

"The technical staff in place will be led by Nick De Santis," added Joey Saputo. "Following Marc's departure and after analysing our current situation as a club, this is our best short-term option. Additionally, being with the team everyday, Nick will get the chance to evaluate the group. I am confident that our coaches will straighten up the situation. I want to thank Marc for his services over the last five years with the club. I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours."

Marc Dos Santos became the eighth head coach in Impact history on May 14, 2009, after replacing John Limniatis. In his first season coaching the Impact, Dos Santos was a league finalist for Coach of the Year and led the Impact to its third championship in team history. Dos Santos quits with a regular season record of 26-25-16 and a Nutrilite Canadian Championship record of 0-6-3. In 2011, the Impact had only won two games in 12 regular season games (2-7-3).

http://www.nasl.com/index.php?id=3&newsid=754