CanadianSwede Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Raphael Wicky has signed for Chivas USA. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Good signing. Solid player who is still playing for the Swiss national team (and until last year in the 1st Bundesliga) and he is still only 30 so while he may not be in his prime he is not very far past it either. Did they use a DP for him? Not sure I would use a DP on him but signings like this will bring the MLS a lot of respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSwede Posted February 5, 2008 Author Share Posted February 5, 2008 While it would seem players of his calibre would bring a certain degree of respect to the MLS it never happens. What i find is that people, especially in Europe are keen to call the league crap even if they have never seen a match. A place for past the prime players to go. While certain signing have indicated this, the league is improving and shouldn't be subject to such harsh criticism. I get a sense that they don't want the sport to develop across the pond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Most Europeans are pretty ignorant about all soccer outside of Europe. The purpose of signings like Wicky is to improve the team and league not to make Europeans have a better opinion of MLS. As long as players like Wicky are willing to sign with MLS it doesn't really matter what Europeans in general think of the league. At times the MLS has gone with older past their prime players who had name recognition which doesn't help the league's playing level or its image. If they had waited till Wicky was 34 this would be a bad signing but at 30 this is a very solid signing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpenza Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Wicky is not the shadow of his former self (says a Sion fan who follows the team and posts on Impact Soccer). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmcmurph Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 "Most Europeans are pretty ignorant about all soccer outside of Europe" As are Canadians about hockey leagues in Europe. I know all the best European players are in the NHL and I'm sure there is a smug knowledge in Europe that they have bought the best soccer players that money can buy. Last time I even bothered following Euro hockey was during the lockout because Sid the kid was playing there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 quote:Originally posted by tmcmurph "Most Europeans are pretty ignorant about all soccer outside of Europe" As are Canadians about hockey leagues in Europe. I know all the best European players are in the NHL and I'm sure there is a smug knowledge in Europe that they have bought the best soccer players that money can buy. Last time I even bothered following Euro hockey was during the lockout because Sid the kid was playing there. Given fans have an average idea of S. America and a bit of Africa, in function of world cups and other tournaments, the knowledge in Europe is not bad. After all, there is a lot of football in Europe, enough to keep you busy. But even then, most soccer fans are ignorant of what their local neighbourhood club in lower league is and what it is doing. But not all. A few weeks ago I was sitting watching Barça in a bar and an old geezer beside me started rattling off classifications of lower league teams, recent records of certain clubs, must have memorized the Monday sports paper. But an exception. The vast majority of people who travel, for example, will never ever go to see a match of a club of an even slightly inferior level to their home club. They will only take a step up. I told people in Barcelona I went to see a Regionalliga match in Germany this summer and they thought I was nuts. As for Canadians not knowing about hockey in Europe, well the drop off is sharper, though you look at rival national teams and you see some talent still playing in Europe. What is worse is the situation of basketball, where the levels are getting closer. There are probably 10 teams in Europe who could rival NBA clubs, and of course the national team situation is much more balanced. When the US got knocked out by Greece in the semis of the World Championship their coach could not name a single player, he went on about number this or that, it was insulting and embarrassing, apart from helping to explain how good the scouting must be. Papaloukas killed them but he had not even bothered to learn his name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S. Given fans have an average idea of S. America and a bit of Africa, in function of world cups and other tournaments, the knowledge in Europe is not bad. After all, there is a lot of football in Europe, enough to keep you busy. As for Canadians not knowing about hockey in Europe, well the drop off is sharper, though you look at rival national teams and you see some talent still playing in Europe. What is worse is the situation of basketball, where the levels are getting closer. There are probably 10 teams in Europe who could rival NBA clubs, and of course the national team situation is much more balanced. When the US got knocked out by Greece in the semis of the World Championship their coach could not name a single player, he went on about number this or that, it was insulting and embarrassing, apart from helping to explain how good the scouting must be. Papaloukas killed them but he had not even bothered to learn his name. So true Jeffrey. It's really the lack of knowledge of international basketball for the USA coaching staff and its NBA players. It will change eventually with the globalization of sport, though I suspect it wouldn't be immediate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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