Nana Attakora

[madmonte]

Nana's season in Finland is over until April and I believe he was only on a balance of the season contract. His team was relegated as well so that's going to affect his situation. So going from here if he were to return to MLS, would he have to go back to San Jose or could he sign with any team in MLS?

Methinks after his fiasco, contractwise with San Jose, that Nana avoids the MLS and stays in Europe, preferring not to make the same mistake twice? In some ways it's time for MLS to shift gears on their contract rules. I'm not saying it's time for them to go balls to the wall like the rest of the world, but SOME shifts.

[Obinna]

Perhaps there will be room for him now on the SJ backline. Ike Opara has been released IIRC and Bernandez has garnered interest with a handful of La Liga clubs.

[Yohan]

Perhaps there will be room for him now on the SJ backline. Ike Opara has been released IIRC and Bernandez has garnered interest with a handful of La Liga clubs.

I don't think he's rated at SJ...

[Obinna]

I agree but those players leaving could give him a second chance to impress, Yallop is the manager after all.

[Yohan]

I agree but those players leaving could give him a second chance to impress, Yallop is the manager after all.

I don't think Yallop has the habit of wasting an international spot on a back up CB he doesn't rate much. And does Attakora really want to come back to SJ?

[Grizzly]

I don't think Yallop has the habit of wasting an international spot on a back up CB he doesn't rate much. And does Attakora really want to come back to SJ?

If SJ did not rate Nana, why did they offer him a contract last year which Nana turned down? Nana was really set on going to Europe this year (and I think was a bit pissed at how he was not signed to a better deal than his low salary one by TFC/MLS when he became a regular starter) so he turned down the offer by SJ. In retrospect it was a mistake and by the time things didn't work out in Europe, San Jose were already set at the back and he became a victim of the unfair MLS rules against Canadians and out of contract players as far as signing with another MLS team. Now that Nana has had a year of not playing with a short stint in a not very high level league I am not sure San Jose would still be interested but last year they certainly were. I think he would be a great depth signing for TFC if they can get his rights from San Jose and get over past history (which should not be a problem now that Winter is gone).

[Yohan]

If SJ did not rate Nana, why did they offer him a contract last year which Nana turned down? Nana was really set on going to Europe this year (and I think was a bit pissed at how he was not signed to a better deal than his low salary one by TFC/MLS when he became a regular starter) so he turned down the offer by SJ. In retrospect it was a mistake and by the time things didn't work out in Europe, San Jose were already set at the back and he became a victim of the unfair MLS rules against Canadians and out of contract players as far as signing with another MLS team. Now that Nana has had a year of not playing with a short stint in a not very high level league I am not sure San Jose would still be interested but last year they certainly were. I think he would be a great depth signing for TFC if they can get his rights from San Jose and get over past history (which should not be a problem now that Winter is gone).

1. Not unfair MLS rules, but US labour laws. Different story.

2. I didn't know SJ offered Nana a contract

[Obinna]

1. Not unfair MLS rules, but US labour laws. Different story.

This is from Gordon in another thread:

Originally Posted by Free kick

I have never heard that there even were quotas for foreigners in the USL or NASL. I am almost certain that there aren't any. The only reason that you see (I believe) a large amount of local or domestic players in the NASL or USL is for economic considerations (ie.: they don't pay players enough for a club to be able to attract outsiders or to make it worth it for outsiders to move).

So it only makes sense for someone who is rooted in the community to play as close to home as possible. I know for a fact that some of the USL'ers who played for the Lynx had a profession/Career/ or other gig on the side. There were high school / phys ed teachers. some may have camps and clinics etc etc.

notice that there wasn't anywhere near the same amount of player movement in NASL/USL compared to MLS.

I am pretty sure there is - based on threads 6 or 7 years ago when the USL made the switch to count both Canadians and Americans as domestic throughout the league - so I looked it up. USSF sanctioning for Division 2 requires limits on the number of non-domestic witht he USSF defining non-domestic. Obviously if USL could do it easily enough, then MLS should be as well. I suspect that the USSF is the prime obstacle and the rest is smokescreen. Check out item three in the Team Organization Section.

http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2010/0...gue-standards/

[Grizzly]

2. I didn't know SJ offered Nana a contract

If you didn't know that SJ offered Nana a contract it is pretty clear you also had no idea whether Yallop rated him or not, ie. why are you posting about Yallop's opinion on Nana when you have no insight into the matter.

[Yohan]

If you didn't know that SJ offered Nana a contract it is pretty clear you also had no idea whether Yallop rated him or not, ie. why are you posting about Yallop's opinion on Nana when you have no insight into the matter.

Because as much as I read about and watch MLS, I miss a detail from time to time. However, I did know about Attakora's rights being held up by SJ, and Attakora vented his frustration, esp since he said he was willing to play for another team in MLS. Likely Attakora was offered something barely above league minimum by SJ, esp after his horrid play for SJ in 2nd half of 2011. That's why I feel Yallop didn't rate Attakora much.

[Yohan]

This is from Gordon in another thread:

I am pretty sure there is - based on threads 6 or 7 years ago when the USL made the switch to count both Canadians and Americans as domestic throughout the league - so I looked it up. USSF sanctioning for Division 2 requires limits on the number of non-domestic witht he USSF defining non-domestic. Obviously if USL could do it easily enough, then MLS should be as well. I suspect that the USSF is the prime obstacle and the rest is smokescreen. Check out item three in the Team Organization Section.

http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2010/0...gue-standards/

your link doesn't work, however, USL regulations

http://www.uslsoccer.com/docs/League%20Regulations.pdf

specifically Rule 609 says Canadians count as domestic in USL. now that I know this, I'm wondering why Canadian teams aren't pushing MLS to make Canadians domestic?

on the other hand, NASL doesn't...

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CD0QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasl.com%2Fmedia-guide%2F2011%2FMedia%2520Guide_Final_11-07-2011_book.pdf&ei=8v3LUKvEOumY2wWSpYGoBg&usg=AFQjCNFhRFA8d_Njq_Ai5E0X1sab7orNxw&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.b2I

[youllneverwalkalone]

Garber has stated that it's possible, but would require applying for a special exemption of some kind from congress. He basically said that there aren't enough MLS ready Canadians to be worth it. Hard to argue, there are at least 66 jobs for Canadians in MLS and we only have about 20 guys, many of whom count as internationals on US clubs.

This is very different from the days when the Caps, Impact and Lynx were in the A-League and their roster composition was basically 90%+ Canadian.

[Grizzly]

Because as much as I read about and watch MLS, I miss a detail from time to time. However, I did know about Attakora's rights being held up by SJ, and Attakora vented his frustration, esp since he said he was willing to play for another team in MLS. Likely Attakora was offered something barely above league minimum by SJ, esp after his horrid play for SJ in 2nd half of 2011. That's why I feel Yallop didn't rate Attakora much.

There is nothing wrong with not following a player or missing some details. However, when you are not following a player why post stuff about that player that you do not know? And when that is pointed out why continue to post more stuff that you do not know?

Nana did not play horrid for San Jose in 2011. His first two games for them he tried to come back from injury earlier than he should have and did not play well. Yallop told him to take a bit more time off and get fully healed. Then he came back fully healed and played 4 games for them in which he played very well before suffering a 2nd entirely different injury which ended his season. And he was offered a decent contract by San Jose by MLS standards reportedly in the $100 000 range. Nana was unhappy about TFC/MLS paying him peanuts for years while he was a starter there but he was not unhappy about the San Jose offer. It also was not enough to get him to change his dream of playing in Europe. Indeed the reason he ended up in San Jose in the first place was because he wanted to go to Europe and did not want to re-sign with TFC and Winter was on his "TFC is AJAX and you need to sign for life" kick which resulted in a few young players who may have been useful to TFC leaving the club.

None of this info is hard to find, indeed most of it can be found on this and one other thread on this very forum.

[RS]

Attakora was offered a similar deal by TFC but he didn't want to commit long term. I know you said that Grizzly, but it doesn't really fit your "Nana was unhappy about being paid peanuts by TFC for years" narrative.

Attakora has gone on the record stating that the money on offer from TFC was never the issue.

[madmonte]

So if the issue, actually, is then that he just simply wants to pursue football in Europe, again that makes it unlikely he'll come back to MLS. I'm sorry but for me MLS as a league has a lot more promise than Finland, so I hope if he stays in Europe, he gets noticed elsewhere.

[Obinna]

So if the issue, actually, is then that he just simply wants to pursue football in Europe, again that makes it unlikely he'll come back to MLS.

Not quite sure about that. He mentioned in an interview that trialing with Hibernia and Union Berlin gave him an appreciation for the level of MLS. I cannot remember his exact words but he was surprised the level at those European clubs was not higher. IIRC he also made some comment along the lines of "you have to question whether Europe is worth it when you can play at a good level in North America".

[Grizzly]

Attakora was offered a similar deal by TFC but he didn't want to commit long term. I know you said that Grizzly, but it doesn't really fit your "Nana was unhappy about being paid peanuts by TFC for years" narrative.

Attakora has gone on the record stating that the money on offer from TFC was never the issue.

Yes Nana received a similar offer from TFC (to that which he later got at San Jose) and turned it down at which point Winter traded him to San Jose. Before the season they had also offered him a contract with similar salary but for 4 years which he felt was too long. I am not saying Nana is angry at TFC/MLS but he played for 4 years at very minimal wages despite being a starter for much of that time. From what I have heard he would have re-signed if they had offered him a two year deal at a good wage earlier in the process but as his contract neared its end he wanted to test the waters. The final offers TFC made were certainly satisfactory, they were just about a year late in making them. A well run club would realize that a good young player on a low salary needs to be re-signed fairly early in the process but we all know how TFC has been run. Unfortunately for Nana his last year in MLS was injury plagued and the European thing did not turn out as well as he had hoped so the last two years he has neither played nor developed much.

[madmonte]

Not quite sure about that. He mentioned in an interview that trialing with Hibernia and Union Berlin gave him an appreciation for the level of MLS. I cannot remember his exact words but he was surprised the level at those European clubs was not higher. IIRC he also made some comment along the lines of "you have to question whether Europe is worth it when you can play at a good level in North America".

Yeah that's kinda what I was saying about Finland too, it's a big step down from MLS in my opinion. Did you ever see a live link of one of the games there? It looks like there's 30 people in the stands! I'm sure more than that, yeah, I'm glad Nana sees that, as well.

[Gordon]

your link doesn't work, however, USL regulations

http://www.uslsoccer.com/docs/League%20Regulations.pdf

specifically Rule 609 says Canadians count as domestic in USL. now that I know this, I'm wondering why Canadian teams aren't pushing MLS to make Canadians domestic?

on the other hand, NASL doesn't...

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CD0QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasl.com%2Fmedia-guide%2F2011%2FMedia%2520Guide_Final_11-07-2011_book.pdf&ei=8v3LUKvEOumY2wWSpYGoBg&usg=AFQjCNFhRFA8d_Njq_Ai5E0X1sab7orNxw&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.b2I

Not sure what happened to the other link. I followed the one below and got to the document I originally cited. Item three, which I referred to, states:

"The league shall impose limitations on each team, set from time to time by the Federation, regarding the number of non-domestic (as defined by the Federation) players that may be listed on the roster."

http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2010/08/12/ussf-d-2-professional-league-standards/

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

specifically Rule 609 says Canadians count as domestic in USL. now that I know this, I'm wondering why Canadian teams aren't pushing MLS to make Canadians domestic?

Rule 609 Foreign Player Violations

Each team is required to identify its foreign players on the Game Day Line-Up Sheet. Foreign players are neither United States nor Canadians citizens. Documented Resident Aliens / Green Card holders (in the United States only) & Landed Immigrants (in Canada only) shall not be considered foreign players for teams based in those respective countries. Additionally, documented refugees and asylees (in the United States only) shall not be considered foreign players (please refer to Foreign Players in Section 3.10 for definitions). The maximum number of foreigners on the Game Day Line-Up Sheet is seven (7) for USL-1 & USL-2, eight (8) for PDL & W-League. The penalties for using more than seven (7) foreign players for USL-1 and USL-2 or eight (8) for PDL & W-League during the regular season are as follows:

1st Violation

 Player on the Game Day Line-Up Sheet, but did not play $250

 Fine & one (1) point deduction

 Player participates in match $500

 Fine & forfeiture of any points earned & one (1)-point deduction

2nd Violation

 Player on the Game Day Line-Up Sheet, but did not play $500

 Fine & two (2) point deduction

 Player participates in match $1000

 Fine & forfeiture of any points earned & two (2)-point deduction

3rd Violation**

 Any player on the Game Day Line-Up Sheet $1500

 Fine & forfeiture of any points earned & three (3)-point deduction

** League reserves the right to suspend or terminate franchise in the event of a third violation in a single season.

A team violating these regulations during a Playoff game shall forfeit (1-0) the match regardless of whether the player enters the match or the team has committed any violations of Rule 609 in that particular season.

That refers to players listed on the game-day line-up sheets so it is a bit different from having a quota on the number of international players signed to a roster.

[Yohan]

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/01/31/canadas-attakora-coy-report-return-san-jose

Attakora back to San Jose?

[rob.notenboom]

That article leaves a lot to the imagination but obviously there are rumours floating around ... hopefully it's indicative of something in the works ... would like to see Nana get back to SJ and get some playing time. Thought he did a good job against the US so perhaps SJ wants him back and he will be on the move.

[Grizzly]

That article leaves a lot to the imagination

I would phrase it as that article leaves a lot to be desired. Other than the quote from Nana there is no information there than the tweet from Dobson and the author doesn't even have his facts remotely straight about Nana's situation with San Jose last year.

Edited January 31, 2013 by Grizzly

[Nieuwland]

This is a very bad move. MLS is a much better caliber league than the Finnish Veikkausliiga.

Actually, FC Haka just got relegated to the 2nd tier Finish League.

[baulderdash77]

This would be a really good move for Nana and Canada. We have to realize at some point that MLS is better than most European leagues outside the Top 5 leagues. I'll be happy to see this happen.