Wi Tu Lo

The Real Mr. Miyagi

[West Ham United @WestHam]

Ready for the road 🛣️

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

In Germany, a talented 14-year-old earns his club money. In America, his parents pay the club $15,000 a year.

That single inversion explains why "we will not" is the most accurate line ever written about US soccer.

FIFA built a global system for this. Training compensation and solidarity payments send a cut of every transfer fee back to the clubs that developed the player, from age 12 onward. Develop one future pro and your academy gets paid for a decade. Barcelona's La Masia, Ajax, every Bundesliga academy runs on this logic. The kid is the asset.

US Soccer refuses to enforce those rules. When Seattle's Crossfire Premier claimed its $60,000 share of DeAndre Yedlin's transfer to Tottenham, it got nothing. Claims on the Dempsey and Bradley transfers died partly because the federation couldn't even produce the youth training records.

So American clubs earn zero dollars when a kid turns pro. They earn when a kid enrolls. Which makes the parent the customer, and the product is whatever keeps the parent writing checks: travel tournaments, hotel weekends, $500 showcase events, private training at $100 an hour. Elite pathways run $8,000 to $20,000 a year. A comparable academy spot in Italy costs about 120 euros.

Follow the incentive one level deeper and it gets darker. A club dependent on fees can't cut its weakest paying players, so rosters optimize for retention over development. The scouting pool shrinks to families who can afford the cliff, which appears around age 11, exactly when development matters most. The country runs a talent filter sorted by household income instead of ability.

Every four years someone proposes fixing this. The proposal always requires the people profiting from the $15,000 model to vote themselves out of business.

They will not.

[USMNT Only @usmntonly]

Jesse Marsch really said “I'd rather be us than them” after Morocco beat them 3-0 and sent them home 😭

[Nils Koppen @KoppenNils]

Delighted to officially join West Ham United.

I'm looking forward to getting started, meeting everyone at the club and working with such an ambitious group of people. Excited for the challenge ahead.

Come on you Irons! ⚒️

[Wi Tu Lo @The_iMan8]

@WestHam_Central 100% keep him and 100% at cb

[West Ham United @WestHam]

We are pleased to confirm Nils Koppen as the Club’s new Director of Player Recruitment, subject to the appropriate work visa being secured.

Everyone at West Ham United would like to welcome Nils and his family to the Club and wish him every success in his new role.

[Central @WestHam_Central]

Six years ago today 🇺🇦

[Joe Davis @whujoe]

Just doesn’t really have much on Bowen-Fornals-Benrahma-Antonio does it

[Tomáš Souček @tomassoucek28]

This isn’t how I imagined ending the season.

Not with West Ham. Not with the Czech Republic. And certainly not with an injury.
I’m sorry we couldn’t give our fans the moments and results you deserved. That hurts me more than anything.

The good thing about football is that there’s always another challenge waiting. A new season is almost here, bringing a new opportunity to put things right.

For 12 years as a professional, I’ve been lucky enough to avoid a serious injury. Now I have to face a challenge I haven’t faced before. But everyone who knows me knows one thing.
I never give up!
This injury doesn’t change my mindset. If anything, it makes me even more determined. I’ll use these next few weeks/months to work, recover and come back stronger. As a player, as a teammate and as a person.

Since the season ended, I’ve only had one thing on my mind. West Ham United. This club means so much to me and I’m ready to do everything I can in helping get it back to where it belongs; to the English Premier League.
For the immediate future, I’ll support the boys off the pitch whilst I rehabilitate. Then once back, I’ll give everything I have on the pitch, fighting alongside the boys once again.
COYI!

As for the international team, I need some time to think about my future.
I’m deeply disappointed with how our World Cup campaign ended. I know we are capable of much more in every aspect than we showed, and that’s one of the biggest reasons why this disappointment is so difficult to accept.
Representing the Czech Republic has always been the greatest honour of my career. That’s why I don’t want to make any decision in the heat of the moment. I’ll take the time to reflect and decide what’s best for everyone.

One thing is certain.

I’ll be back.

Stronger. Hungrier. More determined than ever.

Thank you for standing by me through everything. Your support means more than words can say. ❤️

[mark gevaux @theribman]

An @EFL club getting £85 Million for a player is an all time record @WestHam

[Championship Terrace Talk @ChampionshpTalk]

West Ham fans after getting £85 million for Mateus Fernandes

#whufc #thfc

[West Ham United @WestHam]

Locked in for the new season 🔐

[Transfer News Live @DeadlineDayLive]

🚨 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: Former Newcastle United co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi are exploring a potential takeover of West Ham United.

The pair played a key role in Newcastle’s 2021 acquisition, assembling the consortium backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the Reuben brothers that completed the club’s takeover.

(Source: @MailSport)

[El Pelado De La TV @peladodelatv]

¿Cómo le explicás a un pibe en el 2050 que esto no fue IA?

[Jamie.Talks @JamieBoyce]

Wait a second...

West Ham are about to have a Director of Football who's actually going to do Director of Football things?

Identify targets. Negotiate deals. Build a squad. Plan for the future?

Somebody pinch me.

[USMNT Only @usmntonly]

Mauricio Pochettino said that ‘American sports reward losers’ when asked about the style of play in top European nations vs. in the U.S. 😯🇺🇸

QUESTION: “We know how England, France, Spain play… Players from countries with a strong tradition have a recognizable style. What is the style of the US team? What kind of football do the Americans want to play?”

ANSWER: “Their culture is playful. They want to play. We told them, “Guys, playing soccer is one thing, competing is another.” They’re two completely different sports. They grow up in a culture of playing. Why? If you start in MLS and you haven’t won a game in three months and you’re at the bottom, what’s the consequence if there’s no promotion or relegation, no international competition? American sports reward losers! But soccer is different: if you reward those who don’t win… If you don’t have goals, you don’t fight. If I lose, what happens? Nothing. They just fire the coach. Also, the American player is disciplined. But with a sense of complacency that isn’t good in soccer. It took us a year and a half to change that mentality.”

[EL PAIS]

[Central @WestHam_Central]

NEW: Over the last few days, one message has been repeated consistently by those remaining at the club.

There is a clear desire to distance West Ham from the previous regime and move the football club in a different direction.

– C&H

[Times Sport @TimesSport]

🔺EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Kretinsky has said he will provide the financial backing required for West Ham United to make a swift return to the Premier League, saying there is no need for the club to sell its best players.

Full story by @Lawton_Times ⬇️

https://t.co/ih78TcNcA6

[Matt Lawton @Lawton_Times]

EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Kretinsky: West Ham do not need to sell best players

https://t.co/BriU2mdutn