And Philly's off-season so far has consisted of picking up Chicago's unwanted (Corben Bone) and shipping away a hometown favorite to make cap room for this signing.
When you buy a player down under the DP limit, it frees up a designated player spot you can use on another big money player if you have space. MLS teams have been doing this since allocation money was made available. You can read about it here under the allocation money section http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/content/roster-rules-and-regulations
I think it is mostly perception that hurts a league that already struggles with PR issues. If however you believe that all soccer fans in the US think MLS is a shining beacon of how to do business then there is not much I can say.
Sorry, I am never sure when someone is being sarcastic and someone is still learning the complex rules.
Where have you been. This isn't the first time that MLS has denied a DP despite the fact that they wouldn't even be the ones paying for it. I seem to remember that this happened to FC Dallas when they tried to keep Kenny Cooper from going overseas. The only reason that they do this is for salary control. Remember what happened in TO with DeRo and DeGuzman. That type of thing happens when you massively overpay for a DP who turns out to not be worth the money. It destabilizes the league salary structure, which mostly undervalues American and Canadian players who aren't DPs. MLS believes Bradley is worth more here than he is in Europe because he's an influential starter on the USMNT.
I think the vast majority of "all soccer fans in the US" will not hear of or care about this news (of Edu not coming to MLS at a DP salary level). "Fans" for the most part are not aware of and/or do not care about the business details and how the league makes its sausage product. Soccer fans want to be entertained. (And I do not blame MLS for deciding there are some players, like Cooper and/or Mellberg and/or Edu, who will/would not provide some level of entertainment and desirable product based on some possible or requested level of "league/team" investment.)
Though there is a legitimate concern here that isn't just about some owners being "cheap". First I'm basing this on the assumption that the owners don't just want to throw away money, that they're willing to lose money on smart investments but they aren't going to just burn it. I've said, and still believe, that signing Dempsey (or now Bradley) would be stupid for the Rapids. They clearly don't have the economic base to support paying that kind of money for a player. And the Rapids aren't alone in that situation. So if MLS still believes in parity (and IMO they should) they have to be careful that they aren't acquiring players that only certain teams can reasonably afford. I'm not pushing the panic button yet over just a few players, but I can see the specter of that possibility on the horizon. If these type of signings (Dempsey, Bradley, etc.) MLS is going to have to figure out how to get some of these higher-priced players to go to some of these less economically strong teams or start abandoning the idea of parity.
While Edu is probably not worth 1.2 mil compared with other MLS D-mids, why would the league block Philadelphia from overpaying him? He might arguably be worth 368K which is all the league chips in. If the owner wants to pay the rest why would league HQ stop him? Wouldn't Edu be Philly's only DP? It's not as if the league has a general policy of preventing teams from overpaying players. We can all name various players from our team who were overpaid from the start.
How is Edu different than the other times the league cock blocked a team? Yeah, they went big on Defoe, Dempsey, and Bradley, but those players move the needle for the entire league. Edu doesn't even register.
Not to pile on, but how about we let Mix join in in the party? http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/66/u...rud-talks-about-us-future-and-failed-portland
It is the same. But maybe the environment has changed. I think that's what he means. Regardless, this is the ugly side of the league's construction to control labor costs. Surprised to see as many people defending it, it is a bad policy. Maybe necessary, some here might say probably or definitely necessary, but still bad.
We've been kicking this around on the Revs board the past couple of days and an idea that I've come up with is start putting limits on the Designated Player Rule. For example... Designated Player #1 - Same rules as currently exist. Any salary, any transfer fee. Designated Player #2 - Total transfer fee and average annual salary can not exceed $2.0 million Designated Player #3 - Total transfer fee and average annual salary can not exceed $1.0 million. Player must be eligible for either US or Canadian National Teams OR player may not be older than 24 years of age. League retires whatever slush fund exists to help the Seattles and Torontos sign marquee players (...they can still sign Dempsey, Bradley, etc... it's just the league can't help them) and the league can not block a team from signing a player as long as they meet the DP designation. In effect, this is saying New York can sign Henry... but they can't sign Henry, Cahill, and Xavi. Toronto can have Defoe, Gilberto, and Laba... but maybe Michael Bradley ends up in Kansas City instead of Toronto. Just an idea...
I think the league is saving Philly from themselves. I haven't seen one person say that Edu would not be massively overpaid at $1.2 million.
It would be difficult to argue that Edu isn't worth the maximum non-DP salary. So why would I care if the ownership is willing to invest in the team? By the way, where was the league on these deals? Julian De Guzman (2012 salary): $1.911 million Eric Hassli (2011 salary): $900K Torsten Frings (2012 salary): $2.414 million Danny Koevermans (2013 salary): $1.663 million Obafemi Martins (2013 salary): $1.725 million Kenny Miller (2013 salary): $1.113 Sherjill McDonald (2013 salary): $527K Barry Robson (2012 salary): $596K
I see nothing wrong with Oba's contract. He happen to have a wonderful scoring rate and would had scored more if it wasn't for him being injured.
Again.. Are you basing this on their performance prior to their arrival to the league or after? The reason I'm asking is because if you were basing it on performance prior to them playing in the league you wouldn't be including most of those players. You're also completely missing why De Guzman was paid as much as he was. De Guzman moved the needle in Toronto.