Grant Wahl piece on Szetala, 7/22

[kinstlinger]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/grant_wahl/07/21/wahl.insider/index.html

I suppose GW is the coolest of the mainstream media soccer writers - combines good talent, with some personality.

Jack Bell of the NY Times is also good, but his stuff is more news-y.
I like Goff of the WashPost, and Jones of the LA Times.

[superdave]

Szetela's best offer came last August from Everton, which put a guaranteed five-year, $700,000 offer


Even with help from Adidas, which is investing well into six figures on Szetela's star potential, he'll be earning significantly less per year than he would have under the first Everton offer.


Grant, if you're out there, this doesn't quite add up. The Everton offer was for $140K per year. Are you saying that the adidas money PLUS the MLS money is for less than that??? I find that very surprising. A Metro fan mentioned that Eddie Gaven is on $140K a year right now. So that gives you a ballpark for Danny, who has more hype as a prospect than Eddie had. Throw in the adidas money, and I wonder how Danny could be making "significantly" less than $140K a year.

Either there's something dodgy between what Grant knows and my understanding of what Grant knows, or MLS made a great, great deal.

[Grant Wahl]

You sure you shouldn't change your screen name to Dave the Gadfly? (If I recall correctly, you're the same guy who's tried to disparage my work on several occasions.) Anyway, because Everton was willing to let Szetela spend the first year in Bradenton I treated his average guaranteed salary as $700K over four years ($175K/year). There were several reachable and lucrative incentives with Everton that I did not count. As for Szetela's Adidas and MLS deals, keep in mind that his leverage with MLS decreased dramatically after Everton withdrew its top offer last September. What I can say confidently is exactly what I said in the piece.

[CrewDust]

2) It gives MLS some needed buzz. (ESPNews will televise the event live at 3 p.m. ET.)

Interesting.

[somebody]

looking forward to seeing him play in MLS

[Foosinho]

2) It gives MLS some needed buzz. (ESPNews will televise the event live at 3 p.m. ET.)

I meant to set my TiVo when I went home for lunch, and I forgot! D'OH!

[Major League Soccer]

I meant to set my TiVo when I went home for lunch, and I forgot! D'OH!

Fear not - the draft will be live on MLSNet.com at 3ET. Also, Danny will be doing an online chat at 4:30ET. You can send questions via e-mail to sweeper@MLSNet.com or via AOL Instant Messenger at MLSNetChat (fire up those Quick Buddy clients!).

Cheers,
Sachin Agarwal
MLS Fan Development

[kinstlinger]

There's a sense that Danny could be our own "Beckham", not to compare abilities, but that he has a star kind of quality.
From what I've read he's a good-looking kid, and whereas Claudio kind of shuns attention, Danny might be more of one who wants to be king.

[superdave]

You sure you shouldn't change your screen name to Dave the Gadfly? (If I recall correctly, you're the same guy who's tried to disparage my work on several occasions.)
Only once. I was arguing that FIFA rules would prevent Freddy from signing in Europe, and that nobody had suggested a viable way around the rule. You may have conflated me with someone else.

Anyway, because Everton was willing to let Szetela spend the first year in Bradenton I treated his average guaranteed salary as $700K over four years ($175K/year). There were several reachable and lucrative incentives with Everton that I did not count. As for Szetela's Adidas and MLS deals, keep in mind that his leverage with MLS decreased dramatically after Everton withdrew its top offer last September. What I can say confidently is exactly what I said in the piece.

Thanks. Sounds like a combination of things. Seems like a good piece of business by MLS.

[superdave]

Either there's something dodgy between what Grant knows and my understanding of what Grant knows, or MLS made a great, great deal.
Grant, if this is what offended you, I was trying to say I probably didn't understand all of the...parameters?...of the two deals, which was in fact the case (the Everton incentives, and the different lengths of the two contracts.)

Sorry.

[DaMa]

There's a sense that Danny could be our own "Beckham", not to compare abilities, but that he has a star kind of quality.
From what I've read he's a good-looking kid, and whereas Claudio kind of shuns attention, Danny might be more of one who wants to be king.


I know you said not to compare abilities but I think I'd be a lot happier if he were our Davids. Yeah I know you were just comparing market appeal but here's to hoping Danny turns into a fixture at the defensive mid slot so we can stop fielding work-rate-black-holes-who-shall-remain-unnamed-as-chris armas.

As for Grant, keep up the good work. It's a rare pleasure to find an individual reporting consistently on soccer as opposed to AP in one of the mainstream pubs (and I enjoy your college hoops stuff too).

[lmorin]

So the lottery was won by Columbus, but the bet appears to be that Danny will end up with the Metrostars.
http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20040721&content_id=9040&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

[Grant Wahl]

Sorry Dave. Didn't mean to jump on you. What did you think of the ESPN News Szetela extravaganza? Not bad, I'd say, though the expression on Szetela's face kind of told the story, no?

[Foosinho]

I say we keep him. Or play hardball with the Metros. He could really help the Crew midfield.

[lmorin]

I say we keep him. Or play hardball with the Metros. He could really help the Crew midfield.
OK. Now, what would "hardball" be? How much is an undeveloped player worth? And, if he goes to Columbus, will he develop like an Eddie Gaven or an Eddie Johnson? The answer to the second question is that he is worth as much as the coach can get out of him. And that means he might do nothing at all for the Crew.

[sregis]

I say we keep him. Or play hardball with the Metros. He could really help the Crew midfield.

ok, who do you want...

[superdave]

the expression on Szetela's face kind of told the story, no?
I didn't see it, but that's what everyone's saying.

I don't really understand why MLS didn't just give him to the Mutts and use the dispersal draft. There's a clear hardship here. On another thread someone said the league didn't want to set the precedent for future young'uns. But to me, the hardship is pretty severe.

The next thing is that MLS really has to come up with a standard for the young. I don't know what that might be, but DS should have gone right to the MetroStars. Any trade that happens will leave one set of fans or the other crying "conspiracy."

[Foosinho]

ok, who do you want...
I want Guevara, but I know I'm not going to get him, even if we ship somebody else off to accompany Szetela.

Magee and Vaca seems a little more reasonable. You guys have so many options in those areas of the field already, and the Crew don't (which is why I'd like to keep Szetela). If you guys had a first round draft pick next year I'd be interested in that and a player.

As for the talk of Andrulis ruining Szetela, I've got an easy fix for that - sack him, and bring Ellinger back into the fold.

[Sandon Mibut]

Sorry Dave. Didn't mean to jump on you. What did you think of the ESPN News Szetela extravaganza? Not bad, I'd say, though the expression on Szetela's face kind of told the story, no?He's a good looking kid but he clearly hasn't been coached on his soundbites like Freddy has. Danny seemed very nervous and stiff when he was being talked to. Of course, he can learn all that in time.

As for his reaction, it was very telling, wasn't it, as was him telling the ESPN guy he heard there was a trade in the works. It also sounded like da Commish was pimping for a trade with some of his comments.

I think if you paused your recording right when Garber is saying the "bus" is Columbus you can see the emotion Danny was feeling right in his eyes.

Still, some nice publicity for the league on ESPN News, and that's not all bad.

[Justin O]

What did you think of the ESPN News Szetela extravaganza?

Hi Grant. I must say, though I didn't see it, I'm mostly just perplexed by the fact that there even was an ESPN News Szetela extravaganza. I guess from tennis to soccer to the NBA it's all about having a "personality" to promote these days, hence the Beckham coverage of last summer and all the Freddy coverage. Someone somewhere must have done a very good job of "selling" Szetela to the right person/people as a "new personality". At least that's all I can figure. Surely there have been other bigger stories of more interest to more US-based soccer fans that haven't generated a peep of coverage.