FDA Article (8/3/02)

[Rev-eler]

After Cup cash isn't flowing in - by FDA, Globe (http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/215/sports/After_Cup_cash_isn_t_flowing_in+.shtml)

What the heck is FDA doing here....on All-star weekend? Now, I don't really care if we get another fluff piece on guys going to the game or not. But, an article sorta' putting mls in a bad light really makes no sense to me.

his article seems to lack substance or a real point

he's failed to talk specifically about donovan...who by all accounts WANTS to stay in mls

and, he writes the whole thing by not really stating his own opinion....but with lengthy quotes from Patrick McCabe and other agents. Isn't PM one of the agents that's been a thorn in MLS' side for quite some time? the guy that got Savarese outta' here into a "great fulltime position" with a 3rd division italian side if i'm not mistaken? Is he Hurtado's agent? Diallo's agent?

Personally, an agent's assertion that the u.s. will fall short of the '02 performance with the next go 'round if mls doesn't "let" these young guys get over to europe...doesn't really impress me all that much since he's really a guy that has potentially something financially to gain from transfers. it may or may not prove true in the end...but just getting back to the round of 8 will be difficult in and of itself regardless of how many of these guys get out of mls eventually (and i'm sure there will be some)

plus, i think the lack mega-transfers and a hot market is worldwide phenomena right now....its not just an mls thing. i thought inamoto from japan played great for instance...but, he just got released from his club and got a relative unsubstantive 1 year deal with fulham. my take is that tons of clubs got burned after the buyers market of post w.c. '98 and people would rather not repeat that. I don't see this as an "mls is holding these guys back and its going to hurt the nat team in the end" situation that FDA seems to want to imply.

I guess I'd just rather not see an FDA article, weak on substance and foundation, that could be seen as anti-mls front office, with a bunch of quotes from a questionable agent as his only real source....on all-star saturday.

BRING BACK JOHN POWERS!

[Jim Dow]

While FDA certainly doesn't write much interesting Rev stuff this particular article was well-timed and interesting, given this is All-Star day and a number of the players that he is discussing will be on view.

At the same time he could be more informative on the impending collapse of the world soccer bubble driven by lagging TV contracts and shrinking income and outrageous transfer fees and salary demands. In other words, just like baseball here, save for the strike.

I do disagree with the notion that a player must get euro-traing to succeed on the world stage. This may be true with holding and setup players, like Renya and O'Brien but certainly our forwards did fine coming out of MLS, as did Pope and Mastro.

Anyway, the overall criticism of FDA is reasonable but in this case the piece was perfectly apt.

JIM DOW

[JMMUSA8]

Rev-eler, you mentioned Donovan wants to stay, as a good note for us, Twellman wants to stay too. Just thought I would add that in.

[soccertim]

Realistically, before the cup, big transfer fees were anticipated for Beasley and Mathis only, and mainly for Mathis, who did not have a big Cup. While it was reasonable to hope for decent transfer fees after the Cup, I think that the MLS was going to weigh the size of the transfer fee against the value of having star players in the league. While the transfer market is down worldwide, I doubt if this is Beasley or Wolff or Mathis's only chance. Also, selling a player to Europe doesn't guarantee that they'll be more developed by 2006, as they will probably see less playing time for bigger clubs loaded with high-priced players.