MLS 2015 Salary Analysis.

Couple of points -- looking at individual salaries, Dykstra, Opare, Coria and Doyle are bargains. Jalen Robinson and Collin Martin make more than Opare. Halsti is over $330K -- that's a great deal of money spent on keeping the bench warm.

Now, looking at that chart - Chicago is a pure shitshow. I remember some folks calling for Yallop to come here in 2013 during DCU's darkest hours. Glad he didn't -- overrated and a failure everywhere but SJ -- for a very short time. Philly isn't much better. RBNY with the lowest payroll in the league, expecting sunrise in the West tomorrow and bring that overcoat to Hell.

 

Espindola makes well over $175k (I would imagine he's over $500k), but the players' union lists him at $175k for transfer related reasons, as they're unsure exactly how he gets paid.

 

And yet Dallas, Montreal and Red Bull have all managed some pretty entertaining attacking soccer pretty frequently …

We all wish that our FO would be more ambitious to be higher on that list, but that list is also a warning on how dangerous it is to put so many eggs in one basket. Look at Chicago. Look at Jermaine Jones and Pedro Morales who haven't played in weeks/months. Emeghara is out for the year. We get as much if not more out of Boswell/Birnbaum than these teams get out of Collin, Edu or Ridgewell. Has Diskerud done more than Kitchen? Kevin Doyle has looked about the same as Conor Doyle so far. Lampard is ancient and showed up injured.

It really is a mixed bag … until you get up to the multi millionaire tier of MLS DPs like Keane, Giovinco, Dempsey, Martins, Villa and Kaka where you really start to see some significant separation in quality

 

I'd rather see dollars per championship

 

I'm sorry, that observation is incorrect. We've all been told, many times, that MLS teams on a budget cannot play attractive soccer and get points.

 

When did Rivero get traded to TFC?

Aurelian Collin and Liam Ridgewell both make more than 500,000 US dollars! I wouldn't trade Opare straight up for either.

Yes, that has to be an MLS first. But with the whispers that the soda pop company wants to dump the NY soccer division, it's not much of a surprise.

 

Until the spoiler, I was really concerned for you. Now that I know balance has been restored in the universe, I feel better. There's a reason they're called the scum.

 

Goff said he's over $6ook per source, but didn't give specifics.

 

Yup. Remember, Espindola is a DP: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...corer-fabian-espindola-designated-player-2015. Doesn't that mean he has to be +$500,000?

Still, he is the only one, I think.

Right now, we're looking really good (and I would argue outperforming) in terms of salary. I think what I fear is this: In a two-game series, when you absolutely need to have someone step up and score a goal, do you want Bradley-Altidore-Giovinco? Do you want Lampard-Villa-Diskerud? Or do you want Sabario-Espindola-Rolfe?

 

False choice because one of either Bradley or Altidore will be injured for Toronto. For Man City West, it will be both Lampard and Villa injured, Diskerud running around like a mad man while Pirlo sits at a table drinking grappa and taking a smoke break.

 

Obviously that's a loaded question. All things being equal, you get what you pay for. But before we worry too much about matching up with Toronto in the playoffs, Toronto has to make the playoffs, something they've never managed to do despite a history of fairly lavish spending.

 

It saddens me to say this, but give me the Bradley/Altidore/Giovinco trio.

Even without Bradley or Altidore, Giovnico can beat DC pretty much on his own (as he's already done once this season).

 

Right now I would say Giovinco and any two other guys.

 

I did a little comparison of points per game to salary rankings to get a sense of which teams were over/under performing. Taking points per game league ranking minus salary ranking to get a measure of cost effectiveness.
The lower the number the better (1st in PPG - 2oth in salary would be -19). Teams tied on PPG I gave a value of the avg position of the spots they held (so if tied for 4th & 5th, it would be 4.5 ranking in PPG)

From best performing to worst;

FC Dallas -17 (2nd in PPG - 19th in salaries)
DC United -13 (3rd PPG - 16th in salaries)
NYRB -12
Sporting KC -8
Montreal -6
Portland -4.5
Columbus -4
Vancouver -3.5
RSL -2
Houston -1.5
San Jose -1
Seattle -0.5
Colorado 4.5
Galaxy 4.5
Toronto 8
New England 9
Philadelphia 9
Orlando 9.5
Chicago 14
NYCFC 14.5

I guess the one surprising thing to me is that only 1 of the teams that have set themselves apart salary-wise could be considered as performing at expectations. Seattle with the 5th highest salary level is tied in the 4th & 5th spot on PPG. That and the most efficient teams are also teams that have had notable success with their academies (FCD, DCU...who else would we rank as academy leaders? Seattle, RSL and mayve NYRB???? I really don't know)

 

What do we consider the academy's success on the current roster? Hamid?

 

United might have been first to the starting gate with Hamid and Najar, but since then, the DCU Academy might rank at the bottom. I guess it's hard to say for sure, without having more to evaluate with Robinson, Martin and Seaton. On the other hand, their meager contributions are the issue...or, part of it, anyway. Collectively, the Academy teams, once dominant, are struggling in comparison to MLS opposition these days. Individually, our guys struggle, too. Outside of Romain Gall (who was with DCU briefly and who didn't even make the final cut for the U20 WC), it's been a while since any of our boys has been really involved in top US youth teams. There have been a few U18 cameos, but no one has been in the U17 or U20 conversation. Carranza might still have shot at changing that.

 

The Academy has had problems since Sonny Silooy left. I know at some levels anyway the coaching is just plain bad.