Last year I put together this team... https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=345507 ... for just over $399,000. This year, using the new salary data and same general rules (no rookies, players need to have already "shown" something in MLS, use the higher salary number) I put this team together: Pickens Matt G CHI 32000 Robinson Dasan D CHI 43000 Parke Jeff D NYR 49000 Boswell Bobby D DCU 31000 Vaughn Lawson D CHV 30000 Dorman Andy M NER 31000 Correa Thiago M CHI 44000 Larentowicz Jeff M NER 30000 Smith Khano M NER 44000 Gomez Herc F COL 49000 Barrett Chad F CHI 49000 The total came to $432,000. Among the last cuts were: D -- Dan Gargan (tough player I like), Kyle Veris (shown flashes) and Tim Regan (came on strong last year) M -- Dax McCarty (staking his claim this year), Danny Szetela (awaiting his chance?) and Aaron Pitchkolan (tough and versatile) F -- Kei Kamara (obvious talent), Scott Sealy (might start elsewhere), Alan Gordon (decent finish to last season) I didn't obsess over this so I'm sure I could have done better, cheaper and probably both together but I don't think this squad is too bad. I rounded salaries this year. Here is the data link: http://www.mlsplayers.org/files/5_2_07_salary_info_club.pdf
Sealy is a starter in KC. He's been out the last couple games with an ankle sprain. With 9 and 10 goals in the previous 2 seasons, no real midfield help, and a 33k salary, he makes my list. I think last year's team would beat this team as well.
Herc's been playing in midfield, not forward, and Thiago is just this side of lousy. Dane Richards should be in there somewhere.
Richards is a rookie; I left them all off. Herc was a toss-up, positionally (besides, it's MY team). And the pickings at attacking mid were lousy given my list of qualifications, admittedly. Last year's Grabavoy ($49K or so) might have fit in there well. My bad on the Sealy thing. I have always thought he was a solid player. Without a raise soon I could see him heading off to Scandinavia before long.
shouldn't you really build an 18-23 man roster for $432k? after all, the same 11 guys can't play week-in, week-out. edit: nevermind, i was confused. i forgot that the salary cap is actually much higer than $432k
Why? The number is just the best 11 for the lowest price. You could do 18-23 but there's no reason 432 has to be used if the salary cap is upwards of 2 mil. You could just do the best 18-23 for the lowest price.
I bet this team will beat yours: GK Hislop, Shaka DAL $220,080 D Pope, Eddie RSL $265,000 D Vanney, Greg COL $236,667 D/M Mastroeni, Pablo COL $298,000 M Donovan, Landon LA $900,000 M Reyna, Claudio NY $1,250,008 M Beckham, David LA $6,500,000 M Adu, Freddy RSL $550,000 F Blanco, C. CHI $2,666,778 F Angel, Juan P. NY $1,593,750 F Johnson, Eddie KC $875,000 The total came to $15,355,283. That's all.
Can't believe Dallas has over $300K tied up in foreign GKs. Wow .. Pickens, Boswell, and Dorman pretty nice for around $30K apiece, though. Some other steals of deals, all at $17,700: Andy Gruenebaum, GK, CLB Laurent Merlin, M, CHV Ty Harden, D, LA Adam Cristman, F, NE Meanwhile, yet another sign that all is not well at RSL -- Nik Besagno is due $111,500 this year.
For those who care..... The only reason Boswell is so cheap is the fact that he turned down a much higher offer from DC so he wouldn't be locked in for multiple years. He is afraid that if a Euro team comes calling, he will be locked in like Shalrie. He wants to be able to test the market next year while he is in control. So he is working for peanuts this year by his choice. My expectation is that he leaves on a free just like Ryan Nelsen did, but he better pick up his level of play if that is to happen. Still, I like the overall makeup of the inexpensive team and think they would compete with the bottom clubs.
of course, then you'd have disgruntled players who wouldn't give you their all in games after they see that they are all making less money than the league they'd hold a protest to demand more.
I'm assuming you are just taking the highest paid players, otherwise I would say choosing Adu would be retarded.
ummm hate to say it but the fact that you can put some of the better players in the league on your list shows some of the negativities of the league and not the positives...these guys are underpaid
The league will renegotiate a longer contract with them if they want or they can wait for free agency. The rules haven't really changed for anything except the designated player level talent so nobody can claim they didn't see this coming when they signed the contract.
Dave, I hope I didn't take your quote out of context. I have a hole in my sock. Could I borrow your needle and thread?
Finding players that weren't playing elsewhere, signing them cheap, and having them perform well could be considered a positive thing about MLS. Could be.
why haven't they had multiple foreign clubs contact MLS to sign them if they are so grossly underpaid? It's not like the transfer fee for MLS players is all that prohibitive. I believe Dempsey's $4 million is still the highwater mark, hardly a super massive fee for a player. Beyond that, it's not like any company goes around tossing you big raises every time "you done good" they will pay you as little as possible as long as possible. It's good business.