This just in from MLS Confidential - just when you thought it couldn't get any worse ... "1. NEW WAY IN SAN JOSE: Add Richard Mulrooney to the list of Quakes players who may be bound overseas. Defender Wade Barrett has signed a contract with Danish club AGF Aarhus, keeper Joe Cannon may be offered a six-month deal with French club Lens, and MLS has been contacted by Spanish club Rayo Vallecano about a loan deal for Mulrooney. Barrett and Cannon let their contracts with MLS expire and held off signing new deals so to test the waters in Europe. League officials have offered Mulrooney, 26, whose contract expires at the end of 2003, a new multi-year contract but he has declined to sign it. [snip] MLS and Quakes management had hoped to give increases to Mulrooney, Barrett and Cannon, among others, in 2003, so Graziani -- who earned close to the league maximum of $267,500 -- was let go on a long-term loan and the option was not picked up on midfielder Ronnie Ekelund, who earned nearly $200,000 last year. Ekelund has balked at taking a pay cut."
Okay, at first I panicked. And swore up a storm! But let's not panic about Mulrooney yet. There's no indication that he's leaving this season. He simply declined to sign a contract to stay with MLS beyond this season. *deep breath*
But, MLS may be thinking, "well, we didn't get any cash from Barrett going on a free transfer, and we won't get any cash if Cannon goes on a free transfer, so maybe we should sell Mulrooney while he is still under contract so that we can get some cash for him." That would be a screwing of epic proportions, especially when they're ponying up a fat contract for Timmy ************ing Howard.
Then they wouldn't have offered him a new contract. He's a smart man not to have signed yet. He's improving really quickly. He's already very valuable to the team. At the end of next season he's going to be even more valuable. No doubt he will be one of our stars in 2003. He already is. And right now the team is already having cap issues. They couldn't have offered him very much. Smart man not to sign.
I don't blame Mulrooney, or Barrett or Cannon for that matter, for doing what's best for them and not signing contracts that aren't big increases over their last contracts. All three have improved tremendously, and all three deserve much better than they have been getting for the past few years. I do blame MLS if they are going to offer these lowball contracts and potentially lose all three players while offering up a fat increase for Timmy ************ing Howard. That guy can't hardly hold Joe Cannon's jock and he's getting a big damn raise?
Exactly! I agree! Not with the comparison to Tim Howard. But definitely with the fact that MLS needs to step up and get their priorities straight. Do something now, or lose all of the countries best players. And continue to do so in the years to come. Soon MLS will be the academies for overseas leagues.
I would be fine with that, except so far, it appears that *San Jose* is the academy for overseas leagues I mean, what the hell? Why don't we hear much about the world's leagues going after the Galactoscum?
Fine with that?!! Well I'm not!! The average sports fan in the United States is not going to follow the best players if they are overseas. And if the best players are overseas, the average sports fan is not gonna care about MLS. They will be forced to watch second rate soccer and the sport will never catch on. At least not anytime soon. The World Cup this year was more of a hit with fans of other sports cuz they had players like Landon on the team. Players that play their club soccer here in the States. Otherwise it would have been, "Landon? Who's Landon? Isn't he a german player?" No, I'm not fine with that at all! When I watch my United States team, I want to watch a team where most of the players play and train right here on US soil. Fish a US team where all the players play in foreign leagues. Fishin' heck no! I'm rambling. I think I should stop. You shouldn't get me started!
Well, its official... MLS is now a developmental league for Denmark. I liked it much better when they were sending us players.
Easy, tiger! ) I think we share the same long-term vision, but I was speaking of the short term. Until MLS can afford to pay its top players more than a measly $250K/year, we have to settle for being the training ground for top leagues. I just don't want all of them to come from our team in the meantime!
Obviously the European league scouts recognize the same thing that we do: The Galacterrhoids are CRAP.
I agreee to an extent. I would like the world to take us seriously at soccer so I think some of the USMNT players should be there. Like O'Brien and McBride. They can handle it & the experience and skill they'll gain overseas will make MNT team a lot better. I upsets me that Chivu gets all the credit at Ajax for the defense and no one there really notices O'Brien, when I think they are equally good. Chivu's just younger. You are definatly right though that the MLS has to hold on to most of them. If we sell all our favorite & best players the league won't grow & the players will never make more money. If the players don't make a lot of money what is going to make young athleats in the US want to go into a sport that they can't make very much at, when they could make millions in football, basketball, or baseball? Save for the athleats that love soccer, of course. Not that I want a bunch of gready soccer stars in the MLS, but the money will definatly help bring more young sports stars into the sport. It does piss me off that we loose Cannon, Barrett, Graziani and possibly Mulrooney and what do we ever get? I think every other team in the MLS has gotten some star player and we just seam to loose them, all we can manage is Craig Waibel? (no offence Craig) We did get to keep Donovan nand that was cool, but can we somebody else. I am really hoping that the players we drafted well become great and I have a lot of hopes for Dunivant & Alvarez. I'll buy Paul Gascoigne a keg if he comes in for a try out.
Watch it! That washed up wife-beater is not welcome by many on these boards. IF, MLS ever gets it's fish together, the players can finally laugh in the face of "better" leagues. I dream of the day that happens. I'll make up some bumper stickers that say "Support your San Jose Earthquakes, formerly known as the Danish Academy" or "MLS: We're not your developmental league anymore!" Yeah, *sigh* that'll probably never happen in my lifetime!
Calm down there I was just kidding. I don't want that guy, but my pint is that we couldn't even get him even if they did want him (God forbid). How sad is that? And Holland & Denmark, well there're the rest of Europe's training ground along w/ Argentina and Brazil.
S'okay. I knew what you were getting at. Don't take me seriously too often. I've been told I need to lighten up cuz I make a joke out of too many things. Or something like that. I'm not ever really too much worked up over things.
It's called capitalism... The players are going to want what they think their worth is. Obviously MLS only pays so much so if they think "X" club in Europe (anyone, doesn't matter who) is going to offer them more than what they are earning here they are going to take a chance. If they are not under contract, they in effect are free agents and can transfer anywhere, and the club--in this case the league, gets nothing. Either (1) the league is going to have to pay the rising stars what they are worth or what they can afford (2) sell them and hope they get some money or (3) lose them outright. Tony Sanneh was lost on a free transfer and it looks like the league was willing to do the same from observation with Barrett. They can get away with a few but when players leave outright and the league doesn't get anything in return, they will have to sell some players under contract and try to get the money in return. It's the nature of the beast. But yes, the league has to find a way to keep the American players as much as possible or hope they can discover home grown talent that could readily take the place of the Sannehs, Barretts, and so forth. Cheers!
I know it's got to be disheartening to see a big chunk of a very talent team leave. But this isn't about the league favoring Howard over Mulrooney or Barrett or the league not caring about keeping talented Americans. The cap is $1.7 million. While we'd all love to see a much higher cap, given the money MLS has lost, I have no problem with Phil Anschutz and others caping it at that figure. And frankly, if more money was available, it shouldn't go to the cap (much as I'd like that) but to development of Soccer specific stadiums (which have shown--turn MLS from a money loser into a money maker). So given the realities of a $1.7 million cap, what that means is: any team with 3 or more players on their roster making MLS max or close to it can't afford any depth. In other words, when Donovan, Graziani and Agoos make the MLS max and Ekelund makes $200K, than everyone else on the roster (with the exception of a few guys making $70K or 1 or 2 at $120K) has to be making MLS minimum or close to it. Now you can see the dilemma--when guys like Mulrooney, Barrett, Cannon, see their contracts expire (contracts signed when they were younger, not as good, hadn't won championships, and were willing to sign for $30K, $40K per season), they are asking for $150K. As unfortunate as it is, this is about cap strategies and success. Successful MLS teams end up giving pay raises and get in cap trouble. And you can either have a couple of max salary players (and everyone else makes minimum) or have depth and a lot of medium salary guys (players making between $50K-$150K) and only afford 1 or at the most 2 players making over $200K. Chicago is paying the price for it, DCU paid the price for it earlier and the Metros are discovering that problem this season. That's grim that it works out that way but that's the reality of the cap. Also, FWIW, LA did sell Vanney to Bastia.
I could give a fish about a soccer specific stadium if MLS is causing the US to lose it's best players. I will not watch crap soccer in a soccer specific stadium just because it's a soccer specific stadium. In some markets, the draw is more the players than the stadium. As is more than evident in San Jose. No one came to see Spartan last season. They came to see the World Cup hero Landon Donovan. The people who come to the games on a regular basis understand soccer and come for the passion for the game. Those who come once to get a look at a sport they know little to nothing about are not going to come back if you show them a crap game. While I would love a soccer specific stadium, I would rather the money go to the players so that I can see quality US players. I want my money's worth. I come for the game. Not the stadium. I do agree that soccer specific stadiums would be a draw to some people. And I'm not saying it would have no effect on increasing attendance. But here in San Jose, I think the focus needs to be showing the public quality US players. The stadium can come later when the interest in the team is there. And the interest will come with building a quality team, showing those that don't have much interest what quality soccer is about.