I was searching the web for what next year's MLS salary cap might be. I stumbled on the below, which outlines what the MLS Board of Governors will talk about the next time they meet. Interesting stuff... Code: With the greater interest in investing in Major League Soccer, slightly more ambitious expansion (18 clubs by 2012) and increased international competition fixtures, MLSR has learned that the MLS Board of Govenors will meet later this year to discuss the following: * Adding a 2nd Designated player per team. * Increasing the salary cap to between 3.5 and 4.6 million for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. * Changing rules on international players to make any US or Canadian player count as a domestic player * Changing the rules on Senior and Youth Internationals to allow one more of each per team.
Adding a 2nd Designated player per team. Don't think it should be done, it allows teams to abuse it by trading their DP slots....you never know LA may get 4 DPs if they wanted too by making trades. * Increasing the salary cap to between 3.5 and 4.6 million for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. More pressing issue is to increase the min. salary for the developmental players. However if they introduce the 2 DP spots, then this increase will definately be needed. * Changing rules on international players to make any US or Canadian player count as a domestic player This one should be done. I know TFC is the only Canadian based team so it is biased towards them, but I'm sure Houston and LA would love it too. * Changing the rules on Senior and Youth Internationals to allow one more of each per team. Not much to say, but it will help teams that have multiple injuries.......ie....Toronto FC....hahaha!!!!
They haven't done it yet... I don't know, it seems that that particular rule caters too much to Toronto. How about just letting Canadian teams have two more Americans count as domestic?
i'm pretty sure they're discussing that because long term there will be montreal or vancouver or both, and TFC's had problems by themselves finding canadians
to put a cap on american players might be good so we continue to have X amount of canadians playing, but really, if canada is way behind in producing talent compared to the US, then Toronto would be at a disadvantage. By making Canada=US, that would even things out with other US clubs.
The league should institute a rule disallowing the DP position to be traded. Each team has 1 or 2 spots (whatever is decided) and that team has the option to decline. Use it or lose it Also the SuperLiga tourney should become legit. Instead of an exhibition tourney (featuring a team with Becks) teams should qualify. Four MLS teams; MLS cup champs, Supporters Shield, and two other teams (best Records?) playing the Four Mexican teams perferably in Home and Away format, running over a two month period at least.
Actually, next year's tourney is on merit. This link shows the MLS table with everything that can be won for qualified for: http://www.rrac.net/singletablemls/
Here are my thoughts: 2 DP positions Probably a good idea, but not for next season. Not even half of the teams have used their DP this year, so why do we need a second one just yet. Also, it worries me that the league is trying to do too much too quickly a la NASL Increasing salary cap Good idea, but as someone else said, they have to make sure that the minimum salary is increased. If you double the salary cap, what will happen is that teams will spend the increased amount on building their starting 11 and ignoring the rest. As with the previous issue, the league has to make sure that they don't quickly turn into the NASL. Not every team in the league is a DC, LA or TFC and overspending could get dangerous for some teams. Changing rules on domestic players I'm going to probably be one of the lone opposers to this rule change, but I don't like it. It'll be of benefit to TFC, but it will be bad in the long run for developing Canadian talent. Both Braz and Pozniak have improved considerably since the start of the season from playing in MLS. Would they have even had the chance to start had this rule been in place this season? Increasing the number of Internationals A good idea, so long as it's a gradual increase - i.e. one senior one youth is good.
I'm with you on this. MLS needs to find a way to encourage TFC to have Canadian players without penalizing them. Why not make Americans=Canadians for only TFC? This will be a small advantage for TFC, but not a significant one given the small number of Canadians in the league.
the only sport to have a real domestic rule is the CFL because its well Canada based. Every other North American pro sport does not distinguish between Canadian and American as a domestic or import. We should be open to the best soccer players available. I would hope that as Toronto, and then possibly Montreal and Vancouver grow into the MLS that Canadians will take the sport here seriously and a viable option for a career and that will help drive up the quality of Canadian players...not by quantity. We see this year that there are some Cdn players on TFC that have no business being there..more likely USL players but we have to have them in order to fill quotas. North America = domestic will increase the talent and skill level of this league overall and you will see a good makeup of talented Canadian players very shortly no matter if they are with a cdn based or american based team. 2 DPs would be cool...but only if teams cannot trade them so at no point will a team have more than 2. Salary cap increases are inevitable but like it was mentioned previously..bring up the minimum is more appropriate..by god, some guys making 17K is atrocious if your trying to bill yourself as a major sport on this continent.
What I fear is that changing the domestic player rule and allowing Canadian teams to get the best available players will turn TFC into another team like the Blue Jays or Raptors - devoid of Canadian players. They are fine for entertainment value, but they do nothing to help build Canadian talent.
I also agree. One of the arguments in favour of Toronto entering MLS was that it would be of assistance to the growth of Canadian soccer by giving more Canadian players a chance to play professionally here at home. I have some difficulty in reducing the "quota" although I, obviously, understand the need to improve the team. Also, the thought that we should / would be receiving league "charity" makes me very uncomfortable. I don't think we have a choice. We have to live with the rules under which we agreed to become part of MLS, at least in regards to the quota. I would argue that perhaps this rule could be revisited if and when a second and or third Canadian team is added to the league. If at that point in time we, for the sake of the quota, equate Canadians with Americans, so be it but right now, I don't think that we deserve special status. B
What I fear is how do players get better sitting on the bench as the 12th through 18th guys. When they get in because of injuries you can see the talent difference as they cant compete. So the Blue Jays and Raptors dont have any Canadians on their team...the MVP of basketball and Baseball have been Canadians recently...we don't need them to see or play in toronto just so they can be good. DeRo is class in the MLS and he doesnt play for toronto fc. The key is not to have Canadian teams full of Canadians to make soccer better in this country, but by providing the optics of 2 or 3 Canadian teams in a growing domestic (North American) league will prove to Canadians giving up the sport there are options for them to continue their career in the sport here in NORTH AMERICA..not just on toronto fc or montreal impact or vancouver whitecaps...but anywhere within. The talent will be there eventually...not overnight, but eventually. Its not the only factor but it will increase the appeal of the sport...then you add the academy's and the help of international coaching talent and voila a formula for success....oh ya, I forgot, the most important thing which the CSA or the govt doesnt have for all this .... money.
All are good ideas to raise the quality in the league - only change should be to not allow DP trades. A couple of great players gives each team the opportunity to bring in a couple of recognized names and attract crowds, but any more will start to impact the parity. Biggest issue I've seen this year is that while teams can just about put together a first-team with the cap, there's nothing left for anything beyond the first-11 (if that). Roughly doubling the cap where its at now gives teams the ability to have a solid first 16 or so like most clubs in the world and start to compete to get a half-dozen half-decent players. Only issue the league will have to deal with though is that raising the cap and increasing the number of teams to 18 might make it more difficult for the newer and less-supported teams to keep up. From a purely Toronto perspective though, you have to think that with the support we have - from fans, TV etc., all of these rule changes can only help us establish TFC as a top team in the league over the next 3 or 4 years. Bring it on!
If you want to see Canadian Players on TFC, the answer is the Academy. You develope them, then you keep them. Lets see 14 and 15 yr olds with TFC strips playing in ultra competitive leagues. Maple Leaf Sports would sink the money into this if they knew they would not loose them to the mls draft. The CSA is in shambles, it will be up to the clubs. Vancouver knows this and have already started. Mo knows this and knows it's the answer. For God sake, with the population of Metro Toronto if we can't produce 2 or 3 players from an Academy to eventually play on the senior squad we have even bigger issues then we think. But it will take a few years, so we do need a domestic North American Rule for now.
The idea of treating Canadian and American players as equal domestic players is brilliant. Rather than looking upon one Canadian team as developing Canuck pro talent, why not have all MLS teams involved in the process? Right now the rules are an obstacle to Canadian players- if you sit on TFC's roster, who wants to trade for you unless you can hold an International spot ?? For all of Mo's trades - how often has he traded a Canadian ??
Everyone has made such compelling arguments about the American/Canadian domestic designation point that it's hard for me to decide where I stand. On one hand I think designating all players from North America is a great idea but on the other it seems to fly in the face of what having a team in Canada was originally intended for: developing Canadian talent. Great point about Steve Nash and Justin Morneau being MVP's in NBA and MLB. I like the idea of having two DP's per team but think it should be limited to two and two only. No trading for extra DP's, etc. Glad to see an increase to the salary cap and agree with the point someone made about low salaries. They are bang on when they said it's hard to imagine the league being taken seriously when a player is earning as little as $17k. Don't know if that's the league miniumum or what but it wouldn't surprise me. I know Lombardo is only making something like $30k. All in all I think the considerations are relevant and hopefully we'll see something that can benefit the league and TFC.
Exactly. This is the first season of our existence, there's going to be problems finding Canadians because they're already plying their trade elsewhere. We need an Academy and we need the time to develop Canadian talent. In 5 years time this would be a mute point, so i hope they don't do anything rash and change the rules...
You can point to Steve Nash and Justin Morneau as examples of Canadians succeeding in other sports without quotas, but tell me, how is our Canadian Men's Basketball team doing? Or our national baseball team for that matter? DeRo is great, but we need more Canadian players like him. If you keep a requirement of Canadian players on TFC, it gives the team a reason to invest in and develop Canadian talent. Lord knows we can't rely on the CSA to do it. Thing is, it's going to take time before TFC is able to reap the benefits, but that will come. If TFC joined the league in 2000, say, rather than 2007 DeRo would definitely be with the team now rather than Houston, as would a number of Canadian who went overseas to play.
I really hope development is a major interest for everyone involved. Guess I'll have to take the high road on this one and think of the greater good and the future of our club and nation. Let's hope things go how they're supposed to and in five or ten years maybe we'll have the kind of talented Canadians that are currently in development or already playing in Europe. Don't know if we'll end up developing (and keeping) guys like Hargreaves or Radzinski but definitely DeRo's calibre.
Actually, the roster limits that were set were for this year only. It was an experiment, as having a Canadian MLS team is an experiment. It was intended all along to revisit the rules after the first season, once it was seen how they affected the club in practice.