Talent Pool Keeps Growing One Drop at a Time
It’s best not to question Major League Soccer too closely about the paucity of new talent in the league this season. On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be much, but MLS officials bridle at that notion.
They quickly point out that the league has its first French player, midfielder Gilles Grimandi, who was once with Arsenal and is now with the Colorado Rapids.
And they will just as quickly mention that Bulgarian defender Galin Ivanov, formerly with CSKA Sofia, has joined Washington D.C. United, and that one-time Pohang Steelers defender Hong Myung-Bo is now with the Galaxy.
So, yes, there is new talent; it’s just not named Beckham or Kahn or Ronaldo.
One reporter had the temerity the other day to ask why no new major Latino players have come in to replace, say, Colombia’s Carlos Valderrama, a mainstay from the league’s beginning, or Ecuador’s Ariel Graziani, a victim of the salary cap.
Ivan Gazidis, the league’s deputy commissioner, fired back an answer that had as much sting on it as a Roberto Carlos free kick.
“Our last two league most valuable players have been international signings: [Guatemala’s] Carlos Ruiz last year and [Honduras’] Alex Pineda Chacon the year before that,” he said.
“We continue to have a lot of pride in the fact that we select players with enormous care who bring to this league something special and, in particular, bring a commitment to playing in this league.
“I think we have learned some lessons over time and we’re now signing more young players who have a desire and a hunger to build a name for themselves here in MLS. Carlos is certainly emblematic of that.”
What the league has succeeded in doing between the time Ruiz took the final, championship-winning kick of 2002 and the time he takes the first kick of 2003, on Saturday when the Galaxy opens against the Crew in Columbus, is to bring three American World Cup stars home.
So Earnie Stewart has left the Netherlands and moved to D.C. United; Joe-Max Moore has left England and moved back to the New England Revolution; and Frankie Hejduk has left Switzerland and settled in with the Crew.
And if it is pointed out that last season’s top MLS goalkeeper, the San Jose Earthquakes’ Joe Cannon, has gone to FC Lens in France, or that another Earthquake, defender Wade Barrett, has gone to AGF Arhus in Denmark, or that five-year MLS veteran goalkeeper Matt Jordan has abandoned the Dallas Burn and also gone to Denmark to play for Odense Boldklub, well, players are always going to be lured to Europe.
Every league in the world is a feeder league for Europe, and U.S. fans should not expect MLS to be an exception.
It is far worse to lose a popular and established player such as Argentine-born striker Graziani, who returned to Ecuador after four MLS seasons because San Jose could not afford to keep him for salary-cap reasons.
Don Garber, the league’s commissioner, said the salary cap -- $1.72 million per team, according to Soccer America magazine -- is not going to change anytime soon.
“The economic viability of our league is of tremendous importance right now to our future goal of expansion and [acquiring] new investors,” Garber said, “So we don’t foresee there being any real movement in the cap in the short term.”
MLS will also quickly point out that while San Jose lost Graziani, it did keep rising U.S. star Landon Donovan, so there are two sides to the coin, even if coin in general is in short supply.
Other significant player deals are still in the works. The MetroStars, for example, are close to acquiring Honduran international midfielder Amado Guevara, potentially an influential player in the league.
Apart from player movement, other changes in MLS this season include an increase in the number of regular-season games from 28 to 30 per team and a change in the playoff format from three-game series to two-game, total-goals series, with ties being settled by overtime and, if necessary, penalty kicks.
Stability, though, is the watchword in 2003. The majority of players are with the same clubs and eight of the 10 MLS teams have kept their coaches, with Bob Bradley’s move from the Fire to the MetroStars and Dave Sarachan’s subsequent hiring by Chicago the only changes.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
Colorado Rapids
Coach: Tim Hankinson
Stadium: Invesco Field
2002 Finish: 4th (13-11-4, 43 points)
Major Changes: Lost midfielder Carlos Valderrama. Gained midfielder Gilles Grimandi.
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Dallas Burn
Coach: Mike Jeffries
Stadium: Dragon Stadium (Southlake)
2002 Finish: 3rd (12-9-7, 43 points)
Major Changes: Lost goalkeeper Matt Jordan.
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Kansas City Wizards
Coach: Bob Gansler
Stadium: Arrowhead Stadium
2002 Finish: 5th (9-10-9, 36 points)
Major Changes: Lost defender Peter Vermes. Gained forward Josh Wolff.
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Galaxy
Coach: Sigi Schmid
Stadium: Home Depot Center
2002 Finish: 1st (16-9-3, 51 points)
Major Changes: Lost goalkeeper Matt Reis. Gained midfielder Alex Pineda Chacon, defender Hong Myung-Bo.
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San Jose Earthquakes
Coach: Frank Yallop
Stadium: Spartan Stadium
2002 Finish: 2nd (14-11-3, 45 points)
Major Changes: Lost goalkeeper Joe Cannon, defender Wade Barrett and forward Ariel Graziani. Gained goalkeeper Pat Onstad.
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EASTERN CONFERENCE
Chicago Fire
Coach: Dave Sarachan
Stadium: Cardinal Stadium (Naperville)/Soldier Field
2002 Finish: 3rd (11-13-4, 37 points)
Major Changes: Moves back to renovated Soldier Field before season’s end. Lost Coach Bob Bradley, forwards Hristo Stoitchkov and Josh Wolff and midfielder Peter Nowak. Gained Coach Dave Sarachan and midfielder Andy Williams.
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Columbus Crew
Coach: Greg Andrulis
Stadium: Crew Stadium
2002 Finish: 2nd (11-12-5, 38 points)
Major Changes: Lost midfielders John Wilmar Perez and John Harkes, forward Dante Washington. Gained defender Frankie Hejduk.
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New England Revolution
Coach: Steve Nicol
Stadium: CMGI Field
2002 Finish: 1st (12-14-2, 38 points)
Major Changes: Lost midfielder Alex Pineda Chacon. Gained forward Joe-Max Moore.
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New York/New Jersey
Metrostars
Coach: Bob Bradley
Stadium: Giants Stadium
2002 Finish: 4th (11-15-2, 35 points)
Major Changes: Lost defenders Mike Petke and Marcelo Balboa, who was previously released and retired Thursday. Gained Coach Bob Bradley, defender Eddie Pope, forward Jaime Moreno.
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Washington D.C. United
Coach: Ray Hudson
Stadium: RFK Stadium
2002 Finish: 5th (9-14-5, 32 points)
Major Changes: Lost forward Jaime Moreno, defender Eddie Pope. Gained forwards Hristo Stoitchkov and Earnie Stewart, defender Mike Petke.
