All-Star Pay Doesn’t Mean All-Star Day
Freddy Adu, the 16-year-old who earns $550,000 a season as a midfielder for D.C. United, will not be taking part in today’s Major League Soccer All-Star game at Columbus, Ohio.
Adu was not chosen to play, not by the fans, not by the media, not by the coach.
On the other hand, Clint Dempsey, who earns $57,875 a year as a midfielder for the New England Revolution, will be on the field for the match against Fulham FC of the English Premier League.
Dempsey was selected to play.
What that suggests is that there are players in MLS whose salaries far outweigh their performance and others who are not paid anywhere near their contribution to the league.
When MLS earlier this year signed a collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union, player salaries became public knowledge.
As a result, for the first time it is possible to measure income against output.
Galaxy midfielder-forward Landon Donovan is the league’s highest-paid player at $900,000 a year. He is on the 2005 All-Star roster.
But midfielder Ramon Ramirez of Chivas USA, who is paid $500,000 a year, and forward Josh Wolff of the Kansas City Wizards, who earns $420,357, will not be in Columbus today.
Of the 15 highest-paid players in MLS -- all earning more than $210,000 a season -- only Donovan and FC Dallas defender Greg Vanney ($241,667) will be playing today.
Some, such as FC Dallas forward Eddie Johnson ($875,000), Real Salt Lake defender Eddie Pope ($378,948) and MetroStar midfielder Amado Guevara ($281,250), were selected but had to withdraw because of injury.
Others are earning a pittance compared with fellow All-Stars.
Dempsey is one of them, but so are New England defender Michael Parkhurst ($42,500), FC Dallas forward Carlos Ruiz ($70,000, plus an unknown amount still being paid by the Guatemalan club that owns his contract), FC Dallas goalkeeper Scott Garlick ($76,667), New England goalkeeper Matt Reis ($90,000), Kansas City Wizard defender Jimmy Conrad ($93,750) and Galaxy defender Chris Albright ($97,500).
Salary, clearly, is not a true measure of an MLS player’s worth.
The league’s budget for player salaries is a combined $23.6 million, which, put in context, is about what Fulham’s high-rolling English Premier League rivals would spend to buy one decent player.
But as the English club might discover this afternoon, what is spent on players does not necessarily reflect a team’s ability either.
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The league took a different tack this season and today’s game will feel much more like a real match than an exhibition.
Of the 19 players on the MLS roster, all but Parkhurst, a late addition Friday, goalkeepers Reis and Garlick, DC United midfielder Christian Gomez and FC Dallas midfielder Ronnie O’Brien have played at least once for their various national teams.
Colin Clarke, the FC Dallas coach who will be in charge of the MLS squad, has no fewer than 10 U.S. national team players at his disposal.
Clarke’s other internationals are Ruiz (Guatemala), Shalrie Joseph (Grenada), Simo Valakari (Finland) and Ivan Guerrero (Honduras).
Fulham, owned by Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al Fayed, who also owns the famed department store Harrods of London, has a squad with an even more global reach.
Coach Chris Coleman, a former Wales international, has players from 13 countries and four continents on his roster.
The London club is not among the Premier League’s elite, however, and finished 13th in the 20-team league last season. But it plays an attractive, attacking brand of soccer and two of its players in particular made the match-up appealing to MLS.
Forward Brian McBride went to Fulham from the Columbus Crew; defender Carlos Bocanegra joined the Cottagers from the Chicago Fire.
Today, given a rare opportunity, there will be other MLS players looking to make a similarly positive impression and perhaps earn a lucrative move to Europe.
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Rosters
*--* MLS Player Club GOALKEEPERS 1 Matt Reis New England 33 Scott Garlick FC Dallas DEFENDERS 23 Ivan Guerrero Chicago 21 Greg Vanney FC Dallas 12 Jimmy Conrad Kansas City 4 Frankie Hejduk Columbus 5 Chris Albright Galaxy 14 Michael Parkhurst New England MIDFIELDERS 10 Landon Donovan Galaxy 2 Clint Dempsey New England 6 Ronnie O’Brien FC Dallas 24 Brad Davis San Jose 8 Shalrie Joseph New England 15 Christian Gomez D.C. United 17 Simo Valakari FC Dallas FORWARDS 20 Carlos Ruiz FC Dallas 9 Jeff Cunningham Columbus 3 Taylor Twellman New England Pat Noonan New England Fulham Player Nationality GOALKEEPERS 1 Mark Crossley Wales 12 Jaroslav Drobny Czech Republic DEFENDERS 16 Carlos Bocanegra USA 6 Alain Goma France 3 Niklas Jensen Denmark 5 Zat Knight England 14 Zesh Rehman England 15 Liam Rosenour England 2 Moritz Volz Germany MIDFIELDERS 20 Papa Bouba Diop Senegal 19 Ahmed Elrich Australia 8 Claus Jensen Denmark 4 Sylvain Legwinski France 7 Steed Malbranque France Mark Pembridge Wales 13 Tomasz Radzinski Canada FORWARDS 11 Luis Boa Morte Portugal 18 Heider Helguson Iceland 10 Collins John Netherlands 9 Brian McBride USA
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