Seattle sign their DP tomorrow

[nolando]

---ummm--- new thread??

[Grizzly]

I think the big problem with the MLS is not the DP but the lack of supporting cast around them. Sometimes it is difficult for DPs to really show what they can do when they are surrounded by mediocre and poor players. MLS really needs to raise its minimum, average and median salary levels. There are too many players at sub-USL salary levels. MLS may not be able to keep the star US and Canadian players but shouldn't be losing solid, average level domestic players (like Hunter Freeman for example who was only traded to TFC because he signed with a Norwegian team for next year). As another article pointed out there are some MLS quality players who have signed in the USL because they can make more money there. Likewise, I think TFC was poor not because they didn't have a DP but because they didn't have enough quality players in the $60 000 to 100 000 range and in the 100 000 to 200 000 range (though this was as much the fault of Mo's lack of ability in judging talent as the league salary structure). This is not to say a good DP couldn't help but it is not the prime problem in the league or at TFC.

[Grizzly]

I think the big problem with the MLS is not the DP but the lack of supporting cast around them. Sometimes it is difficult for DPs to really show what they can do when they are surrounded by mediocre and poor players. MLS really needs to raise its minimum, average and median salary levels. There are too many players at sub-USL salary levels. MLS may not be able to keep the star US and Canadian players but shouldn't be losing solid, average level domestic players (like Hunter Freeman for example who was only traded to TFC because he signed with a Norwegian team for next year). As another article pointed out there are some MLS quality players who have signed in the USL because they can make more money there. Likewise, I think TFC was poor not because they didn't have a DP but because they didn't have enough quality players in the $60 000 to 100 000 range and in the 100 000 to 200 000 range (though this was as much the fault of Mo's lack of ability in judging talent as the league salary structure). This is not to say a good DP couldn't help but it is not the prime problem in the league or at TFC.

[dbailey62]

quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

I think the big problem with the MLS is not the DP but the lack of supporting cast around them. Sometimes it is difficult for DPs to really show what they can do when they are surrounded by mediocre and poor players. MLS really needs to raise its minimum, average and median salary levels. There are too many players at sub-USL salary levels. MLS may not be able to keep the star US and Canadian players but shouldn't be losing solid, average level domestic players (like Hunter Freeman for example who was only traded to TFC because he signed with a Norwegian team for next year). As another article pointed out there are some MLS quality players who have signed in the USL because they can make more money there. Likewise, I think TFC was poor not because they didn't have a DP but because they didn't have enough quality players in the $60 000 to 100 000 range and in the 100 000 to 200 000 range (though this was as much the fault of Mo's lack of ability in judging talent as the league salary structure). This is not to say a good DP couldn't help but it is not the prime problem in the league or at TFC.

You are absolutely right Grizz, both in regards to TFC and the MLS in general.

At the risk of sounding like Bobby Iarusci, I remember when the Cosmos brought in Pele (don't we all ... and if you don't, you should .... and if you're too young, that's your problem ) and soon after his arrival, he started complaining about the lack of talent around him on the team and he said that unless they brought in decent players for him to work with, they were wasting their money and his time (more or less, that isn't a quote).

Beckham is in a similar situation at least in regards to the Galaxy's defence.

While we can't say that Becks isn't having an impact, imagine how well LA could be doing if they actually had a defence!!!

It's a team game!

[michaeltfc91]

Beckham stinks though. Beckham has players to work with. Landon Donovan is 20 times better than he is and Buddle and Alan Gordon are both clinical finishers. They do stink on defense and thats because when you have Beckham on you're virtually playing with 10 men while on defense. Not saying its totally his fault, but he doesn't help out at all defensively. Beckham has all the talent offesnively surronunding him and he could only manage 5 goals and 10 assists of the 55 goals they scored. Therefore he's scored 1/11th of thier goals so hes pretty much an average guy. 10/55 assists is about 1/7th the total assists with 2 asssists being handed out on some goals. I see Beckham as an average player. If we're going to get a DP i want him to be good not famous.

[tmcmurph]

Becks at the MLS All Star game was completely in his element and looked very good. I'm not a DB fan but when he has the supporting cast he can deliver. Yes he has some good players to work with on LA but what can you say about a team that has 2 out of the top 3 goal scorers but misses the playoffs? Their defense sucks and that is NOT DB's fault.

55 goals for (#1 in the league) and 62 goals against (dead last! and by 11 goals!!). Get a defense or continue along this merry path.

For Toronto I would hope they would get someone who can work with what they have to support but this is a team game and you can't parachute in one or even 2 superstars and surround them with average players and hope to win.

It is a hard call for TFC. You have AG in mid who is playing well and at a much cheaper rate than I thought. You will ditch 2 or 3 high paid non performing players (Ruiz et al) so what can you get goal scoring wise for 1/2 million? Or do you get a dynamite central defender and go with a 3-4-3 to generate more offense?

You may not even need to use the DP slot in which case do you sell it? I wouldn't waste it on anyone over 32. Injuries just take too long to heal after 32.

[Grizzly]

Toronto FC's DP plans headed for a vote

Last Updated: Thursday, October 30, 2008 | 1:15 PM ET Comments9Recommend27

By John F. Molinaro, CBC Sports

Mo Johnston coached Toronto FC during its first season in Major League Soccer. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

Toronto FC's pursuit of a designated player will either be rubber-stamped or rejected by the team's board of directors, according to team general manager Mo Johnston.

Johnston said Toronto's proposal to sign a designated player is scheduled to be voted on by the board of the directors of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd., the Major League Soccer club's owners.

"Everything goes to the board on the tenth of November. We're looking forward to it, we think the idea will get passed and hopefully we'll have a DP in January or February," Johnston said.

Under league bylaws, teams are granted one designated player roster spot that they can use to sign a marquee star, with only $400,000 of his contract counting against the $2.1 US million salary cap. Teams can also trade for a second DP slot.

The Los Angeles Galaxy famously made use of the DP rule to sign English superstar David Beckham in January 2007.

Johnston said MLSE, which also owns the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors, must first approve his proposal to spend the money on such a player.

2 players in his view

The Toronto GM said that there are two players he has his eye on as a potential designated player.

"It's just a matter of how we get one of them," Johnston said.

Earlier this month, Toronto coach John Carver staked his future with the club on its ability to add a designated player to the roster in time for the 2009 MLS season.

"I've gone on record and I'll say it again, because no matter what happens, at the end of the season, if I'm going to be here at this club, we have to do something about it. We have to bring in that quality-type of player," said Carver at the time.

The Englishman went on to say, "We have to do it, because if we don't, I will definitely, definitely go home. No buts about it."

Carver has since backtracked from comments that he would leave if the club doesn't sign a DP in time for next season.

"When I said it, I wasn't trying to hold anybody ransom. It was more or less me saying I guarantee we're going to improve this team. We're gonna take it forward. … That was more or less saying trust me, we're going to do something about it, it wasn't holding MLSE ransom. Nothing like that," Carver told reporters earlier this week.

Carver did stress, however, that he still felt it was important for the club to sign a DP.

"I think everyone at the club understands it's the best way forward and we have to do it," Carver stated.

[Grizzly]

Money for nothing

Buying a designated player doesn't guarantee success

Last Updated: Friday, October 31, 2008 | 12:04 PM ET Comments4Recommend11

Bu John F. Molinaro, CBC Sports

Sweden's Freddie Ljungberg became Major League Soccer's latest designated player when he signed with the expansion Seattle Sounders on Tuesday. (Elaine Thompson/Associated Press)

Are the Seattle Sounders making a shrewd move or setting themselves up for failure?

That's the question fans of Major League Soccer's newest franchise expansion were left asking themselves after the Sounders announced the signing of veteran Swedish midfielder Freddie Ljungberg on Tuesday.

Ljungberg reportedly received a two-year, $5-million US contract from the Sounders, who signed the Swede under the "Beckham rule."

Under MLS bylaws, teams are granted one designated player roster spot that they can use to sign a marquee star, with only $400,000 of his contract counting against the $2.1 million salary cap. Teams can also trade for a second DP slot.

The Los Angeles Galaxy famously made use of the DP rule to sign English superstar David Beckham in January 2007.

The Sounders, slated to enter the league in 2009, used the rule to land Ljungberg in hopes that having an internationally recognized star on the team will make it easier for the expansion franchise to sell tickets and replica jerseys.

Sounders taking a gamble

It's a risky move for a couple of reasons.

Ljungberg was a star with English Premiership club Arsenal from 1998-2007, scoring 46 goals in 216 appearances, and he played a pivotal role in helping the Gunners win three league titles and two FA Cups. But at 31 years of age, the Swede's best days are likely behind him — he scored just twice during a single season at West Ham, and has clearly lost a step from his glory days with Arsenal.

What's more, it makes little sense for a first-year franchise to sign a DP because he's going to be surrounded by second-rate players picked up in the expansion draft, and youngsters straight out of the college draft.

It would have been more prudent of Seattle to wait until their second or even third year in the league — when they've had time to make some trades and properly build the team up — to bring in a DP, ensuring he has a core of talented players to work with.

Was Seattle too hasty in signing Ljungberg? Toronto FC coach John Carver seems to think so.

"If you bring a DP in your first year, you don't know what he's got to play with, the other players around him. In the second year, you're going to be more stable and have a more solid basis for a squad. I think the second or third season is the right time to do it, and that's why it may be a gamble for Seattle," Carver said.

Since the Beckham rule was introduced, the absence of a DP has been the clothespin upon which MLS fans have hung all of their teams' shortcomings. But the truth is that the sheer economics of the league all but negate any positive effect a DP can have on a team.

MLS clubs have their hands tied by a $2.1 million salary cap because a DP's player contract eats up $400 000 worth of cap space, or 19 per cent of the team's player payroll. That leaves $1.7 million of cap space to work with, which isn't much when you consider most teams carry 18 players on their senior roster.

Suffice to say MLS general managers have their work cut out trying to build a quality team when they can't spend more than $100,000 on non-DP players.

That's why it's hardly a coincidence that since the Beckham rule came into effect in 2007, the Houston Dynamo, a team without a designated player, has won back-to-back league championships.

Or that the Columbus Crew, another team without a DP, finished in first place during the 2008 regular season, and that four of the top five teams in the standings didn't have one either — the Chicago Fire, in third place, was the exception.

No guarantee of success

If a team does sign a DP, history has demonstrated it doesn't guarantee success.

FC Dallas signed Brazilian star Denilson — who at one time was the most expensive player in the world — to much fanfare last year, only to let him leave at the end of the season.

In January, D.C. United signed Argentine playmaker Marcelo Gallardo to a $1.87 million contract (the third richest salary in MLS this season) and traded for a second DP slot so they could give Brazilian Emilio, last season's league MVP, a pay raise ($758,000).

The Galaxy made the biggest splash of all when they made Beckham their DP by signing him to a $6.5 million contract last year.

Neither the Galaxy nor United made the playoffs in 2008, and Los Angeles finished in a tie for last place in the league.

Kansas City made Claudio Lopez its DP at the start of the season, but the Argentine had a less-than-stellar first season in MLS, and the Wizards only just scraped into the playoffs.

Only two DPs have enjoyed real success in MLS — Colombian forward Juan Pablo Angel of the New York Red Bulls and Mexican star Cuauhtemoc Blanco of the Chicago Fire.

Still, their individual successes haven't translated into team successes — both the Red Bulls and Fire were eliminated by the DP-less Revolution in last year's playoffs .

Time will tell if Ljungberg's name will be added to the growing list of DP failures.

[TFC07]

When is TFC going to sign a DP? It better not be some no-name reject from England/UK.