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| Friday, September 14, 2001 24:19 EST |
MLS no longer needs allocation system
By Jeff Bradley
[ESPN The Magazine]
With the shootout and scoreboard clock now filed away in the Major League Soccer folder marked "things we no longer need to be a real soccer league," the next thing that should be packed away is the term "allocation." Unlike the shootout and the clock, the allocation system in MLS was probably needed to get the league up and running, to disperse players to the right markets, to get things going on a fairly level playing field. But its usefulness has passed, and now the "allocation system" only serve to confuse us.
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THE FIRST XI
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Predictions for MLS 2000:
11. MVP is a first-year player
10. Preki starts for K.C.
9. Roy Lassiter regrets holding out
8. Crew Stadium sells out twice!
7. Marco Etcheverry threatens to leave MLS
6. Khodadad Azizi scores Goal of the Year
5. Peter Nowak gets back into MLS best XI
4. Henry Zambrano leads MLS in assists
3. There's one more Gazza rumor
2. DaMarcus Beasley makes "Plays of the Week"
1. Lothar Matthaeus loves it here
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Of course, I'm drawing upon the whole Hristo Stoichkov-to-the-Fire fiasco, which will probably be resolved in the next 24 hours. The allocation system -- which no matter how many times it's explained, doesn't make a lot of sense -- said the Fire could only get Stoichkov if they acquired an allocation from a team that had one. Those would be teams that either: 1. Didn't make the playoffs last year; or 2. "Lost" a player of significance. "Lost" is the operative word, because it was determined that the Fire didn't "lose" Poles Jerzy Podbrozny and Roman Kosecki. They didn't "want" them. Whatever.
Why can't we just do this: If a team has room under the cap, and has not exhausted a league-mandated amount of acquisition money, let it go after the best player is can afford? The league is more worried about parity than quality.
It's going to come up again when the Galaxy stake their claim on a Mexican player. If L.A. has cap room and acquisition money, let the Galaxy get the biggest, best player out there. Don't force the team to trade quality players to a lousy team to get a player who will make MLS better. Why penalize a team for doing its job well?
If you look at the Fire-Stoichkov situation, Chicago already has to clear the salaries of a starting defender, Francis Okaroh, and at least two of its top reserves from '99 in order to fit Stoichkov in under the cap. That's fair. And that should be enough. Too often, MLS teams are punished for doing their jobs well. Just watch. Eventually, with its current set of rules, the league is going to bring D.C. United back to the pack. It almost seems like a league goal. And that's wrong.
Wrapping up Hristo
Here's how the deal for Hristo Stoichkov will ultimately go down:
1. San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Eddie Lewis will be sold to Fulham of the English First Division for a transfer fee of nearly $2 million, an MLS record. In return, San Jose will get one major allocation and one minor allocation.
2. The Fire will trade four draft picks (all three of the second-round picks they own in next year's draft and a first-round pick in 2002) to San Jose in exchange for the minor allocation.
3. The league will allow the Fire to acquire Stoichkov with the minor allocation because he's been retired for a year, and because he's likely to only play one year.
So, as you can see, it took a lot of circumstances to come together for the Fire to finally land Stoichkov. And you can also speculate it took some behind-the-scenes maneuvering and rule-bending by the league. Of course, none of this would have been necessary if the Fire could have simply replaced Kosecki and Podbrozny with Stoichkov. Most of all, none of this would be necessary if you just ditched the term "allocation" and put it right in that folder with the shootout and the scoreboard clock.
Motivational speech
Credit MLS for bringing over some interesting foreign players for the 2000 season, but beware what you read in press releases and coaches' quotes. We all remember Jefferson Gottardi and Popeye Herrera and Ruben Dario Hernandez and Damian. So we're not making any uninformed comments about any of the new guys -- William Sunsing, John Wilmar Perez, Miklos Molnar -- until we see them play some real games.
Even with Lothar Matthaeus, Khodadad Azizi, Adolfo Valencia and Stoichkov, players who've competed at the highest level, we want to see their motivation level. "Guys tend to underestimate MLS," says former Fire and U.S. midfielder Frankie Klopas. "Especially the fitness level and intensity of the American players. They learn pretty quickly they can't coast. And if they're not motivated, they're not going to play well."
In some cities, the fans play an important role in this motivation. For example, if Valencia looks in the stands at Giants Stadium and sees Colombian flags, he's going to feel like he's got to represent the Colombian people, and he's going to be feeling the heat if he doesn't produce. Likewise with Stoichkov and the Bulgarian community in Chicago.
Of course, it doesn't have to be an ethnic issue at all. If fans come out, period, and demand effort and results, players are going to feel a sense of urgency to play well. If the stands are empty and quiet, well, we better hope these guys are self-driven.
The New Metro?
When Nick Sakiewicz took over as MetroStars GM, he was quick to mention that he was taking the reigns of a 7-25 team and he was not going to be able to turn things around overnight.
Well, we then expected Sakiewicz would run out much of the same cast that put together the worst season in MLS history last year and slowly bring new players into the fold. But no, Sakiewicz surprised us, and together with coach Octavio Zambrano, performed major surgery on the team, most notably trading Henry Zambrano to Colorado for the rights to Adolfo Valencia and waiving Iranian defender Mohammed Khakpour in favor of Colombian striker Alex Comas. These were bold moves, for sure, because it's no secret that Zambrano and Khakpour were two of the only bright spots on the field for the MetroStars last season. So, what do we make of this?
For one thing, the Metros are going for it. And that's commendable. For another, it means Sakiewicz loses the convenient excuse that he was dealt a bad hand for the 2000 season. If Zambrano shines in Colorado, the Metros defense cries out for Khakpour's experience, and the Valencia-Comas tandem fizzles, the GM and coach will have no one to blame but themselves. But, hey, we always favor the bold move.
In tight space
Yes, there is expansion talk for 2001, and a few top-secret meetings have been held in Nassau County, Long Island, where there's discussion of doing a Lockhart-style upgrade to the Mitchell Field Soccer Complex that's been home to the A-League's Rough Riders. That would be a temporary home for a team that could end up in the borough of Queens.
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E-mail exchange with ...
Dave Vaudreuil
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JB: What's the players lawsuit about, really?
DV: It's about the lack of a marketplace for the players. We want teams to be able to base their salary decisions on the traditional reasons: they want to win and be profitable and do what is best for the team. The league has other long-term views that we feel illegally keep wages low by restricting the market. But there are many more reasons for the lawsuit, practices that have been generally abolished in other sports through negotiation or past legal judgments.
JB: Have you guys tried to collectively bargain with the league?
DV: No. After the first year, players realized there were many restrictive clauses in their
contracts that don't exist in other sports and decided to look for help in organizing. One New York law firm advised us to form a union and collectively bargain with the league, and the NFLPA advised us to form a players association and negotiate. The labor laws leave only one form of leverage in each case. If no agreement can be reached by collective bargaining, a union's only option is to strike. An association can only file anti-trust legislation if they cannot come to a negotiated settlement. Because we did not want to damage the successes of the first year and our own financial position, we decided to form an association and negotiate. I met personally with the league and their lawyers along with two other players from our Executive Committee and we were basically blown off. The players then voted, and instructed our lawyers to file the suit.
JB: Are you worried that the investors will fold the league if they lose the trial?
DV: I think all of the players feel that if we keep the best interests of the league in mind and still stand up for what we think is fair and legal that the league will not fold. As far as their side is concerned, we know that before the league started they accounted for a lawsuit in their business plan, set aside money to allow them to administer a lawsuit.
JB: Do you fear the NFLPA is using MLS players as guinea pigs for some future ruling on salary caps that could impact football?
DV: No. In fact, in proposals we offered to construct a hard salary cap in exchange for other concessions.The players have made it know to the league that we really are looking to be considered as partners in growing, promoting and improving the league. We are all aware of the enormous energy and money that went into the creation of this league. But we want to be real partners in making it a success.
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If by chance, Chicago rookie Yuri Lavrinenko doesn't move up two spaces on the Youth International ladder and gain Transitional International Status (meaning he doesn't count as a foreign player), agent Richard Motzkin is ready to claim it's written in Lavrinenko's contract that he was not going to count as a foreigner, and that his status is not subject to where he was taken in the draft. Is it really possible there's a misunderstanding? Nah.
One of the biggest reasons to root for a Collective Bargaining Agreement in MLS is so the Players Association can release salary information and we can look right at the numbers (the way fans in other sports can) and see where teams stand against the cap. In the meantime, we just have to believe someone's enforcing the rules. Or not.
How many years of MLS is it going to take before people realize that the U.S. national team players from the '94 World Cup are, for the most part, bit players in 2000? With the exception of Cobi Jones and Tony Meola, not one stands to be a key figure in the league this year. For that matter, the Class of '98 isn't holding up very well, either.
Colorado broke out of the gate quickly last year and was arguably the best team in MLS at mid-season. This year, because of injuries, the Rapids will be lucky to field a team to begin the year, but could be very dangerous once all their pieces are healthy and assembled.
Pub talk
Sure was nice to have that MLS preview in the bank in ESPN The Magazine the day before about a half-dozen key signings were announced. Made me look real smart.
I love it when 'net fans get so worked up over MLS players they couldn't pick out of a police lineup. It's becoming an annual rite of spring. Call it the Gottardi Fever.
Is there anything more tired than the Men vs. Women thing that comes up every time the U.S. national teams are competing at the same time? Why can't we leave that one alone?
I can't believe you guys and gals didn't appreciate all that beautiful "white space" in the MLS Preview in ESPN The Magazine. I mean, don't you appreciate art?
May MLS learn a lesson from this whole NBA TV fiasco. Not only do we not want Ivo Wortmann miked, we want Rob Stone out of their face during the game.
Here's hoping someone teaches Matthaeus to hate D.C. United, because MLS needs badly for that rivalry to get back to where it was in September of 1996. Bruce Arena recently called the '96 Metros one of the best teams D.C. ever competed against.
In my ongoing quest to eliminate annoying soccer jargon from the world, I ask every MLS coach to refrain from using the expression "tactically and technically" this year.
Okay. MLS needs a way to decide a three-game playoff series if the points are 3-3 or 4-4 after Game 3? How about, one inning of kickball? Stingers allowed.
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