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| Friday, September 14, 2001 24:17 EST |
Galaxy has to give to get
By Jeff Bradley
[ESPN The Magazine]
A new bit of terminology may soon be added to your Major League Soccer lexicon. Get ready for the league's first-ever Dispersal Draft.
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THE FIRST XI
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Best MLS clichés:
11. "Technically and tactically."
10. "They were very well-organized."
9. "We weren't very well-organized."
8. "We played attractive, attacking football."
7. "We had our chances."
6. "We had to get under the cap."
5. "That's a good question for the league."
4. "That's a good question for the GM."
3. "We're not going to make excuses, but..."
2. "There are no easy games in this league."
1. "Well, we're not New York or L.A."
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Remember when MLS player personnel boss Ivan Gazidis said last week that the league is committed to bringing a "signficant Mexican player" (Luis Hernandez) to Los Angeles, and if the Galaxy cannot acquire an allocation from San Jose via trade, the league would come up with a different "mechanism" to get the deal done?
Well, the Dispersal Draft would be that mechanism.
What does it mean, and how will it work? That's still being discussed (and those in the know have been sworn to secrecy) but the idea is that the league will give Los Angeles a list of three or four players the Galaxy will have to make available for the draft. That list is likely to include names like Clint Mathis, Joey Franchino and Ezra Hendrickson.
Then (and we apologize if this is hard to follow), teams will line up in reverse order based on the past 12 months of MLS action (in other words, the MetroStars will have first dibs) and have a chance to add one of those Galaxy players. Theoretically, a team like the Metros could end up with two or even three players if the other teams pass.
It's all about making the Galaxy give up something for the star and spreading some of the Galaxy's wealth around the league. In short, MLS Mission Control is saying, "we're not going to let the coaches and GMs cost us the chance to get a gate attraction like Hernandez" and "we're not just going to allow undefeated Los Angeles to load up."
The Galaxy and Earthquakes reached an impasse a couple of weeks ago when L.A. kept offering up players like Roy Myers (a player they're shopping league-wide) and Steve Jolley (a player they finally traded to the MetroStars for a draft pick). But the men who write the checks in MLS weren't about to let guys who dress in sweat suits mess up their plans to put Hernandez in a Galaxy uniform and some fans in the Rose Bowl. Meetings followed and the Dispersal Draft was discussed. Now, just sit back and see if it happens.
And what about those allocations?
One would think that San Jose and New England would be getting downright angry by now. The e-Quakes and Revs are off to sluggish starts and all anybody's talking about is getting this marquee player to a Galaxy team that's unbeaten.
But remember that the man who's calling the soccer shots for both San Jose and New England is Sunil Gulati, who knows better than anyone how the league office operates since he used to be the league office. "New York and L.A. are very important cities for the league," Gulati says matter of factly. "Everyone knows that."
So, while the Hernandez deal is hammered out in the New York offices, Gulati has been working to lock up Mexican Jose Manuel Abundis for the e-Quakes and throwing out all kinds of allocation and trade feelers on behalf of the Revolution.
Indeed, the Revs' search for a striker or a defender has gone global. A couple of players they've looked into include a Senegalese defender named Cheikh Sidi Ba and a Nigerian striker named Bala Garba, but there are likely to be a series of moves made in New England in the next few weeks.
One move the Revs won't be making soon is to trade or sell Eduardo Hurtado. That won't happen until Hurtado can raise his value, which is at an all-time low. So look for coach Fernando Clavijo to insert the enigmatic El Tanque into the lineup -- if only to see if he can play well and impress a prospective buyer.
Trouble in D.C.?
They outshoot their opponents by whopping margins every game and they always dominate the ball, so D.C. United has a couple of reasons to believe they will break out of their early season doldrums. But you do have to wonder when.
"Complacency, defensive breakdowns and not finishing our chances," Richie Williams says, when asked to explain DC's start. "We have to get back to basics."
United figured that Chris Albright and A.J. Wood would combine to fill the goal-scoring void left by Roy Lassiter, but, so far, that has not been the case. Before he left for Olympic team duty, Albright had a ton of chances he didn't finish and a few of his teammates were wondering if he was starting to get into a mental funk.
"He scores for the Olympic team," said one of those mates, "but around here he seems to lack confidence around the goal. We need him to start scoring some goals."
More Metro maneuvering
If you're a MetroStars fan, remember to keep updating your roster. The team you're watching today may be nothing like the team you're watching in a week or two.
One move that seems certain is that Roy Myers, the Costa Rican midfielder originally brought to New York by Bora Milutinovic, will be reacquired. Myers may actually be shuffled through Dallas in a salary cap move similar to the Diego Sonora to D.C. through San Jose move of last year. That way, the Metros can make more moves.
They're already calling around the league to see if anyone wants Alex Comas, but no one seems interested in the slo-mo Colombian. The league could attempt to sell Comas back to a team in his home country, but one league official warned, "They're going to take a loss and a lot of people will be opposed to a replacement player if they take a loss."
At any rate, even if they only add Myers to the midfield and Mathis up front, the Metros would be a much more dangerous team than they are now. Plus, if they get Myers, they can try moving Lothar Matthaeus back to the libero position he's been asking to play. And while that may seem like a defensive move, Matthaeus will probably be able to add more to the Metro attack if he's free to pick and choose when to venture forward.
In tight space
Rosenborg's first offer for Colorado keeper Adin Brown was $700,000. After Brown's blinder against Chicago on Wednesday night, that figure is certain to increase.
One thing that angers foreign clubs when putting in offers on MLS players is that, because salary information is kept under wraps, no one has a clue what any player is worth. One club official said the typical answer they get when they inquire about what an MLS player is worth is, "Uh, we'll get back to you."
ESPN International's Robert Abromowitz passed along information that Tigres and Mexico star Ramon Ramirez may be on the outs with Tigres, but league officials say that Ramirez is still out of the MLS salary realm.
Tab Ramos had a brilliant debut for the Metros last week, showing that he is, indeed, capable of being one of the top-five players in the league. But, even Ramos would want us to remind everyone that, in '97, he scored twice in his first game after returning from injury, and that in '99, he was brilliant in the Metros opener in Miami.
Given the injuries the Rapids have had to deal with, their 4-4 start is indeed amazing. The Rapids have played without Ross Paule and Joey DiGiamarino the entire season and have not been able to keep Henry Zambrano or Anders Limpar on the field. "Our rule," says coach Glenn Myernick, "is if you can walk you play. If we ever can get everyone healthy, I think this could actually be a pretty good team."
Norwegian striker Jan-Aage Fjortoft of Eintracht Frankfurt could very well be Miklos Molnar and then some for either the Revs or the e-Quakes, but neither club seems to be interested, presumably because 32-year old Norwegians don't sell tickets.
Pub talk
Been out covering baseball and hockey the past few weeks and I'll make a few observations related to MLS:
The NHL playoffs are great because every game is like a life and death experience. The playoffs also make you realize how meaningless and boring the NHL regular season is. What can MLS do to avoid this type of tedium? It can make the MLS regular season the most important regular season in sports. How? Give the division winners all a bye into the semifinals, and have a playoff for the final semifinal spot among the four non-winners with the best records. That would make winning the division absolutely huge.
Went to the MetroStars game at Giants Stadium last Saturday and bought the cheapest seat in the house for $15. Went to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field on Wednesday and bought the cheapest seat in the house for $6. And, you know, I couldn't help but feel something was wrong about that.
Moving right along
The Chicago Fire from the penalty spot are beginning to look a lot like Shaquille O'Neal from the free-throw line. They've both got about a 50-50 chance of converting.
Here's a prediction: Tampa Bay will not be Raul Diaz Arce's final MLS tour stop. No, those boots were meant for walking.
Not only does Rochester deserve an MLS team, they should get right of first refusal on any player they've already got under contract. Now, I know that would go against every thing that is single-entity, but those guys who've laid the foundation deserve to be in town when the Rhinos move up.
If MLS is going to insist on playing Wednesday night games, they should just move them to prospective expansion cities, promote the hell out of them in those towns, and hope they can get more than the 5,000 they put in Soldier Field last week. I'm serious. Play one in Raleigh, one in St. Louis, one in Houston. Make them expansion "test dates."
I know I'm beating a dead horse, but why can't MLS get away from every team in the league wearing an all-white away uniform? Oh, sorry, I didn't know you were reaching out to all those people who have their dish hooked up to the old black and white.
Jeff Bradley covers soccer ... among other things ... for ESPN The Magazine.
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