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| Friday, September 14, 2001 24:17 EST |
El Matador signing is no bull
By Jeff Bradley
[ESPN The Magazine]
The signing of Luis Hernandez is a statement on the part of Major League Soccer. What the five-year old league is saying is this: "If the right player is out there, we'll tear up the budget and sign him." Strong words, right? Well, not so fast. Let's think it over a minute.
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THE FIRST XI
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Ever changing flavors of the week:
11. Miami's "three-pronged attack"
10. Chicago's awful defense.
9. Kansas City's Danish Dynamite
8. Miami's Goal-Less Wonders
7. Dely Valdes and Agogo
6. Diallo The Sub
5. Preki's Re-Birth
4. Diallo the Great
3. Tony "The Wall" Meola
2. Zambrano and Agogo
1. Trouble in the Nation's Capital
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Just what makes Hernandez the "right player?" Basically, there are four criteria.
1. He's exciting. Unlike some big-name signings of the past, like Roberto Donadoni, for example, Hernandez will score goals and display an array of individual skills.
2. He's recognizable. With his bleach-blond hair, El Matador is not only the face of Mexican futbol, but a personality American soccer fans also know very well.
3. He's still playing at a high level. This is not a swan-song for Hernandez. On the contrary, he's hoping MLS will help get him (at least on loan) to a team in Europe.
4. He will sell tickets. He'll spike attendance in L.A., Chicago, Dallas and San Jose, for sure, but also on a somewhat smaller scale in New York, D.C. and New England.
Now, that's only four factors, but if you examine them closely -- and try to think of the next player you'd bring to MLS for a similar $4 million price tag -- you'll find time and time again that Nos. 3 and 4 present a veritable roadblock.
That's right. You can find plenty of exciting, recognizable players (Hristo Stoichkov is an example of one) who can add to the quality of MLS. But if you're looking for guys who are still at or near their peak who will sell tickets, the list gets very small. Especially if you're using $4 million as the ceiling for the purchase.
"For that kind of money, you could probably bring over a player like Romario, Roberto Baggio, George Weah or maybe even Gianfranco Zola," says former MetroStars GM Charlie Stillitano, who lobbied hard for marquee names during his time with the Metros.
That's right, he said Romario, Baggio, Weah and Zola, three players Luis Hernandez would probably ask for autographs. But refer to the list above. These players hit on 1-3, but not No. 4. They are not guaranteed gate attractions in this country.
Really, unless you're going to start throwing names like Rivaldo and David Beckham around (and $4 million might pay their housing allowances for a year), there are not many players about whom you can say, "They will put fans in the seats."
So, Hernandez is indeed a rarity -- and a great signing for MLS and the Galaxy. But on a sobering note, if you were hoping that the signing of El Matador was a signal of changing times in MLS, sorry. It could be a long time before the "right player" comes along again.
Wright player, wrong time
Lothar Osiander had a last-minute change of heart when it came to dealing libero Mauricio Wright to New England last week. Now the Quakes are weighing offers from four different clubs who want Wright -- and the Quakes may not move on any of them.
Tampa Bay, in particular, thinks that Wright could be the piece that takes them from being a good team to a championship contender, and the Mutiny are willing to part with two starters (believed to be Ritchie Kotschau and Joseph Addo) for Wright.
Actually, that trade is similar to the offer New England threw into the mix last week, which would have sent Osiander's former captain in L.A., Dan Calichman, and the Revs' Dispersal Draft pick (Joey Franchino) to the Quakes for Wright. It seems neither deal is sweet enough now.
Of course, if Wright is traded, the Quakes will then have to ask the league to extend the discovery period (it supposedly expired on May 15) so they can find a foreign player to replace Wright. After all, the biggest thing San Jose would gain in trading Wright would be cap room and a foreign spot.
Forever young
Here's why formations mean diddly. When you hear of a team playing with one striker, a lone frontrunner, a single target man, or whatever term or phrase you prefer to use when a team lists a "1" as the last number in it's formation, you think that team is "defensive."
Wrong.
Witness the Tampa Bay Mutiny. Tim Hankinson has played a 4-5-1 all season, using either Raul Diaz Arce or Mamadou Diallo as his single front-runner. And the Mutiny are one of the more fluid and aggressive, attacking teams in MLS.
Here's why: Hankinson has made smart use of his personnel, most notably finding a way to play through Carlos Valderrama. With a super-busy defensive midfielder in Josh Keller and two flank men in Steve Ralston and Manny Lagos, who love giving Valderrama the ball and never stop running, Valderrama looks like a kid again.
The man has always been a wizard of one-touch, but what brings out the best in El Pibe is when he has multiple moving targets. Ralston and Lagos, in particular, are forever trying to get down the wings, which spreads things out in the middle for a striker like Diallo, who's shown impeccable timing on his. With all these options, Valderrama is able to make passes that matter, passes that lead to a lot of scoring chances.
So, the moral is, don't judge whether a team is an attacking or defensive team by it's formation. Wait until you get a chance to see how that formation moves on the field.
Bumper crop
College soccer was dead and buried. The "SuperDraft" was mocked for its name alone. And guess what? We're looking at the strongest class of rookies MLS has ever seen.
Yeah, if you haven't had a chance to see Adin Brown in Colorado or Carlos Bocanegra in Chicago, start paying attention. They'll be part of the national team sooner rather than later.
If you haven't seen Rusty Pierce in New England or Nick Garcia in Kansas City, check them out, because they'll have jobs in MLS for as long as they want to play. Same for Sasha Victorine in Los Angeles and Aleksey Korol in Dallas.
And that's not even getting into the 17-year olds -- Bobby Convey in D.C., DaMarcus Beasley in Chicago and Seth Trembly in Colorado.
Sometimes it seems things like this are the best-kept secret in MLS.
Preaching to the choir, of course.
In tight space
New England is now focusing on a Portuguese striker. One player MLS has wooed in the past is Toni, a big, strong, fast forward who plays for CS Maritimo. Back in '98, former Metros coach and U.S. soccer consultant Carlos Queiroz recommended Toni to MLS.
Brian Kelly may be the player the Metros trade to Los Angeles for Roy Myers, but look for the Galaxy to immediately deal Kelly to the first team that will offer them a draft pick.
There's still a strong possibility Joey Franchino goes to San Jose in some kind of deal, even if it has nothing to do with Mauricio Wright. Could Abdul Thompson Conteh -- one of Osiander's prime whipping boys -- be New England-bound?
Canadian Johnny Sulentic wants to play in Chicago, but his A-League team, the Vancouver 86ers, say they want to be able to bring the 20-year-old midfielder back on loan from time to time. The MLS office says it may not go for that type of arrangement.
Asked if he was asking the league to sell Henry Zambrano back to a Colombian club last week, Rapids coach Mooch Myernick was incredulous. "We think he's different than any forward in the league and we can't wait to get him healthy and back in our lineup." If you saw Zambrano's highlight reel from Wednesday night, you see what Mooch meant.
For those scoring at home, Kansas City has already surpassed its total of regulation wins (6), and DC has already equaled the number of regulation losses (8) it had a year ago.
Pub talk
D.C. United boss Kevin Payne likes to say that the rest of the league is enjoying United's sluggish start, but the worst thing for MLS would be for the one team that's recognized abroad to take a major step back.
San Jose GM Lynne Meterparel told me that MLS needs to figure out a way to make kids look at the league's stars the same way they look at pop stars like Christina Aguilera and Ricky Martin. All I could think of is, man, I'm old.
I'm not going to rag on Kansas City fans for their sorry turnout on Wednesday night. The Wizards are playing hellacious soccer and those who choose to go to games have every right to be proud of their team without some wisenheimer raining on their parade.
From now on, I might just avoid using the term "salary cap" in this column, because if there are no numbers available, what does the term mean? It's a Blind Faith thing.
Got an impassioned e-mail this week from someone begging me to stop making digs at the league for stuff like the cap and allocations and the dispersal draft, etc. He said, "A group of investors put up millions of dollars to run this business, and it's their money, so just accept that the league is different." I was actually moved by the letter. Then I got a little annoyed. And as I type, I'm just thoroughly confused.
Certain things about MLS will always confuse me, and even make me a little mad. I'm really against any rule that impedes a coach or GM who wants to work hard and scout relentlessly to improve his team. So, I ask, why is there a May 15 deadline for Discoveries? I mean, not that this happened recently, but what if a coach uncovers a player in some inner-city park on a Sunday morning after May 15? Isn't the idea to put the best possible players on the field? Shouldn't MLS be encouraging its teams to work hard to find the best players to put on the field? Shouldn't hard work be rewarded?
Jeff Bradley covers soccer ... among other things ... for ESPN The Magazine.
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