So, news today is that Landon Donovan just signed a new contract with the LA Galaxy, that will pay him a lot more than he was previously making. Prior to this contract, Donovan was “grandfathered” into a designated player slot, meaning that LA had filled their spot with David Beckham, but they allowed the Galaxy to keep Donovan as well. Several players have been grandfathered in order for them to stay with their current teams. Many people are upset that Donovan still is not required to take up the Designated Player spot for the Galaxy, which would mean they would have to choose between Beckham and Donovan.
While I am no expert on the rules of running a team in the MLS, I had to think about how big of a deal this is, and what the implications could mean.
First, I had to think of RSL. We do not have anybody occupying a Designated Player spot, and yet, we were the MLS Champions in 2009. Now, the regular season was not that good for us, but I wonder if that had more to do with us totally sucking on the road, and not because we do not have a designated player.
My only concern (and argue with me if you think I am wrong) is that as the MLS continues to grow, more players will want to play in this league, whether they are Americans or from elsewhere. As these players come into the league, I fear the MLS will make exceptions to where players go to in order to make the players happy, and sell their product. Do you really think Thierry Henry is going to come to the MLS if he is told that he is going to play for Real Salt Lake? Where my fear lies is that eventually teams with have 3, 4, and maybe 5 Designated Players on their roster, and then it might be too difficult to compete with them in the future. Will this happen? I don’t know. I hope that the league would see this as a problem and make some firm rules about rosters.
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3 comments:
It's a tough situation for sure. I think the real problem is that the MLS is too controlling on all players and needs to let players contracts be handled by the team. I think a salary cap should be put in place to avoid having the Yankees in the MLS in the form of the Galaxy. (Buying whoever they want)
Very true. If there is one thing I love about MLS, is that any team can be competitive. I would hate to have the MLS turn into the EPL (talent wise, sure) and have LA and New York every year in the finals.
The problem is the more class players you have wanting to come to the league the more of these spots you are going to get. I would hate it if it went into a total free market and because Salt Lake would totally be on the losing end of that battle.
However, there is a lot to be said for the EPL. There is the traditional 'Big 4', but others have started to spend money to catch up. I guess you have to ask yourself if it is better to have some truly great teams in the league or a whole bunch of average teams like there is right now?
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