MLS Should Say Good Riddance to Thierry Henry

Thanks for coming Thierry

So Thierry Henry is on his way back to Arsenal. Great (yawn). Maybe Henry and David Beckham can share a row in first class on their way back to jolly ol' England. Personally, makes me no never mind whether Henry returns to the Gunners. It's just the symptom of bigger issues on both sides of the pond.

MLS continues to spiral down this NASL-like path of being a destination for older, fading European and South American stars who want the fan worship and exposure here and maybe cash in on some valuable marketing dollars. The ulterior motive from a football perspective is a little more subtle--MLS essentially becomes an offseason training camp for these older players who either are pining for one last fling with their national team (ahem, Becks) or last-gasp return to glory--and paycheck--with the club with whom they made their name. Go on MLS, keep bringing in the likes of Henry, Beckham, Roy Keane et al. These soon-to-be 40-somethings are just using you and taking up a roster spot for someone young you could develop.

Henry had a good year with Red Bull scoring 14 goals in 26 games. The 34-year-old is Arsenal's all-time leading scorer and the club recently unveiled a statue of the French star at the Emirates Stadium. His move to Arsenal is a two-month loan that will end Feb. 16 after Arsenal's next Champions League match. Arsene Wenger is hoping to catch lightning in a bottle bringing in Henry as Arsenal is in a desperate fight for fourth in the Premier League, which guarantees the Gunners a spot in next season's Champions League.

Will he help? Probably since Henry is in shape and will certainly have momentum, adrenaline and fan support on his side. Will he stay? Depends, but if he has any kind of success, then change that "depends" to a yes. As Beckham did with AC Milan, Henry is likely to tell Red Bull "see ya in May" if he pots a few goals and Arsenal gets into contention for the title or at a minimum, Champions League qualification. The latter is likely and if Henry is making any kind of impact, he's gonna "Beckham" Red Bull the same way Becks did to the Galaxy.

I've said it before; MLS needs to discipline itself and not whore itself out to these guys  just to sell jerseys and tickets. There has to be some long-range vision here; ask Jurgen Klinsmann whom he's rather see on the Red Bull roster: Some young potential USMNT player, or Henry, Beckham or Zidane? Bringing in the Thierry Henrys of the world doesn't grow the game in America, it just pads the players' wallets, MLS' pockets and does nothing to advance the game in this country.

Sporting KC: MLS Latest Step Backward

The tagline here is tremendous

In the latest edition of why MLS is weak, I present to you Sporting KC.

Gotcha. Bet you thought I was going to rant about the snooze-fest that was the MLS playoffs or the ultimate MLS Cup (can you call it a "Final" without owing some commission to Don Garber?) between Colorado and FC Dallas.

Actually, it's Dallas that kinda reinforced my original premise to write today's post against the latest bastardization of soccer in the United States of America. I swear to God, shot clocks are right around the corner
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Seriously though, word is that the Kansas City Wizards, one of the original MLS franchises, is seriously considering going with the Sporting KC moniker. I'm flattered since Sporting is my club, but really? Sporting KC. What's the affinity again between Portugal and Kansas City? And what's the affinity between Sporting and anyone outside of Lisbon or Ports who have emigrated from the old country. I dare any of you who happen to be in KC reading this to find Portugal on the map first shot. Go ahead, I'll give you a sec.

Thanksfully, the Wizards faithful are rebelling. It's their team, their name, their logo and they're not giving it up without a fight. Good for them. One thing MLS got right in the early days was creating an identity for its teams that was American. D.C. United aside, the Revolution, Galaxy, Wizards, MetroStars were at least original brands for brand new teams. The league started fresh, got a bit of attention and built its own identity.

Now almost 15 years into MLS and what do we have here? Move over DC United, make room for FC Dallas, Real Salt Lake and Sporting KC. Talk about lame. Lame-o. Go ahead John Henry; Liverpool's already the Reds, right? Go all the way and make it the Liverpool Red Sox. Why not? American teams are stealing European football team names, why not vice versa.

Who cares that we call it soccer here and the rest of the world calls it, you know, by its rightful name of football? Who cares that the F in FC Dallas stands for, you know, football!! Didya know that partner? Yee-haw, that's right Football Club Dallas, that's what that stands for (Jeez, how many lightbulbs are going off in Big D right now?)

And yo, Utah! You guys who apparently won MLS last year (that's what I heard). You guys, the champs, out of the Eastern Conference, yeah you. Guess what Real means? As in Real Salt Lake? Yeah, it's royal in Spanish, kinda like the royalty of Spanish football Real Madrid, where that Portuguese guy Cristiano Ronaldo plays.

Ronaldo, you see is the linchpin here, kinda like Kevin Bacon. It all revolves around him, and everyone is three degrees of separation from Cristiano for today. Because, now, everyone in KC perk up now. Ronaldo started his career with--wait for it, wait for it--Sporting!!!!

Yes, so now when Ronaldo is 38 and too old to be chasing beards, er, ridiculously hot models, he can play out his final footballing days with Sporting KC! Yes, it all comes full circle. I love that!

The point here is that MLS is lame. Every time it takes a step forward, it stumbles like a drunken Housewife of Beverly Hills backwards 20 steps. Americans don't relate to European football, hell, Americans don't even like Europe all that much. Sporting KC, Real Salt Lake, FC Dallas; ugh ugh ugh.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Time to grow up MLS. If you want to be like one of the big boys, act like them, don't put on one of their jerseys or take one of their names and pretend to be one.

Handball Thierry Henry Coming to MLS

How about a hand for MLS? Thierry Henry is joining America's first division and I'm anxious to see him lend his touch to Red Bull New York. Finally, a big-time name playing for a big-time East Coast city; not much of a head-scratcher if you ask me. Sounds like a solid plan to bring in the fading French star to a ballclub with a new ballpark in order to generate interest and give the New Yorkers an identity. Can't wait for the ovation--for sure it won't sound like fingernails on a chalkboard.

OK, enough veiled handball references. If you got the sarcasm, 10 points to you for being able to read between the lines. This deal, from a big-picture point of view, is everything that's wrong with MLS. In and of itself, no there's nothing wrong with Henry. He still has his legs. He'll standout with Red Bull NY, score his share and put butts in the seats. A win all around.

But hey MLS, what about all that talk of not turning MLS into the NASL? First David Beckham, now Henry. Paging Mr. Zidane, Mr. Zinadine Zidane? Granted, Henry isn't breaking the bank with his deal, but Beckham's tenure with the L.A. Galaxy was nothing short of disastrous. From Day 1, Beckham chased a coach and had L.A. bring in Ruud Gullitt as his choice. How did that go? Right. Then they stripped Landon Donovan of the captain's armband in favor of Becks, who from Day 1, COULDN'T PLAY!!

Remember his first appearance in L.A. against Chelsea? He was on the bench tugging at his gimpy ankle for 70-plus minutes before he got some token time late in the match. This was and is Donovan's team and for cowardly Alexi Lalas to have done that to Donovan is still unforgivable. And what did Beckham do the first chance he could? Yes, he bolted for A.C. Milan. Why? Again, reading between the lines, he wanted better competition. He wanted a bigger stage in order to keep his spot on the England World Cup team.

Will the former Mr. Nicole Merry disrupt Red Bull to the same degree? Maybe not. Red Bull is MLS' classic underachiever. They've made one final and have been in the playoff hunt a handful of other times. But its desperately lacking a name star--sorry Juan Pablo Angel, as good as he is, ain't a household name. And that's the problem with Henry. His is a household name, and his cache' is what brings him here. Would Thierry Henry have come here five years ago? Nooooooo.

MLS is where good players come to die/retire. Henry will be on holiday here, playing in the second-division for the offseason, hoping for one last fling in Europe with a Tottenham-type of team. He'll sell tickets in New York for sure, and will generate a curiosity factor in other cities, at least the first time around. He'll score some goals and win some games--maybe.

But this isn't a good deal for MLS. In fact MLS, call me when you sign a Thierry Henry type IN HIS PRIME. Until then, I've seen this show before. Not interested.

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MLS Should Shut its Doors to Europe's Aging Cast-Offs

I'm no huge MLS fan. I'm glad it's there, and I respect the fact that some clubs such as the Revolution, Seattle and Toronto have rabid supporters who care about soccer the U.S. I've been to games and they're fun. But the quality ain't there, and there's no reason to rehash the wheres and whys. A single-entity ownership system notwithstanding, MLS is just below a second-tier European league in my opinion.

They've done a decent job concentrating on player development, and aside from Team Beckham out in LA, have resisted temptation to bring in aging has-been big names who have been cast off from their European teams because they just can't hack it any more.

Some people, still, just don't get it. For example, we have this gem from Sports Illustrated's soccer editor Jen Chang.

I don't know this guy or how much he knows about football, but his latest column on the SI site is a list of 10 players MLS should target as designated players. All but one are 30 or older, and would have made one kickass all-star team about 10 years ago. MLS is expanding its rule around designated players, and teams will be able to add two or three players. Chang says this list is where MLS should concentrate its efforts; guys such as Roy Makaay, Robert Pires and Thierry Henry among others.

He summarizes the strengths of each player as testimony as to why they would fit within MLS. OK. Most of these guys have been cast off from the clubs where they made their names and are toiling in smaller leagues for, yes, smaller money. The question is why? Why hurt MLS' credibility and player development efforts but putting has-been players that no one in the US has heard of in spots that should be occupied by younger players with, you know, futures in the game?

Fernando Morientes? Please. Re-teaming Pires with Freddie Ljungberg for Arsenal-West out in Seattle? No thanks. There's little to no value of bringing these guys in. There's no emotional attachment on these shores to Omar Bravo or even Michael Ballack should he leave Chelsea for the U.S. Henry is the only name who could stir moderate interest, but the guy is still contributing for a team in the hunt for more domestic and European glory. Why would he leave for the U.S.? Just to hang out with Beckham and Tiger Woods? Doubtful.

Do we really want MLS to be the Lost island for footballers? Jen Chang's premise needs to crash and burn just like Oceanic 815 did, and just like Lost, let's make this the series finale for this notion that aging stars can close it out here in MLS. It's been done before and it ain't worked.

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Hey MLS: Stop Americanizing Football

So SI.com columnist Steve Davis says MLS' choice of Toronto as host city for the MLS Cup final was a good, but safe choice. He'd rather see the title game be held at the higher seed's home field. How about this Steve? How about MLS get on the same page with the rest of the frikkin world and have a single table and crown the first-place team at the end of the season as champion?

Why does MLS have carte-blanche to skirt FIFA's rules, if not tradition, of making the regular season mean something. Do we need to see essentially the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th-place teams have the same shot at the title as the best team in the league after 38 games? Hell no, Steve.

Our need to Americanize sports is revolting.

I'm no fan of MLS, but I respect the players and the clubs' followings. Red Bull Arena looks amazing and the atmosphere in Toronto and Seattle is on par or better than most European clubs. The problem is that we think being bold is something like Davis' proposal to host a final at the higher seed versus at a neutral site.

How about defining bold as scrapping the meaningless playoffs and playing it out over 38 games like the rest of the world does. Football isn't America's game like baseball where America can define the rules and set the stage. America is a late-comer to the game of football and should acquiece to the same format the majority of the rest of the world follows.

The arrogance of Americanizing football is grotesque. What's next? Shootouts from 35 yards to decide tie games, err, oops, been there done that.

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Another Euro Export Headed for MLS

If you can read Portuguese, A Bola, the national sports daily newspaper, reports that former Portuguese national and Benfica and Sporting star Joao Pinto, 36, may be headed to MLS. The paper says Toronto FC is likely where he’ll land, considering Toronto’s large Portuguese community.

If you recall, Joao Pinto’s national team career ended at the 2002 World Cup when he took a punch at Argentine referee Ángel Sánchez. Portugal was on its way out of the tournament, losing to hosts South Korea. Joao Pinto was suspended six months and his national team career was done.

Prior to that, he, along with Mario Jardel, has led Sporting to a pair of national titles and he was close to top form. He was also pivotal in a legendary derby win for Benfica, scoring three times in a 6-3 win over Sporting in the early 90s. Three times he was named Portuguese football of the year: 1992-93-94.

UPDATE: Juan Sebastian Veron rebuffs MLS, D.C. United

UPDATE:

Soccer By Ives reports the deal is off!


Kudos to Jeff from Center Holds It for nailing this one: it's been announced that Juan Sebastian Veron will join D.C. United. Jeff blogged this week here at Starting Eleven about the downsides to MLS' designated player rule, and pointed toward this deal in particular. His argument is that MLS teams will start to bring in big-name attractions at the expense of developing younger players.

Veron joins D.C. United for $3 million a year. He leaves Estudiantes de la Plata this weekend and will be introduced Wednesday in Washington. Veron has a checkered history in England. Twice he was transferred for HUGE money; to United from Lazio in 2001 for $57 million, and then in 2003 to Chelsea for $30. Veron never shined for either club.

The bulk of Veron's success came in Italy with Parma and Lazio, and of course with Argentina. He was a member of last summer's Copa America team.

So MLS gets another superstar past his prime, and quickly this league is starting to take on the stench of the North American Soccer League. Are we going to look back on 2007 as the year when it all started to go badly?

Guest Post: MLS Designated Player Distracts Teams From Real Needs

I don't do nearly enough on MLS over here, but you'll get your fill today courtesy of Jeff over at Center Holds It. He and I are swapping posts this week; could be a regular happening too. He's already posted my entry over on his blog, my take on what I believe to be the idiocy of nations co-hosting major tournaments. I invite you to link on over there and have a read after, of course, you've digested Jeff's entry below.

Incidentally, if anyone else would like to post here and host one of mine, speak up! Here's Jeff's post:

Like a lot of people employed by Major League Soccer (MLS), as well as thousands of us observers, I’m still trying to sort out what I think about the designated player rule. But I’m also finding that the more I think about it, the more complications, big and small, that I see.

The latest one came to me as I reviewed DC United’s season, specifically, as I considered where they needed to improve their team. That’s on defense, as I see it: United has plenty of offensive firepower, but a variety of defensive issues have thwarted their “real” championship bids for the past two seasons (e.g their shot at MLS Cup). And, according to what I’m seeing, it’s a lack of organization that plagues this team as opposed to a problem with the individual parts. So, under normal circumstances, DC would go out and find a player - logically and/or ideally, the best one they could find and afford - to organize their back three, or four...or whatever it is they’ll play in 2008.

But, according to credible reports, the team is about to use their designated player slot to sign Juan Sebastian Veron, a midfield player who will more likely than not feature in their attack. And that’s the problem with the designated player rule: it distorts teams’ priorities, pulling their attention and resources toward “sexy” players when they’re not necessarily a given team’s first need. To put this in more concrete terms, DC United is on the verge of acquiring Veron when it’s someone closer to Lubos Kubik they’re needing.

Take away the question of what a specific team needs and Veron is precisely the kind of player for which the designated player rule was created: high-profile, exciting, and so on. That’s just another part of the rule’s complicated effect on roster decisions. Quite apart from his injury woes, Claudio Reyna’s designated player status caused a minor controversy (add the injuries and you’re getting into major controversy territory). Between Reyna’s position not generating a lot of eye-catching statistics and his limited capacity for putting butts in seats (“the greatest holding mid in U.S. history? Sweet!”), he’s immediately raised the issue of whether the “special money” spent on him tallied up in terms of increased attention and revenues. It almost becomes a question less of what your team needs than who it is they can get and how well he sells. And facts are facts: it’s hard enough to push a holding midfielder; what chance does a defender have?

This isn’t a strict either-or proposition, of course; for instance, there’s nothing to stop DC United from both signing Veron and rebuilding their defense. And, if you check the comments in my DC United review, you’ll see a fairly sound theory for how Veron could help keep pressure of DC’s defense (I’m not sold, but that’s another post). But that may or may not work out, so this remains a proposition of allocating finite resources. With their balance tilting toward forwards and midfielders - hardly irregular, but DC’s might tilt a little more than most (take away Vanney’s $237K chunk and the rest of DC’s defense pulls down $225K combined) - that leaves them fairly little money to leverage into better individual players, never mind the player DC needs - e.g. someone with the experience and savvy to make those players work. That Veron will add more than $125K to the midfielder/forward side of the equation only complicates things a little more.

So, that’s what I’m seeing: DC has a need and money to spend to fill it, but there’s this weird rule in place - that’s the DP rule - that muddies the logic of the rebuilding process. The more I think about it, the more the designated player rule looks like a marketing vehicle that should be replaced with a higher general salary cap.

Wink: Thierry Henry Headed to MLS (some day)

So Thierry Henry is bound for MLS. Says so right on Sports Illustrated's Web site. Yep, he's coming to America. Messi? Ronaldinho? Camp Nou? No thanks. Give him Twellman or DeRosario; set up him at the Home Depot Center. After all, he's good buddies with hoop star Tony Parker and also struck up a friendship with Deron Williams at Parkers nuptials to Eva Longoria. Naturally where else would a top 5 striker in Europe end up but in the good ol' U.S. of A., the world's football hotbed.?

Somebody better tell Henry quickly that the only football Americans care about is shaped rather oddly.

And somebody better tell Sports Illustrated that the MLS and America is where once-great footballers come to die--well maybe not die--but at least close down their careers.

Outside the outlandishness of the thought that Henry might some day play quality minutes in MLS, the interview does offer some insight.

SI.com: Eto'o will come off the injury list soon. How will you, Ronaldinho, Messi and he all play at once?

Henry: I'm not the guy in charge -- there's only one guy who can tell you that. But that definitely can be and will be something great because Sammy is a great player. But whoever's out there on the pitch is going to have to help Barcelona win. That's the most important thing.

SI.com: Arsenal is still undefeated this season, and you were quoted as saying the team may actually be better off without you because of its style of play.

Henry: I don't know about that. People like to tweak quotes and that sounds better. Before I arrived and when I left, Arsenal has remained Arsenal. Players come and go. When I watch them play, I see the same Arsenal -- moving the ball, playing one-two touch football, scoring the Arsenal way. It's the same thing. It's been like that the last the 11 years. The only thing that might change is [manager] Arsène Wenger. If he leaves, they stop being Arsenal.

SI.com: You left a club known for producing amazing young players, but Barcelona might be even better in that regard.

Henry: It's just ridiculous. You see one coming through one year, the next year it's another one. Recently they've had guys like Bojan Krkic and Giovani dos Santos coming through. But some of these older guys came through the system, like Xavi and Carles Puyol. Even Cesc Fàbregas [of Arsenal] came from here. Both clubs are known for that, but it is amazing how every year Barça seems to have like one or two players being called the next big star. It becomes almost normal, but that's just the way it is.

Henry also laments never having won the Champions League with Arsenal. Guess what TH14, you won't get it again this year. In fact, your former club is in better shape to win the big-eared cup than Barca. Luck just seems to avoid some guys. At least he's on a first-name basis with Eva.

MLS Commissioner Garber Puts on Smoke-and-Mirrors Show

Extremely interesting read-between-the-lines interview with MLS commissioner Don Garber in the New York Times on Saturday as a lead-in to yesterday's MLS Cup. Garber is a marketing guy and he's doing his best to put MLS on the map, but it's really a smoke-and-mirrors show for Americans.

Football fans understand what MLS is. It's second-tier football at best, and that's fine. It's an outlet here in the states for football fans to see the game in person and build loyalties with teams in their particular region. The league is growing, and I guess there's revenue with this single-entity business model--notice I said revenue and not necessarily profit. Though apparently, the league makes $30 million annually from television, which is decent money that rivals what the NHL gets I'm sure.

But the deception really gets deep when Garber starts talking about Beckham and Blanco and a host of Brazilians and Argentines and Colombians being an indication of progress and success. Talk about spreading it on thick. Talk about perpetuating an illusion. Let's get serious Mr. Garber, and you know it to be true, that Beckham is done as a player. Blanco too on a serious level. If they weren't, they wouldn't be playing here. Same goes for the Brazilians and Argentines and Colombians MLS has signed; if they were any good, they'd be in Europe.

You need look no further than prodigy Freddy Adu, signed at 14 for millions, and more from NIKE. He was nurtured, if you can even say that, in MLS and the first chance he got, he bolted for Europe. Ditto Clint Dempsey, DeMarcus Beasley, Tim Howard and a host of others. The U.S. National Team is probably unrecognizable to most MLS fans, because the majority is abroad.

Fact is: Beckham and Blanco were brought here to sell jerseys; Garber's clutching to the jersey sales numbers in the Q&A, see for yourself. They weren't brought here to grow the game, they were brought here to grow MLS' Q-rating.

Garber has some illusion of MLS becoming a major U.S. sport. No. It won't. It's been said before; there's too much competing for the same money and attention here. And the press hates soccer. It won't happen.

In closing, I'll excerpt the last question from the Q&A, which is a great one by Jack Bell:

Q. A number of Americans — Malcolm Glazer, Tom Hicks, Randy Lerner — have invested in teams in England. Why don’t they buy into M.L.S. instead?

A. There is no shortage of wealthy people who have an interest in M.L.S. My only concern would be if we had a shortage of investors.

The best thing that could ever happen for soccer in this country is to have people invest in soccer, whether in the United States, England or Spain. But one would argue there’s less stability and logic to the English football system than all would hope.

Can you smell the B.S.?