By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Aug 17, 2011) US Soccer Players -- In an article we ran last week, Major League Soccer officials described their plans to move MLS towards elite status by 2022. Soccer plans with an end date in this country usually end up being a way to criticize the planners, but MLS took two serious steps in the right direction. The first was the League announcing the new Designated Player rules that decrease the salary cap hit for signing younger designated players. The second was the Los Angeles Galaxy paying a transfer fee to sign Robbie Keane.
Though encouraging teams to sign younger designated player-caliber players is nice, it's paying a significant transfer fee that's the real difference maker for the League. No small part of that is the numerous moves that have been made to bring players into the League with little or no fee.
How that normally works is by having a player still contracted to a European or South American club ask for an out. The player goes to his club, gets an out, and MLS takes advantage of a free transfer. That's not exactly transfer business as usual, especially when MLS has no problem setting a high fee for players leaving the League.
Being a selling league has a particular resonance in Europe. No matter how good a club might be, there's the expectation of a player selloff. Success in Europe from an outsider? Not to worry, those players that got them there will be available soon enough. It's how the truly elite teams reload, relying on the selling clubs to cash out early.
Obviously, what suffers in this scenario is the quality of the selling club, and by extension the League. MLS is already in that category. Imagine Toronto's midfield had Maurice Edu stuck around. Jozy Altidore in an attack with Thierry Henry in New York. Brad Guzan in goal. Those players left for Europe through the transfer system, all involved convinced their game would improve overseas.
In that Michael Lewis article, Major League Soccer executive vice president of competition and player relations Todd Durbin said: "The best players are going to view our league as a place where they want to pursue their careers."
That's the difference between a selling league and an elite league. Actively participating in the transfer market as a buyer as well as a seller is a crucial step forward. Then again, it's been the Los Angeles Galaxy making those crucial first steps since they pushed for the designated player rule.
Beckham left Real Madrid for LA at the end of his contract, so no transfer fee. The next truly high-profile European signing, Thierry Henry, had a year left on his deal with Barcelona but Barcelona let Henry join New York on a free transfer. That was the same scenario for Nicolas Anelka potentially signing with MLS earlier this Summer, a move that didn't happen.
Now we have the Galaxy paying to sign an elite player, and if reports are accurate it's not a small amount. $5 million to Spurs, and a sweeping statement regardless of how many other clubs in MLS choose to acknowledge it.
We're still in that moment where clubs shrug off the old idea of the designated player, much less actually paying a transfer fee to bring one in. New York has done the concept no favors in that regard, going through a season that might as well be an example of why it's not worth spending on an MLS roster. Our last two MLS Cup champions haven't helped either, showing that small budgets can win trophies.
Again, it's Los Angeles as the vanguard. They need to prove their own economic model. That requires selling sponsorships, tickets, and winning. Two out of three isn't good enough. It requires success across all three categories to unlock the idea that spending on an MLS squad is the only way to generate the kind of success in financial and competitive terms to make the outlay worth it.
Otherwise, it's another MLS moment. A way to rationalize not paying transfer fees or full participation in he transfer system. In other words, MLS business as usual. That's not the League's fault. It's the fault of the clubs looking for reasons to hold the line on salaries and associated expenses. Soccer on an economic scale that might mean success now through the playoffs but does very little to really build the brand.
Moving Major League Soccer's clubs away from the idea that true success means people showing up for a mid-season prestige friendly, making the playoffs, and winning the Cup is going to be a tough sell. But it's simply not enough on its own. LA isn't improving against the rest of MLS. They're improving trying to reach an ideal they've set for their club. They don't need Donovan, Beckham, or Keane to factor in Major League Soccer. They need all three to show what this League can aspire to be.
Comments, questions, solutions to problems that have yet to present themselves. Please, tell me all about it.
