Steve Davis' weekly column, drilling down on five hot topics in American soccer
1. FCD homegrowns, peaking into the future
Let’s play out a quick “what if” scenario: When thinking about this overflowing schooner of FC Dallas homegrowns, ask yourself: What if Coy Craft, among the promising set of the locals signed, would have gotten Getterson’s minutes this year?
Getterson was the summer signing out of Brazil. He got into four MLS matches and a scattering of Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League contests. And he wasn’t bad. But if we’re honest, nobody will write books about his days and nights at Toyota Stadium.
That’s not a hit job on his signing; he was brought in to provide depth, which is exactly what he did. Rather, it’s about making this point: Going forward, as the locally developed youngsters slowly come of age, results aren’t likely to be significantly different if the depth-provider minutes go to (the admittedly still young and green) homegrowns.
Now extend this thought exercise just a little as we consider a trio of recent homegrown signings, ranging in age from 15 to 17, Jesus Ferreira, Paxton Pomykal and Bryan Reynolds.
What if Pomykal gets whatever minutes Carlos Lizarazo might have received next year? Oh, maybe you lose a little experience in Champions League matches, and the club might even suffer a bit for it. In the short term, that is. Because even if FCD drops a point in CCL or finds itself eliminated a bit earlier in U.S. Open Cup, you get something on the back side: valuable experience from hard-earned, meaningful minutes.
The larger point here: You don’t have to squint to see something happening, perhaps the next step in “Project Papi:” the gradual integration of these young signings in minutes that matter.
See, the FCD homegrowns have certainly had an impact; roughly 15 percent of the minutes over the last three years have been eaten up by players like Victor Ulloa, Kellyn Acosta, Jesse Gonzalez and Moises Hernandez. But they were a little older when they began getting larger helpings of starters’ minutes.
The signings are getting younger, partially a result of a churning pipeline that keeps producing and partially as a protective measure against opportunists from around the world who don’t mind cherry picking FCD’s young prospects.
So now the challenge for FCD is keeping these players involved, to keep them progressing now that they are into pro contracts. One solution: give them the minutes that went to the mid-level pros who have come in and out previously with moderate production. Think about:
- David Texeira, who had 4 goals and 0 assists in 19 matches during his first year at Toyota Stadium, 2014
- Andres Escobar, with 2 goals and 4 assists over 23 matches the same year
- Adam Moffat or Andrew Jacobson, who combined for 18 midfield starts in 2014
- Ezequiel Cirigliano, Rolando Escobar or Kyle Bekker, who played hard in their combined 21 appearances in 2015 but were ultimately not significant parts of big picture
Juan Ortiz and Aubrey David were valuable in spots in 2016, especially as Oscar Pareja needed to reach deeper into the bench for Open Cup and Champions League matches. And again, deploying a younger type could certainly sideswipe a result here and there. But an Open Cup triumph has been achieved. And the club will have a two-year Champions League group play run, at very least; that’s already secure. So an elimination that could plausibly reap future rewards is more palatable now.
One final point: Consider that FC Dallas played in 45 competitive matches last year and could easily hit that total in 2017. Players can have backup roles next year (a la Getterson, Lizarazo, Ortiz, etc.) and still make 15-20 appearances. For a 16- or 17-year-old, that’s not bad. In fact, it’s pretty sweet. More importantly, it’s real development.
2. On the Cosmos/NASL troubles
The NASL and the Cosmos in particular have sometimes been thorns in Major League Soccer’s side and a rally point for the determined and motivated promotion-relegation crowd. And yet, MLS supporters should check “decline” when it comes to cheering the Cosmos and the league’s possible demise.
Among soccer fans, nobody really “wins” when a club or a league goes belly-up. More important is to absorb lessons and reinforce the best practices of building the game.
The most important reminder here: Building the professional game is hard. Check that, because it’s not emphatic enough. Let’s go with “It’s doggone difficult, bumping up against impossible.”
Full disclosure, this is a column on an MLS club site, paid for by an MLS club. That said, I’m an independent contractor and I certainly don’t agree with everything MLS does. A few pointy sticks of criticism have been jabbed at the league; just Google it, if you care.
But any criticism is always in context, and the critical context is this: MLS decisions are generally attached to financial prudence and practicality. No, “financial practicality” isn’t as sexy as “buy big stars!” or “build downtown stadiums with roofs!” Of course those are great ideas. Here’s another one: “Expand marketing budgets!”
All of those are worthy exercises in theory. But they have their time. “Expanding rosters,” for instance, was a popular fan battle cry since the earliest kicks of the old MLS Mitre ball. However, if league leaders had opened the checkbooks earlier MLS probably wouldn’t be here today. Instead, roster expansion was more deliberate. Now MLS clubs carry 28-man rosters with minimum salaries more commensurate with real-world economics. That’s just one example.
Everyone wants the best MLS possible – but we need to be OK with getting there gradually, prudently.
All this Cosmos/NASL upheaval is also a reminder of why promotion-relegation across several, independent leagues is a flimsy idea.
Since weaker ownership (speaking only of financial strength here) caused real damage back in the MLS contraction years of the early 2000s, Major League Soccer has been careful to link expansion to robust ownership. It’s really quite simple: weak ownership leads to instability; we’re seeing it right now with the Cosmos and NASL, where it’s all become so tenuous. That does nobody any good.
So all the idealism on the promotion-relegation debate is great. Yes, it would be wonderful in races to the top and to avoid the bottom. Yes, it would create incentive on both ends. But all the idealism in the world it ain’t worth a lot on the street; at some point, bills gotta get paid. And this is why promotion-relegation, in today’s high-finance world of pro sports, just isn’t as easy to create as it was, say, 100 years ago in lands afar.
Bottom line: Excellence should always be the goal, obviously. But what good is excellence if the league folds under the weight of its own ambition, unrealistic expectations and lack of fundamental financial restraint?
3. Bruce Arena, coming hard with the common sense
It’s raining common sense around the U.S. national team. And not a one of us is reaching for an umbrella! We’re like Andy Dufresne standing outside the wall, reveling in the wash of freedom.
Bruce Arena met with journalists on Tuesday in New York, and most of what he said was breath of fresh air following five years of idealistic theory and contradictory jibber jabber.
To wit, paraphrasing Arena: Not every team has a true “No. 10” in the classic, central midfield playmaking role as we commonly define it. No need to pound round pegs into square holes here.
Another: Christian Pulisic ain’t bad in the position he plays regularly for Dortmund; no reason to get cute and play him somewhere else (like, say, as a central playmaker).
How about this quote: “In general, in both [recent World Cup qualifiers], our back line played poorly. And I don’t think they’re poor players. We’ve got to get them organized. We’ve got to get them playing better as a unit.”
Somewhere, U.S. Soccer fans are singing “Hallelujah.”
Also interesting was that Arena has a player pool in mind that numbers about 50. That is huge! Here Arena was a bit contradictory after earlier saying he wouldn’t add a significant number of new faces. But for MLS fans who have scratched their heads on the regular over limited roles (or no roles!) for the likes of Matt Hedges, Sacha Kljestan, Benny Feilhaber and others, that’s music to their ears.
4. Lessons from the Sound
Lessons can be learned whenever a team rings the bell of achievement. So it is with Seattle, who went from playoff afterthought in the summer to MLS Cup finalist.
There are obvious lessons: the right No. 10 (Nicolas Lodeiro) matters, and getting hot at the right time is the stir the straws the MLS playoff drink. Those tales of the indisputable require no further discussion.
But there are some deeper digs into the rich earth of instruction. For instance, we know that manager Brian Schmetzer was the right man at the right time to unite the room. But have we talked enough about the man’s tactical wile, his “Plan As” and even more importantly his “Plan Bs?”
Seattle was pinned in its own end Sunday for the first half at Colorado. A couple of important tweaks at intermission and … the Sounders were in control and walked out of Commerce City winners. The kicker here is that Seattle is an impressive plus-14 on second half goal difference in 19 games since he took over.
In terms of personnel, here’s something else that has been somewhat lost in the more obvious: the understandable fawning over Lodeiro’s preeminence, in Morris’ ongoing rooking exploits, in Ozzie Alonso’s midfield bossing, in Chad Marshall’s back line policing, in Joevin Jones’ rise as one of the league’s premier left backs and Schmetzer’s aforementioned tactical smarts: Stefan Frei has been darn good in goal for Seattle.
It’s a point that easy for lose, as Frei was great through the year, so his strong play can be taken for granted. Seattle’s defense was good in 2016, but largely due to injuries it was rarely great. Still, all year, there was Frei, perhaps not quite the agile shot stopper that Bill Hamid or Andre Blake, but not far behind and every bit the equal in other areas.
He was exceptional in the playoffs. Frei made a couple of potentially huge saves against Dallas, especially early in the second leg as FCD pressed to regain a series foothold. Frei was just as sharp against Colorado as the Rapids sustained early pressure in both legs. Or, go back to that first playoff match, that white knuckle win over Sporting Kansas City; Frei was Man of the Match in that one.
And one other quick point: Schmetzer rightly gets a lot of credit here. But a little tip of the hat to general manager Garth Lagerwey, too. Remember, Lagerwey was criticized in some Seattle circles for not replacing Obafemi Martins, who sped away just before the season. Lagerwey waited and certainly got the right man (Lodeiro) in the summer. Now look at ‘em.
5. The Little Five
5a. On Adrian Heath getting the new Minnesota United gig: Major League Soccer’s 22nd franchise doesn’t just get a well-liked type with lots of experience in the U.S. pro ranks, they benefit from Heath’s previous lessons in building an expansion roster. That’s a big check mark for me. I mean, all those inspirational quotes on how we have to fail to succeed – they can’t all be wrong, right?
5b. Seattle’s Marshall as best U.S. player to never really have a U.S. national team career? Discuss! (Because a good argument can be made for the three-time MLS Defender of the Year. Three Defender of the Year awards, and yet somehow just 10 U.S. caps, the last in 2010.)
5c. Reminder: If you see a report that links a fancied Euro to “the MLS teams in L.A. and N.Y.,” they are almost certainly a bunch of agent-driven hooey. Seriously, what are the chances that the three teams that just happen to dwell in the league’s two most glamourous markets are into the same player? I mean, if that player in Cristiano Ronaldo or Leo Messi, OK. But Sami Khedira? According to reports, teams are practically falling over themselves for the Juve and Germany midfielder. C’mon, people! Let’s all be smarter about this stuff.
5d. If you haven’t seen this, please do. It’s Orlando City paying permanent tribute via its new stadium to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting. Well done, guys.
5e. Is it fair to wonder if the bigger impact to the L.A. Galaxy isn’t losing “Bruce Arena the coach,” but rather losing “Bruce Arena the GM?” Because beyond the Steven Gerrard hiccup, the Galaxy’s roster has generally been a terrific mix of stars, role players and gems picked up on the cheap. Yes, he has always had the benefit of Monopoly money to spend. But so have others; Arena’s super power was knowing how to use it while also augmenting with smart draft picks (Omar Gonzalez, for instance), great trades (Robbie Rogers), and pearls from the wider market (Sebastian Lletget).
Steve Davis has covered Major League Soccer since is first kick in 1996. He writes on-line for FourFourTwo and co-hosts the weekly radio show/podcast ESPN Soccer Today on 103.3 FM in Dallas. Davis is also the radio play-by-play voice for FC Dallas on 100.7 FM.