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| Friday, September 14, 2001 24:19 EST |
Finally, all the MLS coaches understand the rules
By Jeff Bradley
[ESPN The Magazine]
Here's one reason to believe 2000 will be the greatest Major League Soccer season ever: No more clueless coaches. Oh sure, they'll look clueless, coach cluelessly and act clueless at times, but the point is, every coach in the league knows what he's gotten himself into.
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THE FIRST XI
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Names on the 2001 MLS Hall of Fame Ballot:
11. Nicola Caricola, MetroStars (Scored first MLS goal ever at Giants Stadium -- an own goal)
10. Chris Woods, Rapids (Probably should have been the last keeper imported)
9. Juan Berthy "Chicho" Suarez, DC United (Hah! Even DC screws up!)
8. Arash Noamouz, Galaxy (Not the Iranian player L.A. was looking for)
7. Denis Hamlett, Rapids (The Hammer's now a Chicago assistant coach)
6. Missael Espinoza, Clash (Greatest Mexican player in MLS history?)
5. George Gelnovatch, DC United (UVa coach suited up for two games)
4. Hugo Sanchez, Burn (Second greatest Mexican in MLS history?)
3. Ruben Dario Hernandez, MetroStars (Pure goal scorer: 10 games, 0 goals, adios Rubencho)
2. Jim St. Andre, Revolution (Launched television career on ESPN)
1. Andrew Shue, Galaxy (Two careers gone in just four years time)
Eligibility: Players who will have been out of MLS five years in 2001. And, oh yeah, there's no such thing as the MLS Hall of Fame ballot. (Special thanks to Evan Whitney.)
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For the first time in the league's five years, every coach knows about the salary cap and single entity and the value of a few good $24,000-a-year role players. Every coach knows about waivers and cut-down days and Discovery Options and A-League affiliates.
The league should now be spared of moments like the one that occurred in 1997, when MetroStars coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, so befuddled by MLS rules that he just didn't want to deal with them anymore, closed his eyes and put his finger down on a list of names to decide which player he would cut from his roster. The player turned out to be Ezra Hendrickson, who went on to become a starting right back for Los Angeles.
Understanding the league. It seems like a small matter, but it's not. In order to be a successful coach in MLS, the biggest thing is you've got to want to be here. You've got to be willing to put up with the league's often-maddening structure. You've got to embrace the challenge of putting together a team on a budget.
Basically, a coaching job in MLS has to be a job you not only want, but need. Carlos Queiroz, who came to the MetroStars with two World Youth titles on his resume, didn't need MLS. Nor did Parreira, who won a World Cup with Brazil, but couldn't get the Metros into the playoffs. Bora Milutinovic, getting set to guide his fifth different country into the World Cup, threw up his hands at the end of last season as if no one had ever explained the MLS rules to him. Walter Zenga, one of the greatest 'keepers ever, left New England in a daze.
It took four full seasons, but it seems the guys doing the hiring finally get it. Even Charlie Stillitano, who made one trophy hire after another during his four years as Metros GM, seems to have made a prudent final move before he was removed from the big chair in New York, hiring Octavio Zambrano, a coach hungry to prove he was wrongly sacked in Los Angeles.
All the league execs should have known from the beginning that anyone who wanted to coach in MLS, no matter how glowing his record appeared, should have had to meet two criteria: First, he should have to care deeply about American players, because they constitute roughly 80 percent of the league; second, and perhaps most important, he should care passionately about the future of professional soccer in the United States.
A coach who cares about U.S. players doesn't do what Zenga did to 19-year-old Jamar Beasley last year, holding him in New England to play the last 5 to 10 minutes of games, when he should have been playing 90 for the Project 40 team in the A-League. A coach who cares about the league doesn't make a half-hearted attempt to learn MLS rules and then leave because he's frustrated.
MLS needs coaches who need MLS. To start this year, anyway, we've got 12.
The second division
The signing of Iranian forward Khodadad Azizi, described last week by an MLS official as "imminent," now appears less likely because it appears Azizi may have signed a contract with a Turkish club before handling the paperwork that would have made him a member of the San Jose Earthquakes.
Confused? So is everyone involved in the deal, from the agents to MLS officials to the Persian fans in California.
The e-Quakes, who have been the least active of any of the teams that missed the '99 playoffs, will only hang in the discussions for a few more days before they turn their allocation attention elsewhere, most likely to Central America, where Kraft Soccer Supernova Sunil Gulati has been looking for a young defender for the Revolution.
Gulati has also been trying to find the Revs a goalkeeper to replace Walter Zenga. It was believed that 'keeper would be a domestic player, but when Mark Dodd injured his hand in spring training, the No. 1 candidate for that job opening was removed from the market. New England now has a 20-year-old Croatian goalkeeper, Stipe Pletikosa, in their camp. Because of his age, Pletikosa would not count as a foreign player (for an explanation, see the Youth International note below). Also, 22-year-old Italian defender Nicola Innocentin, who has bounced around a few camps, is back for a second look with the Revolution. MLS scouts were impressed with Innocentin's physical tools, but wanted to see him compete more before making a decision on him.
As for the rest of the second division (there may not be relegation in MLS, but missing the playoffs has got to rank with any of soccer's dubious honors), here's a look:
Kansas City: The Wizards and coach Bob Gansler have upgraded, no doubt. Danish striker Miklos Molnar, along with new additions Peter Vermes and Matt McKeon, have fighting spirit to match Mo Johnston, which should lift MoJo's mojo. Preki, for the moment, is going to be a 30-minute man, but we still like the idea of some team in need of a midfield connector (San Jose?) ponying up for one season of Preki, to see if he's got any magic left. It may just be that the 36-year-old Yugoslavian is finished; he never found his form last year. But he could have a Valderrama-style revival if a team is willing to give him the liberty to roam. While Preki is most often remembered for his dribbling cut-backs and shooting, he ranks with Valderrama and Marco Etcheverry as one of the best passers to ever play in MLS. Wrapping up, if Tony Meola is healthy, the Wizards could challenge for a playoff spot out of the weak Western Division.
MetroStars: They've also improved. But how could they have gotten any worse? When the Adolfo Valencia signing is announced (there's some international paperwork being finalized), they will have a new, all-Colombian forward tandem in Valencia and Alex Comas. With the release of Mike Sorber, it appears they are committed to Lothar Matthaeus in the midfield, which makes sense as long as the 38-year-old isn't going to be asked to track back too much. But the big thing here is, the Metros were not nearly as bad as Bora made them look in '99. With a little reorganizing -- for now, it looks like they'll play something like a 1-3-4-2, with Thomas Dooley sweeping -- there's no reason the Metros can't get into the playoff hunt with Miami and New England in the East.
The Weekly Hristo
The bizarre saga of the Chicago Fire and Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov continues, getting stranger by the day.
Once again, for those joining us in progress: Stoichkov has given MLS some type of verbal commitment that he would come to MLS and play in Chicago. Problem is, Chicago can only acquire him if the Fire can trade for an allocation. Teams with allocations have only been interested in talking with the Fire about acquiring one of Chicago's top young players.
While the Fire consider Stoichkov an interesting player with a huge upside, they also think he's a high risk because he hasn't played competitively in over a year, and has a reputation for being highly temperamental. In other words, the Fire don't want to mortgage any piece of their future for a guy who could conceivably flame out in a month.
So, while the Fire try to drum up multi-team, multi-player deals, they also negotiate with the league on some Hristo insurance. The Fire want to be sure, if they make a deal and acquire Stoichkov, they have it in writing that the Bulgarian will be replaceable if he doesn't survive two MLS seasons. Meanwhile, MLS is now taking feelers from Stoichkov to see if he'd have an interest in playing for a team other than Chicago.
This story can't end soon enough.
Playoff quandary
There's a strong suspicion that this year's MLS playoffs will be wild. Why's that? Well, the league's going to stick with best-of-3 series in the quarter and semifinal rounds, but they're going to use a 3-for-a-win, 1-for-a-tie points system.
So, basically, the first team to five points wins the series. Only one glitch. They haven't figured out what to do if the series is tied at three or four points apiece at the end of three games. There is talk of a 30-minute mini-game. There is talk of using aggregate goals. There's even talk of using away goals as a second-level tiebreaker. What there isn't is a verdict. Stay tuned.
Youth internationals
All right everybody, once again from the top.
Because we've thoroughly confused everyone with the Youth International rules in MLS, we're going to try again. First of all, we present a list of all the players who fit the YI criteria. They are classified as either Junior Internationals (don't count against 19-man roster or salary cap) or Transitional International (don't count against the league's four-foreigner limit).
1. Jason Bent, Colorado (Transitional)
2. Keyeno Thomas, Colorado (Junior)
3. Roland Vargas, Columbus (J)
4. Alexi Korol, Dallas (T)
5. Peter Byaruhanga, Kansas City (J)
6. Martin Quijano, Los Angeles (J)
7. Andy Williams, Miami (T)
8. Maurizio Rocha, Miami (J)
9. Travis Mulraine, San Jose (T)
10. Adrian Narine, San Jose (T)
11. Dema Kovalenko, Chicago (T)
12. New England Player To Be Named
13. Jose Retiz, Los Angeles (J)
14. Yuri Lavrinenko, Chicago (T)
15. Thomas Serna, Los Angeles (J)
16. Angel Rivillo, Dallas (J)
Okay, now understand there is a limit of 12 Youth Internationals league-wide. The players listed from 13-15 will move up on the list as players from 1-12 are cut. There's also a "waiting list" that includes players like Chicago Discovery Junior Agogo, but the pecking order to add a YI player (after the 15) will go from worst to first based on last year's standings.
As for that No. 12 slot to a New England Player To Be Named? That was agreed upon by the league prior to the MLS draft, when it became certain the Revs would lose a Green Card player in Gio Savarese. So, New England is likely to add a Transitional International as one of their allocations and keep a foreign spot open.
In tight space
The Galaxy are still pushing hard to acquire a Mexican player, and the latest name in the mixer is that of 25-year-old Cruz Azul striker Francisco Palencia. A regular on Mexico's national team the past two years, Palencia would be a coup for Sigi Schmid and Co., because of his youth, speed and attitude. He certainly would be a huge upgrade from departed elder statesman Carlos Hermosillo.
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E-mail exchange with ...
Eddie Lewis
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JB: So, I hear you want out of San Jose? True or False?
EL: Only if it's across the Atlantic.
JB: Are you going to miss wearing the cloudy jade? I know Phil Schoen's going to miss saying "cloudy jade."
EL: Not a bit. Our new unis are beautiful and I'll be very proud to wear the Pacific blue, Silicon silver and Sunshine yellow, or whatever the hell they call it.
JB:You do sound proud.
JB: Who's the biggest hacking blade in MLS?
EL: Jeff Aunger for sure. He's the reason players are getting career-ending insurance policies.
JB:Yeah, he's not squeaky clean like, say, John Doyle
JB: What's the best thing an opposing fan has ever yelled at you?
EL: "Lewis, you couldn't cross a &*%$@ street, let alone a ball. You heard me, I mean that, huh?"
What's that?
"Never mind."
JB: Hey, not to kick a guy when he's down, but did you guys ever give Quinny advice on that early '80s, MTV-inspired, John Waite "I ain't missing you at all" hairdo?
EL: I just hope when I'm 38 I can grow a helmet like that. Plus, I had a bigger
problem with his tie selection.
JB: Don't be taking shots at Chess King, now.
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If your next question was about Discoveries, here's your answer: Every team gets two Discoveries every year, but can't have more than four Discoveries on their roster at any time. Got that? Junior Agogo (Chicago) and Gary Glasgow (Kansas City) have already been announced as Discoveries and Los Angeles is giving strong consideration to Haitian striker Sebastian Vorbe, who is a student (but not a member of the soccer team) at Florida International.
Slovakian midfielder Vladislav Zvara, headed to Columbus for weeks now, is apparently doing some heavy leveraging with his MLS offer. Expect the Crew to cut bait soon and go after a South African midfielder. Don't worry, it's not going to be Doctor Khumalo.
The Mutiny are about to forget about Roy Lassiter and sign Tico Tico, who's been performing (and running off the ball) to Carlos Valderrama's liking. Tim Hankinson's main concern in Tampa is to find an active striker to play with stagnant poacher Raul Diaz Arce, who will likely finish a third of his chances and score 15 to 20 goals again.
When the Metros finally announce the signing of Adolfo Valencia, it's going to be as a replacement for Sasa Curcic, who's being shopped around the globe, but will most likely end up playing at home in Belgrade. Again, Fire fans, the reason the Metros will get a replacement for a guy who played a handful of games, and the Fire get nothing for Jerzy Podbrozny and Roman Kosecki, is because the league will sell Curcic's contract for some pittance while the two Poles were simply set free. No matter how many times it's explained, it's never gonna make sense. Trust us on that one.
Joe-Max Moore was apparently upset that Bruce Arena "discredited" his hot streak at Everton, when the U.S. boss said he wasn't "going to be fooled by four games." C'mon Joe-Max, does that surprise you? Did you expect the coach to say, "I think we've found the answer to our problems up front?" The coach, like all of us, wants to see it continue.
Tab Ramos doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't do anything but eat right, work out ferociously and try to get himself back on the field. And he still gets hurt every year. At least he's honest about it. "Right now," he says, "I have no confidence I can stay healthy. Last year, my goal was to play 32 games. This year, I don't know what to say. I'll just hope for the best and be happy I'm not taking up a lot of room on the salary cap." Ramos is still awaiting clearance to get on the field for the Metros in a game.
Pub Talk
Does New England have more faith in Mauricio Ramos, Eduardo Hurtado and Wolde Harris than I do? Or am I missing something here?
I'm going to believe this Brian Kelly explosion when I see it during the regular season. Until then, I'm tempering my enthusiasm.
Watching the U.S. national team I can't help but think, "We've gotten pretty good." But when I try to define "pretty good" I start to think, "We've got to get better." Call it ball movement or fluidity, whatever. I just think we need more good players to raise the level of the game. And, man, it would be nice if Landon Donovan or DaMarcus Beasley turns into a game-breaker. Since that's future fodder, I really want to see Josh Wolff get healthy and play alongside Brian McBride.
All right, the Columbus fans think I'm being rough on them. Yes, I know you led the league in attendance and season tickets and bratwursts eaten, but do me a favor: Two sell-outs this year. That's all I'm asking. In the year of your new stadium you had one, so you have to prove to me that there are soccer fans in Columbus and not just "event" fans.
For a look at what an MLS stadium should look like, check out page 120 in the March issue of FourFourTwo. Reading's Madejski Stadium (capacity 24,200) would be a nice model to work off for the big markets like Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.
Finally, make sure to pick up the next issue of ESPN The Magazine (on newsstands just about two weeks from now) for our annual MLS Preview.
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