MLS. Because “Geriatric” Starts with an “M”

By: Laurie | January 5th, 2008

Tucked away in the Luis Figo MLS rumors and denials was this quote from the man himself:

“Going to the USA is a possibility at the end of my career, but for me it is not the right time.

Figo’s a great player. But…ummm…Luis? Sweetie? This may have escaped your attention amid all the hype and excitement of your long and thrilling career, but you’re 35. Look around you. Your peers have pretty much retired already. In the immortal words of my buddy Jeff Bull over at Center Holds It (who has written an excellent piece on this topic), “In case you haven’t heard, life gets slower and fatter from here on out.” Sad, but true.

Barcelona’s Thierry Henry’s the other one. His quote from late 2007?

Some players want to finish their careers in Australia, the Middle East or back at the club where they started. For me, it’s America. I don’t know when it’s going to happen, I just know I’ve been wanting to do this since I was young.

As much as I love Titi (since he’s French and all,) he hasn’t exactly been fit and healthy for the past couple of years. He has ongoing back problems that are limiting his ability to play at his best. This makes me wonder when he’s planning on coming. When he has to pay people to bend over and lace up his cleats?

Funny thing was, when we got Beckham at “only” thirty-one, I thought MLS had scored a coup. Thirty-one wasn’t young, but it was young enough. Young enough to be fit, and healthy, and on the field! Young enough to avoid the “retirement league” curse of the NASL!

And then Beckham turned thirty-two and got broken and still got a monumental payout ($6.5 million, plus millions more in merchandising rights) for spending very little time on the field. And this was exactly the wrong message to send to aging European superstars.

I guess I don’t understand how MLS benefits from bringing in players who have used up their best years on other teams. Name recognition? Higher profile? We got that from Beckham. Any additional benefits from here on out would be minimal at best. And at worst? NASL, redux.

From another excellent piece on the topic, this one from the Toronto Star, on what brought down NASL:

The klieg-lit names best associated with that defunct league – Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Johann Cruyff – were all pushing into their third decade when they arrived.

That didn’t stop them from dominating. But it robbed the game of heat. It was an ending for these great players on teams they clearly judged second-best. Fans can smell that sort of indifference.

We can’t compete with the Europeans on salary. Simple economics: We don’t have the revenues coming in to justify the payouts. But there is a whole huge big world out there outside of Europe, and there are a lot of players — young ones, too — who would love to come play in the US because it’s the US.

Fortunately a lot of teams have gotten this message and are looking south for new talent. The only owner that doesn’t seem to be on this bandwagon? AEG, owners of my LA Galaxy and (for now) the Houston Dynamo.

We’ll see how long the older-European obsession lasts when the Galaxy gets its butt kicked repeatedly by the teams who have spread their salary cap further by buying younger, non-European players. I’d give it two or three years, tops.

But in the meantime they can rake in the merchandising bucks as every kid in the world buys shirts with the names of players who were once famous in Europe.

Maybe that’s what really matters.

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Category: Europe, MLS, World Football

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Elisa

I hope to see more American players go and play in the FMF earn some decent bucks, competition and kick ass in the Nats. The Latin influence and style is much needed in the US.
Laurie

Melissa, funny, it never occurred to me that people might be planning to send out a search party. I haven't posted much recently due to the holidays, and I had Thurs and Fri scheduled off before doing weekend duty. But fear not, I'm now on for seven days straight, so you'll have plenty of opportunity to get sick of me again. :-)
Melissa

On the subject of money, we also can't pay enough to entice many Mexican stars to leave the FMF. Apparently our dollar just goes a lot further in other South American countries and their leagues pay players even less. Another argument to raise the cap!

Anyhoo - Laurie, glad to see you're back and posting regularly again.
Nolan

As a South American football fan, I would hate to see the US hurt their national teams, but as someone who lives in North America I see no reason why we shouldn't have scouts across Latin America. Immigration is the number one reason the US national team and MLS are improving the way they are - Canada is still a lost cause, but the United States is finally moving away from what I always perceived as a stereotypically English (in part thanks to the more popular sports here) way of playing the game - all athleticism and dedication, with poor technique and virtually no flair. I heard MLS described a couple of years ago as a "destruction derby" more than a football league, and with our close proximity to the countries that produce some of the most technically gifted players in the world, this shouldn't be the case.
Laurie

Nolan, I'm guilty too. If Zidane were to say, "I'm coming out of retirement tomorrow and moving to MLS," I'd be the first to buy season tickets and a jersey, even if it were for a team across the country. I'm still trying to convince myself that this would not be in the best interests of the league. :-)

And I'm laughing at your soccer exploitation comment. On one level, it saddens me to see the South and Central
American teams lose so much talent. But on the other, if they're leaving anyway, why not bring them here?
Nolan

I think the biggest problem is us North American FOOTBALL fanatics. Yes we are a limited group but if MLS brings in big name players, even if they are past their best, they are guaranteed to get our interest. Of course even back when MLS was weaker name recognition wasn't enough, while my boy Stoichkov had a decent MLS run you also had Lothar Matthäus fail completely.

I'll admit to being guilty of wanting to see someone like Figo or Henry on Red Bull, even if they are past their best. Because let's face it, while MLS is improving tremendously those who want to see the game at its finest, especially those of us who like continental football more than the EPL (which MLS looks up to the most) are going to continue to put European leagues first, and of course we'd want to see some of the players we spent the past decade of our lives following play in our own backyard. It's dangerous for MLS, but won't actually hurt the league if done in moderation (and not LA Galaxy style)

Of course what I really want to see is as much Latin American influence in North America as possible. To be cynical for a second - The US loves politically exploiting Latin America, why not do the same with football?