The Changing Dynamic of the MLS Decision
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Leaving Home – The Fresh Path to Prolonging a Career For aging Irons, MLS provides an inviting alternative to facing rejection As the final cogs of the English National Team’s “Golden Generation” come to grips with the unyielding procession of time and announce their respective international retirements, it comes as natural to speculate over how long it will take them to leave, or in less-fortunate cases, when they will be forced out of, the Premier League. Players such as Ashley Cole, John Terry, and our good friend, Frank, have recently come face to face with the harsh reality of progress, which rears its head and roars out its ugly promise of short-term contract extensions, pay decreases, and a warm seat on the bench. While Terry continues to hold onto his place at Chelsea like a loose tooth on its last stringy sinew, Cole has already been enjoined to leave the West London limelight. After his omission from the World Cup squad in May, he relayed his decision to draw the curtains on a prolific international career; now at Roma, the man-also-known-as-Cashley is free to watch his playing days dwindle at a comparatively safe distance from all English-speaking media. Regular Three Lions’ squad members hog the largest pieces of pie, in terms of press coverage; this recycling process of old-for-new, weary-for-fresh, however, occurs uniformly across all levels of the football pyramid. At West Ham, these exoduses are all the more prevalent; it’s no secret that the conservative strategy employed by Allardyce over the past two seasons, which focused on bringing in seasoned faces to do a younger man’s job for a fraction of the price, left many of the Irons’ on-field employees searching for work as the Brazilian heat boiled their compatriots’ dreams of World Cup glory. This summer’s transfer business hints that any similar plans for the 2014-15 campaign died at the owners’ feet in the boardroom; the most recent signings profile less like duct tape and more as bridge rivets meant to stabilize the team for a half-decade. Suddenly, yesteryear’s starters feel the humidity of an approaching wave of talent. As the indefatigable Kevin Nolan, now thirty-two, becomes less and less capable of completing a 90-minute match, his West Ham future appears increasingly moribund. But where will he go? For that matter, where will Carlton Cole go? How about Ricardo Vaz Te? Each is decidedly a fringe player, and would certainly admit to a steady downtick in minutes since the glorious 2011-12 promotion season. As thoughts of second-tier days wisp away in the breeze, as Vaz Te’s ferocious stretch of 12 goals in 18 matches fades into the distant memories of a long-forgotten season, how will the heroes move on? Gentlemen, meet Major League Soccer. Formerly known as the dump-heap where old nags were sent – perhaps to be euthanize, chopped to bits, and chucked into a McDonald’s hamburger somewhere in rural Missouri – the United States’ premier competition has reestablished itself in the global consciousness an oasis from which the not-quite-finished may drink after a long & tiring journey through the desert of a top-tier, European career. Why, though, would a player leave the comfort of his homeland for a nation in which his profession plays, at best, fourth-fiddle to the NFL, Major League Baseball, and the NBA? The answer is two-fold: first, given the league’s relative youth (it was founded in 1996), any player daring enough to leap across the Atlantic immediately steps into a prominent role as the face of a team looking to build its history, as well as that of a burgeoning league eager to expand its appeal. If Di Canio had decided to culminate his career abroad instead of at his beloved Lazio (and later Cisco Roma), the West Ham darling and Biancocelesti legend could have stoked his ego while simultaneously painting his name across the any one of the nineteen franchise’s crests. Mondo Di Canio would truly have been born. And if etching one’s name into the history books isn’t enough to persuade, there’s always the complementary padding of the bill-fold which comes with a potentially important signing. Any European player talented enough to merit a few headlines in accompaniment of his signing would most likely slink into the MLS salary cap picture as a “Designated Player” – the league’s code-name for “guy who gets paid 30 times more than everyone else on his team”. It’s what David Beckham was in Los Angeles, it’s the role Thierry Henry fills for the New York Red Bulls, and it’s a position Frank Lampard will gladly take up for his new club, New York City FC, in their inaugural season. Even former Fulham flop & US International Eddie Johnson, whom manager Jurgen Klinsmann deemed surplus to his squad’s 2014 World Cup requirements, holds a coveted DP contract – and he plays for the top team in the Eastern Conference, DC United. Beckham famously aided his Galaxy team in snatching back-to-back MLS titles in the two seasons before his retirement; the reality of a trophy-filled emigration, however, has become harder to realize as the league’s standards rise. Jermain Defoe, who signed for manager Ryan Nelsen’s Toronto FC in January of this year for a rumored £90,000 per week, has found his stay in the Americas less glamorous – as his legacy stagnates, he continues to seek a transfer away from the Canada-based club. At a time when he was still considered a productive English International, Defoe gambled on his ability to charm MLS in an Henry-and-Beckham-esque fashion; his decision perhaps contributed, rightly or wrongly, to his unceremonious omission from the World Cup roster, and to this point he has ushered little change to his own legacy or that of a historically-poor franchise. While he has high-stepped his way to eleven goals in sixteen games, any positive effect he may have had on the fortunes of the club has been clouded by his outspoken desire to leave. Toronto owner Tim Leiweke made his sentiments on the situation quite clear: “If you don’t want to be here, get the hell out of our way,” he told a group of university students. In tandem with their increasing ability to shell out massive contracts to household-name stars, MLS can equally afford to be harsh when they fall short of expectations. Defoe, however, is an outlier; he was only admonished because of the audacity he showed in requesting a transfer. If Toronto had done their due research before the signing, they would have realized the spritely striker has a history of abandoning ship when all looks lost. Anyone with a level of talent remotely close to Premier League-level can make a positive impact. Even the former West Ham Academy member, Liam Ridgewell – he of the £20 note bathroom debacle – has managed to keep his money where his mouth is long enough since his relatively-quiet move in the summer to provide a bevy of heralded performances and bring his Portland Timbers squad to the brink of playoff contention. Just thirty years of age, Ridgewell, who appeared in 33 of West Brom’s 38 Premier League fixtures in the 2013-14 season, most likely could have weaseled his way into the starting eleven for a few Premier League teams this year; for whatever reason, however, he felt a change would be for the best. The lack of a contract offer from his Baggies bosses may have sped up the decision-making process, but ultimately the siren song of worldwide exposure called him across the ocean. For Nolan (who turns 33 next summer), Vaz Te (27, but decidedly ineffective when compared with alternative options), and Cole (who was dismissed last summer before crawling his way back, and will be 31 in October), it would be a travesty to slam the Boleyn Ground’s gates in their faces. Especially when one considers that “Sex, Drugs, and Carlton Cole” can remain meaningful, albeit in a different way, to a different set of fans, some four thousand miles away. .