In Limbo Gets Pimped, and Other News

In his latest online article for Sports Illustrated, Grant Wahl lists his "Best Eleven" of American soccer blogs. None other than yours truly made that list. A big thanks to Grant for the positive publicity. Now to soccer. From the same article:

"MLS officials have contacted members of the media to clarify that commissioner Don Garber makes an annual salary of $1.25 million, not the $250,000 that was reported in a New York magazine article this week. (That's great for the commish, but it's hard not to laugh when MLS HQ starts contacting the media with salary information after we spent years trying to crack the single-entity salary list in New York.) "

The article referred to is this one, which has since corrected the mistake (some of the numbers in there are fascinating, but this is a soccer blog, so I'll refrain from the tangent). It's easy to say that Garber is overpaid, so I'll just go ahead and say it, Don Garber is overpaid. A $250,000 salary, as initially reported, makes perfect sense for the commissioner of a league that's still bleeding money. It also makes sense for a league that's currently paying some players as low as $11,000 a year on developmental contracts. But a $1.25 million contract ($1 million more than initially reported) is more money per year than any single player in the league. In fact, that salary is more than the entire San Jose Earthquakes team makes combined. That is disgusting. Yes, Garber has done an excellent job (although he's really bungling the San Jose and Kansas City situations), but until this league begins operating in the black, nobody, neither staff nor players, should be making more than $1 million a year, especially not you Commissioner Garber.

Galarcep: Don't Fire Bob!

Last week's 5-4 victory over the New England Revolution put the Metrostars right back in the playoff picture, currently sitting only three points behind the slumping Kansas City Wziards. However, when the Metrostars squandered a 3-1 lead, falling behind 4-3 after a brilliant Taylor Twellman strike, I thought for sure that Alexi Lalas was already preparing Bradley's pink slip. But lo and behold, the Metros began playing inspired soccer, pulling off one of the most stunning and dramatic victories this season. Bradley's players fought for his job, and they won the first battle.

But the question remains: Will Lalas fire Bradley even if the Metrostars make the playoffs (and presumably lose)? That question doesn't much bother some Metrostars fans, many of whom hope that the answer is "yes". But how much is Bradley to blame for the Metrostars' woes this season (and past seasons) and what are the ramifications if Lalas fires him?

Bradley, for all the trouble that he's had with the Metrostars franchise is still one of America's most talented and intelligent soccer minds. His defensive gambles have hurt the Metros in recent years. First it was the signing of American defender Eddie Pope. Pope, who had a storied career with D.C. United that included three MLS Cup titles, was supposed to bring leadership and stability to a young Metrostars backline. But Pope, who was already on the downslide of his career, was never the player to vocally lead a backline. Bradley realized that this past off-season, shipping Pope to Real Salt Lake, and trading with San Jose for another aging veteran, Jeff Agoos. But Agoos, while a far more vocal leader who has won five MLS Cups (3 with United, 2 with the Earthquaes), is just too slow now to anchor an MLS defense, and Bradley has inexplicably been playing Jeff on the left, a position that requires far more pace than Agoos possesses. This season alone, Bradley has made other confusing defensive decisions, including starting Zach Wells in goal and trading for Ryan Suarez from Chivas USA. Last week's 5-4 victory did nothing to convince doubters about the effectiveness of his defense.

But that offense. Youri Djorkaeff, Amado Guevara, and Ante Razov provide a triple threat that is difficult for MLS defenses to contain. If Eddie Gaven can return to the form that saw him become one of MLS' most promising young players, the Metrostars will have four offensive threats that few MLS teams will want to face should the Metros actually make the playoffs.

However, Bradley has come under heavy criticism, not just for playing favorites, but also for his untimely substitutions and roster moves. If starting his own son in defensive midfield wasn't enough to irritate die-hard Metrostars fans, continuing to stat him there, Bradley has also continued to start players like goalkeeper Zach Wells (before the Meola trade), Mark Lisi, and Mike Magee. These criticisms are apt. Young Bradley, for all his improvement over the course of the season, still is not getting it done as the defensive midfielder. Bob Bradley ought to take serious heat for the trade of Ricardo Clark who has proved to be a revelation with the San Jose Earthquakes. But Wells has since been benched, as has Lisi, and Magee came up big last week scoring two goals. Even Bradley's biggest failure, striker Sergio Galvan-Rey, has only been coming off the bench. Until the young Bradley is benched, most Metrostars fans will remain understandably vocal, especially with the recent signing of Argentinian defensive midfielder Daniel Garipe. However, Bradley need only point to this season's signing of Youri Djorkaeff, who has since become the Metrostars' captain and a huge inspiration to the team, to prove the hard work he's done. And as Galarcep wrote, if Bradley goes, will Djorkaeff, Razov, and Guevara follow? That would be a huge blow to the team's hope next season.