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designated players
before there was beckham
As I prepare to find some individuality under what will surely be a media free-for-all this weekend as Beckham and the Galaxy descend on New York, I can’t help but think, what about the Red Bulls?
RBNY must be happy with Beckham’s American resurrection arriving last night, leaving just enough time to sell the remaining 20,000 or so tickets for Saturday’s game (Can they beat the Pele/Cosmos U.S. Soccer Record of almost 78,000 from 30 years ago - the stadium reportedly can hold 80,242)?
But are they happy with their team? Juan Pablo Angel has had an American resurrection of his own this season, and Altidore has progressed and will continue to do so until he leaves for Europe, and then there is the rest of the team. And then there is Reyna.
Claudio Reyna, unquestionably one the best American soccer players in history, is questionable for Saturday’s game with a groin injury. He has played in 15 of the club’s 19 games this season, recording three assists. He makes $1.25 million dollars a year. That’s $416,000 dollars per assist so far. Now admittedly, the season is not over and it’s less fair to judge players by statistics in soccer than maybe any other sport, but given this weekend’s context, I just can’t get it out of my head:
Is Reyna the big MLS Designated Player bust?
Before there was Beckham, Reyna’s signing to his hometown New Jersey team was supposed to be the perfect usage of the Designated Player Rule, lifting a newly reborn franchise and helping to draw fans. That hasn’t happened, and it will be clearer than ever come Saturday’s packed stadium. Injuries, poor play, poor teammates… the excuse list runs on, and no matter how you want to explain it away with leadership, coach-on-the-field, the season-isn’t-over support, RBNY fans and team brass have to be wondering about what to do with the faltering midfielder who is pulling in more cash than anybody in MLS after Beckham, Blanco, and Angel.
Reyna (3 assists in 15 games) makes a third more than Landon Donovan (4 Goals, 6 Assists in 12 games), and three times as much as New York’s other aging all-star, Clint Mathis (5 Goals, 1 assist in 17 games). His 1.25 million is guaranteed for this year and next year (of course he is not retiring).
But of course the Red Bulls would be better off if he did.
Relive the good ole’ days from May with this Reyna feature by Andrea Canales.
Matt L
on Aug 16th, 2007 - 1:39pm
Reyna has disappointed. While he is one of the best soccer players in US history, he is exactly what MLS does not need, namely a player past his sell-by date, earning one last paycheck.
During his last season with Manchester City, Claudio showed his age and his propensity for injury. The Red Bulls should have known better than to sign him to a contract longer than one year. Alas, they (likely Bruce Arena) could not help themselves but to be reconnected with “Captain America”.
When the DP rule was announced, the worry was that older players, closing in on retirement, would be signed by the league. I think most people had envisioned international players taking these opportunities to line their pockets. While I believe that Claudio had the best intensions, he, like most aging athletes, over-estimate their declining abilities.
While unlikely becasue of pressure to be “Major League”, in other words “the best”. I really wish the MLS would make more efforts on becoming a strong, mid-tier feeder league to the Prem, Serie A, and La Liga. It would attract more young talent that would know that if they produce in MLS, then they will have the chance to play abroad. Over time, perhaps in 10 to 20 years, the flow of younger players would even out as the MLS could begin to compete economically with other international leagues.
CD
on Aug 16th, 2007 - 6:14pm
The Reyna DP move is a compounded mistake when you consider Chivas USA “gave” New York this DP opportunity.
Chivas with the resources to get a top player from South of the border for their fans to embrace gives away a DP slot so that New York can use it on a whole lot of nothing in the largest media market in the country.
Ric
on Aug 16th, 2007 - 6:48pm
Actually, CD, I think the Red Bulls would have used their original DP slot on Reyna anyways. The DP slot they got from Chivas was the one eventually used on Angel.
The Reyna deal is a bit of a bummer for the Red Bulls. I dont think anyone will doubt that, and I think Reyna realizes the first half of the season has been poor (actually, some word has come that the Bruce has had some discussions with Reyna over it). I’d like to believe we’ll see a better Reyna down the stretch, injury permitting.
CD
on Aug 18th, 2007 - 4:23pm
The end result is NYRB have 2 DP slots and they are not generating near the buzz that the other 2 DP slots being used in 2 other large cities.
nyo-nyo
on May 31st, 2008 - 1:19am
I wonder where are the players from USL?? why can’t they become the next player on the highest level of football in US (which is MLS)?? The young generation should be given more chances to develop them self. Starts the change rite now so when the stars got retired, MLS would still improve and survive.
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