McCarthy's Musings: Quantity Over Quality?

Photo Gallery

Zoom

MLS: Dave Van Den Bergh, New York Red Bulls, July 2008 (ISI)

Related Links

Teams

• Columbus Crew
• NY Red Bulls

Players

• Dave van den Bergh

By Kyle McCarthy

Amidst the ground-breaking in Philadelphia and transfer rumors permeating as agents try to curry lucrative contracts and clubs try to sign players for knockdown prices, two pieces of player personnel news caught the eye on Tuesday.

Guillermo Barros Schelotto will return to Columbus next season. Little doubt remained over the past few days that this would happen as both sides sought to work out a solution. In the end, Crew investor/operator Clark Hunt picked up the option on Barros Schelotto's current deal and dipped into his own pocket to seal the deal. Sealing the Argentine's return grabs all the headlines and earns the Crew plaudits for eschewing frugality at least this once.

Those hoping for repeat performances to ensure the signatures of Messrs. Schmid and Marshall should consider this deal an outlier, not a precedent-setter. For Crew fans looking to blame ownership for the seemingly inevitable departures, one should also note the intentions of Schmid and Marshall may not match GBS's desire to remain with the Crew. It takes two to tango, after all.

Even with the return of the league MVP, the more important player personnel news on the day came from the defeated finalists. Not surprisingly to New York fans, much of the harm affecting the club appears self-inflicted.

Red Bulls midfielder Dave van den Bergh looks set to duel with Red Bulls management over his contract for the second consecutive off-season. This tangle might actually end with the Dutch winger's departure.

Whispers surrounded van den Bergh's future during MLS Cup and that smoke has apparently led to fire, according to Big Apple Soccer. Van den Bergh is out of contract and apparently isn't pleased with the club's contract offer – the Red Bulls may have offered a wage cut on van den Bergh's $240,000 base salary for next season, according to Soccer by Ives.

“He's exploring some other options,” New York head coach Juan Carlos Osorio told Brian Lewis of the New York Post on Tuesday. “We're trying our best to keep him here, and probably we are aware and I'm certainly aware of his family problems, family issues and he's more than entitled look at other options. I know exactly what it is. I don't think it's my place to discuss that fully.”

Whether van den Bergh has a family situation that requires a return to Holland or whether Osorio is covering for a lackluster contract offer, it appears van den Bergh could fall victim to poor planning rather than substandard play.

In that same interview, Osorio said he expects Jorge Rojas (and Juan Pietravallo) to return next season. That provides a problem for Osorio, not in the least because Rojas struggled centrally and prefers to play out wide on the left in the same berth van den Bergh currently inhabits. Considering his status as a Venezuelan international and the significant salary on offer, Rojas could have inked a guaranteed contract for next season that the Red Bulls can't dump unilaterally. Perhaps Osorio wants to soften the ground for a January transfer by assuring his return.

The salary cap isn't large enough to accommodate all three players. Bringing Rojas and Pietravallo back would make sense at the right price. Losing van den Bergh is a price far too high.

Then again, van den Bergh makes significant coin for a team that looks more than a few starters short and faces a boatload of games with the CONCACAF Champions League looming next season. Two starters could come into the side for the Dutch winger's salary, even if he doesn't get the pay bump his play deserves.

Salary concerns shouldn't fly as a persuasive reason to dump van den Bergh. Maybe Rojas and Pietravallo will make good after bedding in during pre-season and vindicate the peculiar move by turning one starter into two. But if given the choice, most teams would take the proven, Best XI caliber left winger rather than the two relatively unproven MLS commodities who combine to make more cash.

It is understandable to say that depth matters and that New York needs more bodies for the road ahead instead of keeping van den Bergh. Unfortunately for the Red Bulls, quality matters too. Giving up the most consistent player in the club's side doesn't seem to fit in with that part of the equation.

Kyle McCarthy writes the Monday MLS Breakdown and blogs frequently during the week for Goal.com. Contact him with your questions or comments at kylemccarthy@gmail.com.