McCarthy's Musings: McBride, Other MLS Dealings

By Kyle McCarthy

As Sky Sports beamed Liverpool-Chelsea and the Super Bowl on one of the most anticipated days in the sporting calendar, the Sky Sports news division stopped watching long enough to slip in a scoop to shake the American soccer establishment.

According to reports out of England, Brian McBride and MLS are in talks that would see the former American international join Fulham on loan. With the transfer deadline set to slam shut at 5:00p.m. GMT (noon EST) today, a resolution will arrive swiftly.

There are two reasons why this move might make some sense for MLS and McBride.

MLS has significant financial incentive to allow McBride to make the move. Loaning out McBride would continue an emerging trend of the most expensive players on the MLS payroll spending some time abroad during the off-season. Three of the four highest earners in 2008 – Cuauhtemoc Blanco, David Beckham and Landon Donovan – all spent time on loan during the winter. Marcelo Gallardo, number three on last season's pay scale, is en route to Argentina to end a disappointing, injury-filled year. McBride isn't on those sort of wages ($164,000 for half a season in 2008), but MLS would likely still save most, if not all, of his wages while he is in west London.

Throw in the possibility of a loan fee and suddenly all of these loans make significant financial sense in trying economic times. Assuming the players avoid injury (or one side takes out an insurance policy to mitigate one), MLS defrays the substantial costs of its highest paid players for a period of the year while earning a positive reputation if the players play like Beckham and Donovan have played in their loan stints. Those financial benefits would obviously multiply should the player earn or push for a permanent move.

For McBride, chances are the temporary return to Fulham has nothing to do with a permanent move. After spending parts of five seasons at Craven Cottage and spending a portion of that time as club captain, McBride would have to at least consider Roy Hodgson's desperate call for striking help. Given Bobby Zamora's scattershot form and Erik Nevland's questionable pedigree, Fulham needs a target player to aid the quicker Andy Johnson.

How Chicago benefits from this arrangement is a far murkier question.

From the Fire's perspective, the English Premier League ranks towards the bottom of the list of places where McBride should spend the next couple of months, just above hanging out with David Blaine while he tries another one of those foolish stunts.

If McBride were to pick up an injury, his loss would have the potential to drag the Fire's season off the rails. Given his experience, his talent and his price tag, McBride is irreplaceable at this level. Insurance money and loan fees won't help the Fire if McBride comes up lame.

Fitness isn't an issue either given the calendar. McBride could obtain whatever conditioning he needed right alongside his teammates during training camp. He hasn't attended one of those as a Fire player yet.

Even if McBride returns healthy after a successful loan spell and settles into the team without a hitch, he will have extended his season at an age where he can't afford to be playing extra games, even as a substitute. Is a late February game for Fulham worth the price of tired legs for a playoff game in early November?

The resolution to that pressing question should arrive by noon.

Around the League

- While Houston did ink U-20 international striker Felix Garcia to a Generation adidas deal last week, the Dynamo still haven't made a significant move to bolster a threadbare attack. Stuart Holden appears likely to take over from Dwayne De Rosario in central midfield, but with De Rosario and Nate Jaqua elsewhere to start 2009, the offense will need further reinforcements. Brian Ching can't shoulder the entire burden with his U.S. national team commitments this season. That means the Dynamo has to get a striker or two in the fold quickly. The bad news for Houston? There isn't much time to get a player in the fold. Atlante visits Robertson Stadium for the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals three weeks from tomorrow.

- Acquiring Todd Dunivant from Toronto makes sense for the Galaxy if the oft-injured left back can stay on the field. Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena's first task for Dunivant: chopping some dollars off his $104,000 price tag. Then again, if Donovan stays with Bayern Munich or Beckham departs for A.C. Milan, cap space won't be much of an issue. When healthy, Dunivant represents a significant upgrade at left back. Arena likely knows this; he gave Dunivant his only cap with the U.S. national team and coached him during his spell with New York.

- Speaking of injury-prone Los Angeles-based players, Chivas USA's recently re-signed striker Ante Razov will start the season on the injured list after undergoing surgery to clean bone spurs out of his right ankle. You can bet that Razov won't match last year's $255,000 salary in this year's deal. Razov's increased frailty is one reason why Chivas USA had to shrink that number heading into the season.

- New England will submit offers to a defender and a forward spotted by Steve Nicol and Paul Mariner during a recent scouting trip to Ghana. If both offers are successful, the signings would give the Revs eight international players for seven available spots – Toronto holds the rights to New England's eighth spot as part of a deal for Pat Phelan last season. That number doesn't include first-round pick Ryan Maxwell, a Jamaican, or any other foreign players signed ahead of the campaign. With the dwindling number of international slots, players like Argenis Fernandez and Mauricio Castro will have incentive to impress during training camp.

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