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Canales Daily: MLS Has Nothing In Reserve
It's early in the season, and yet already teams are realizing that the loss of Major League Soccer's reserve division is taking a toll.
Apr 11, 2009 2:29:49 AM
By Andrea Canales
I expected that teams in Major League Soccer would realize how big a mistake league administrators had made in scrapping the reserve teams for clubs. I didn't expect it to happen quite this quickly, however.
Yet embattled Galaxy coach Bruce Arena has already complained about the negative effects of the dissolution of the reserve system.
"Without a reserve league and those types of games, it's hard to get players outside of your starting 11 any minutes," said Arena.
What was interesting is that the team that defeated the Galaxy in the Open Cup qualifying match that prompted Arena's remarks was a classic example of how the reserve league could really benefit clubs.
The Colorado Rapids, more than quite a few other teams in MLS, had seized the opportunity offered by reserve division play, winning the competition in 2006 and 2007. Several key players in Colorado's unexpectedly bright start in the 2009 regular season developed and improved in reserve league play.
But now that opportunity is denied to other clubs.
Granted, the reserve league for MLS was never a coherent, smoothly-running operation. The rules were too vague and random, leaving teams scrambling to produce full rosters, rescheduling matches at random, or signing guest players to day-long contract. Still, as sloppy as the organization was, the reserves provided second-string players with an irreplaceable component to their evolution as competitors - game play.
Training and short-sided practice matches just can't replicate that experience.
Of course, the solution for some clubs is to loan players out to USL clubs. However, that's not a practical option for the players a club needs to fill our their bench options. A substitute isn't able to stay game sharp, though, simply riding the pine and training with teammates.
The reserve league was also an ideal avenue to ease players recovering from injuries back into the starting lineup. It's tough to go from practices to the full-speed and contact of a match while still slightly gimpy. The risk of re-injury is higher at the full-tilt speed of top level competition.
There's a reason why top leagues all around the world invest in reserve systems for their players. Such backup and development structures are crucial to improving the quality of play across the league. It's not as flashy, perhaps, as a big-name signing, but it ultimately has a far greater benefit.
Lacking a reserve league also leaves MLS teams thin, personnel-wise, and weak for international competitions. As history shows, MLS is vulnerable enough in those tournaments - more poor showings will cost the league even more credibility. At this point, it's a safer bet to count on a United Soccer Leagues team to advance in the CONCACAF Champions League competition, for example, than an MLS one.
With MLS proudly crowing about new expansion conquests such as Vancouver and Portland, the time has come for the league to take an honest look at how best to use the financial resources of those multi-million franchise fees.
If indeed the MLS reserve league was eliminated due to financial concerns, it's now the perfect time to take the new cash infusion that the league has received and earmark it for a resurrection of that entity. MLS needs to invest in the future quality of the level of play, in a way that will benefit all the clubs, not just the ones with owners willing to splash money out on big contracts. The longer the reserve league remains dormant, the more that the promise of tomorrow's improvement is delayed.
Andrea Canales is the Chief Editor of Goal.com North America
Go to Goal.com's MLS section for all the latest on the U.S. game.
I expected that teams in Major League Soccer would realize how big a mistake league administrators had made in scrapping the reserve teams for clubs. I didn't expect it to happen quite this quickly, however.
Yet embattled Galaxy coach Bruce Arena has already complained about the negative effects of the dissolution of the reserve system.
"Without a reserve league and those types of games, it's hard to get players outside of your starting 11 any minutes," said Arena.
What was interesting is that the team that defeated the Galaxy in the Open Cup qualifying match that prompted Arena's remarks was a classic example of how the reserve league could really benefit clubs.
The Colorado Rapids, more than quite a few other teams in MLS, had seized the opportunity offered by reserve division play, winning the competition in 2006 and 2007. Several key players in Colorado's unexpectedly bright start in the 2009 regular season developed and improved in reserve league play.
But now that opportunity is denied to other clubs.
Granted, the reserve league for MLS was never a coherent, smoothly-running operation. The rules were too vague and random, leaving teams scrambling to produce full rosters, rescheduling matches at random, or signing guest players to day-long contract. Still, as sloppy as the organization was, the reserves provided second-string players with an irreplaceable component to their evolution as competitors - game play.
Training and short-sided practice matches just can't replicate that experience.
Of course, the solution for some clubs is to loan players out to USL clubs. However, that's not a practical option for the players a club needs to fill our their bench options. A substitute isn't able to stay game sharp, though, simply riding the pine and training with teammates.
The reserve league was also an ideal avenue to ease players recovering from injuries back into the starting lineup. It's tough to go from practices to the full-speed and contact of a match while still slightly gimpy. The risk of re-injury is higher at the full-tilt speed of top level competition.
There's a reason why top leagues all around the world invest in reserve systems for their players. Such backup and development structures are crucial to improving the quality of play across the league. It's not as flashy, perhaps, as a big-name signing, but it ultimately has a far greater benefit.
Lacking a reserve league also leaves MLS teams thin, personnel-wise, and weak for international competitions. As history shows, MLS is vulnerable enough in those tournaments - more poor showings will cost the league even more credibility. At this point, it's a safer bet to count on a United Soccer Leagues team to advance in the CONCACAF Champions League competition, for example, than an MLS one.
With MLS proudly crowing about new expansion conquests such as Vancouver and Portland, the time has come for the league to take an honest look at how best to use the financial resources of those multi-million franchise fees.
If indeed the MLS reserve league was eliminated due to financial concerns, it's now the perfect time to take the new cash infusion that the league has received and earmark it for a resurrection of that entity. MLS needs to invest in the future quality of the level of play, in a way that will benefit all the clubs, not just the ones with owners willing to splash money out on big contracts. The longer the reserve league remains dormant, the more that the promise of tomorrow's improvement is delayed.
Andrea Canales is the Chief Editor of Goal.com North America
Go to Goal.com's MLS section for all the latest on the U.S. game.
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