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Monday MLS Breakdown: Scheduling Concerns Draw Garber's Attention
MLS commissioner, others plot ways to make MLS clubs more competitive.
Sep 7, 2010 5:32:00 AM
By Kyle McCarthy
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – MLS commissioner Don Garber traveled to Massachusetts last week with a few questions on his mind.
The queries had little to do with the local MLS side or the outcome of the SuperLiga final he observed during his trip. Instead of tailoring his visit to address a series of instant issues, Garber engaged in a series of meetings focused on competitive concerns as MLS continues to plan its calendar for the arrival of Portland and Vancouver next season.
Those discussions will continue through MLS Cup as the league attempts to plot a course designed to incorporate a renewed emphasis on player development and a viable path to success in the CONCACAF Champions League and other external competitions into the already-crowded fixture list.
“I think we've got to reassess the calendar quite a bit,” Garber said during a media availability session last Wednesday. “We've been spending a lot of time doing that.”
League play takes first priority in the equation, but domestic considerations only represent one of the requisite components as MLS attempts to increase its credibility among the soccer cognoscenti and its strengthen its improving foothold among the general population.
“Doing well in a closed market – meaning our own league – isn't good enough,” Garber said. “We have to make sure we can continue to do well in these other competitions and not be disadvantaged.”
The first step toward rectifying the inherent imbalance involves some form of roster expansion. Most of the attention centers on the proposed return of the reserve league in some modified form pursuant to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The extended sponsorship pact between MLS and adidas – valued at $25 million per year through 2018, a 66 percent bump in yearly compensation from the previous deal set to expire in 2014 – announced early last week should provide some of the required funding for the larger squads.
A revived reserve setup will no doubt include some tweaks to limit travel costs while accomplishing the primary objective of obtaining more consistent match action for little-used bench players and academy products, but it should also theoretically improve competition for places within the first-team squad as clubs fight on multiple fronts.
“We have to look at lot of things,” Garber said. “We're seriously evaluating the return of the reserve league, and that would require us growing our rosters a bit and making commitments there. How do we ensure that we can perform well in these competitions?”
More roster options would certainly help as clubs battle to fill out an 18-man matchday squad at this juncture of the campaign, but the fundamental approach to scheduling also deserves considerable evaluation. The general footprint of the fixture list – late March to late October for regular season play – isn't likely to contract or expand significantly, so the question becomes how to alter the present setup to fit all of the pieces together more adequately.
“Do we need to look at different formats,” Garber said. “Do we need to look at our schedule again? How do we ensure that our teams are playing at full strength when we're playing in a very crowded schedule? We're spending a lot of time planning and we want to make sure we do well in all of those tournaments.”
One persistent scheduling hindrance rose to the fore again this weekend as scores of players missed league matches to tend to international duties. While many coaches and players around the league express disgust about the current approach of scheduling games during a FIFA window, an easy fix does not beckon. It remains unlikely MLS will find a way to parcel out its schedule to strike the necessary accord between the financial concerns about adding midweek matches to facilitate the switch and the structural considerations about blocking off international fixture dates without the flexability to move the start or end date of the regular season.
While the international imbroglio may not lend itself to an immediate solution, Garber and other executives involved with the process will have to find a way to sort through the host of competitions – from the ripe-for-revision SuperLiga to the often-ignored Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – and devise a coherent approach suitable for all parties involved.
Balancing the demands and concocting a proper solution will require some ingenuity and some tinkering. Most of all, it will require arriving at acceptable conclusions constructed to further the league's goals and rectify some of the scheduling issues with two new clubs set to enter the fold in 2011.
Five Points – Week 23
1. Expect hostile fans to mete out the only punishment…for now: Garber said he planned to let the legal process wind its way to a conclusion before weighing any potential discipline against Kansas City coach Peter Vermes after his recent arrest for DUI.
2. Bold move – minus the conviction: Vancouver announced Teitur Thordarson would continue as head coach when the Whitecaps make the move to MLS next season on Thursday. The move makes sense after Thordarson's mostly successful tenure in British Columbia, but the Whitecaps revealed their own doubts about the appointment by handing the former Icelandic international a contract with one guaranteed year with two club-held options to follow. Most successful franchises follow a three-season plan to prominence – if Thordarson merits only one guaranteed year, then why make the commitment to him at all? The exit strategy may prove intelligent in a year's time (see: Onalfo, Curt and D.C. United), but it doesn't give Thordarson the necessary brief to build for the future when his own destiny is so intrinsically tied to producing results straight out of the gate.
3. Opportunity knocks: San Jose may not always boss matches from the run of play, but the Earthquakes have shown a knack for converting at the right times to pick up results. Case in point: Houston dominated in most aspects of its 2-1 loss on Sunday night, but the Geovanni-inspired Quakes left Robertson Stadium with all three points after the former Hull City midfielder engineered the opener for Khari Stephenson after six minutes and thrashed home the winner in the second half.
4. The fortress remains impenetrable: Real Salt Lake joined Columbus in the MLS record books after notching its 22nd consecutive result at Rio Tinto Stadium with a 1-0 victory over New York on Saturday night. The match displayed exactly why RSL remains difficult to defeat at home (or anywhere else, for that matter). After displaying its passing acumen in the opening half, RSL gritted its way through the second stanza to dispatch the depleted Red Bulls and reduce the gap to Western Conference-leading Los Angeles to one point.
5. A beacon in the darkness: D.C. United goalkeeper Bill Hamid showed maturity well beyond his years in the wake of Saturday night's 1-0 defeat to Columbus. Hamid, 18, misplayed a backpass by Clyde Simms, swung and missed at his attempt to clear and watched in horror as Guillermo Barros Schelotto tucked the ball into the gaping net to decide the match. Instead of shirking away from his role in the matter, Hamid copped to the mistake – “There's no excuse,” he told the Washington Post – and shouldered the blame. United will need a few more characters like Hamid to carry the club forward as it attempts to place this wretched season in the rear-view mirror.
Kyle McCarthy writes the Monday MLS Breakdown and frequently writes opinion pieces during the week for Goal.com. He also covers the New England Revolution for the Boston Herald and MLSsoccer.com. Contact him with your questions or comments at kyle.mccarthy@goal.com and follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – MLS commissioner Don Garber traveled to Massachusetts last week with a few questions on his mind.
The queries had little to do with the local MLS side or the outcome of the SuperLiga final he observed during his trip. Instead of tailoring his visit to address a series of instant issues, Garber engaged in a series of meetings focused on competitive concerns as MLS continues to plan its calendar for the arrival of Portland and Vancouver next season.
Those discussions will continue through MLS Cup as the league attempts to plot a course designed to incorporate a renewed emphasis on player development and a viable path to success in the CONCACAF Champions League and other external competitions into the already-crowded fixture list.
“I think we've got to reassess the calendar quite a bit,” Garber said during a media availability session last Wednesday. “We've been spending a lot of time doing that.”
League play takes first priority in the equation, but domestic considerations only represent one of the requisite components as MLS attempts to increase its credibility among the soccer cognoscenti and its strengthen its improving foothold among the general population.
“Doing well in a closed market – meaning our own league – isn't good enough,” Garber said. “We have to make sure we can continue to do well in these other competitions and not be disadvantaged.”
The first step toward rectifying the inherent imbalance involves some form of roster expansion. Most of the attention centers on the proposed return of the reserve league in some modified form pursuant to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The extended sponsorship pact between MLS and adidas – valued at $25 million per year through 2018, a 66 percent bump in yearly compensation from the previous deal set to expire in 2014 – announced early last week should provide some of the required funding for the larger squads.
A revived reserve setup will no doubt include some tweaks to limit travel costs while accomplishing the primary objective of obtaining more consistent match action for little-used bench players and academy products, but it should also theoretically improve competition for places within the first-team squad as clubs fight on multiple fronts.
“We have to look at lot of things,” Garber said. “We're seriously evaluating the return of the reserve league, and that would require us growing our rosters a bit and making commitments there. How do we ensure that we can perform well in these competitions?”
More roster options would certainly help as clubs battle to fill out an 18-man matchday squad at this juncture of the campaign, but the fundamental approach to scheduling also deserves considerable evaluation. The general footprint of the fixture list – late March to late October for regular season play – isn't likely to contract or expand significantly, so the question becomes how to alter the present setup to fit all of the pieces together more adequately.
“Do we need to look at different formats,” Garber said. “Do we need to look at our schedule again? How do we ensure that our teams are playing at full strength when we're playing in a very crowded schedule? We're spending a lot of time planning and we want to make sure we do well in all of those tournaments.”
One persistent scheduling hindrance rose to the fore again this weekend as scores of players missed league matches to tend to international duties. While many coaches and players around the league express disgust about the current approach of scheduling games during a FIFA window, an easy fix does not beckon. It remains unlikely MLS will find a way to parcel out its schedule to strike the necessary accord between the financial concerns about adding midweek matches to facilitate the switch and the structural considerations about blocking off international fixture dates without the flexability to move the start or end date of the regular season.
While the international imbroglio may not lend itself to an immediate solution, Garber and other executives involved with the process will have to find a way to sort through the host of competitions – from the ripe-for-revision SuperLiga to the often-ignored Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – and devise a coherent approach suitable for all parties involved.
Balancing the demands and concocting a proper solution will require some ingenuity and some tinkering. Most of all, it will require arriving at acceptable conclusions constructed to further the league's goals and rectify some of the scheduling issues with two new clubs set to enter the fold in 2011.
Five Points – Week 23
1. Expect hostile fans to mete out the only punishment…for now: Garber said he planned to let the legal process wind its way to a conclusion before weighing any potential discipline against Kansas City coach Peter Vermes after his recent arrest for DUI.
2. Bold move – minus the conviction: Vancouver announced Teitur Thordarson would continue as head coach when the Whitecaps make the move to MLS next season on Thursday. The move makes sense after Thordarson's mostly successful tenure in British Columbia, but the Whitecaps revealed their own doubts about the appointment by handing the former Icelandic international a contract with one guaranteed year with two club-held options to follow. Most successful franchises follow a three-season plan to prominence – if Thordarson merits only one guaranteed year, then why make the commitment to him at all? The exit strategy may prove intelligent in a year's time (see: Onalfo, Curt and D.C. United), but it doesn't give Thordarson the necessary brief to build for the future when his own destiny is so intrinsically tied to producing results straight out of the gate.
3. Opportunity knocks: San Jose may not always boss matches from the run of play, but the Earthquakes have shown a knack for converting at the right times to pick up results. Case in point: Houston dominated in most aspects of its 2-1 loss on Sunday night, but the Geovanni-inspired Quakes left Robertson Stadium with all three points after the former Hull City midfielder engineered the opener for Khari Stephenson after six minutes and thrashed home the winner in the second half.
4. The fortress remains impenetrable: Real Salt Lake joined Columbus in the MLS record books after notching its 22nd consecutive result at Rio Tinto Stadium with a 1-0 victory over New York on Saturday night. The match displayed exactly why RSL remains difficult to defeat at home (or anywhere else, for that matter). After displaying its passing acumen in the opening half, RSL gritted its way through the second stanza to dispatch the depleted Red Bulls and reduce the gap to Western Conference-leading Los Angeles to one point.
5. A beacon in the darkness: D.C. United goalkeeper Bill Hamid showed maturity well beyond his years in the wake of Saturday night's 1-0 defeat to Columbus. Hamid, 18, misplayed a backpass by Clyde Simms, swung and missed at his attempt to clear and watched in horror as Guillermo Barros Schelotto tucked the ball into the gaping net to decide the match. Instead of shirking away from his role in the matter, Hamid copped to the mistake – “There's no excuse,” he told the Washington Post – and shouldered the blame. United will need a few more characters like Hamid to carry the club forward as it attempts to place this wretched season in the rear-view mirror.
Kyle McCarthy writes the Monday MLS Breakdown and frequently writes opinion pieces during the week for Goal.com. He also covers the New England Revolution for the Boston Herald and MLSsoccer.com. Contact him with your questions or comments at kyle.mccarthy@goal.com and follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page.
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