You have probably heard by now the countless stories linking Portuguese star Luis Figo to a move to Major League Soccer. According to reports out of Portugal, Figo has signed a two-year deal with Anschutz Entertainment Group and will join one of AEG’s teams next season.
Well, you know he’s not going to Houston, which means that Figo is likely headed to Los Angeles. You might wonder how the Galaxy could afford to sign Figo. It isn’t that difficult to figure out really. Look no further than the Galaxy’s own AEG stablemate, the Houston Dynamo.
It begins in Houston, where the Dynamo staff has done such an amazing job building a loaded title-winning roster that using its designated player slot is almost an impossible option. Finding a way to pay all of the talented players on Houston’s roster is tough enough, doing so after taking a $400,000 chunk out to pay a designated player would require some outright salary cap magic.
So if you’re AEG, and you have a team that essentially can’t use its designated player and you own a team that needs an extra one, you make a deal. No, Houston isn’t going to just roll over and let AEG take it. Houston and LA will have to work out a deal that help both sides and such a deal does exist.
One thing LA does boast this year is a wealth of draft picks, including the No. 4 pick and five picks in the first 29, in what most experts consider a strong draft. The Galaxy also has an allocation for missing the playoffs. LA could package the No. 4 pick, a second round pick and allocation money to the Dynamo for Houston’s designated player slot (for two years).
Is the deal worth it for Houston? Of course it is. The Dynamo won a title without using a DP slot and can surely do so again, particularly if it can draft well and make good use of the allocation it receives. If the options are to have a DP slot you don’t use or having high draft picks and cash I think you would take the cash.
Consider this scenario. Houston deals the DP for the above package, then turns around and deals the picks to San Jose for the No. 1 overall pick, which the Dynamo could use on anyone from stud UConn defender Julius James to standout Virginia Tech forward Patrick Nyarko. Suddenly, the Dynamo acquire a quality player who won’t cost anything against the cap for a year or two. Not a bad way to keep the dynasty going.
As for the Galaxy, the real question is whether the LA can really build a winning team when so much of its salary is tied up into three players (Donovan, Beckham and Figo). Assuming Donovan counts $350K against the cap (I wasn’t able to find out exactly how much grandfathered DPs count toward the cap), and Figo is signed via a DP slot, you have three players taking up $1.1 million of a $2.3 million cap, four taking up $1.3 if you include Joe Cannon. You could include Clint Mathis at whatever six-figure salary he winds up at but I’m not convinced Mathis will return to MLS in 2008.
That leaves a cool million for the other 24 players on the roster. about an average of little more than $40,000. This is where the Galaxy are banking on Ruud Gullit to be able to work his coaching magic and turn the young players into servicable parts to place around the attacking trio of Donovan, Beckham and Figo.
Lastly, we go through all of this before we even ask whether Figo actually has something left in the tank. He was playing well for Inter, the best team in Europe, before suffering a broken leg that required surgery in November. He has lost a step or two and couldn’t defend a fire hydrant at this point, but he can still pass and cross with the best of them. That wasn’t enough to convince former Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena, who sources say passed on Figo last year out of concerns about what he had left.
The Galaxy see a star with charisma who speaks fluent English and can still play good attacking soccer. He is also someone who can actually afford to go to the trendy hot spots David Beckham likes to frequent, which is also a plus. They see a player who could thrive on defenses that are focused on stopping Beckham and DOnovan, a player who could do well in a league where wing play is weak.
Will the plan succeed? While I think having Donovan, Beckham and Figo play together will be great to watch, I’m just not sure if you’re ever winning an MLS title with gold in the front and tin foil in the back. AEG and the Galaxy need only look at Houston to find a team that proved that great defense and a strong roster are more important than a few superstars when it comes to winning an MLS Cup title.
Not Figo, but if he wants to come to MLS New England should take a long look at him, boston has a HUGE Portugese population and getting some of those people to watch their matches can help.
Championships are nice, but sports is a business about making money. The Galaxy can, and will, make more money loading up on internationally recognizable faces than they will winning the MLS Cup. At some point, they will make so much money doing this that they can actually field a team that will win the Cup. By the way, a healthy Figo would absolutely start on the US national team, might still have a role for Portugal, and would easily be one of the top five players in the MLS, even at his age. Bad deal? Nao.
what everybody forgets is that if this works for the Galaxy it might show the league that a $1 mil ot $2 mil increase in the salary cap could improve the quality of play and increase fan attendence and merch sales thus making the league more viable to the fans they really need to bring in… the American soccer snobs who will sit at home and watch FSC, and never go to an MLS game.
That sounds a little too much for some reasons. If Figo wants to come eh whatever lets see how he does and how Galaxy does. I don’t like Galaxy so if it just turns out to be a waste it wouldn’t hurt me at all. Also you’d think they’d wait for Beckham to really settle in and the whole team to pick up their acts and be more than having all the money to buy players like Beckham or Figo.
lakaix: of course they will still end up with Zurawski.
I am done wringing my hands over the cap. (I do recall though the league or Goff saying that the cap would be closer to 2.6 million this year, as it does escalate every year per the CBA)
AEG will get their way and their man.
That said, it would be POSSIBLE to sign Figo and actually not go over the cap. IF they traded all of their draft picks for allocation money and if they haven’t used all of their international slots those could be VERY valuable to teams like TFC then they could probably some close to adding $1 million+ to their payroll and not have a lick of it count towards the cap.
Will it work? Probably not. I think chemistry beats star power 9/10, but they would certainly be improved with a real playmaker providing service from the wing taking some pressure off of Becks.
well so i guess the LA and zurawski talks are gone???? or will AEG and LA pull off a 4 muskateers and have becks,landycakes,figo,zurawski as an attack????
I agree with Paul above. This is a great deal for marketing the MLS, not so great for league play. But, the Gals are a rock-star touring band anyway. Sort of like the Rolling Stones (too old to take serious, but still fill the stadium.)
It’s very risky trying to build the team on the budget numbers people are tossing about. A couple of injuries could have the reserve team playing for a month or two.
One thing I have to wonder, though. What if AEG loans Figo to another team or something? What if Figo ends up in Columbus or Kansas City? Nah, right?
Ives,
Figo has been out of Inter’s lineup with an injury for a while now.
This transfer talk aside, is he even close to comming back?
What if a non AEG team were to make Houston a superior offer for the DP? Would the league allow the AEG teams to cuddle up like NASCAR teammates? Would LA be forced to meet the other offer?
Ten developmental players take up about $150,000 total in salary, if that, so you are really talking about $850,000 available to pay 14 senior roster players, or about $60,000 on average for those 14 players. Based on a league minimum for senior roster players of $33,000, you are talking something like: 4 make the league minimum, 5 make an average of $60,000, and another 5 make an average of about $85,000, all rough numbers.
how would the signing of figo affect where beckham plays? would he and figo both play central, with figo playing like a withdrawn forward? or is figo more creative than beckham, and gullit has the balls to push becks back out right
As a neutral, I hope the Galaxy sign Figo. It would be great for entertainment value. If I were a Galaxy fan, I’d probably think otherwise.
Having said that, it’s all about finishing 8th or higher. From there anything would be possible. If their “Big Three” could at least stay reasonably healthy (a HUGE “if” of course), they could probably manage that.
As a Dynamo fan, I take that deal (trading DP slot for a bunch of picks and allocation cash) in a second. Under Kinnear, the Dynamo are probably never going to get a DP based on his philosophy of team building and the salary cap. He has built a deep roster of middle and upper-middle class players with just enough young cheap guys.
To use a DP slot would force us to clear around $400K (we are near the cap IIRC) so you basically get a DP, but have to cut a couple out of Mullan, Brad Davis, Mulrooney, Waibel, Jaqua or some other combination that costs you more in depth than you get in talent.
I think this is a bad sign for the league. As time progresses the league should be more competitive in getting and keeping younger players not older and older ones. This would also be a bad move because Figo going to another team would have a much bigger impact on the bottom line than going to a market that already has enough press and glam.
“someone who can actually afford to go to the trendy hot spots David Beckham likes to frequent” – that’s funny, thank God for the Galaxy!
Congrats on the new site Ives. I love all this signing talk. FIgo or no Figo, all soccer fans would like to see LA playing attractive soccer in 08
this site is OK, but adam zagoria’s is way better.
I think the Chivas slot was for 5 years.
As for a team winning like that, I think it’s entirely possible. They nearly made the playoffs this year and Beckham barely played. Once in the playoffs, you’d only need a few instances of brilliance to win it all.
Ives,
How can you mention that you don’t think Mathis will be in MLS ’08, and not write anything more? Do I sense a new post coming…
“By the way, do all trades for DP slots only last two years?”
Wasn’t the RBNY – Chivas swap for Guevara a three year deal?
As a wise man once reported, Figo will deep down have no respect for MLS or its fans. This line from Figo:
“If I would have chosen to continue playing at a high level, I would not have done it with Sporting Lisbon. My last jersey in football that counts must be Inter’s shirt.”
http://njmg.typepad.com/sbi/2007/01/luis_figo_the_o.html
Probably a dumb move overall given injury concerns, but who knows. I agree that the Galaxy will need a serviceable target forward regardless of whether or not Figo actually arrives.
By the way, do all trades for DP slots only last two years?
I know that Donovan is considered a “grandfathered ” DP in terms of the Galaxy are not required a second DP spot to keep him, but what about the second part of the DP rule (no more than two DPs per team)? Shouldn’t that part of the rule keep LA from picking up, in essence, a third DP?
If this goes through, does that mean that L.A. has given up on keeping Donovan beyond ’08? Donovan has got to be much more important to their future than Figo. I’d much rather trade for a DP slot from Houston to keep Donovan for 08, 09, and 10 (if he’s planning on staying) than get Figo only to lose Donovan in 09. Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Of course AEG could ask for another “we kept the league afloat for 9 or 10 years, so you owe us a rule change to fix our problem” rule change.
Figo has looked great for Inter this year, but it cannot be put more clearly than Figo himself has put it on several occasions. He considers Inter his last “high level” club. He would play in the US for the money and so that his daughter could learn English. The end. He does not even pretend to be interested in the rest of it. He is nothing if not honest.
Ives it’s hard to keep up with the posts. I LOVE IT! Three words about this whole FIGO thing…WASTE OF MONEY!
I agree to a point. My big question is this…What team has had a “Super Star” loaded team in the MLS? I dont think its acurate to say that a team, like the one LA is building, would do bad against a strong Houston team. Honestly, the only example we have of that type of team is the Cosmos and they cleaned house in the old NASL. The point that needs to be made is the load of games that LA is going to play and the age of its biggest names. How many games will Becks and Figo actually play?
We all know if they can’t afford it, the league will pay the balance for them, and probably throw in Shevchenko and Ronaldo to boot.
Great post, Paul. We MLS fans owe a lot to AEG.
And congrats, Ives. The new website rocks!
Figo’s agent has played down the Figo to MLS talk. This appeared in the Sports(MLS) section of Yahoo today. Basically, he said that if Figo’s contract with Inter is not extended, then he will “consider” a move to MLS. I bet that the Galaxy will focus on youth and try to trade for higher draft picks. This only makes sense considering their current monetary situation. I bet that their first pick will be Julius James or Nyarko/target forward. Who knows, they may try to get both by trading a few lower picks for a higher one.
Man, Arena thought Reyna had something left in the tank. Does that mean AEG is pettitioning the league offices so that Figo can play in a wheelchair?
Come on guys…there is one thing that that has been the result of all these Galaxy moves – global coverage. There is as much coverage in all the UK pubs about what is happening with the Galaxy that never happened before.
AEG carried the league for years before selling off their teams. You can argue that they are carrying the league into the global marketplace. So, the money angle is probably an accurate assessment for their motivations. If this goes well, I think there are some long-term benefits to these moves.
This is after all, a global game in a global marketplace. If AEG is going to sacrifice results to continue its investment in the game, we should be thanking them.
everyone is complaining that figo is too old with nothing left (which may be true) but he was playing very well prior to his break. I also recall seeing numerous posts about Blanco being washed up with nothing left.. blah blah blah…. and we all know how that went. One player can make a difference and figo is a playmaker… i dont really like the guy myself but i doubt he will fail as many think….
G B Schelotto: age 34
Cuauhtémoc Blanco: age 34
JP Angel: age 32
J cunningham (06 season): age 31
C Gomez: age 33
J moreno: age 33
hell shalrie joseph turn 30 in may is that going to turn teams away if he was a free agent or up on the tradeing block??? I doubt it.
so how much was he signed for? $150M for 2 years? will he also comes with a broken leg and play like maybe 5 games for the entire season?
Since wins are the only objective way to judge what team is “good”, and which is not, apparently Chicago were better than DC. (Of course, there ought not be playoffs at all, and DC were Supporters Shield winners …)
Can the Dynamo pack 90,000 in Australia for a friendly? Hell no. Can LA reach the playoffs with Figo? Hell yes. Once you reach the playoffs, winning an MLS title is in large part a crap shoot. A good game keeps a so-so team in (Chicago), a bad game keeps a better team out (DC United).
The Galaxy have a plan. They want games with 90,000 fans in foreign lands, massive sales of jerseys, and a chance at winning MLS. Signing Figo will keep all those goals alive.
Great observations Ives.
Really can’t see LA turning it around this year though. Alexi has never been good enough at finding the players to fill out the roster.
Certaily looks like the Galaxy are thinking about jersey sales instead of victories.
Hey Ives,
Where do you think Mathis is going? I thought he was playing well on the galaxy.
-Mike
The Galaxative’s shenanigans are so fun to watch. Thank god I am not a fan.
-Go Quakes!
While the Galaxy may not be a realistic contender, neither are the Crew. At least I’ll be entertained by all the cash they blow.
Well… I think its a bad move for the Galaxy. Donovan isn’t the target forward they need for the set pieces from Becks. But i think Figo and Donovan will work well together. I can see Figo being a Blanco with the passes and creativity as well as the defensive limitations.
… Or MLS could just change the rules. Again.
Btw, I *HOPE* the Galaxy sign Figo. I love watching the stupid hurt themselves …
The only reason I would enjoy seeing this is because I know when LA faces RBNY, Claudio may actually show his worth by marking either or both Beckham and Figo out of the game. Let alone if Dema is still around (with his history of breaking legs)
I hope the Gals don’t do what Chivas USA did – underestimate the strength of this league. We can argue as to where MLS places in terms of world soccer, but to think you can just bring in an aging Figo, Becks and Donovan and win a title is absolute madness.
The problem is, AEG is thinking of a MLS title second and making money first. The company most likely thinks this approach to make money — having Donovan, Beckham and Figo on one time — will also get the team a title.
Though it would be a great trio to watch, who is going to actually finish those beautiful passes these guys make? Donovan could play up top but it’s been proven the guy needs a partner up there.
Those curving passes from Beckham and sweet defense-splitting through ball from Figo will go for naught if there is no one capable of finishing them.
And if they actually do find someone to finish them, the Galaxy’s defense will surely give up more.
Ives congratulations and best of luck in your new venture.
Just wanted to pick nits a little…I thought only the 18 full-roster players count against the cap. Maybe this rule has changed, but that makes the Galaxy’s situation a little less painful. A million bucks over 14 players works out to about $71,500 each.
That said, I think it’s been proven year-in and year-out that front-loaded rosters in MLS don’t work. Add the other relatively high-salaried ($150k range) players still around (Albright, Xavier, Pavon, Buddle, etc), and I think it’s another recipe for major disappointment.
Last year it was the Mike Randolph’s and Josh Tudela’s of the world that led to their late success, not the ‘stars.’
no he already included cannon ‘four taking up $1.3 if you include Joe Cannon.’
Doesn’t Joe Canon make $200k? That would mean 23 players for $800k….about $23k per head.
If I’m an MLS GM, I’d make sure I’ve got Alexi firmly over the barrel while talking about a Joe C (or any other moderately priced player) deal.
If the Galaxy had some accomplished talent evaluators, they should keep the five picks and build from there.
But assuming the Galaxy are more about style than substance, i’m going to surmount that Figo joins this team, and while the Galaxy probably will make the playoffs, they won’t win the Cup.
Finding cheap bargains like Luciano Emilio and Schletto are the way to go…save money, build championships.