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MLS Notes: San Jose nears deal with Brazilian, Dynamo re-signs veterans, and more

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By AVI CREDITOR

San Jose Earthquakes general manager John Doyle had promised to bring in international talent prior to the 2010 season.

He appears to be closing in on his biggest piece to that puzzle.

The San Jose Mercury News is reporting that the Earthquakes are close to a deal with Brazilian forward Eduardo, a signing that would significantly help a team that finished last in the Western Conference last season.

The 30-year-old is a well-traveled striker, with his most recent stop being with Swiss side FC Basel. He scored 17 goals over the last four years with Basel, helping the team win two league titles.

Eduardo (full name Eduardo Adelino da Silva) has also played for French team FC Toulouse, Belgian side R. Charleroi SC and Brazilian squad Vasco da Gama.

The signing comes days after the Earthquakes added USL midfielder Joey Gjertsen.

Elsewhere in MLS:

DYNAMO KEEP TWO VETERANS

The Houston Dynamo re-signed the talented but injury-plagued Richard Mulrooney and Eddie Robinson to standard MLS contracts Tuesday.

Mulrooney, 33, and Robinson, 31, each missed significant time because of knee surgery last season, but both have showed that, when healthy, they can be key contributors to winning sides. Mulrooney and Robinson are expected to join training camp next week.

LJUNGBERG A NO-SHOW AT SOUNDERS CAMP

As expected, Freddie Ljungberg failed to show at Seattle Sounders FC training camp Monday. Ljungberg, who has claimed to have offers from European teams, has expressed his uncertainty about staying in MLS because of the situation surrounding the collective bargaining agreement.

Time will tell if Ljungberg stays or goes, as the European transfer window will close at the end of the month. He has one more year left on his MLS contract.

(UPDATE- According to Ljungberg's website, he has been given assurances that there would be no work stoppage on Feb. 1 and that he will report to Seattle training camp by Monday.)

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Can Eduardo spice up the Earthquakes' attack? Think Houston's backline needs to get younger? Expect to see Ljungberg in MLS this season?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. and why do we keep picking up players 30 or older?? frank yallop & john doyle’s “veterans” experiment was a dismal failure the past two seasons, except for flashes of brilliance from Huckerby and outstanding midfield play for 3 months from Lima. All our (central) midfielders I can think of are 30 or over – Corrales, Elliott, Ribeiro, Luiz (36!), Sanchez, the youngest at 28. We have the young midfielders in Wondolowski and Brandon McDonald, whose passing leaves a lot to be desired.

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  2. Umm, they knew it was a World Cup year a long time ago. Heck anyone who can do basic math can look ahead and figure out the WC from here to eternity.

    Every other pro league in the states and most college sports can have their schedules complete within a month or so of completion of their post season…MLS has no excuses.

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  3. This Eduardo didn’t play for Rio’s Vasco da Gama, but for a semi-professional team called “Vasco do Acre”. Oh, and there’s more: according to soccerassociation.com, he scored 0 (yes, zero) goals for Basel in 2008/09 season. Did I mention that according to the same source his last official game for Basel was in May, 2009?!

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  4. If you can’t beat Ryan Cochrane to a starting job, then you have to seriously rethink your choice of profession. Dynamo’s back four right now looks something like this:

    Hainault/Mulrooney-Boswell-Robinson-Chabala/Barrett

    With Waibelinho and Cochrane next on that chart.

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  5. Keller slammed Ljungberg for not showing up, then questioned his professionalism. Is he auditioning for a management spot? It will be an interesting camp if/when Freddie arrives.

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  6. Houston’s backline get younger? Are Chabala, Cochrane, Boswell, and Hainult not young enough? Mulrooney is DM cover, and Robinson might start, but he’ll have to beat Cochrane. Waibel and Barret are basically veteran depth at this point.

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  7. I forgot about Emilio but my point is pretty much proven. 14 years of MLS and only two Brazilians have been brazilian-like!

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  8. He doesn’t want to waste a year, at his age. He’s planning a return to Europe, either sooner or later. The problem is that Feb. 1 date presents a real dilemma for him. It comes with the close of the European transfer window — so if he’s going to force a move abroad, it has to be before then. Also, if MLS locks him out, they’re in breach of his contract. He’d be entirely in his rights to get another job — the question is whether FIFA would approve such a move.

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  9. Also, I never thought Freddie was leaving. I think he will extend after this season.

    He is one, vying for more of that Sounder’s truckload of money, two, didn’t want MLS to screw him if they did do something stupid like lock out players, three, he has power to help the other way-less paid players.

    Makes sense right ? Show up to training camp late on the 1st, rather than come here a week earlier, then try to sign somewhere else when they lock you out.

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  10. Ljungberg is returning to SEATTLE !!!

    After some scary moments,

    Evidently he said in his blog that he does NOT expect a work stoppage and he will be back in Seattle on the 1st for the season.

    NO WORK STOPPAGE !!! IF TRUE…..YEEEESSSS.

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  11. WOW 17 goals in 4 years…1 goals in 67 league games… Now that’s exactly the kind of power striker that SJ needed… Watch out Western Conf. SJ in gunning for top spot….

    What ajoke of a signing, almost as bad as Captain America was for RB

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  12. The issue with Ljungberg was that his agent thought he had communicated to the Sounders FO he would be at camp Feb 1 and the FO was ok with this, but the Sounders FO was not under this understanding. Whatever, they can sort out their communications snafu and life goes on as normal in Sounders land. That was a wild 24 hours!

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  13. My thoughts exactly. The guy has bounced around a bunch of no name clubs with minimal success at best. Just because a player is of Brazilian descent does not mean he is a great player. I cannot think of one Brazilian to make an impact in MLS. Maybe Fred has been good but not great.

    I hope I am wrong but I predict another bust.

    I am also going to be very disappointed if this is the big signing for the quakes. Doyle stated he had 3 In-line. In my book so far he 0 for 2 on his signings.

    Still hoping for someone to get me to want to go to games.

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  14. Can anyone find assist statistics on Eduardo? FC Basel’s site has nothing from past seasons. If he is supposedly a midfielder then the low goal tallies would not be worrisome if he also had a good amount of assists. But who knows what his assists are?

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  15. Sure he isn’t the same guy that played for LA few years ago? Ednaldo or something. That dude was crap and came from the Swiss League also. He ended up playing indoor soccer and still sucked.

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  16. What is it exactly that attracted S.J. to Eduardo? The fact that he has bounced from team to team and never settled in anywhere? The 4.25 goals he has averaged per season in the Swiss League the last four years? Is there a link between his being a striker who doesn’t score in a lower level league and the fact that he has moved a lot? For the people who think he sounds like a good pickup, could you explain why it is you think he is a good pickup?

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  17. He is not a pure striker, actually played more left mid for his club then anything else. If you take that into account then it is nowhere near bad numbers

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  18. How can Freddie leave without club permission, even if they are locked out? If he signs a deal with a Euro club, and the labor strike is resolved, isn’t he in breach of contract?

    Also, the guy SJ picked up….17 goals over 4 seasons? Those are terrible numbers for a fwd. This is another SJ signing that makes no sense to me, and will lead them to remain in the basement of the league.

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  19. great to see Richie Mulrooney staying with the Dynamo. I’ve been a fan since he and his brother were playing with the Jackson Chargers

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  20. So would Eduardo play forward or left mid? If he is left mid, what is the plan for Convey? I kind of liked him at left back, but we have a lot of money invested in him to be an average defender who can get into the attack.

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  21. A team in Italy wanted Freddie. I think, as with the case of Beckham, he left sooner than he really wanted. Freddie was down on his luck, injury plagued, and losing his ability but since arriving at Seattle he has sort of found himself again and wants to play at the top – wouldn’t be surprised if, at the very least, he finds himself a loan spell for two months until the season starts back up.

    Same with Beckham – was down in the dumps, dropped from country, dropped from Real so wanted to escape. Escape lead to finding himself again and wanting to go back to the top.

    It’s the dilemma of bringing in players to a league with nothing to give them, when they still have things to give to the soccer world.

    Not sure what San Jose is hoping for but a striker who has scored an average of 4 goals in his last 4 years in a league comparable to ours, is nothing to gloat about. I haven’t seen him play but it is a bit of a dip after bringing in Huckerby (poor guy).

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  22. Did not Freddie was holding out of camp … interesting. Any others you know of holding out?

    (That question is for IVES)

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  23. Ives, Any reason you are quiet on the RBNY front? Lots of interesting things happening but not seeing any reports from you. What do you think of Backe and Soler so far??

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