With Designated Player signings and rumors running rampant, fans throughout MLS are waiting eagerly to see who, if anybody, their team may be signing this summer.
In Los Angeles there is talk of Ronaldinho, while Chicago could introduce a Mexican star like Nery Castillo tonight. New York is already basking in the glow of the Thierry Henry signing, but still preparing for another major signing. Meanwhile, things remain quiet in places such as New England, where fans are starting to get fed up with the lack of activity.
So here is the question for MLS fans. Who would you like to see your team sign? Be realistic, but share your Designated Player hopes and ideas with us.
Share your suggestions below.
perovic is too slow to be a real impact player
the type of player that will have an impact on and off the field the criteria always stated by Robert Kraft is DECO. The New England area is filled with Portuguese soccer fans and Deco is a natural to fill the role
Chicago: A healthy Jermaine Jones please.
BP is based in Houston…hmmm, maybe not a great sponsor on second thought.
Rob, you tell me to read your post, but you apparently didn’t read mine. My point about Francona was part of a general point about how some people will pick and choose facts to try to prove their argument, and for any facts that counter their argument, they’ll brush them off saying things like those facts are due to luck and therefore don’t count.
As for my reading your post, is it not fair to use Kraft and the team interchangeably? How can Kraft be “lucky” to get Bellicheck, but “the team”, which you seem to say is an entity unrelated to Kraft and which previously had not been good, wasn’t lucky to get him? That makes no sense. Plus, how can you call it luck when Kraft worked so hard to get his guy, or do you not remember the controversy about how he came over from the Jets?
As for how the team did early on under Kraft, is it not fair to give a new owner a little time to figure out how best to run things, and learn from his mistakes? Plus, when he bought the team, as you said yourself, it was a shambles, and had been a perennial laughingstock. The previous owner only bought them because he wanted to move the team to St Louis. How is it that most everybody seems to think that Kraft is one of the best owners with one of the best run organizations in the NFL, but you know better?
As for your salary cap statement, they were in the top half for more than just 2005. For example, the 2nd highest payroll in 2007, or does that not count for some reason? But even if 2005 was the only year, they won 3 Superbowls in that span, and were very close to a 4th, and who knows what could have happened had Brady not gotten hurt that year, considering they had 11 wins with a back-up. What more could anybody ask for? If you look at a list of the high salaries, many of those teams did poorly. My whole point is, merely spending money doesn’t guarantee winning, as many big spenders have proven again and again.
Hmmm…, I notice that the the Pats were in the top half 4 times in the 8 seasons from 2000 to 2007, while the Dolphins were up there only twice. That must be the reason why they never won anything 😉
BCC—I have been reading this site for years now, and, until this moment, have yet to ever comment. I must say that your post was one of the most enlightened I think I’ve ever read. The analogy was perfect. Nicely done.
why would Ronaldinho come here? He still has plenty of game. He belongs in Europe. Coming here at this stage in his career would be sad.
And the Fire make it official……. we get Nevy Castillo and it doesn’t look like anubody would make a difference with this team 🙁
Reira is a good call… For a forward I would go with Michael Owen or Ruud van Nistelrooy.
I don’t know why Raul was only put here a few times?!?!
Would love to see Raul in the MLS.
Also, Clint playing for a Texas team after the next WC cycle.
Ok fair point….
RSL – Dos Santos
AS an RSL fan I would love to see Giovanni Dos Santos featured up top. He is still young but seems to be out of favor in Europe and has not been able to find a home. I don’t know if he would be willing to give up on Europe and come back to North America yet but it would be a huge signing in a place like Salt Lake that has a huge Latin community.
The Greater Salt Lake area has about 2 Million people and around 12% are of Mexican heritage. They are huge soccer fans but for the most part have not embraced MLS yet. While RSL is in the top 5 in the league in attendace and averages over 16K per contest, they would probably sell out every game with a young Mexican star like Dos Santos.
The Kraft’s operational philosophy is woefully out-of-date, and lest they start being more progressive and dynamic in their management of he franchise they’re going to find themselves increasingly uncompetitive.
The canary in the coal mine is starting to chirp but the din of the club’s rhetoric is drowning it out.
I blame the low Revs attendance on the location of Gillette.
I for one would go to more games if Gillette were closer to the city and more easily accessible. I don’t have a car and taking the commuter rail is a major pain. Once the Revs can better reach their fans in the city attendance should pick up.
HERNAN CRESPO!!!!!!!!!!! he would be like JPA, past his prime but plenty of goals left for this league!
FC Dallas –> Miccoli
how about we spend the money on more club friendlies, more youth development and developing a second tier of the league to create promotion and relegation.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m psyched to see henry play, but I could have done that last year while he was with Barca if the MLS money had gone toward getting Barca to be our all start opponents…
Develop the talent HERE and export it. Don’t make the EPL’s mistake of importing all your talent and choking off the yutes…
Raul a “locker room cancer”? Are you serious? You either are making a joke or know nothing about Raul.
So I suppose that you would go out and buy a crappy car in the hopes that it will help the manufacturer make better cars in the future, right?
Your comments make no sense. The free market is not a charity. If a team wants my dollars, they need to entertain me. That means investing in good players as a means to attract fans. There is some risk involved on the part of the owners; that is the essence of the business.
No, organizations that expect fans to unconditionally support a bad team are the pits.
Also, can someone inform me, i’m not the most knowledgable about MLS ins and outs. Which teams besides DC have academies? Are their plans for every team to eventually get an academy. Just IMO, i feel more players going to academies at younger ages (rather than doing the college route) will be better for player development in America. The drawback to college, is players are usually 21-22 when they get out of college, whereas in England, Germany, etc, they start seeing minutes with Championship/League 1&2 teams at 16 – 18 years old. Thanks!
I know Schelotto takes the high road in answering questions about his relationship with Riquelmie, but in the end, he’s very good friends with Palermo and would not want Riquelmie on his team. Plus he would want more money than Clark Hunt would dish out.
Don’t have a real team cuz I live in Atlanta…..moving on.
I’m digging how teams are signing noteworthy DP’s (Nkufo, Henry). I just wanna see more signings of at least decently well known-players. The more high-profile players (at younger ages preferably!) that join MLS, the better 🙂
Just throwing out some names of possible DP’s: Robby Keane,
Giggs (if he still has any left in the tank after his contract runs out at MUFC),
Bocanegra (in 2-3 years),
Michael Owen,
Ruud Van Nistelroy (sp),
…not very original, but that’s just off the top of my head.
Agree
Why do people think Castillo is a good move? He made 3 appearances (0 goals) for Dneiper last season. Didn’t make the Mexican squad. Throwing big money at him is insane.
It was, chill out. But if they announced that he was coming, I wouldn’t be disapointed. 🙂
Dude, the question was ‘Who do you want your MLS team to sign?’ I want Clint on my team … don’t you?
Sacha Klesjtian —-> Chivas USA
… Wait a second
I agree, but with other teams willing to expand their payrolls, the Revs need to do something. I actually want that team to be well built as I like that natural new York- Boston rivalry. Hope I am wrong about kraft’s attitude towards the MLS.
And also keep signing academy players and good college guys. I’m just as excited by up-and-coming Americans and young guns
As a Union fan i want to see them get somebody who can create goals. I do’nt want a forward who will take PT away from the youngsters Mwanga and McInerney so i’d like to see them get a creative midfielder or class winger.
Deco
Giggs (i would gladly wait a season for him)
Seedorf
Figo
Juan Sebastion Veron
Pires would have been a great fit, but obviously thats not happening. Finding a lesser known South American midfielder would work just as well if not better. We need someone who can help us win and bring leadership to a young squad, not necessarily someone who will sell jerseys and fill stadiums.
And by the way how were the pats before Belichick? One good season under Krafts ownership. I used to go to games before the superbowl and there were more fans in the stadium supporting my team then, supported the pats…. And this was the year they won the superbowl…. Way too funny, as I doubt there are any Dolphin fans in that area.
Man I see why everyone hates Boston fans, and I was one (Red Sox fan until I realized how boring that sport is) ….. What do the red sox have to do with this argument, as that team actually spends money? Kraft got lucky not the pats read my post that coach of theirs is a stud…. They had the best front office for a long time. The luck was that it all came at the same time. Also look up those stats again always bottom half of payroll in the NFL in almost every year asides from 2005.
And what does building a new stadium have to do with the argument as well? I do remember kraft exploiting CT to get their stadium built….
RedBulls – cristiano ronaldo on the Left Side MidField
OK, you’re right, mea culpa, the last season or two they were low down on the list. But please look at the few years before that, they were close the top.
But again we get that “luck” thing people love to throw out when they want to explain away a coach/owner/result that doesn’t fit into their world view. Just like all the Francona haters who say that when the Sox win the World series, it was the players in spite of Francona’s management, but when they don’t win, it’s all Francona’s fault. Kraft’s teams win when they happen to have good coach: just dumb luck; Pats/Revs don’t win, all Kraft’s fault. Nothing to do with how hard it is for any team anywhere to stay successful year after year after year.
And the reason the Revs don’t have their own stadium, Kraft doesn’t want one, even though he’s been quoted as saying they’re trying. Everybody here knows how easy it is to get a stadium paid for and built in the Boston Area. Look how easy it was for the far more popular Sox and Pats to get a new stadium built in the city when they tried a few years back.
Galaxy with Dinho would generate the interest the league needs. He also fits in well with the young Brazilians and Beckham.
Loan deal in the offseason to generate more revenue.
Do we like Kaka or Lucio? Yes and yes but those two aren’t coming to mls for years if at all. Salt Lake is a great place to live and Jason Kries has quietly become one of the top coaches in mls. Kries would rather have a Morales (good player in Argentina but not a big name star) over a head case with a big name. He wants players who work hard and he can mold.
Problem with mls right now is the glory (for DP players) is in conquering the American sports landscape and not the salary (not very high) or the dream of hoisting the mls cup (doesn’t really have the prestige yet).
Raul Salt Lake
The state of soccer in the New England region is just sad. Look at all of the other New England/Boston teams in the area. Great fan support all around. Then there is the Revs. Its time for Kraft Family to either get on board with the new development phase of MLS or to sell the team period.
Oh, just in case you were wondering. The Revs/MLS pay Taylor Twellman between 400K – 500K a season to……Well I don’t know. Sit around, collect paychecks and do Sports Authority commercials with Michael Strahan. Its been 3 years of not playing because of an injury. I know he was an icon for the team in the early part of the decade but c’mon, let him go and sign someone, anyone who will make a difference.
SSFC already have famous people. Dallas needs a superstar
Yes the same Tom Brady that may be holding out for more money….please check your facts…. Pats have the third lowest payroll in the NFL. Kraft got very lucky that he had a dominate coach that everyone took pay cuts to play for, and a great scouting staff that is all but gone. That would not happen in Liverpool.
As for the revs, let their home attendance speak for itself. 11.7k per game, 4th lowest in the MLS, and one of a handful of teams that show attendance dropping, I believe three, when numbers for the rest of the league are up.
Well, to be fair, Nkufo is a DP and Freddy wasn’t exactly an unambitious signing at the time (no matter what your opinion of him is/was). I wouldn’t count out SSFC management making a big move quite yet.
SSFC — DeMarcus Beasley
Would love to see him alongside Alonso, serving Montero and in front of whomever eventually replaces Gonzales. At 28 he has time to get his game back in the MLS and still land with a European club during his last WC cycle.
is omar bravo going to be a DP in KC?
You should have them already. Fair weather fans are the pits.
Any team in the MLS- Mark Van Bommell
He would, certainly, be a success and fit in right away. 😀
I love Gattuso, but I have no respect for Milan (and Berlusconi). They’ve screwed “Rino” recently, one of their most dedicated and fierce competitors.
I still think DC United should go after Juan Sebastian Veron.
NY RB- Mahmadou Diarra
Me likes some Pablito. Where is he now, Portugal?
Anyone but these locker room cancers like Ronaldinho and Raul for the Galaxy…