Wielding a Straw Man Against Dempsey

As someone who regularly enjoys Greg Lalas’ columns, I was a bit disappointed with his use of what seems to be a straw man. Coming in on Major League Soccer’s (MLS) side of the debate over Clint Dempsey’s right/interest to go abroad and the right of MLS generally to ride herd on its labor pool, Lalas characterizes the opposite position like so:

“Believers [in Dempsey’s right to transfer] say [MLS] -- mainly, because it is not in Europe and not stocked with Ronaldinhos and Shevchenkos -- should be in the business of developing young American players and then selling them to Europe, where, presumably, the players will improve in ways they never could here, which in turn will enhance the national team, which is the raison d'etre for most soccer fans.”

Mmmm...not quite.

The point isn't, at least as I see it (LINK and LINK), that the league should satisfy itself with developmental status. The question is what the league should do in the here and now, when it can’t compete with European quality or salaries; the seconding detail in Dempsey’s case, something that Lalas never gets around to mentioning, comes with the player’s clear desire to go abroad. The league is, in essence, standing in Dempsey’s way - and making him rather unhappy in the near-term to boot. And on what assumption? That Dempsey’s value will rise. That’s far from guaranteed, particularly with the risk that Dempsey could begin to exhibit an unprofessional attitude - say, lashing out at other players and indifferent play. Should those clearly manifest - and a case could be made they already are - Dempsey’s stock would likely go down not up, which would result in everyone losing (see, Johnson, Eddie).

It’s possible, of course, that Lalas has heard directly from people making the argument he outlined above. I only know I’ve never seen it. Assuming he’s pointing to a straw man, it’s something of a shame because Lalas makes a decent overall argument: MLS is a business and businesses shouldn’t sell cheap if they can help it. More than that, and Lalas goes deeper into this, thinking of itself as “major league” is an important mental trick for MLS to internalize; a default assumption of inferiority does affect behavior and the league would be well-advised against not adopting one.

The problem doesn’t come with the basic points Lalas is making, which add up tolerably, but he weakens those points by mischaracterizing the better arguments in support of Dempsey's heading overseas. I don’t expect Lalas to troll all of Soccer Blogistan to find this stuff (or my stuff for that matter). I do, however, expect him to include crucial details, particularly, Dempsey’s clear ambition to leave. I also expect that he’d make relevant distinctions, such as addressing the question of what the league can actually do in the near-term versus what it can aspire to in a (hopefully) more prosperous future.