For some dang reason, today’s a slow one for news - or at least super-swell and insightful commentary. Yes, it seems that everyone has trades on the brain. With a fair number of trades floating around, and with other sites providing better analysis on individual trades, it seems wise to just lump’ all the moves and potential moves into one post - and, for shits and giggles - to rank them in order of significance.
By way of criteria for ranking, the staff (of one) got together and opted to start the rankings with trades already confirmed; from there, the list will rank the rumors and long-shots with one eye on the odds a trade will 1) happen, or 2) matter (when the last name appears, you’ll get this distinction).
- DC United signs another Argentine, this one by the name of Matias Donnet. He’s got an impressive-for-MLS resume, including stops at Argentine Big Boys Boca Juniors and a goal scored against AC Milan in the World Club Championshp (see here). The blog DCenters provided a solid, DC-United-centric analysis of the move.
- Marvin Tarley returns to MLS, this time to the Colorado Rapids. Um, no one seems particularly nervous about this one, or, really, to care much about it. Prove ‘em wrong, Marvin. Prove ‘em wrong.
- The Deseret News is telling people that DaMarcus Beasley wants to return to the States; his desire to play for Real Salt Lake coach John Ellinger poses a two-fold challenge to the trade - especially given the August 31 deadline. The first question is whether Ellinger will have the job (signs, and RSL’s current run, point to yes, but...). Second, there’s RSL’s fourth-place ranking in the allocation lottery; three teams would have to pass on Beasley to make this work.
RSL blog, Are You Loyal, figures this won’t happen till next year - and he makes sense.
- The Clint Dempsey/Taylor Twellman/Pat Noonan situation, of which the Dempsey situation seems hottest. Bigsoccer.com has a thread devoted to a rumored trade to England’s Charlton Athletic (which, I suppose, would make this a “rumoured” trade). Maybe they’ve figured out what’s going on since I last checked, but most people on the thread seem to agree that the reported $2 million offer was too low. My Soccer Blog provided a good analysis of this one - especially with regard to the issues of contracts and timing.
- Paul Dalglish, who is the son of a legend (Kenny Dalglish), may be Houston-Dynano-bound. Dalglish currently plays in Scotland and that’s where this one got started.
- Metrofanatic passes on the juiciest rumor of the day (and admits it’s a rumor), which would send Italian striker, Christian Vieri, who is nearing the crest of the hill at the very least, to Red Bull New York. OK. I’m not seeing this one. Still, it’s a fun story. In spite of an illustrious playing career, I can’t say a Vieri trade would excite me; he’s old and, like some old people, he seems cranky.
Open Cup Quarters & Heresy
With the Chicago Fire’s B-Team beating the Kansas City Wizards' last night, the quarterfinal draw for the U.S. Open Cup is now set. Here are the quarterfinal match-ups (home teams first):
LA Galaxy v. Colorado Rapids
Houston Dynamo* v. FC Dallas
Chicago Fire v. New England Revolution
DC United v. Red Bull New York
* Due to renovations at their home stadium, the Dynamo/Dallas Open Cup tie will be played in some little shitbox. (I’m kidding. It sounds intimate.)
And now for the touch of heresy: as much as I love this tournament, with its giant-killing dramatics (see Roma FC), it just reeks of consolation prize. And that’s only in the years when no team pulls off the double - i.e. when they win MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup. Every team may say the right things about “taking the tournament seriously” (check the article about the Houston venue for just the latest example), but come game time, they’re looking under their bench - never mind the far end of the thing - for their starting 11.
As with a lot of things, put the blame on MLS’ playoff structure. With nearly every team making the post-season - where there’s always hope; just ask the 2005 Chicago Fire - this short-circuits another tradition of England’s FA Cup, the tournament on which the U.S. Open Cup is modeled: that of teams “putting all their hopes” into a Cup run. Put another way, when a team knows they're not going to win the league, they start to get really excited about the Cup games in hopes of walking away with something for the season.
While this year hasn’t necessarily been as bad in this regard as past editions - for instance, New England’s fielded their starters against the USL Division 1 Rochester Raging Rhinos - even two clubs with a snowballs chance in hell of winning MLS Cup (see Kansas City and Chicago) chucked only a pair of starters in with the parade of anonymity that were their game-day rosters (Ryan McMahen? Stephen Shirley? Jared Montz? Floyd Franks? (truth be told, this last player received some praise). While it’s true that the Wizards, especially, have a tight schedule (three games in six days, the last two on the road), the thing to look for is which of those games featured more of their bench.
Limit playoff participation to the top six teams - or, better still, the top four - and I’m betting that would change. I'll still tune in and will squeal like a five-year-old girl if my New England Revolution bring home a trophy - it would be their first, after all - but it's a methadone trophy, not unlike the Supporters' Shield, and everyone seems to know it.
LA Galaxy v. Colorado Rapids
Houston Dynamo* v. FC Dallas
Chicago Fire v. New England Revolution
DC United v. Red Bull New York
* Due to renovations at their home stadium, the Dynamo/Dallas Open Cup tie will be played in some little shitbox. (I’m kidding. It sounds intimate.)
And now for the touch of heresy: as much as I love this tournament, with its giant-killing dramatics (see Roma FC), it just reeks of consolation prize. And that’s only in the years when no team pulls off the double - i.e. when they win MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup. Every team may say the right things about “taking the tournament seriously” (check the article about the Houston venue for just the latest example), but come game time, they’re looking under their bench - never mind the far end of the thing - for their starting 11.
As with a lot of things, put the blame on MLS’ playoff structure. With nearly every team making the post-season - where there’s always hope; just ask the 2005 Chicago Fire - this short-circuits another tradition of England’s FA Cup, the tournament on which the U.S. Open Cup is modeled: that of teams “putting all their hopes” into a Cup run. Put another way, when a team knows they're not going to win the league, they start to get really excited about the Cup games in hopes of walking away with something for the season.
While this year hasn’t necessarily been as bad in this regard as past editions - for instance, New England’s fielded their starters against the USL Division 1 Rochester Raging Rhinos - even two clubs with a snowballs chance in hell of winning MLS Cup (see Kansas City and Chicago) chucked only a pair of starters in with the parade of anonymity that were their game-day rosters (Ryan McMahen? Stephen Shirley? Jared Montz? Floyd Franks? (truth be told, this last player received some praise). While it’s true that the Wizards, especially, have a tight schedule (three games in six days, the last two on the road), the thing to look for is which of those games featured more of their bench.
Limit playoff participation to the top six teams - or, better still, the top four - and I’m betting that would change. I'll still tune in and will squeal like a five-year-old girl if my New England Revolution bring home a trophy - it would be their first, after all - but it's a methadone trophy, not unlike the Supporters' Shield, and everyone seems to know it.
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