MLS seems to have a big problem hanging on to a lot of the talent in the league. The MLS looses key American players all the time; people like Tim Howard, DaMarcus Beasley, Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu, Michael Parkhurst, Kenny Cooper and a whole slew of others. This is an almost constant issue, Landon Donovan has been looking for the right fit for many years, I would imagine he will be gone in January too.
So, whats the problem and how do we stop this issue that is putting a huge handicap on the league and invalidating the strength of MLS?
A lot of the problem is probably due to having a relatively low salary cap. Funding an entire team’s salary (with the exception of the single designated player allowed) with 2.3 million doesn’t really work well if you have a lot of high quality players, the players it takes to win an MLS cup. When individual top tier players make upwards of 200,000 per game, how can this league compete for even mid level players? Many of the players on the US national team play in Europe, most would say that they have to in order to become better players. Sadly, with the constant loss if high quality talent, MLS won’t provide the competitive landscape that will foster improvement for most of the bright stars that come from the USA.
So, how do we bring the American talent back to the American league? My proposal is this:
- The league keep the salary cap, maybe increase it to something like 2.7 million.
- Keep 1 international Designated Player spot with only $415k counting towards the salary cap.
- Add 2 American Designated Player spots with the same $415K per player counting towards the salary cap. This would allow the teams to gain and keep some of the high quality American talent that has started out in this league. IT would also create a more competitive league and help bring the overall quality of player up.
- Give the teams more control over their players pay, the League owning the player contracts and negotiating with the players seems a little odd.
- Convert to a promotion/relegation format with the USL. This will keep the league competitive and make sure the teams in the top tier are the best teams. (This is a dangerous move seeing as my team the Wizards would have been in danger this year but I think this would help the league as a whole)
Those are my ideas that could help the MLS create a high quality of soccer in the US! Please share your comments and thoughts!
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