It Seems To Me . . .

MLS should not play games on established qualifying dates.

By Robert Wagman
SoccerTimes

(Friday, September 3, 2004) -- They won't be playing league soccer in England this weekend, or in France, Germany, Scotland, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, or most anywhere else in the soccer world. They will be playing Saturday in Foxborough, Mass.; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City, Mo., and Denver as Major League Soccer presents a full schedule -- the only first-division league in the world to be doing so.

It's actually even worse. There was an MLS match last Wednesday in Chicago, two days after clubs were required to release players to their national teams for qualifiers. Worse, there will be another game next Wednesday in San Jose.

It is simply wrong.

Saturday and next Wednesday are international play dates, days on which World Cup qualifiers will be competed across the world. The United States men play El Salvador Saturday and Panama Wednesday. The dates have been on the official calendar of world governing body FIFA for more than two years and top-division leagues around the world responded by not scheduling matches between last Tuesday and September 11.

But not MLS.

For all of its nine seasons, MLS has taken the position that the show must go on, so to speak. "We have obligations, television commitments, we can't simply take 10 days off," MLS commissioner Don Garber has said in the past.

It seems almost as if MLS has a fear that people will forget about it if it skips a week, even if its star players will be on national television with the national team. That's silly. As far as television commitments, ESPN has started its college football broadcasts and the MLS Saturday afternoon "Game of the Week," as well as its Fox Sports World Saturday night broadcast, will not aired live, just on tape after midnight.

By playing on, MLS shortchanges its fans and its teams. Ten current MLS players were called in for a training camp in Boston this week by U.S. coach Bruce Arena. The MetroStars lost goalkeeper Jonny Walker, defender Eddie Pope and midfielder Eddie Gaven. The Dallas Burn sent forward Eddie Johnson and defender Cory Gibbs. The San Jose Earthquakes lost attackers Landon Donovan and Brian Ching, with Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Cobi Jones, Columbus Crew midfielder Frankie Hejduk and Kansas City Wizards midfielder Kerry Zavagnin also called in.

It could have been worse. Had striker Josh Wolff been fit, midfielders Chris Armas and Pablo Mastroeni not been injured, and midfielders Bobby Convey and DaMarcus Beasley not been sold to clubs in Europe in midseason, they too could be missing from MLS rosters.

It's not only the MLS players called into the U.S. team. The league has players representing any number of countries. Gone from San Jose this weekend are goalkeeper Pat Onstad and forward Dwayne De Rosario to Canada. Los Angeles will have to do without forward Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala), Alejandro Moreno (Venezuela), and defender Tyrone Marshall (Jamaica). Defender Ezra Hendrickson (St. Vincent & The Grenadines) is away from D.C. United as the face the Fire who will be missing Andy Williams and Damani Ralph (Jamaica), while MetroStars midfielder Amado Guevara is with Honduras.

This means that San Jose will be expected to lift itself out of last place in the Western Conference missing its top three offensive players and its goalkeeper. Los Angeles will be without six starters, four players off on international duty plus two on suspension. (An aside: How about a rule delaying suspensions for any team losing two players to international call-ups?) The MetroStars were going to have to try to cling to their Eastern Conference lead without their goalkeeper, best defender and two key midfielders until Arena released Walker and Gaven to play in Saturday's match at the Kansas City Wizards. Chicago is without much of its offense.

This gives some teams a clear advantages. San Jose goes without an important quartet to New England, which has a full roster. The MetroStars journeys without Guevara and Pope to Kansas City, which is missing only Zavagnin.

As far as the fans are concerned, those who bought tickets to certain matches, expecting to see certain players, are being cheated. The league's stock answer is any of those players might have been injured and missed the match anyway.

MLS coaches are not happy but, instead of taking their ire out at their bosses at MLS headquarters in New York, they are blaming Arena, especially for calling in players who might not see action Saturday against El Salvador. Arena can name only 18 of the 23 in camp to his match roster. Any number of coaches are demanding that Arena release players who are not to be among those 18. San Jose fans want their players to be allowed to pull double duty with the Earthquakes facing the New England Revolution as the second game of a doubleheader, following the U.S.-El Salvador game.

"I'm not sure I'm planning on releasing any players," Arena said Monday. "MLS has known well in advance our schedule. This is now World Cup qualifying. I've had calls from MLS coaches asking the same thing. I don't know if everyone realizes the significance of these games."

In the end, he relented by releasing Walker and Gaven to the MetroStars, and Johnson to the Dallas Burn for Saturday matches.

This is a club-conflict that should not exist. It has nothing to do with MLS playing from March to November instead from August to May as is the case with most of the rest of the world. It has nothing to do with stadium scheduling. MLS should join the rest of the soccer world and stand down on international play dates.

Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Robert Wagman.