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First off -- apologies that I can't integrate my
responses to the actual quote (my email prgram sucks).
Re: (1) -- name me 10 players who aren't playing in
MLS because of players with green cards? Heck, name me one. Go by
the Seattle Sounders or Rochester Rhinos -- if there really is this big issue
out there, then surely on the two best teams in the A-League (genrally, anyway)
there is a player or two who has lost their job to a green carded player...
right?
So let me anticipate your answer a bit -- I think
it is safe to say that there is not a real large concern, even in
Dallas.
To compare where MLS is now to the NASL is more
than a bit of a stretch, don't you think? Even in Bruce's 'worst
nightmare' of Dallas, over half the main players are US players.
Re:(2) -- if you want to develop potential, they
have to play with players who know the game. Even if you have all of the
best USians come over, you still need more players who know the game and how to
be professionals to make it work.
And quite frankly, to get cheesed off at someone
because they buy into America enough to get a green card is a slap in the
face. I can tell you that Eddie Johnson and Ryan Suarez are going to
be much better players because of Oscar Pareja -- so yeah, how much he
loves his team IS important. And I think the same will apply to Jordan
Stone. And if you don't know those names, then maybe you might want to
look into the details of the potential that you want to develop.
Re: (3) -- name them. More to the point, name
the ones who are having their growth stunted. And as someone who has
watched Eddie Johnson develop very slowly -- partly because he was 17 when he
joined the team, through no fault of his own except because he is damn talented
-- I think it is also smart that he had to earn his spot. And funny this,
by taking it from another US player, Bobby Rhine. (Cerritos' contributions
to this season are mostly letting us get rid of Ariel so that Jason can be the
player he was and a handful of starts, all enhanced by a great example of
professionalism that I hope Eddie took careful notes of.)
Let's take another example -- DMB. A great
MLS player now, obviously one with talent worth of the MNT. But when he
started in MLS, he was as immature as they come. Again, not through any
fault of his own -- the guy was young. Unfortunately for LA, they traded
him right before he came into his own. But do you think that DMB would be
half the player he is now without Hristo and Peter?
Sure, pt is important. But so is developing
talent at the right pace. It was good to see Bobby Convey score tonight
(from a USian point of view -- certainly not from a Burn point of view) because
since he joined the league and had a modicom of success early on, he has
basically been non-existant. I am sure that was real good for his
development.
How many US players litter the landscape having
been the "next great US soccer hope?" Claudio almost succumed to it.
Luckily, Landon didn't, and hopefully he has enough of a supporting cast that he
doesn't (he is still real young).
And no, Landon wouldn't be half the player he was
if it weren't for two things -- San Jose's MLS season in 2001 and the time he
got with the MNT in 2002. Keep in mind, the difference between the Landon
who played in Korea in 12-01 was nothing compared to the Landon that played in
Suwon and Jeonju in 6-02. I have no doubt that pt is
important.
But so is the right leadership. I think the
images that will stick with me most will be the bookends of the US games --
Earnie and Landon. Once before the Portugal match and once after the
Germany match. And funny that, Earnie isn't exactly 100% American, is
he?
My point? First, yes, I take exception to
Bruce calling Dallas out as a bad example of anything. We're not the best
team in MLS, but we haven't missed the playoffs -- ever -- and have a
championship to our name. We're better than half the league this year and
players like Oscar and Zarco are key components of that. And yes, the Burn
look to do quite a bit of developing talent over the next two to five
years.
But the reason why I put this also on NAS is that I
think it is very short-sighted of Bruce. Let me rephrase something --
where exactly did the US get Carlos Llamosa? Could it have been through a
green card? And while Diego Gutierrez has yet to make a serious dent in
the US player pool, he isn't a slouch, either. And I think it is also safe
to say that many an MLS right wing and many an MLS forward have been bettered by
playing against him. (I wish I could raise the issue of Chris Armas with
some authority, but I don't know if he carried a green card although I know he
had that issue with playing for Colombia in an unsanctioned youth
tournament.)
So until you have a group of US players -- at least
one per team -- who aren't getting pt because of too many green card players, I
think Bruce is being short sighted.
And yes, I do think that the divide between the
middle-class, usually white-folk players and the foreign-born players is an
issue that the Fed and MLS will have to address. Your example of Landon is
a perfect one here. If you know Landon like a Qlash fan should, then you
know he learned Spanish by playing with Hispanic players, not in a classroom or
from family. I think it is safe to say that a good bit of his playing
style comes from that same education group. Why do you think his vision is
so sharp? Why do you think the mental side of his game is so far ahead of
so many US players?
And so I am worried about it as a fan of the US
team. We need players like Marcelo Balboa, Tab Ramos, Claudio Reyna,
Landon Donovan, Carlos Llamosa, DMB, etc. -- players who were either not born in
the US or were influenced by players who weren't born in the US. By saying
what he did, Bruce is either (A) showing his bias against Dallas, or (B) showing
a bias against non-US-born players. The former, while if true is
frustrating to a fan of that particular team, is no real big deal -- every NT
coach has teams they like and teams they don't. The latter, though,
worries me deeply because it belies a limiting attitude about player who in some
situations will help the team directly, and others indirectly. Once again,
Carlos Llamosa.
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