Washington Post soccer blogger/journalist Steve Goff recently posted the MLS player salary sheet, and the most surprising thing wasn't that that there were five players whose base salary was over one million dollars. The surprising thing was that Landon Donovan wasn't one of them, while Claudio Reyna still was.
Current Captain America Donovan's base salary is listed at $900,000, over $4.5 million less than his teammate David Beckham, but more shocking is the fact that the former Captain America Claudio Reyna makes $300,000 more per year in guaranteed salary. Putting aside for the moment that Donovan is the current captain of the USMNT, while Reyna is retired (Donovan is Bucky to Reyna's Steve Rogers), it is hard to understand why Reyna continues to be part of the Millionaires Club in MLS.
Given Reyna's age (35 in July) and his pedestrian performance in MLS last season, one would imagine that the MLS brass would sit him down prior to this season and attempt to re-negotiate his salary. Reyna appeared in 21 of 30 matches last season, helping the Red Bulls in a late season push into the MLS Cup playoffs, but even Reyna himself would acknowledge that he's lost a step, that he's not the player he was.
But my point is not really that they are paying Reyna too much. If his agent was able to finagle a nice contract when he entered the league in 2007, so be it. Good for him. He's certainly not over the hill and if he can stay healthy, the Red Bulls will be more successful with him than without him. But if you're LD, the new Cap America, you have to be a bit peeved that you aren't getting paid slightly more -- that MLS appears to be valuing the past a bit more than the present. After all, all five players in the Millionaires Club are over the age of 30. The youngest player on the list is MLS "rookie" Marcello Gallardo, midfielder for DC United, who just turned 32 in January.
For many American fans, Donovan, 26, is the face of MLS or at the very least the American face. He is certainly the most well known player on the U.S. national team and although there are LD haters out there (see Steve Davis' column on this phenomenon), no one can deny that he is one of the most talented American players since ... well, since Claudio Reyna.
Of course, LD is at a bit of negotiating disadvantage when compared to other the other young Americans in MLS. He can't threaten Europe. He wants to play here. He hated Germany and one doesn't get the sense in interviews that he is looking longingly across the pond.
Sure, $900,000 is a lot of money to regular folk, but doesn't the new Captain America deserve to be the first under-30 member of the Millionaires Club in MLS?
About Me
- The Yankee Hooligan
- TYH is a masked avenger for the righteousness of American soccer, converting nonbelievers and destroying those who stand in the way of our country's glorious destiny as a soccer world power.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Donovan left out of MLS Millionaires Club
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5 comments:
big players must score big goals...in big games. landon does not.
I wouldn't call LD the captain of the national team. Boca has worn the armband six of the last seven games, three of them when Landon played. The only time Landon wire it, Boca didn't play.
Bob has clearly sent a message that Landon is not the leader of his national team.
It is true that Boca has been given the armband under Bob Bradley more often than Landon Donovan. I think you would be hard pressed to find evidence of Boca's leadership. I think Bocanegra's a terrific defender (most of the time) but is he who we want leading our boys into battle. He's a bit quiet on the pitch, isn't he?
Of course, my point was about MLS, not the national team. I actually agree with jar66su in terms of national team duty. He doesn't score big goals in big games for the Nats. But the same could be said about most players currently on the national team roster. We have seen glimpses of a scoring touch but nothing consistent.
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