Your questions answered

It took me a little longer than I had hoped but here are the answers to the questions you posted this past weekend:

• What post-expansion draft trades do you expect - not only in regards to trades with the Red Bulls, but also all around MLS? (Jonathan G)

Well Jonathan, a flurry of trades already took place before I could even get to this answer. What could be next? The trades I mentioned regarding the Red Bulls are all in play. What other deals make sense out there? Chicago needs to make a deal or two in order to deal with potential cap problems and I wouldn’t be at all shocked to see Chris Armas leave the Fire. New England will be on the market for a defensive midfielder when Shalrie Joseph leaves and Armas would make a good fit there, assuming Bruce Arena doesn’t make a play for Armas. I’ll do some serious digging in the next few weeks and hopefully I can unearth some new gems.

• Obviously the Ronaldo rumors are swirling, and we have all heard that he will come "very soon". Could this mean the upcoming January transfer window, especially now that he has picked up this new knee injury? (C)

C, if Ronaldo comes he’s coming in January. That gives the league four months to promote his arrival and Ronaldo some time to adjust to his new teammates. It will also allow him to heal this new injury. If I had to guess exactly I'd say some time in late January

• Which three teams do you think are most likely to trade a designated player "mechanism" to the Red Bulls? What sort of compensation do you think the Red Bulls will need to give up to receive this second mechanism? Lastly, where is this transaction in the list of Red Bull priorities; when do you think it will occur? (Tim)

If I had to guess as to which teams would be willing to part with one, I’d say Real Salt Lake, Houston and Columbus. KC is a popular suggestion but they have new owners and will be looking to lure some sort of big-name player. So why Houston? They won a title without a high-priced player so there’s no reason to think they need to go add some marquee player. What will it take to get that slot? A player, a pick and some serious cash would be my guess.

• Is the decision on a permanent Red Bulls training site coming soon? (Jay G)

It is and I should have a story on it in a short while. Can’t give much more detail because I know my competition reads this blog. LOL.

• Any word of interest in Landon Donovan since the Galaxy will either need to get rid of him or get another slot to get Beckham? Also, maybe a combo deal (though I hope not), any word on where the Revs may try to go to fill the gaps left by Dempsey, possibly Shalrie, and possibly TnT? (Tim Crawford)

The Galaxy won’t be getting rid of Donovan any time soon unless he decides its time to try Europe again. It wouldn’t be that far-fetched to see LD make the move back to Europe after the 2007 season. If he stays I’m sure the Galaxy will find a way to pay him and Beckham.

• Any word on how the league coaches feel about the designated player rule? I would think most would have rather had money added to the base salary cap. (Chris)

The new designated player slots have come along with increased salary caps for all teams, at somewhere between $2.3 to $2.5 million. If a team doesn’t want to use the slot, they can trade it and not only have that $400K saved but the increase from 2006 to 2007 as well.

• At the end of the day who do you think the Men's National Team coach will be and do you think he will fit the job well? (Craig)

I think it will be Klinsmann (always have) and I think he will be a great fit. If it’s Pekerman I could see some early struggles. What people seem to ignore about Pekerman’s time in Argentina was that the majority of his success came on the youth level, coaching the U-20 teams, and never having to deal with the pressure of leading the senior team. I’m not saying there’s great pressure in the U.S. job but Klinsmann has succeeded in a more pressure-packed situation than Pekerman. In an ideal world the USSF would break the bank and make Pekerman the technical director, but that won’t happen.

• Who do you think has the inside track on the Champions League title this year? The Premiership? (Wayne)

If I were a betting man, I would put some money on Real Madrid to win it all this year. My second choice would be Lyon, who is the best team most Eurosnob Americans have never seen play. FSC or Gol need to start showing Lyon matches because they’re a joy to watch.

As for the EPL, Chelsea is so deep that it’s tough to pick against them but Man. U. looks like they have a real chemistry working. Man. U hasn’t had to deal with injuries yet and I don’t know if their bench is built to withstand certain injuries.

• How big on an issue is the Nike/Addidas sponsorship friction, when considering a potential paternship between Klinsman and US Soccer? (Mosler)

Klinsmann won’t give up adidas and U.S. Soccer won’t give up Nike so it should be interesting. Some compromise will be reached though.

• What do you think happens with Guevara this off-season? (Larry)

I say he gets traded to Chivas USA.

• Do you think that Freddy Adu will be allowed a transfer this year, or do you think he will be forced to play another season in MLS? If he stays, and Nowak stays, would Freddy look to play for another team in MLS? and if Freddy goes to Europe, who do you think he will sign with?

Forced to play in MLS? If he doesn’t want to be here he won’t be here. The key is making a move that makes sense. He can’t play in any of Europe tops leagues until he turns 18 anyway so he is probably set to play one more year at D.C. unless some big clubs buys him and loans him out to some smaller Euro league for a season. I can’t imagine D.C. trading him within MLS, not when the club stands to gain the transfer Adu eventually brings in.

• What is the run down on players you think the Red Bulls will pickup this offseason? (This includes he Designated player slots, the possible pickup of Reyna, as well as who you think is being considered that the fans may not have been thinking of). (Larry)

The dream wish list for Arena would be Ronaldo, Figo, Reyna, Armas and Gregg Berhalter. I’m sure some cynics will have all sorts of injury jokes for that list but I would take that five in a heartbeat.

• Any idea how the new MLS schedule will look? Will teams be playing Thursday ESPN games, then turning around and playing Saturday? Can't imagine that would be ideal for the Ronaldos/Figos of the world. Or will the matchweek usually go (Pete).

Can’t say that I know what the schedule will look like.

• In keeping with the upcoming holiday season and the idea of giving back to the game that we all love so much, how about some information about all of the different soccer-related (501C3) charities? (Marc Silverstein)

I recently did a story on Grassroots soccer, and will do some charity stories down the road.

• Can the Red Bulls cut Peter Canero before the start of the 2007 season with no impact/repercussions to the team's salary cap in 2007? (Tim)

As far as I know his salary is not guaranteed in 2007.

• Where's Kyle Martino gonna end up? He's a solid american central attacking midfielder. Surely, someone wants him on their squad? (John Debinere)

I say he winds up a Red Bull if he doesn’t find a gig in some smaller European league.

• Any rumors/educated guesses on who might be signing Generation Adidas deals for the 2007 draft this January? (Matt)

I have no info on that yet but it’s on the agenda for the coming weeks.

• Thoughts on the new Amado to Chivas rumors posted on Metrofanatic? Do you think Amado will be traded? What do you think we will get in return? (Greg)

Okay, how is this a new rumor? It's been around since last year, when I first wrote about it. If the Red Bulls get a full allocation and the rights to John O’Brien I say that’s a good deal for them.

• Since you haven't posted your answers yet, I thought I'd add in another Q... Have you seen Johnny Exantus play in person and do you think he's as special and able to find a place on the pro roster as some reports have stated? (Jay G)

I haven’t seen him play but people I trust very much rave about him. I even have one source who insists that Exantus is better than Josmer Altidore. To be fair, this statement was made before Altidore’s late-season surge. I say he winds up a Red Bull in 2008, assuming someone doesn’t sneak him off to France or somewhere and land him a deal sooner.

Comments

[Tim]

Thanks. Very much appreciated!

[Tim]

Arena's dream wish list surprised me a bit in that it didn't contain a central defender nor a goalie. He's sticking with Mendes, Parke and Conway as starters?

[Ives]

Maybe Dream was a strong word. This group would be, in my opninion, a best-case scenario given what they can do and what they can have to work with salary wise. Also, the five does include a central defender in Berhalter. He's solid and would immediately be one of the top five defenders in the league if he signed on. As for goalkeeper, I don't think Conway is the long-term answer but the Red Bulls can't change everything and Conway's salary makes him even more appealing. You can't have big salaries everywhere.

[Tim]

My bad. It says Berhalter and I'm thinking Cherundulo.

[Jay G.]

Thanks, Ives. Really informative stuff as usual.

[Area Code 212]

Thanks for the answers. This is a great blog. Keep up the good work.

BTW, where do you see MLS in 10 years?

[George H.]

Ives,

Love the blog, keep up the good work.

You're right about Lyon, they're an exciting side to watch. If you want to see them play, you need to get Setanta as they carry Champions League matches as well as Ligue 1. It's deinitely worth the extra $12 a month.

[Peter M.]

Thanks for your good work. I'm surprised you think John O'Brien might end up with the Red Bulls. What do you know about his current health status?

[Justin]

"What people seem to ignore about Pekerman’s time in Argentina was that the majority of his success came on the youth level, coaching the U-20 teams..."

Most people ignore this? I've read little about Perkerman, but everything I've read has harped on this precise point.

[Jonathan G.]

Thank you, Ives. Your insight is always a great read. I look forward to reading your blog every morning.

You mentioned Chris Armas. Do you also think Tony Sanneh might be on his way over to NY? Since, as you saidm Chicago needs to clear some cap space, maybe they'll send Armas and Sanneh ('Cause I'm guessing that Bruce is high on Tony, especially after his great performance in the 2002 WC and his form in the 2nd half of the 2006 season.)

Also, if Armas does come. And O'Brian is acquired for Guevara. And we get Reyna. Then our midfield would consist of 3 injury-prone players: Schopp, Reyna, O'Brian, and Kovalenko. I'm not saying that midfield can't dominate every MLS team (especially with a forward like Ronaldo), but what happens when all three of them get injured? Would be turn to Blake, Camp, Joe Vide, Seth Stammler, and Chris Henderson??? I think Bruce needs to think it over, because what we need are 11 solid and talented players all over the field with good back-ups that can get the job done, not 2 star players and a few good players with the rest of them crap.