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Major League Soccer

MLS 5 Best and Worst: JJ, EJ, and that Awful CBA

The 19-year-old American domestic league is a typical teen—full of promise but still capable of making shockingly bad decisions. Here is a look at MLS's best and worst of the last week.
BY John Godfrey Posted
August 29, 2014
10:15 AM

MLS BEST

1—Jermaines Jones Has Arrived

We're going to look past how he arrived—for a few paragraphs, anyway—and instead take the opportunity to celebrate another milestone in the continuing development of Major League Soccer.

Clint Dempsey turned the American domestic league on its ear when he left Tottenham to play for Seattle in 2013. Michael Bradley followed suit early this year when he left AS Roma to play for Toronto FC. Jones' recent arrival in New England means this MLS migration is no aberration or coincidence—it's officially a trend.

Jones was the United States' best field player in Brazil and is the top-rated active international in the ASN 100. And yes, the Frankfurt, Germany, native chose MLS over other options in Europe. It's possible—and perhaps even likely—that MLS offered Jones more money than any of his other suitors.

Crazy, right?

What's more, it was the New England Revolution, of all teams, that ponied up the reported $4.7 to land Jones. Even traditionally tightfisted franchises like the Revs are starting to invest in top talent, which gives a glimmer of hope to those of us who believe that MLS must encourage its teams to spend much-much-much more money on players if it hopes to compete with the big boys.


2—Obafemi Martins' golazo

There's really not much to add to the video below.


3—Bruce Arena

When he isn't giving awesome quotes to Steven Goff, The Bruce busies himself by remaining among the elite executives in MLS.

Arena tried to rescue Sacha Kljestan from a difficult situation in Belgium only to be shot down by league officials. Did he complain about it? Oh yeah—see above—which is part of why we love him so much.

But Arena also did something about it: He pried veteran striker Alan Gordon away from the San Jose Earthquakes and the move is already paying off. Gordon scored two minutes in against D.C. United last night as a Robbie Keane-less Galaxy squad made easy work of the Eastern Conference leaders, 4-1.

MLS Cup contenders? Again? Big time.


4—MLS + USMNT = Good TV

Twenty-five million or so American soccer fans watched the United States-Ghana match at this summer's World Cup. So where should these same people look to see their favorite Yanks in action?

Not the English Premier League. NBC Sports Network does a wonderful job with the broadcasts, but Jozy Altidore is still a part-time player at Sunderland, Geoff Cameron is in limbo at Stoke City, and is it really worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch Brad Guzan protect Aston Villa's goal?

Not the Bundesliga either. John Brooks, Julian Green, Fabian Johnson, and Timothy Chandler are all struggling to find playing time—and good luck finding the match you want to see at the quality level you've come to expect in recent years.

As of today, 58 percent of the ASN 100—our constantly updated ranking of the top 100 American soccer players—plies its craft in Major League Soccer. That includes big-time stars like Jones and Bradley and Dempsey as well as intriguing prospects like Luis Gil, Wil Trapp, and (for the moment) DeAndre Yedlin.

MLS Live is a great option for cord cutters and cable users alike, and chances are that any match you watch will feature players of interest from a U.S. national team perspective.

We're making it official right here and right now: If you are consumed with American soccer, MLS is your best destination.


5— Peter Vermes Calls Out SKC Defense

Sometimes coaches have to shake things up, light a fire under players, and otherwise take ownership. Sporting Kansas City coach Peter Vermes did just that when he criticized the performance of his backline.

“There's been a lot of credit given to our back four over a long period of time,” Vermes said after the match. “But the way that they performed tonight, they also are going to get some credit, too—and that's for giving up three goals.

“Igor, I give him a bit of a pass, because he's 19-years-old and he's been thrown into the fire and he's played a lot of games over a short period of time,” Vermes went on. “But the number of goals that we've given up in our place, and the way we gave them up—and we've done this a couple of times now, not a number of them, but different counterattack-type goals like this.”

That's Aurélien Collin, Matt Besler, and Seth Sinovic he's taking to task, for those of you keeping score at home.


MLS Worst

5—Eddie Johnson Calls Out SKC Defense

Really, Eddie?

Four goals in 20 starts this season, a suspension that kept you out of the Sporting Kansas City match, and you're going to taunt the SKC back line?

Peter Vermes is supposed to speak up in these moments. You are supposed to speak up....um....how does never sound?


4—Don Garber Silent on Jones

Speaking of speaking up, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber had this to say in the official release about the blind draw that saw Jermaine Jones land in New England instead of Chicago.

No, I couldn't find a quote from the commissioner in there either.


4—Frank Yallop Speaks Up on Jones

The Chicago Fire coach had this to say: "While we're deeply disappointed that he will not be part of the Fire, we respect the system employed by MLS and wish Jermaine well with his new club."

On second thought, maybe Garber had the right idea.


3— San Jose Drops Fourth in a Row

The struggling Earthquakes couldn't find a way to use Alan Gordon, so Bruce Arena grabbed the veteran striker and he promptly scored twice for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Landon Donovan, a former Earthquakes star, summed up the situation rather succinctly: "I'm trying to figure out he couldn't play in San Jose, but I'm glad they didn't see what we see."

Ouch.


2—The Eddie Johnson Show

What? EJ appears twice in the same Worst 5 list? Yep. Here's why. The cheap shot above might not have been worthy of a red card—it was later rescinded—but Mr. Johnson has a perception problem that's going to follow him around wherever he goes.

That's why Seattle refused to pay him more money. That's why he didn't go to Brazil. That's why Clint Dempsey had to tell his friend to stop tweeting.


1—The Current CBA

Talent-stifling salary caps. Draconian player movement restrictions designed to improve owners' leverage but in fact they confuse your best fans and discourage the best players. Opaque, vaguely worded policies that eventually embarrass the league.

The current Major League Soccer Collective Bargaining Agreement expires at the end of the year. Here's your chance to step up and lead, Mr. Garber.

Please, for the sake of American soccer fans, fix it.

John Godfrey is the founder and editor in chief of American Soccer Now, and he welcomes your feedback below.

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