Four creative midfielders have changed clubs this season: Freddy Adu (Real Salt Lake), David Beckham (Galaxy), Amado Guevara (Chivas USA), and Claudio Reyna (New York). How they fare will shape not only the fortunes of their teams but also the league's style and caliber of play.
Maybe MLS coaches and general managers didn't get the memo, the directive that officially banished the traditional No. 10 — that skillful, daring playmaker — forever to oblivion.
Eradicated years ago by the pace and smothering pressure of ''the modern game,'' a listless, laconic ball wizard may no longer stroll about midfield, stroke passes, shimmy past defenders and dictate rhythm and tempo with the most nuanced of touches. Carlos Valderrama, notoriously static even at his physical peak, may have been the epitome of how millions of fans, journalists and observers envisioned the No. 10.
Yet the No. 10 has evolved, not become extinct, and if he does not thrive, he certainly lives on in MLS even after the departures of Valderrama and Marco Etcheverry and Roberto Donadoni. Preki would hang out on the right wing, wait for the ball and almost nonchalantly humiliate and destroy defenses. With his driving, scything runs, piercing passes, and fiery spirit, Peter Nowak personified a more modern playmaker, one with a robust frame and powerful engine, not just fins and fancy trim. On the world stage, Zinedine Zidane proved that size and strength could be bonded to grace and skill.
There are playmakers in MLS, good ones, and while most of them do their share of work — or at least some work — without the ball, their teammates know where the ball should go.
Houston captured the league title last November. Driven by Dwayne DeRosario's explosive bursts, audacious shots and electrifying dribbles, the converted forward is the prototypical No. 10 in MLS. Yet Christian Gomez runs the show for D.C. United much like a traditional playmaker; he lacks DeRosario's range and energy but is no less threatening in the attacking third. Both can hit free kicks; DeRosario usually crushes them, Gomez prefers to guide them.
Uruguayan Jose Cancela couldn't hold a spot in the system preached by Scotsman Steve Nicol at New England; will he pull the strings for another Scot, Mo Johnston, in Toronto? And can Andy Dorman assume a more prominent role more consistently for the Revs with Clint Dempsey gone to England? FC Dallas traded Ronnie O'Brien to Toronto FC (symmetry there, perhaps) partially because he kept insisting on sliding inside to direct the offense, yet incoming head coach Steve Morrow wants precocious youngster Ramon Nunez in the center rather than out wide.
Amado Guevara carried a lot of the playmaking load in New York, and the team's roller-coaster fortunes were tied to his streaky, sometimes temperamental, performances. If he came to play, opponents suffered. If he decided to pout or act out, look out.
Incoming Chivas USA coach Preki could cut, bend and nick the ball with the best of them, yet he maintained a high work rate despite playing into his early 40s. Zealous physical training and yoga honed his body, but Preki brought just as much focus to his game and his role. The guy who runs the show doesn't have to line up in the middle.
''A playmaker is a guy who can hurt the opposition, and who can help his team when the ball turns over,'' says Preki. ''He plays in zones on the field, as we say. He knows his teammates' roles, and he knows his own responsibilities, too. I was demanding of myself. I always think in those terms: Every player should be demanding of himself first, and his teammates next.''
Preki's first year as head coach of Chivas USA will match him with Guevara, whose wayward responsibility and commitment has blunted his remarkable skill. Preki's brilliance lasted more than two decades, and even on his poor days he could be dangerous.
''Amado is obviously a good ballhandler,'' said Preki. ''He can create, control the tempo and make others better around him. We're going to find a way for him to be effective in our system.''
SUBTYPES. The modern No. 10 comes in several subtypes: all-out attackers, such as Nowak and if he plays in midfield, Landon Donovan; the crafty yet daring schemer, like Preki and Gomez; the robust accelerator, who starts in the middle third and explodes forward, as do DeRosario and Freddy Adu; and the deeper-lying pass master, which is the role Claudio Reyna is likely to play for the Red Bulls in a different fashion than Guevara did before his arrival.
And it's hard to predict how David Beckham will fare if, as Coach Frank Yallop has stated, he moves him from the right wing spot he's flourished for more than a decade. Beckham is an outstanding player, to be sure, yet has for two decades faced either forward or inside. Beckham will be fending off opponents from all angles, learning a new league and new teammates in sapping summer heat and besieged by the forces of hyperbole, so he'll have precious little time to settle in.
''I want him in the middle of the field, handling the ball as much as possible,'' said Yallop. ''When you are a player like that, you want him the center of the action. I don't think it will be a difficult adjustment for him at all. He's a great player, no question.''
Yallop has crafted efficient midfields in MLS before. In his rookie season (2001) as head coach, he sent out Manny Lagos as an attacking midfielder from the left side, and Richard Mulrooney and Ronnie Ekelund in the middle. The Quakes conceded a league-low 29 goals and won the title.
Shifting an experienced veteran of three World Cups into a central role is much less of a gamble than what Coach John Ellinger's envisions for Adu at Real Salt Lake. Adu, who turns 18 in June, chafed under Nowak's insistence he play out wide at D.C. United. He was given a central role by U-20 coach Thomas Rongen at the CONCACAF qualifiers in January and as the MLS preseason began, Ellinger placed him at the hub of a 3-5-2 formation, which provides more cover for a playmaker than does the 4-4-2.
Ellinger has a lot of pieces to work with in midfield. Mehdi Ballouchy flashed some skill in his rookie season, Jason Kreis has to play somewhere, and there's also linchpin Carey Talley and right-sided rover Chris Klein to consider. ''Somebody's got to play out on the left at some point and we know that's not Freddy's position,'' said Ellinger. ''We'll try different things and see how it works. Right now, you know Carey's going to be in the middle and Freddy's going to be in the middle and the other two spots are open. We'll try things in preseason and hopefully we can figure it out We could play three in the back if need be.''
Ellinger did just that in an early preseason game during which he eventually moved Ballouchy into the middle. Adu has more pro seasons under his belt — he played three seasons in D.C. รป yet at 22, Ballouchy has maturity and a much sharper positional sense.
It remains to be seen if the teenager is up to the task of matching Guevara, Gomez, DeRosario, et al in the most demanding position on the field.
CLAUDIO'S BIG JOB. Replacing Guevara at Red Bull is Reyna, probably the most gifted player ever to suit up for the United States. His value, though, won't be truly measured by goals and assists and corner kicks taken. The team formerly known as the MetroStars has yet to establish itself as a winner, and for all his exploits with five foreign teams in three countries, only in Scotland with Glasgow Rangers did he lift trophies.
How many games he plays and how many points the Red Bulls accrue is the bottom line for Reyna, on whom Coach Bruce Arena used a Designated Player slot believed to be valued at more than $1 million per year in salary. His ideal role is not as an attacking midfielder per se, but as a playmaker who can also cover ground and control the middle.
Markus Schopp and Dema Kovalenko are still in the midfield mix and so is Dave van Den Bergh, acquired in a trade with Kansas City, where he played on the left side as well as up front. Kovalenko's range and tenacity are ideally suited to complement Reyna's poise and vision, and the team should also be less dysfunctional without Guevara's emotional tirades.
Experience and leadership, as much as the ideas in his head and the grace in his feet, is what Red Bull New York needs from Reyna to climb out of the mire of mediocrity it has wallowed in for most of its history. The true playmaker not only dictates the direction and tempo of play, he sets an emotional tone by what he says and what he does. He can kick-start a lethargic group, he can steady a frenzied mob.
''I'm one of many guys that needs to lead the team,'' he said a week and a half into his first MLS preseason. ''But I like what I see so far. It's easy to be a leader when the guys work hard and show up everyday and put their work in. In that situation, there's really nothing to be said and as far as giving advice, I'm always willing to do it and if they're willing to learn, then it's easy.''
(This article originally appeared in the March 2007 issue of Soccer America Magazine.)