Contraction came as a surprise to no one. MLS was left with 10 teams in two conferences for 2002. Many former Miami and Tampa Bay players were picked up, strengthening the rosters of several teams. But contraction also left several high-profile players looking for work.
Since the fledgling days of MLS, speculation has abounded as to how many more fans the New England Revolution could draw with an exciting and competitive team.
By the time the 2002 World Cup kicks off, we should know. The Revs are the most glaring benefactors of Contraction 2002.
“Really, what would normally take five years in this league we were able to do in one day,” said Revs coach Fernando Clavijo. “You’re happy if you can add one impact player a year. So you might say we are very happy.”
Revs fans, who will bask in the comfort of new CMGI Field this season, will savor their overhauled muscle machine. It still must be road-tested – as does the shiny model in Colorado that will also be displayed in a sparkling new showroom.
“The quality from players 1-18 has improved due to contraction,” said U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena. “Let’s face it, New England and Colorado were handed a bunch of players to make them stronger, and those are traditionally the weak teams. The face of the league has changed.”
The weak got stronger, and the really weak got axed.
“The silver lining of contraction is that the level of play is going to go up across the board,” said Metros general manager Nick Sakiewicz. “Tampa Bay was really bad last year. I don’t see any team being that bad this year.”
With Mamadou Diallo, Alex Pineda Chacon and Steve Ralston moving north, the Revs should have the best team in their seven-year history. But in that regard, they are not alone. Other teams improved their situations with draft picks and trades.
But the first two weeks of January wasn’t just about big names moving. Several veteran stars were forced out because neither the salary cap (approximately $1.7 million) nor the roster limit (18 senior players) was increased.
Ex-U.S. internationals John Harkes and Eric Wynalda, MLS regulars David Vaudreuil, Jeff Causey and Chris Martinez and senior internationals Cate and Ansil Elcock were among those who were waived and not picked up in the waiver draft.
For Harkes and Wynalda, they face the choice that their former national team buddy, Tab Ramos, and Jamaican international Wolde Harris did: Play in MLS for less money, play outside the league or not play at all. Ramos and Harris took pay cuts.
HUDSON HEADS NORTH. The resuscitation of the Revs whips further turbulence into an Eastern Conference to which perennial MLS Cup challenger Chicago has been added.
New England and D.C. United – the surviving teams that missed the playoffs last year – are deeper and stronger, and the Metros look tougher, too.
United has new faces on the field – Nick Rimando in goal and Brandon Prideaux, picked up from Kansas City, on the backline – and El Ray de Metaphors as its head coach.
As GM Doug Hamilton was informing Fusion employees of the decision to eliminate Tampa Bay and Miami Jan. 9, Coach Ray Hudson bolted out of the meeting.
By the time Miami operator-investor Ken Horowitz was on a media conference call, Hudson was in a car headed for the airport, a flight north and a fresh challenge in Washington.
“I’m in love with some of the young talent on this team, I truly am,” said Hudson. “But I’ve got to find a way to get some strength and leadership into the team.
“Let’s face it, for this team with its tradition and history to miss the playoffs two straight years is unacceptable. We have no room under the cap, so we’ll have to go with what we’ve got and hope that it’s good enough.”
The major missing piece in D.C. is an experienced central defender. Hudson may find some room under the cap soon enough by cutting keeper Mike Ammann.
Ammann earns about $120,000, which is more than three times the salary of Rimando, the projected starter whom Hudson picked with the No. 3 pick in the Allocation Draft.
BEASTS IN THE EAST. The Metros have cast off their latest crop of South American failures to add Diego Serna and Marcelo Balboa.
“I’d be foolish to think that just getting another Colombian player will help us draw fans,” said Sakiewicz. “I’ll be honest. The player who is the most popular with Hispanic fans is a blond kid from Georgia [Clint Mathis]. But Diego is an exciting player, a goalscorer, one of the best in the league. I think all our fans, not just the Colombian fans, will love him, and he’ll love New York. In fact, I’m concerned that he’ll love it a little too much.”
Coach Octavio Zambrano said much the same thing just prior to jetting off for England and a meeting with former England international defender Des Walker.
If Walker crosses the pond, he and Balboa would form the core of a 4-4-2 lineup, with Daniel Hernandez as the holding midfielder and Richie Williams on the bench.
Serna joins Rodrigo Faria, Petter Villegas, Tab Ramos, Ross Paule and Mathis in a potent attacking force.
“We have a lot of options,” said Sakiewicz. “We can play three up top with Tab as the playmaker, or Clint can play there with Serna and Faria and maybe Paule.”
The Metros will need those options, since injuries cloud the futures of Mathis and Ramos.
Defenders moved in and out of Columbus, the fifth team in the East. Crew head coach Greg Andrulis traded Tenywa Bonseu to Dallas and picked up Eric Denton and 2000 Olympians Brian Dunseth and Chad McCarty with draft picks and trades.
WINGS IN THE WEST. Several Western teams filled voids on the flanks to give the division a new look. Those without width look wider.
Colorado has both sides covered with Mark Chung and Chris Henderson, two of the top flankers in MLS history. Kansas City is more left than Ralph Nader with Preki, Stephen Armstrong and Eric Quill. Neither the Rapids nor Wizards would have solved their flank foibles if contraction hadn’t come along.
Colorado also shored up the back. The Rapids picked up-and-coming American star Pablo Mastroeni with the No. 1 pick in the Allocation Draft and sent Balboa to the MetroStars for a third-round SuperDraft pick, thereby dumping Balboa’s big salary.
“We have not been strong in the tackle behind [Carlos] Valderrama,” said Rapids coach Tim Hankinson. “We need a ballwinner there who is also a skillful player who can interplay with a player like Valderrama and his touches. Pablo’s the best guy in the entire league for that, and from that standpoint, I think it’s been a great draft for us.”
Jamaican Tyrone Marshall gives the Galaxy a second Caribbean defender – along with St. Vincent & Grenadines international Ezra Hendrickson – who loves to go forward.
Coach Sigi Schmid is giving D.C. castoff Chris Albright – whom Schmid coached with the U.S. U-20s – the second chance that some young players require to bring out their best. The Galaxy also has a senior international slot open that may be filled by the flopping Guatemalan, forward Carlos Ruiz.
Dallas traded for Bonseu to shore up its backline and added another midfield digger in Josh Keller. But without further moves – the Burn has the No. 1 pick in the Feb. 10 SuperDraft – it will look much the same as it did last year.
Champion San Jose, one of the few teams with a set lineup, had the luxury of taking a chance on a young prospect, the promising Devin Barclay, with its only pick in the Florida sweepstakes.
With cap problems, Chicago had no room to pick up any players from Miami or Tampa Bay. Fire coach Bob Bradley watched as the competition got a lot tougher overnight.
“Contraction changed the dynamics completely,” said Bradley, who waived four players, including Wynalda. “Teams were able to make themselves a lot better by picking up players for nothing rather than by making trades or the SuperDraft.”
by Soccer America Senior Editors Ridge Mahoney and Will Kuhns