Gabriel Fuentes Manhattan Beach, Calif. I have heard over the last 3 years about the ‘system’ that Bruce Arena uses for his teams. What is interesting is that I have heard some players say that any player can be brought in to play the system– which seems to make the system independent of the players on the team. Could you please shed some light on this system and how it works. Is this a new innovation or something that has been used by others before? Mike Woitalla: Bruce Arena has told me that his main objective is to have his best soccer players on the field. The term “system,” when it comes to Arena, may be misleading if one considers it synonymous to a lineup formation. While many of Arena’s teams, at the various levels he’s coached, use a 3-5-2, his players tend to move around as needed during the course of the game. And when he finds that reaching his objective of getting his best 11 on the field requires a different formation, he will go to a 4-4-2, or whatever. I think the reason players fit so well into Arena’s teams is not so much because they are slotted into positions within a formation, but because his general ideas about how the game should be played are conveyed very clearly. Is what Arena does new and innovative? Probably not. However, it may be unique in a world where coaches complicate matters by drawing up complex schemes or pseudo-scientific theories that de-emphasize players’ individuality. More simply put, Arena appreciates that soccer is a players’ game, and that the key to success is the players’ talent. When Arena was the University of Virginia coach, I believe he was so much more successful than other coaches because he recruited players based on their overall talent, while his counterparts would recruit players whom they imagined would fill a specific position. The Arena system probably has a lot to do with how he treats his players. A common complaint about players toward coaches is that they don’t know exactly what is expected of them, or where they stand within the team. About Arena, they say he is consistently honest and direct. Hank Jersey City, N.J. Could you tell me how much MLS is making on its current TV deal. I thought is was $5 million for the entire contract (6 years) but someone else wrote me saying it was $5 million per year totaling $30 million. If that’s true how can MLS still be losing $20 million a year? Also, you often report that MLS TV ratings are comparable to the NHL’s, but I don’t recall you pointing out that the NHL is in 23 markets and that MLS is in 12. Isn’t this significant and encouraging given that ABC just gave them a $600 million deal? With expansion into a few more key markets isn’t is plausible that MLS could expect a third to half of what the NHL received? Ridge Mahoney: The TV figures will vary each year, depending on how much is sold for advertising and sponsorships tied into the TV package. MLS gets a share of these revenues, and does not absorb production costs of the broadcasts as it did in the first two years. And, there is not a set length for the contract itself — it will run at least four years, and could run longer, depending on how the parties assess its conditions. The deal can be renegotiated after the third year, I believe. MLS can lose money since it generates very little broadcast revenue, gets little or no money from concessions and parking, seldom receives any portion of luxury-box income, doesn’t sell all that much merchandise, and teams split ticket revenue 50-50 with the league. Expenses in many cities are high. The Metros pay more than $100,000 per game to rent the Meadowlands, and get virtually nothing from peripheral revenue streams (concessions, parking, luxury boxes, etc.). Don’t hold up the NHL as a model for success. Collectively, it lost nearly $200 million last season, and the tepid ratings for MLS games isn’t likely to extract huge rights fees from ABC or anybody else. The only competition would most likely be from Fox, and most MLS regional broadcasts are already carried on Fox systems. The ESPN ratings tend to cluster, not surprisingly, in league markets. Because MLS has only 12 cities, its national “footprint” is very small, and aside from possible expansion cities like Houston and Philadelphia, the TV ratings are very low in non-league cities. For more info, see our feature on MLS finances in the October 26, 1998 issue of SA. Kenya Brown College Park, Md. With transfer of Ronald and Frank De Boer from Ajax to Barcelona does it seem more likely that Ajax will bring John O’Brien back for the 1999-2000 season? Through the reports that I have read he is doing very well at Utrecht and is one of the top young players in the Dutch League. It has also come to my attention that Utrecht are also interested in buying him from Ajax. You don’t think Ajax will let him go that easy as there is a vacancy in the midfield now? Pete Bailey: Well, Kenya, you’re certainly correct that O’Brien has been one of the top players in the Dutch league. He was named the top rookie by one publication at the end of the fall, and was ranked in the top 35 or so of all players in the ere-divisie. Unfortunately, a nagging toe injury that kept him out of the U.S. training camp and friendly matches in January continues to sideline him. He missed Utrecht’s rematch against Ajax in the ArenA last weekend. I agree that with the departure of the De Boers and Jari Litmanen (apparently headed to Barcelona as well), there are some holes in the Dutch lineup. Since O’Brien is only on loan to Utrecht, he would return to Ajax for next season unless the club sells him. There was a rumored deal in the works that would allow Utrecht to keep O’Brien in exchange for giving up occasional Dutch international striker Michael Mols, who scored twice for Utrecht at the ArenA. However, with young South African Benni McCarthy playing well (he had a hat trick in the same match — a 5-2 Ajax win), Ajax may well let the season play out and bring O’Brien back for next year. I think it will, but we’ll have to see. Nick Hastings New Orleans Is Diego Gutierrez of the Chicago Fire an American citizen? I’d also like to know his soccer background before coming to MLS. I understand he was born in Colombia and does not count as a foreigner. If he is an American, have you heard if Arena is at all interested in calling him up for a look? I know Arena recently said strength on the left side of the field is lacking on the national team. Paul Kennedy: I’m not sure of Diego’s citizenship status, although, as you say, he does not count as a foreigner for MLS purposes. He came to the United States, more precisely Missouri, as a high school exchange student and stayed to go to college, first Evansville, then NAIA Rockhurst. There is a question about his eligibility — he supposedly played for Colombia’s U-20s or U-17s — and we’re not sure it U.S. Soccer has determined if he is even eligible. Paul Barker Stoke-on-Trent, England I am an avid supporter of Stoke City who play in the English league. Back in 1967 they were invited to take part in the inaugural season of the U.S. Soccer League, where they adopted the name Cleveland Stokers. I am trying to locate any matchday programs relating to the Cleveland Stokers for the aforementioned season. If anyone could help me with this request I would be most grateful. Ridge Mahoney: Cleveland played in the United Soccer Association, a league of 12 teams imported from foreign leagues in the same year as the National Professional Soccer League also started. Those leagues merged to form the NASL the following year. I’d contact the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame (607-432-3351) to see what memorabilia sources they have used from that year. You might also contact Stoke City itself, and find out which players who came to the States that year are available. Posting your inquiry on soccer sites and chat rooms might also generate some responses. Good luck!