The State of the States | January, 2010

What does 2010 hold for American soccer? At this point, there are far more questions than answers, highlighted by the past month's focus on players in search of greener pastures and leagues in crisis.

A Question of Structure

USSF has solved the second division problem by paging Dr. Frankenstein and constructing a two-headed beast to keep the lawyers at bay (for now). Yet the NASL/USL scrum isn't the only threat facing the domestic league structure in the US. Major League Soccer faces its own crisis with the Collective Bargaining Agreement expiring at the end of this month.

Depending upon who you listen to, fans of the league should either (a) not be worried, progress is being made or (b) start erasing those early fixture dates from the calendar. But the prevailing trend seems to be towards the more negative view. Which makes it all the more confusing that the league has been so aggressive in handing out Generation Adidas contracts and signing college seniors prior to the draft.

The Winter Silly Season

The other concern with the unresolved CBA will start to become more apparent as we wend our way through the winter transfer window. How do MLS front offices go about structuring contracts and rosters, particularly in regards to foreign signings, when they don't know how the CBA will shake out and what effects it might have on contracts, the salary cap, and the nature of player movement within the league?

Of course, those operating abroad are mercifully removed from the CBA scuffle, and you have to wonder if the move of Landon Donovan, no stranger to such fights, to Everton on loan, provides a signal more clear than what we're hearing from the Players' Union and league officials. There is, after all, that small matter of a little tournament happening in June. Most of the US starting lineup is either already abroad or moving there, and you have to wonder if Donovan is hedging his bets. Having just signed a fat new contract with the league, you wouldn't expect him to be hunting a transfer like he was last year with Bayern Munich...

Outside of Donovan, the other moves of major significance to the national team (we'll put that qualifying "major" in place to deflect any "what about EJ and Adu to Aris?" concerns) surround the futures of (former?) Houston Dynamo midfielders Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden. Clark is heading abroad, it's just a matter of where he lands at this point. Holden's future is more uncertain. The league wants him back, but interest from England may tempt him to leave. With Owen Coyle leaving Burnley, who seem to be targeting Holden, might we be about to witness Feilhaber 2.0?

Looking Ahead

All of which leaves us with little in the way of answers. So what questions should we be asking over the next month?

• What happens with the CBA and what effect does it have on MLS clubs' acquisitions?
• With the uncertainty surrounding the CBA, does the SuperDraft take on added importance?
• Who will stand out in the January camp and work their way into (or keep themselves in) Bob Bradley's consideration for the final 23 he's going to take to South Africa?
• Was DaMarcus Beasley's brief December flowering for Rangers an aberration or evidence of the prodigal winger's return?
• Will Maurice Edu and/or Jermaine Jones ever be healthy enough to challenge for spots in Bradley's 23?