The MLS will not add Don Garber as a fourth chosen player after Messi.
MLS the commissioner Don Garber gave his yearly “State of the League” speech and held a news conference the day before the MLS Cup.
Every year’s speech starts with a look back at the previous twelve months, but 2023’s long list of important events felt especially important.
MLS’s new broadcast collaboration with Apple began in its first year. It was also the start of St. Louis City SC, the end of a 50-year expansion sweepstakes when San Diego was awarded team 30, the first game of the new Leagues Cup, and the season’s and game’s record-setting attendance.
2023 was a big year for Major League Soccer. They got a new TV deal, St. Louis City SC set a new standard for expansion teams, and a little-known player named Lionel Messi joined the league and helped Inter Miami win their first trophy within club history when they won a redesigned League Cup.
It’s important to be able to capitalize on that, but the extra games teams have had to play because the season was stopped so teams could play games against Mexican teams in their own country and the playoffs were made longer has hurt their strength.
In order to do that, MLS commissioner Don Garber said two important things in his yearly speech before the MLS Cup final.
In a statement on Friday, Garber ruled off one possible way of getting extra help on the squad by saying that a fourth named player would not be added.
The designated player slots are spots on the roster where teams can get stars to build around.
This is possible because only a certain portion of a DP’s salary is considered against the salary.
This means that teams can still use other funds elsewhere on the roster even if they pay those players a lot.
Garber also said that people should figure out ways to control how many games teams play. The Columbus Crew will play there 51st game of the season in the MLS Cup final, while Los Angeles FC will play their 54th.
This clearly played a role this season when Messi joined Inter Miami. After playing every three days all summer, Messi led the team to a League Cup win and a U.S. Open Cup final. But he hurt his hamstring near the end of the season and missed some time.
If Inter Miami plays more than 50 games next season with four players over the age of 35, there will be a lot of wear and tear. It’s clear that the league is planning to make some changes, but they will be to the schedule, not the squad.
These changes should be made public in the weeks that follow the owner meetings that happen after the MLS Cup.
That process is still going on. Our involvement might change at some point in the future, but there’s nothing to say about it right now.
When asked about the Open Cup, Garber said, “I said those things because I think that if we’re going to let our professional teams compete in a tournament which is the oldest competition of its kind anywhere in the country, everyone will need to embrace it to give it the profile and support that it needs.”
“What should we do if we can’t do that? We should get together and choose a new plan.” I’m glad that our competition group or U.S. Soccer have continued working together since the last U.S. Soccer board meeting. We’ve been looking for ways to improve the U.S. Open Cup so that it benefits everyone.
It wouldn’t be necessary to stop playing for foreign tournaments like the Copa America Centenario if Major League Soccer didn’t insist on scheduling its games during the hot summer months.
Once the tournament break is over and teams are back on the field, there is one clear question that needs to be answered: Who gained the most from the break?
Sporting Kansas City had a terrible 1-4-2 record in the month before the Copa America break in Major League Soccer play. The high-press masters led by Peter Vermes scored only four goals in those seven games.
The team had a 2015 MVP finalist within the middle of its lineup and a former 20-plus goal maker at the front. As you might have guessed, things weren’t going well when it was time to pause the program.
Beat FC Dallas 2-0 in their first game back after the break to get three important points toward making the playoffs in the Western Conference.
That’s right, Sporting won because of a missed call on what should have been a goal by Lawrence Olum. But that win won’t convince anyone that SKC is back to being the best team in the world because of luck and mistakes by the referee.