Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
I know I'm pretty hard on New York Red Bulls coach Hans Backe. And, in this instance, I'd love to give him the benefit of the doubt, but considering his track record, it's pretty hard. From the look of it, Backe doesn't not really know how MLS roster rules work. When asked why the team cut Homegrown Players Sacir Hot and Matt Kassel, neither of whom would have counted against the salary cap, Backe said this to MLSSoccer.com: "At the moment, we just need to pick the 24, 25 best players."
Maybe Backe was just trying to come up with a better way to say, "they weren't worth the roster spot," but it's also quite possible that he honestly doesn't feel compelled to keep more than that many players despite there being absolutely zero benefit to having fewer than 28. It's not even a cost-saving measure, as MLS pays these guys, anyway.
Just to make matters worse, Backe says that the team explored some loan deals that have yet to come to fruition and that he's still hopeful the players might want to come back. If that was really the case, Backe really should have waited a little longer to cut them as they are now able to go find other opportunities. But instead of waiting until March 1 -- the day MLS teams need to be roster compliant, which apparently won't be an issue for the Red Bulls, anyway -- Backe is already in danger of losing Hot to Sporting Kansas City, who has brought him on a trial.
It really does seem to be a comedy of errors.
3 comments
Jeremiah Oshan:
Hans Backe Either Doesn't Understand MLS Roster Rules Or Is Just Playing Dumb
3
Feb 24
Comments
Astonishing
I mean, my god, a kid in Malaysia playing Football Manager knows MLS rules better than this. Insane. Ridiculous, in the original sense: Worthy of ridicule.
Makes me wonder if RedBull is even paying attention to this investment.
by Sean Spence on Feb 24, 2012 9:06 AM EST reply actions
Yup
Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I tweeted my followers to ask which I should take
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Feb 24, 2012 4:27 PM EST reply actions
Backe and Soler are both idiots
I try to avoid absolutes, but there’s no good explanation for this. Soler’s “with the talent on our roster” quote actually made me LOL. Unless NYRB was asking for some sort of ridiculous requirement in their loans – making the other club pay the wages? A super-high loan fee? – there’s no way you can’t get 2 recent USA youth internationals a year playing for a USL or NASL club.
Let me contrast this with DC United, where Conor Shanosky can’t get a game. DC isn’t about to cut him, though; they’ve been in talks with the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers for a season-long loan, but also noted that he could go on loan elsewhere in the lower leagues or even with a club in Scandinavia. That’s right: United could potentially be keeping a promising youth player and getting him games by loaning him to Backe and Soler’s back yard.
The only thing NYRB is good at beyond signing grumpy ex-Barcelona players appears to be finding new ways to make mistakes. It’s odd how so many faces have changed in that organization since 1996, but the consistent foolishness never disappears.
As a US fan, I’m actually slightly alarmed that a club pulling from one of the most talent-rich pools in the country is this poorly run at the top level. If I’m a promising NYRB academy player and I see Hot and Kassel get treated like this, a Homegrown offer suddenly doesn’t sound as good as it should. Maybe I go to college or just declare for the draft at 18, or maybe I look for a contract abroad.
Writer on SBN's DC United blog Black and Red United | @ChestRockwell14 | KEEP UNITED IN DC
by Jason Anderson on Feb 26, 2012 3:59 PM EST reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed