Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Identifying the next Rossi

Giuseppe Rossi is providing the latest evidence that there is plenty of soccer-playing talent in the U.S. The downfall of the national team, and the MLS, though, is a lack of ability to identify and develop young players.

U.S. administrators and coaches often fail to project the future of players. And the U.S. soccer system lags behind those of Europe and South America.

Let's use Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as examples. Both Messi (Barcelona) and Ronaldo (Sporting Lisbon) were recruited to clubs as 12-year-olds. Messi, like Rossi, was slight of build; in fact, he was given steroids because it was thought he could be suffering from a physical defect which stunted his growth.

Rossi also got into the club system as a 12-year-old, leaving New Jersey for Parma. Scouts at Barcelona, Parma, and Sporting recognized the innate talents of these players, making that a priority over size and strength. Ronaldo matured early physically. Messi and Rossi will never be much bigger or stronger than they were when they were in their late teens, but their exceptional savvy and skill more than compensate for lack of size.

The MLS' recently-established development program is a crucial step toward recruiting young talent. MLS teams must have incentive to bring in promising youngsters, or else the Rossi-type players will continue to either get away or simply not be given a chance.

Rossi's transfer for 11 million euros from Manchester United to Villareal two years ago is a record move for a U.S.-born player, one which will likely be broken the next time he moves. After scoring twice in Italy's 3-1 win over the U.S. in Rustenburg Monday, Rossi, 22, has established himself as a key part of the Azzurri for next year's World Cup.

The last U.S.-born player to score for Italy was Alfonso Negro, in a 2-1 win over Norway Aug. 10, 1936 during the Berlin Olympics. Negro was born in Clinton, Ind., near Terre Haute, returning to Italy with his family as a youngster and performing for Fiorentina.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Can Real Madrid afford to overspend?

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez apparently has the financial resources to pay record transfer fees. Perez’ Grupo ACS (Actividades de construccion y servicios) provides infrastructure improvements globally. Among ACS’ latest projects is rebuilding the entire high tension wiring system of the United Arab Emirates.

But rivals are questioning Real Madrid’s payments for Cristiano Ronaldo (94 million euros) from Manchester United and Kaka’ (67.2 million euros) from Milan, plus plans to spend another 150 million euros, possibly on Xavi Alonso (Liverpool), Maicon (Inter), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), and David Villa (Valencia). Barcelona president Joan Laporta said the Real Madrid spending spree is distorting market values. And, the economy in Spain is suffering, as it is in most of the world, making it difficult to justify spending mega-sums.

Spain, though, has an advantage over other countries in attracting players, since clubs are allowed to carry major debts. Another attraction for high-earners is that Spain has a much lower tax on wages than England or Italy.

Real’s debt is listed at 562 million euros. Spain’s La Liga clubs are carrying 3.4 billion euros of debt.

UEFA president Michel Platini proposes that clubs’ finances must be balanced, or they will risk being barred from Champions League play. Barcelona, which has 439 million euros in debts, and Real Madrid would not pass that UEFA test; but it is difficult to believe either club will not be competing for next season’s European title.

Perez is attempting to duplicate the success he brought Real Madrid after the arrival Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane, creating the Galacticos earlier this decade. But Perez might be overdoing it -- again. Real Madrid began to decline partly because of its inflated salary structure, losing Claude Makelele to Chelsea.

Kaka' and a couple of central defenders would have been sufficient this time around, especially since Real Madrid has lost Fabio Cannavaro.

Here is a list of the all-time top transfer fees (in euros):

1) 94M – C. Ronaldo (Manchester Utd./Real Madrid) 2009;
2) 68.8M – Zinedine Zidane (Juventus/Real Madrid) 2001;
3) 67.2M – Kaka’ (Milan/Real Madrid) 2009;
4) 55.8M – Figo (Barcelona/Real Madrid) 2000;
5) 53.6M – Hernan Crespo (Parma/Lazio) 2000;
6) 51.1M – Robinho (Real Madrid/Manchester City) 2008;
7) 49.2M – Gianluigi Buffon (Parma/Juventus) 2001.

It should be noted both Ronaldo and Figo were developed by Sporting Lisbon.