Good News, Bad News, Links

The good news for TFC head coach John Carver, and anyone else hoping to see a big-name player hustling for the home team at BMO Field next season: the MLSE board of directors gave TFC permission to sign a designated player for the 2009 season.

Provided they can find one and convince him to play here.

Now the bad news.

REUTERS FILE PHOTO

This would be an example of good for Chad Barrett and TFC.

Just received a press release from TFC announcing that the U.S. men's national team has invited both forward Chad Barrett and goalkeeper Brian Edwards to a five-day training camp in Denver, just ahead of the team's final World Cup qualifier Nov. 19 against Guatemala.

While it's a wonderful development for Barrett and Edwards, and proof of how their games have progressed since joining TFC, Carver can't be too happy to see two more of his young standouts wind up in a national team player pool. Even on the busiest of FIFA match days last season, when international call-ups gutted the roster and forced TFC to field a semi-pro (Ricky Titus) and a team scout (Tim Regan), Carver knew Barrett and Edwards would still be there.

In fairness, today's training camp invite is hardly a guarantee that either man will suit up for the U.S. national team regularly. With his squad already through to the next round of World Cup qualifying, head coach Bob Bradley can afford to tinker with his lineup and evaluate players previously ignored. Bradley might decide next week that he never needs to see Barrett or Edwards again and send them back to Toronto for good.

Still, Carver has to be wondering what he can do -- besides sabotage -- to keep his players off national team call-up lists.

TWO LINKS

One: A great read from the New York Times about Real Salt Lake midfielder (and Toronto native) Andy Williams, his wife, Marcia, and the way the local community has rallied to support her as she battles leukemia.

Two: Landon Donovan is heading back to Germany for a week-long training session with Bayern Munich. Our friend Ives Galarcep relays the news from a German website, and thinks Donovan's trip overseas could turn into something long-term.

This off-season just keeps getting better for the Galaxy, doesn't it?

-- Morgan Campbell

Re-igniting the DP debate

As I type this post the folks who run TFC are meeting with the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment board of directors trying to figure out, among other things, how to spend the money in 2009.

More specifically, today's meeting is where Mo Johnston et al make the case to the MLSE board that Toronto FC needs to sign a designated player for the 2009 season.

Johnston has talked about making the move for a while, and even hinted when training camp opened on a snowy day last February that TFC might spring for a DP before the 2008 season ended. We all know that didn't happen. Instead, TFC spent yet another season with a roster in constant flux as the team slumped early, surged in the springtime, then disappeared for most of the summer before rallying late.

Granted, the team managed 10 more points (35) and nine more goals (34) than they collected in 2007, but after a preseason in which most people connected with the team saw the playoffs not just as a goal but as the squad's chief objective, TFC missed the postseason for the second straight year.

So I guess the question is, would one player -- albeit a (theoretically) wonderfully talented and motivated DP with a seven-figure salary and a point to prove -- have made the difference?

John Carver thinks so.

As autumn wore on, attention turned to what the 2009 roster might look like. Carver became increasingly prone to post-practice rants about the type of player he wanted to see here next year: young guys with plenty of "bollocks" ... or "bullocks"... whichever one translates to what Chuck Swirsky calls "onions."

He also said he'd quit his gig at TFC if the team didn't prove to fans (and itself) that it was serious about winning by signing a DP.

Was he serious? Maybe not completely, but he made it clear which side of the designated player debate he inhabits.

As for me, I'm still not sold. Last season I pointed out repeatedly that most of the league's leading teams, and the two that met in the MLS Cup final, were DP-free. To me, the evidence suggested that you'll accomplish more in this league fielding 11 high-quality, mid-price players than you will by supplementing a group of scrubs with one superstar.

This year's playoff landscape looks a little different. Of the final four MLS teams, two (New York and Chicago) have a DP on their roster.

But a third team, Columbus, has Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who gives them DP-level play at Laurent Robert prices.

And the fourth, Real Salt Lake, produced lacklustre results until an infusion of moderately priced Argentine talent energized the club late in the 2007 season.

You could argue that the right DP -- ie: one who could score consistently -- could have gained Toronto at least four extra points, which was the margin by which they missed the playoffs. You could argue that and you'd probably be right.

But if I'm running a club, I'd rather build a 40-plus point squad first, and then sign a DP. Then those extra four points might make the difference between third place and first, and a few well-timed goals might be the difference between a strong playoff run and an MLS Cup.

I'm not running the team, though, and I'm not the one eager to show the fans who fill my stadium every week that I really am serious about building a winner and not satisfied simply collecting their cash.

However, if I were trying to build a winner I'd start with plenty of mid-priced talent and finish with a DP.

TWO LINKS

First, if you haven't seen it please check out Ronaldinho's golazo from last week's UEFA Cup game between AC Milan and Sporting Braga.

Amazing.

Second, looks like David Beckham isn't just too busy for MLS this winter. He's also too busy for Salma Hayek, who hasn't been able to connect with Beck despite dropping $350,000 for a one-hour soccer lesson from the L.A. Galaxy's golden boy. The soccer lesson was part of a charity auction they both participated in, so I really can't figure out what's wrong with Beckham. I understand he's married and busy, but if I were him I'd make time for Salma Hayek... I mean for charity.

-- Morgan Campbell

Election day links

Happy election day folks.

Is it me or are Canadians paying way more attention to Obama vs. McCain than they paid to the federal election north of the border last month?

Anyway, I'm hoping you guys can navigate away from MSNBC and Fox News long enough to enjoy a few interesting MLS related links.

First, the Sports Business Journal is reporting that MLS attendance and TV ratings both dipped during year two of the Beckham Experiment.

Next, we check in on former New York Red Bulls phenom Jozy Altidore, who scored in the 90th minute of Villareal's 4-1 win over Atletico Bilbao, making him the first American to score a goal in Spain's top division. Nevertheless, it still looks like Villareal is looking to loan him in the new year.

And finally, Steven Goff of the Washington Post urges you to Rock the Vote, MLS style.

OK.

You can go back to tracking the election now.

I know I am.

-- Morgan Campbell

This isn't a Beckham Blog, but.....

First, let me apologize for the the sheer paucity of posts recently. Between personal matters and in-house multimedia training I was off the TFC scene for much of October, and since people around the office aren't exactly lining up to write about MLS the blog suffered.

If there's good news to come from all that, it's this: Now that I'm an officially Toronto Star-trained multimedia journalist, I should be able to add some original video to the TFC blog next season.

Should be fun. Stay tuned.

But enough about me. I know you guys clicked on this page because you want to talk Beckham.

Last time we spoke somebody (it still wasn't clear who) was negotiating a deal for him to spend the winter on loan AC Milan. Back then Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said what most of us were thinking -- that the deal made no sense for L.A.

Late last week, however, Arena either changed his mind or had his mind changed for him, because by the time he spoke to Sky Sports he thought the loan was a "fantastic" move.

Then today we get this from Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl, who learned that Beckham's MLS contract contains a clause that allows him to opt out after year three of his five-year contract.

That's big news.

If you're keeping count, 2009 will be Beckham's third MLS season.

Most of us figured Becks wouldn't have agreed to a deal with MLS unless it contained an exit ramp, but getting someone with knowledge of the deal to confirm it is huge.

If I wore hats I'd take mine off to Wahl.

Anyway, Grant seems to think this contract loophole portends Beckham's early exit from MLS and I can't say I disagree. I'm sure when he signed on two years ago he didn't foresee playing for a low-level team in a league that still isn't Major in the North American sports landscape. When you're slogging through yet another loss, enduring 100-degree weather in half-empty stadiums, the big stages in Europe must seem pretty tempting.

As for the league, the two most pressing questions to arise from this latest Beckham situation concern MLS.

First, what does it say about a league when even during the midst of their playoffs the biggest story is the guy who's not playing?

And second, if Beckham does indeed bounce after the 2009 season, and if MLS hasn't by then achieved an NHL level of prominence in the U.S., can Beckham's tenure be considered anything other than a failure?

How early is too early to discuss these things?

-- Morgan Campbell

Bye-bye Beckham?

Anyone here surprised that after a a season and a half in the U.S. (and a full season near the bottom of Major League Soccer), Mr. Beckham is preparing to head back across the pond, albeit temporarily?

Yeah, me neither.

Whether this is a prelude to his permanent departure still isn't clear. MLS officials swear Becks will be back in the Galaxy lineup when the 2009 regular season kicks off, and we have no reason to doubt them, do we?

I mean, there's absolutely no possible chance that he could, say, pick up an injury over the winter that might delay his return to MLS in the spring... right? Nothing like that has ever happened to Beckham, has it?

Exactly.

So MLS is in the clear, and comfortable knowing their most valuable asset is 100% safe playing in Serie A.

But what about the rest of us? Are we any closer to knowing where this loan deal came from and where it's headed?

Not yet.

Both the league and the team issued resounding "no comments" when asked about the prospective Beckham loan.

Still, a closer look at what's already been published should give you a few clues about who didn't cook up this deal.

Here's the story published Wednesday on Major League Soccer's website.

Note that while the headline claims the Galaxy is negotiating with AC Milan over Beckham's services, the story contains no quotes from Galaxy officials.

Which makes sense when you consider that a few hours before the official MLS story hit the Internet, Galaxy head coach and GM Bruce Arena -- the guy who, presumably, would be deeply involved in any transaction involving one of his players -- didn't know a thing about the proposed loan until earlier that day.

If you didn't click on the link, here's the money quote:

"The first I heard about it was today . . . but I would think [given] the position the Galaxy is in and [the fact that] we're rebuilding our team and trying to have a successful year, it would seem very odd to me if we were loaning out our top players at the start of the season. It would seem pretty odd to me to operate that way."

So clearly this move didn't come from the Galaxy.

Interesting that the story's author, L.A. Times soccer writer Grahame Jones, thinks it's time the Galaxy jettisoned Beckham.

I'm not sure I'd go that far yet, but I don't think I'm off base in saying that Arena echoes what a lot of people thought when they first heard about the deal.

The loan's benefits to Beckham are pretty clear:

A paycheque to carry him though the lean off-season months.

A chance to train daily with some of the world's top players.

An inside track on a spot on England's national team.

But what will MLS get out of this loan besides a setback in their efforts to become a true major league and a winter filled with worry that their moneymaker might get hurt?

Oh, right.

They get to keep their highest-paid player happy by giving him exactly what he wants.

And right now he wants to spend the winter playing in Europe.

If you were running Major League Soccer, would you be the one to tell Beckham no?

-- Morgan Campbell

 

New motivation ... and a Ruud awakening

New Motivation

Four days before their final home game of the season, TFC split their squad for Tuesday's practice.

While reserve team players like Gabe Gala and part-time senior teamers like Abdus Ibrahim hit the field for a full-fledged practice, other members of the main roster worked indoors with strength coach Paul Winsper.

Tuesday practices haven't always been this way, but TFC hasn't lost since they switched to this routine two weeks ago, so head coach John Carver is reluctant to change back.

"We're trying to follow the pattern that's gotten us four points out of six," Carver said as the reserves ran through drills under a grey skies Tuesday morning. "It should be six points out of six, if I'm being honest."

The last half of that quote, of course, refers to the two points TFC squandered when a Julius James' foul led to Kenny Cooper's injury time penalty kick, which he knocked past Greg Sutton to tie Saturday night's game in Dallas.

No penalty and TFC has 34 points, tying them with DC United.

Instead they're stuck at 32, the same total as the almighty L.A. Galaxy, though TFC outranks Beckham's boys in the overall standings thanks to a pair of springtime victories over L.A.

Still, with two ties bracketing their win in New York, TFC has now earned points in three straight games. It's their most successful stretch since their six-game unbeaten streak last spring, and cause for celebration when contrasted with the mediocrity that defined their summer.

TFC's recent success, modest as  it is, prompts one obvious question:

Where have these performances been all year?

Carver attributes the team's improved play to a few factors, like Danny Dichio's health and Chad Barrett's growing familiarity with his new teammates.

He also says the approaching off-season gives players a little more incentive to perform. With Seattle set to enter the league next season, MLS teams can only protect 11 players from the expansion draft, while making the rest of their squad available. Beyond that, Carver has spoken openly for months about upgrading at several positions before next season starts, and thinks the looming reality of job insecurity makes the team's incumbent players hustle a little harder.

"I've been delighted (with the team's recent play)," he said. "They're playing for their contracts and they know that."

A Ruud Awakening

Former L.A. Galaxy manager Ruud Gullit visited Los Angeles over the weekend. While there he conducted an interview with Reuters in which he accused the more established American sports of conspiring to limit soccer's popularity in the U.S. He thinks this conspiracy is powerful enough to nullify any boost in popularity David Beckham might bring to stateside soccer.

Here's the money quote.

"David is more than just a football player and I think he does extremely well to give football here a lift," Gullit told Reuters. "I think [American soccer organizers] are afraid of football because it's so popular everywhere around the world. I think they will just control it so it doesn't become more popular than their American sports.

"I have my doubts if they really want to make [soccer] popular. Some sports already have had a bit of a dive so they don't want American football to become less popular, or basketball or baseball."

   I didn't witness the interview but I assume Gullit said all that with a straight face.

The idea that American football outlets would need to engage in a conspiracy to contain soccer's popularity is laughable.

This summer CBS agreed to pay the Southeastern conference $55 million annually for the broadcast rights to SEC football and basketball games, then in August ESPN offered a further $150 million a year to show SEC games on cable.

If you live in the U.S. Midwest you can watch all the SEC action you can stomach, plus College Sports TV on digital cable and the Big Ten Network on basic cable.

Add it all up and I can only conclude that sports like football and college basketball are as popular as they've ever been in the U.S. and aren't exactly worried about Major League Soccer siphoning away fans.

The NHL, maybe, but football's doing just fine. Maybe Gullit would understand that if he had coached into autumn.

Before I continue, I'll acknowledge that Gullit is not the only guy who suspects there's a conspiracy to keep soccer out of the (North) American sports mainstream. Some Star readers have accused me of being part of that conspiracy myself, so to a certain extent I understand where Gullit's coming from.

But as a guy who has interviewed Ruud, I can't reconcile his words with his refusal to discuss Beckham when I visited an L.A. Galaxy practice in mid-April. I was there working on a story about The Beckham Effect, but Gullit deflected every question I asked about his star player, electing instead to talk about the team.

From a coaching standpoint I understand his reluctance to single out individuals. I would also understand if he felt that a true soccer fan -- and anyone trying to become one -- pays attention to the entire game, and not just one player.  But from a marketing standpoint everyone associated with the Galaxy understands by now that Beckham pays the bills, and when reporters arrive from out of town, it's usually because they want to talk about him.

Gullit knew the drill in April but he refused to do the dance, but now in October he's suddenly concerned about Beckham's ability to "give football here a lift."

Strange.

-- Morgan Campbell

Another chapter in coaches' rants

1.  Rants

As we've discussed on the blog before, Toronto FC head coach John Carver blows up at reporters from time to time.

STAR PHOTO

Excited Carver.

I didn't think it was that bad, even when Carver directed his frustration at me.

And Friday we received another reminder that the relationship between coaches and the media can become much more tense than it will ever be on the TFC beat.

This latest manager-media meltdown comes from Carver's old club, Newcastle United, where new manager Joe Kinnear engaged in a lively, profane sparring session with local reporters, who he suspects are already trying to get him fired.

Before I post the link, understand that it includes a slew of swear words. They're all bleeped out, but I figured our more squeamish readers would appreciate the warning.

Anyway, here it is, via this reporter's favourite sports blog, The Big Lead.

On my all time list of anti-media rants it ranks way above the jabs Carver threw at local reporters this summer, one because nobody (including Carver) took that rant personally, while listening to Kinnear you get the sense that he's half a second away from doing something he'll regret.

And second, Kinnear's rant includes both f-bombs and threats of a lawsuit.

Make that three lawsuits.

That's not just a coach blowing off steam. The man has a grudge and he intends to see it through.

Still, it rises no higher than third on my all-time list of coach-versus-reporter tirades.

Silver medal goes to former Kansas City Royals manager Hal McRae, who tosses f-bombs and telephones with equal ease in this tantrum, touched off when a reporter had the nerve to ask if he had considered using George Brett as a pinch-hitter.

And gold goes to Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy's post-game lambasting of a local columnist last autumn.

Not only does Gundy utter one of they year's most quotable one-liners -- "I'm a man! I'm 40!" -- but he points out (correctly) that editors are as responsible as reporters are for what hits the paper. Now, I've never read the column in question, so I'm not sure if Gundy has a legitimate beef about bad journalism or if he simply doesn't like the story. But I give him credit for knowing at least a little about how newspapers work. Kinnear, in contrast, rips a reporter over an offensive headline.

*Note to readers: reporters don't write headlines. Copy editors do.

More than anything, though, Gundy outpaces McRae and Kinnear because he delivers a three-minute tirade without swearing once.

That, folks, takes skill.

2. Back to MLS

Earlier this season we discussed the MLS salary cap, and how teams like Toronto FC could win more games for less money if they emulated teams like New England and got some production out of the guys at the bottom of the pay scale.

This week SI.com's Greg Lalas offers his take on Major League Soccer's salary structure.

His argument?

That expanding the salary cap raises the league's level of play, not by allowing them to sign more superstars, but by enabling them to sign high-quality mid-level (American) players who normally bypass MLS for other leagues.

3. This Just In

Just about to spell check and post this entry when an email arrives from the Canadian Soccer Association, detailing its roster for the next two World Cup Qualifiers (Oct. 11 in Honduras and Oct. 15 against Mexico in Edmonton).

If you clicked the link you picked it up, but if you didn't I'll inform you that John Carver will have a little less to complain about this time around, because neither Jim Brennan nor Greg Sutton was named to the national team roster.

The national team is not completely TFC-free, with midfielder Kevin Harmse getting the call, but I'm sure Carver would rather lose one backup than two starters.

With Pat Onstad also left off the roster and Adrian Serioux and Dwayne De Rosario sidelined because of yellow cards, Harmse is the only MLS player with a chance to play for Canada next week.

-- Morgan Campbell

The news on Ruiz' knee...

...Isn't too bad if you're a Carlos Ruiz fan, and I assume he has a few of those in Toronto, even if he isn't scoring like he was six years ago.

After sitting out Tuesday's practice, Ruiz spent Thursday morning on the sideline pedalling a stationary bike while his teammates scrimmaged.

Two days ago he underwent an MRI scan that revealed no major damage to his chronically sore and (twice) surgically repaired right knee. Head coach John Carver said the scan found nothing more serious than a slightly misaligned kneecap, which he says Ruiz can correct within weeks, or even days, if he rehabs properly.

But Carver is sure that Ruiz, who is still sitting on 82 career goals, won't play on Saturday against the Houston Dynamo. He's confident Ruiz can return this season, but says the striker won't see the field in a game situation until he's 100 percent healthy.

Speaking of healthy, I'm enjoying the discussion that followed the previous post.

I understand how Ruiz' perceived lack of effort might turn off a lot of fans, but at this point this reporter is reserving judgment. Clearly Ruiz' knee isn't right these days. When it feels good he plays well -- witness his two goals against Cuba in World Cup qualifying -- but who knows if his knee will be pain-free this season?

For me, the issue isn't why TFC acquired him, because if you can add a big-name player to your roster while surrendering very little, you do it, even if that player appears to be a few years past the top of his game.

My issue is whether he was healthy when TFC acquired him.

Now, his knee issues are no secret. If TFC didn't know about the meniscus surgery last season, they surely knew about the MCL operation in April.

According to the folks at TFC, a medical exam is a mandatory part of any transaction. If you bring a player in, he has to pass a physical to make the transaction complete, and if you place him on waivers you give him another physical before he leaves the team.

Those are the rules, and Ruiz underwent a physical before suiting up for TFC against Chivas on Aug. 31. Clearly TFC was satisfied with the result or they would have voided the deal.

But just because the team was satisfied with the condition of Ruiz's knee doesn't mean Ruiz was fully healthy.

And again, it doesn't appear that anyone, Ruiz included, anticipated how Ruiz tender knee would react to daily training on turf, plus league games, plus national team duty.

I guess the sight of Ruiz on the sidelines, riding an exercise bike while everyone else prepares to play Houston, gives everyone their answer.

MORE MLS ISSUES

An interesting blog post arrived in my inbox this afternoon, via Soccer America Magazine.

According to the U.S. National Team Players' Association, there are 11 major issues facing Major League Soccer in the immediate future, and the Great White North is one of them:

8. Canada: Jingoism aside, Major League Soccer was developed to help improve the US National Team program.  Though it's obvious that motivation has changed to reflect a sports league for its own sake, the push north has to be considered an issue.

Let's start with an easily dismissed point: it violates the FIFA ideal of one league per country.  The exceptions are countries that can't support their own domestic league.  Though Canada has a history of joining US clubs in every major team sport, it's an issue that so many potential Canadian cities are now expansion targets.  Simply put, if that many are willing to buy in, why isn't there a Canadian first division?

First, for the Canadians reading that passage, there's no need to put the author's jingoism aside. Instead, accept it and move on. This blog comes from the players union of the U.S. national team, so expect its slant to favour Uncle Sam.

Second, the author's patriotism seems to have morphed into a mild case of xenophobia. Besides Toronto, three other Canadian cities (Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver) are interested in an MLS franchise, but how many of these bids does anyone really expect to succeed? One? Two at most? It's not like MLS will need a Canadian Conference any time soon.

And to address the author's point, even if there were four Canadian cities capable of supporting MLS franchises, that would hardly necessitate "Canadian First Division" separate from MLS. I mean who wants to watch the same teams face off week after week after week?

OK, CFL fans do, but this is soccer.

Finally, whoever writes this blog forgets that league rules force even Canadian teams to carry at least five U.S. players, meaning Major League Soccer's original mandate -- developing American players -- remains intact even when the league crosses borders.

As John Carver will point out in a few weeks when he loses a slew of players to World Cup qualifying, playing in Canada didn't stop Marvell Wynne from developing into a full U.S. international from an intriguing prospect.

The U.S. national team will prosper as long as MLS is thriving.

Even if it's north of the border.

-- Morgan Campbell

What's With Ruiz' Knee?

The folks at Toronto FC thought striker Carlos Ruiz had recovered from a season's worth of knee problems when they acquired him from the L.A. Galaxy last month, but now it looks like they thought wrong.

Ruiz, who sat out last Thursday's practice a day after having fluid drained from his right knee, spent this morning's practice on the sidelines, his knee bothering him once again. Last weekend he dealt with the discomfort and played 54 minutes in TFC's 2-0 loss to the Kansas City Wizards. This morning, though, his knee didn't feel right, and though Ruiz couldn't pinpoint the problem he hoped an MRI scheduled for Tuesday afternoon could.

"It's hard to say (what's wrong)," Ruiz said. "I can tell you more tomorrow."

Ruiz' knee issues date back to last season at FC Dallas, with a torn meniscus and subsequent surgery. After moving to the L.A. Galaxy to start the season, Ruiz suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in the same knee in April, leading to another operation and sidelining him for more than two months.

A former league MVP, Ruiz recorded just three starts in 10 games with the Galaxy, scoring once.

But by late August he was healthy enough for the Galaxy to trade him to TFC, and his knee held up through his TFC debut at Chivas and three World Cup qualifiers. He even scored twice to lead Guatemala to a 4-1 win over Cuba.

Now, though, Ruiz wonders if his tender right knee can withstand such a heavy workload.

"Playing with the national team and playing here sometimes (the knee) is a little bit tired," he said.

If TFC wants Ruiz to survive the season they'll have to figure out how to manage his minutes in the coming weeks. In addition to league games the next two Saturdays -- on turf, no less! -- Ruiz has World Cup qualifiers scheduled for the 11th and 15th of October.

And let's remember that this is a player with chronic knee problems who is undergoing an MRI momentarily. If the examination yields bad news, TFC won't have to worry about managing his minutes.

They'll just have to figure out how to replace him.

-- Morgan Campbell

TFC Heading South?

As of this past Monday MLS rosters are frozen, meaning teams can't transfer, make trades or sign free agents, but that doesn't mean TFC director of soccer Mo Johnston's work is done for the season.

With an eye on next year, he recently made a scouting trip to South America, and Thursday he returned to TFC practice full of hope amid big talk about building strong networks in Brazil and Argentina.

Of course, he said similar things last year when he made a scouting mission to South America, but a quick scan of their current roster reveals exactly zero South American players.

This isn't to say that Johnston is wasting his time and MLSE's money with his annual pilgrimages to Brazil and Argentina. But it looks like bringing South American talent to BMO Field is a lot like installing natural grass there -- a noble goal, but much more complex than it seems.

Johnston himself acknowledged that the trips aren't so much about signing players for today as they are about finding pipelines of young talent that TFC can tap tomorrow.

"I'm not looking at guys who are 33 or 34," Johnston said, adding that his targets are between 19 and 21. "It's important that we establish ourselves within that market, even if we don't take anything this year."

Might be a smart move, since most folks who follow MLS agree that South American signings generally yield more player for less money than European free agents do.

You can't deny that Real Salt Lake's play improved when they added Argentines Javier Morales ($240,000) and Fabian Espindola ($75,000) last summer.

On a recent story about head coach John Carver's promise to sign a designated player, a commenter points out correctly that Guillermo Barros Schelotto gives Columbus DP-type play (a league-high 18 assists) but doesn't cost close to DP money ($375,000).

Not to suggest that Laurent Robert exemplifies all European signings, but the former French international and Derby County castoff made 90 percent of Schelotto's salary while delivering, say, 15 percent of his production.

While revealing that he planned to make at least one more trip to South America between now and January, Johnston stressed that he wasn't going there looking for the designated player he and Carver have been discussing with the media lately.

He said the DP he has in mind comes from someplace considerably colder than Brazil.

"Preferably I'd like him to be Canadian. That's all I'm saying," Johnston said.

Any guesses?

-- Morgan Campbell