Feel free to take a side as the inevitable questioning over Toronto FC’s bank-breaking off-season spending spree gains speed.
Thing is, this isn’t two tipsy Joes in cheapo replica jerseys at the end of some soccer friendly pub – these are fellow MLS officials giving each other the business in public!
It was bound to happen. Supporters and members of the chattering class have had our say about TFC’s audacious dash for glory. Heck, even Toronto front man Tim Leiweke, architect of the deals in question, does not always sound 100 percent convinced the deals make sense from a pure business perspective.
In comments to The Philly Soccer Page, Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz questioned the wisdom of TFC’s recent high-dollar moves, the ones that have netted England international Jermain Defoe and U.S. midfield general Michael Bradley.
He wondered aloud whether Bradley at somewhere around $6 million a year is better value than Maurice Edu at something near $1.5 million? It’s a fair question.
Bradley is a better player. He has a higher profile. He’s the best U.S. national team player in a year where so very much attention will be going to that very national team. Bradley wears it all well, and he’s a fabulous addition to the league.
Plus, TFC is a place where Leiweke might have to overspend to get the project out of a hole; remember, the team has still never tasted playoff soccer.
But $6 million? Even before adding Edu and his salary to the calculus, prominent voices in the domestic game immediately began wondering if Bradley could have been had for something less, perhaps substantially less?
Past that, the usual big market-small market arguments seem to have Sakiewicz in a frothy lather. That was probably inevitable, too. After all, soccer is just catching up with baseball and other American sports in that regard.
The Philly Soccer Page story wasn’t really about Edu, Bradley or TFC; it had a bigger sweep, starting with the Union boss addressing rumors of his own demise. I’ll boil that part down for you: “Buncha bunk,” he essentially says.
But the comments directed toward Leiweke proved to be the eye-raisers. Leiweke responded professionally in comments to the Toronto Sun, defending Bradley before asking everyone to recognized what he thought was apples to oranges in marketplace. It’s a great point, too.
