Thanks Freddie, it’s been fun

Ljungberg has moved to Chicago, with what’s happened over the last few weeks it is clearly a move that makes sense for Seattle. I don’t know if what went wrong will ever fully come out, rumours are there was a significant rift within the club. Schmidt, Hanauer and most vocally team captain Keller all questioning Freddie Ljungbergs commitment to the team. I’m sure over the next month or two we’ll learn more and more about what actually happened.

Ljungberg was the second player signed by the team, Sebastian Le Toux was the first, and this signing did a lot for the franchise. It gave the entire organization an instant level of credibility months before the first ball was kicked and that they were willing to spend the money to attract top level talent. In short it made the football world take a little notice of this new club in the MLS.

In return Ljungberg has been a great ambassador for the league and club. He’s been very generous to the fans and has been clear that overall he’s enjoyed his time both at the club and living in the Pacific Northwest.

On the flip side he has occasionally held himself to a slightly different standard than the rest of the side with occasional weekends off and reporting late to training camp with no consequences because of a “misunderstanding”. To be fair to Freddie, the management has allowed it to happen.

Being late to the pre-season camp in Seattle earlier this year does seem to have particularly upset some of his teammates, most vocal was Casey Keller. But it started an undercurrent of discontent that may have led to his leaving the club with only a couple of months left on his contract. Additionally he’s had a somewhat public falling out with Sigi Schmidt over his discipline and attitude towards referees during games.

There is no question the Freddie has been on the receiving end of some vicious tackles, it seems to be a tactic that a number of teams employ against the more skillful players. It’s one of the things the MLS needs to take care of if they want to see the game played the way it can be.

Once he was dropped from games and was training alone it was just a matter of where he would go, rather than if he would go. His agent said a number of English and Italian clubs were interested in signing Ljungberg. The fact he ended up at Chicago rather than an ambitious European club looking for leadership shows that the interest never went much beyond a quick phone call to his agent.

From section 130 watching Freddie on the ball over the last 18 months was a treat. Clearly he was one of the most creative players in the league. The league never really suited his style fully, but when ever he was on the ball there was a chance that something interesting was going to happen. He did occasionally let his frustration that his team mates were not always at his level show, but generally he played his role as a leader well on the pitch.

I’m looking forward to welcoming Freddie back to Seattle on August 28^th when the Fire comes to RBP.

The move of Ljungberg to Chicago coincides with the arrival of Uruguayan international Alvaro Fernandez from Nacional.

This is the sort of player the league needs to attract. Signing big names like Beckham, Blanco, Henry and Ljungberg make a big splash in the sports pages and get people looking in the leagues direction. However it does not do much for the credibility of the league as a whole. Football in America and MLS (rightly or wrongly) has a reputation as a bit of a retirement home for big names.

Some of this is the legacy of the NASL where huge names like Pele, Beckenbauer, Alberto, Cruff, Moore and so on came to the league for a last big pay cheque before easing into retirement. This gave the league huge interest around the world and in some markets put bums on seats, but did nothing to add credibility that the NASL was a good or stable league.

If you have any interest in what led to the excesses of the NASL it’s worth looking for “Once in a Lifetime: The Incredible Story of the New York Cosmos” written by Gavin Newsham. It goes into this in some detail and is a good read. In short the lunatics were running the asylum, and in the case of the NY Cosmos running it with other people’s money with little accountability.

Back to Seattle’s new signing Alvaro Fernandez and why I think this could be more important the New York signing Thierry Henry.

Today Fernandez is not going to sell as many Seattle shirts as Henry will in New York, but I hope that’s not how the league defines success.

He’s clearly a very skillful player. He was part of a Uruguay side that played some attractive football and made the semifinals of the World Cup. He is only 24 and has shown the ability to be successful at the top level, his signing has a massive upside, is only going to develop and get better over the next couple of years.

To be realistic the MLS is not a league that talented players around the world aspire too. The complex contract structure, single entity ownership, salary cap and relative popularity in a packed sports market place ensure that the MLS is never going to be“destination league” for the world’s best players.

However there are still a couple of roles it could take going forward, namely either a place to send promising players for a few seasons and see what they have, or a retirement home for big names. Given the choice I’d far rather the MLS be seen as a top level development league and finishing school for players like Montero (who is a potential superstar) and Fernandez.