Friday, May 18, 2007

Both sides

I can see Landon Donovan's argument regarding Claudio Suarez's contract. Questionable statistics, salary information and attendance figures have been a part of Major League Soccer from the beginning. In fact, I talked to Jesse Marsch about the salary info and he told me that Josh Wolff signed a hefty contract six years ago but it was announced at much lower than it was because "they didn't want other players to think that they could get the same amount that Josh was getting paid."

But as a friend pointed out, Claudio Suarez wasn't exactly in high demand when he joined Chivas USA. When I first saw him, back on the first day of 2006 training camp, I rubbed my eyes to see if it was really him. I shook my head because I thought Suarez had been done years ago. He proved me wrong, though, as he has been a steady and reliable defender for Chivas USA.

Suarez was not in the same category as Francisco Palencia and Juan Pablo Garcia. Both those players were compensated nicely a year ago. When their deals were up, each quickly latched on to big Mexican clubs - Pumas and Tigres respectively.

So while Chivas USA had to break the bank for both Paco and Loco, it wasn't the case for Suarez. I mean, why would you overpay for something when you are the only one who wants it?

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