Seattle's 3rd DP, Alvaro Fernandez

Should Landon Donovan Stay or Leave?

Landon is arguably the best American field player of all time and he is finishing the most successful run of his career (Everton, Galaxy, World Cup, etc.) Despite MLS Commissioner Don Garber’s statement that Donovan wasn’t going anywhere, a number of suitors have popped up, including Manchester City. In addition, Donovan told SI:

“We have had transfer interest and we will have some time to think about it and see where it goes,” Donovan told Reuters after featuring for the MLS All Stars against Manchester United on Wednesday. “There is interest from a number of teams.”

I think it’s clear that Donovan wants to leave but Garber is reluctant to let go of the league’s poster boy. If the right offer comes along I think Garber will have to let Donovan go.

Personally, I think Donovan should leave. He isn’t getting any younger and he proved during his time at Everton that he can step in and produce in the big leagues. I’d like to see Donovan leave for 4-5 years and come back to MLS to finish off his career.

He is a big player for MLS but the addition of big names like Thierry Henry, Nery Castillo, and the rumored arrival of Rafael Marquez, I think the league has enough star power to survive without Landon.

Seattle Sounders add 3rd DP

The Seattle Sounders signed 24 year old Uruguayan midfielder Alvaro Fernandez. The young midfielder was a member of Uruguay’s World Cup team making four appearances, including a start against Ghana in the quarterfinals. This is a fantastic signing for the Sounders and MLS. It’s nice to see a team sign a DP in their mid 20′s. Maybe this move will start attracting younger prospects to the league.

The arrival of Fernandez further puts into question the status of Freddie Ljungberg. Speculations suggest that Freddie is looking to depart Seattle before the transfer window closes. The question is whether he will stay in MLS or head back to Europe. If Donovan leaves LA I wonder if Arena will try to get the Swedish international to the Home Depot Center.

MLS All Stars get their ass kicked

It was only an exhibition match but the result still stings a little. I expected Manchester United to present the toughest test for our All Stars thus far but 5-2, was a little much. I hope this doesn’t deter the league from maintaining the All Star game format. No one wants to see our All Stars face Fulham, and I’d rather have them scrap the whole game if they want to go back to the East v. West format.

I can’t say what the repercussions will be from this game, but one thing is for sure . . . Manchester United has some good young players coming up.

US U-20′s in Milk Cup final

The US U-20′s qualified for the Milk Cup finals after defeating Denmark 3-2 on Wednesday. The Milk Cup is an annual youth international tournament held in Northern Ireland. The US won the tournament in 2005 and placed second in 2006. This tournament is typically used as a warm up for World Cup qualifiers or getting off cycle teams like the U-18′s some experience.

The US started the tournament off on the right foot beating China 1-0 on a goal from forward Omar Salgado. Denmark proved to be a tougher task but the US was able to squeak out a win after going down a goal in the first half. Adrian Ruelas, Santos Laguna forward, scored an equalizer for the US in the first half and found the game winner a minute from full time. Toronto FC’s Faud Ibrahim blasted a volley to temporarily put the US ahead in 74th minute.

Although the team is missing some core players, such as Philadelphia Union duo Jack McInerney and Amobi Okugo, the team boasts a very talented line up. Here are few players that you should keep an eye on: Omar Salgado (recently signed with MLS from Club Guadalajara – Chivas), Juan Agudelo (NY Red Bulls), Adrian Ruelas (Santos Laguna – Mexico), Greg Garza (Sporting Lisbon – Portugal), and Francisco Navas Cobo (Houston Dynamo).

The US faces a very tough Northern Ireland side that beat China 5-0 to qualify for the finals. The match will be played on Friday July 30th at 1pm EST.

MLS announced today that teams are allowed a second DP slot and the option of purchasing a third. An official announcement should be made later today.

Here are the basics of the new rule:

• MLS confirmed that these new rules will be effective immediately.
• The Third DP costs $250,000.
• That money used to purchase the 3rd DP slot is evenly shared as allocation money with all the other MLS clubs that do not have three DPs.
• DP player takes up $335,000 of a team’s salary budget (13% of the teams salary budget)
• This is a reduction from the old rule which charged $415,000
• Allocation money can be used to bring salary cap hit down to $185,000
• DP player takes up $167,500 if signed mid-season.
• Old DP rule expired at the end of the 2009 season
• New DP rules doesn’t expire
• DP slots cannot be traded and no team can acquire a 4th slot or more.
• DP slots can be used to sign existing MLS players.
• If a DP is transferred to a club in another country, the MLS team will recoup the money spent on the DP before the league transfer split kicks in.

What do you think about this new rule?