So, as I’m sitting here, seeing Gamba Osaka go up 2-1 on a fairly sharp-looking Houston Dynamo, I’m thinking to myself, “He looks fast, strong, has a good brain in his head, finishes well….is Bare (you’ll have to imagine the accent over the ‘e’) worth designated-player money?”
And I’m watching, thinking to myself, “Yeah…he might be.”
I think what I’m getting at is, thinking in terms of David Beckham or Luis Figo defines the designated player category too narrowly. The most important thing isn’t how many butts they can put in seats in the short-term, but how much will they help the team look totally killer on the field. I think Major League Soccer (MLS) is at that point in its evolution.
Thoughts?
Filed under: Gamba Osaka, Houston Dynamo, Major League Soccer, Pan-Pacific Challenge, preseason tournament | Tagged: Bare
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Any idea what he gets paid in Japan? I’m not so sure we can whale their top players.
No clue. But I’m betting it’s less than he’d pick up in Europe. In other words, I suspect – strongly even – that MLS would fare better competing against Japan than, say, England for strikers.
Could I be wrong? Oh yeah. But paying Bare DP money should be attractive enough from the players perspective…at least I hope it would be.
Hard to argue against the guy after the performance he put on in Hawaii, plus, whatever the league, scoring 20 goals (as he did in the J League last year, Hopkins and Healey repeatedly told us) in a season is no accident.
Like you, I have no idea what he makes in Japan, but I’ve got to figure prying him away from Gamba will be a tall, and expensive, order. Still, maybe he’s worth it. As I wrote after the game, if you can;t beat ‘im, buy ‘im. It’s the American way!