The concept of the designated player has hijacked the soccer lexicon in North America and is taking everyone hostage.
I pray Toronto FC do not negotiate with terrorists.
On Tuesday the MLS expansion Seattle Sounders signed Swedish international Freddie Ljungberg in the famed designated player spot, meaning the 31-year-old will earn $2.5 million a year for two years in Seattle.
The designated player -- popularized but not invented by David Beckham -- is actually a misnomer. It should be changed to "DS," as in designated shirt-seller. Or designated seat-seller. Outside of Chicago's Cuauhtemoc Blanco or New York's Juan Pablo Angel there is very little designated playing going on.
Try to name the last team Ljungberg played for? The answer is he has not played competitively since June 18, in a 2-0 defeat to Russia in the last group stage match of Euro 2008. A week later Ljungberg announced that he was ending his 10-year national-team career. One month later West Ham United, the Swede's club team, terminated his contract after just one season.
So where does a player with too many injuries and not enough interest go to play? Why the MLS, of course.
The telltale sign of why Ljungberg in Seattle makes little sense could be seen at the press conference to introduce the star. Reading from your left to right were Vulcan Sports and Entertainment CEO Tod Leiweke, Sounders FC general manager Adrian Hanauer, Ljungberg himself and majority owner Joe Roth.
Seriously, who in that lineup has a clue where or how Ljungberg is going to be deployed? (Besides the obvious, in the midfield.) One might think a coach might trump a player in the Sounders first-year "To-Do" list.
But I digress.
Toronto FC has bandied around the DP term at various points during its two-year existence, but it has always been accompanied with a sense of caution. For that, I must applaud the sophomore club. And rightly so; an incorrect -- or worse -- an impulse signing of a DP will not only cost TFC anywhere from $5-10 million but accompanying the financial loss will be the negation of everything the club has tried to accomplish through establishing a core group of players.
While new to the North American game coach John Carver has been bang on in his assessment of how the DP slot should be used. He admires Blanco. He points out Beckham is on his way back to Europe. But as the coach said farewell to the media for another season on Tuesday morning at BMO Field, Carver was again quick to dispel the idea that his squad is one "Ljungberg" away from the playoffs.
But has Seattle now thrown down the gauntlet by signing a DP and hinting at adding another before even playing a minute in the MLS?
Before questioning where Ljungberg might be in his career, Carver summarily dismissed the idea of plopping down a DP amid a list of names.
But is that just a diplomatic way of saying that perhaps TFC is unable to attract a player of Ljungberg's stature? Fans do not have to look back very far to find that convincing talent to remain in town was a serious issue over the summer.
Carver emphasized that a "settled squad" was paramount in any pitch to sign a player. Nevermind the FieldTurf. Forget the salary cap issues.
The deadline to submit the list of protected players will go a long way to settling the squad in Toronto. Then the transfer window opens in Europe where players who are out of a contract at season's end can be approached. Stay tuned.
