From your daughter playing Little League Baseball, to your alma mater’s football team, no one wants to see a team they support at the bottom of the league—even early on in the season. But for members of the (in)famous Timbers Army, that’s precisely where they find themselves heading into the fifth match of the season, as their Portland Timbers sit dead last in the Western Conference. From the first four, the Timbers took away only 3 of the possible 12 points. What’s the root of this stuttering start, and might things look up for the boys in green and gold?
On paper, or at least on the team sheet, the answer to the Timbers poor start is clear: they’re missing two key links in their midfield play, veterans Will Johnson and Diego Valeri, both out longterm since before this season even began. Injuries are a part of the game, indeed a part of every major sport, but in the MLS, injuries to key stars can be even more devastating. No, it’s not because of turf toe; it’s thanks to the MLS designated player rule.
In a sport with a salary cap, such as NFL football, a team has a designated amount of money—$143 million in the case of the NFL—to spend on players. In the English Premier League, by contrast, spending is only curtailed by Financial Fair Play, which doesn’t limit total spending, but rather simply ties it to total club revenue. In either case, whether dictated by a league-mandated salary limit or a club’s previous annual revenue, the bottom line for any given season is uniform.
Not so in MLS.
For clubs in Major League Soccer, their salary cap considerations are augmented by the designated player rule. For the majority of the squad, all but the two or three designated players allowed by league rule, the player’s salary is counted against the salary cap. However, for the designated players, no matter how astronomical their transfer fees and wages are, they can only count a maximum of $387,500 against the cap. This means that, should a club pool a great amount of their resources in order to sign one or two high-profile players—Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore, for example—they can pay far over the salary cap, while still remaining within the bounds of the league rules.
The Timbers are, in this instance, “lucky.” Although they’ve lost a designated player in Diego Valeri, likely until May, their payroll is more balanced than some clubs. Diego Valeri, who made just over $500,000 last year, would account for roughly 1/6th of the Timbers $3.1 million salary cap, were he not a designated player. But head down south to new club Orlando City, and the potential ramifications of an injury to a star player become even more striking. Kaka, Orlando City’s talismanic midfielder—who has played fantastically to star this season—is set to earn $6.6 million in base salary this year, and a full $7.2 million with add ons; that’s more than double the salary cap for an entire team.
The Timbers midfield, without Johnson and Valeri, is a shadow of its former self. But plain as that’s been made with this rough start, they have, at least, spread the wealth. Were Kaka to suffer a season ending injury this weekend (and, let me be clear, I am not wishing this on the Brazilian by any means), Orlando would find themselves with more dead weight on their payroll than active players—picture an anchor five times the size of the ship.
So, with a more balanced approach to designated player acquisition, things could be worse for the Timbers. But more importantly than that they could be worse, will they get better?
I sure as hell hope so—but unless you gave me very, very long odds, I wouldn’t bet on it. For the Timbers, April may well be the cruelest month. PTFC plays host to league-leaders Dallas this weekend, Orlando the following week, and then travel to NYC FC and Seattle for the last two matches in April. Sure, the West is tough, and while it’s possible that, by the end of April, at least one of their missing midfielders will be back in the fold, this is still a daunting run of games.
Speaking to Stumptown Footy, defenders Liam Ridgewell and Nat Borchers insisted they were not overly concerned about how the Timbers threw away two points against LA at home, and then one point in Vancouver with late, late goals. Well, they should be. Granted, a goal in the 3rd minute counts as much as one in the 93rd—but the tactics defending it are anything but equal. When two of your most creative players—who are also sharp in front of goal themselves—are injured, everyone else needs to step up, especially the defense. I believe that the Timbers can take points off every team they face in April; I also believe that, unless they can see out games until the end without conceding late on, they won’t.