Rafael van der Vaart
Sporting Kansas City‘s home opener is coming up quick…
It’s scheduled for this Sunday, March 8th at 6:00 p.m. against the New York Red Bulls.
And all signs are pointing to another sold-out season for Sporting, as Kansas City’s soccer madness just continues to boil over – quicker and bigger than most observers ever predicted. Sunday’s opener is a tough, tough ticket, maybe as tough as I’ve seen over the years, including playoffs.
If you’re lucky enough to have your ticket in hand already, congrats to you.
The weather is supposed to be warm, and the beer should be flowing. So what to expect from this year’s team? I’ll get to that in a sec.
But first, let’s talk about that pesky little CBA negotiation that’s ongoing. And that’s threatening to derail this weekend’s MLS opening games. The players and owners have been trying to hash out a new deal, and one of the key sticking points is free agency. I won’t get into it in too much detail, especially since trying to explain the MLS single-entity contract structure is confusing at best, but the players have threatened to strike if their demands are not met.
Dell Loy Hansen
As of yet, both sides are saying very little regarding progress and whether a strike will happen prior to Friday’s MLS kickoff between LA and Chicago. That is, other than Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen, calling the negotiation for free agency a waste of time.
Let’s just hope that at least a tentative deal can be reached within the next few days, because… I want to tailgate and watch soccer this Sunday.
Now, about the 2015 version of Sporting Kansas City.
Peter Vermes‘ 2015 squad features a bevvy of newcomers. And rightly so, after the disappointing second half of the 2014 campaign that saw the boys in blue tumble from first place to fighting for their playoff lives.
Among the new faces are Chilean goalkeeper Luis Marin, who is perhaps filling in the biggest need and should start right away; striker Krisztian Nemeth, an athletic Hungarian goalscorer who most recently played in the Netherland’s top league; Roger Espinoza is back after trying his hand in England; and Canadian international defender Marcel de Jong, who recently put pen to paper after his most recent stint in Germany.
But perhaps the biggest acquisition of them all has yet to make it official. Multiple outlets are reporting that Sporting is ready to offer (or already has) Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart a staggering $4.8 million contract.
He’s currently in the Budesliga playing for Hamburg, but his contract is up this summer, so he could move to the States with no transfer fee at that time.
Sporting CEO Robb Heineman has denied that any formal offer has been made to van de Vaart, but openly discussed the fact that they did have a meeting in Frankfurt, Germany recently, and are very interested.
Stay tuned for any updates on both van der Vaart and the CBA. If all goes according to plan, I’ll see you at Sporting Park this Sunday.
Am I the only one who thinks the MLS season is way too long – starts much too early in the year and ends much too late? At any rate, the lads really need to bounce back this season after the less-than-stellar performance they turned in a year ago.
Agreed. Way too long. Especially when you add in other competitions, these guys are just worn down to the bone by August.
Agreed. I should be able to feel my fingers and toes at Sporting Park while watching playoff soccer.
The SKC offer to van der Vaart reported in the German press is a joke. Do you REALLY think the owners of this club will be paying $4.3 million to a 32 year old? I don’t.
A bit of good news trickling out of labor negotiations tonight, but I am still not convinced we will be watching MLS this weekend. I cannot believe the league and its owners who just doubled their TV revenue and rub their hands over massive expansion fees every other year would consider it a “concession” to the union to offer free agency to any player who is 32 and has 10 years with the same club. There are hardly any players in the 20 year HISTORY of the league who would qualify.
Oh, they are definitely going to strike, that’s why I was not too concerned about getting tix for the opener. This silliness with the single owner concept and free agency for ONLY Brad Davis is not gonna fly. The labor deal the MLS has is archaic and a joke and the strike will be necessary.
Well, you called it…wrong.
To be fair, this was a shabby deal that got passed by virtue of only being for 5 years.
Their player’s association buckled- and shouldn’t have.
This does not help MLS in the end it only hurts it. They agreed to a crap deal, plain and simple. This isn’t the Curt Flood 60’s but MLS sure does think it is.