Being prudent isn’t a bad thing in MLS

There are certain types of things that make me bristle, particularly when perusing social media.

The one that will force me to push back more than any others is when reading posts from folks who speak with absolute authority but without experience, context and facts.

On Sunday, after a couple of days off, I looked at my (formerly) Twitter feed.

There was a post from a person claiming that Atlanta United should have spent $15 million on a player from Holland. The player is decent in Europe and may have become good to very good in MLS. There is no guarantee.

I replied that just because a team can spend the money it doesn’t mean they should.

The person replied that Atlanta United should be spending the same amount of money as Miami and L.A., presumably either the Galaxy or LAFC.

Here’s where I go a bit bananas.

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In European soccer leagues, it has been proved that the more you spend, the greater the probability you will finish higher in the table. Except for Chelsea, they remain an anomaly. It seems it works inversely for the Blues.

The spend-for-success model works well in North American sports leagues other than MLS because they aren’t competing against other leagues around the world.

In MLS, the spend-more-to finish-higher theorem doesn’t hold up for one very important reason: MLS has a cap. It’s the only soccer league of importance in the world that has a cap. MLS doesn’t like for it to be called a cap, but it is a cap.

Therefore, money has to spent wisely. It can’t be wasted because excess sums of money can be spent only on three players. They have to produce. Atlanta United has seen what happens when money is spent and the production doesn’t match the outlay. Toronto is the model of what can go very wrong when exorbitant sums are spent on the wrong players. My Twitter friend acknowledged that.

Focusing on the money spent by Miami and the two L.A. teams: Most of their standout players came on free transfers. That includes Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez, Julian Gressel, Hugo Lloris, Olivier Giroud and Marco Reus. So, that’s an expense saved. On that list are World Cup champs, Euro champs, more league champs than I can count, etc.

Looking at their salaries, according to the MLSPA database, Messi is the highest-paid player in MLS, with guaranteed compensation of $20.4 million per season. That’s a bargain. Busquets is third at $8.8 million. It can be argued, perhaps unwisely, that that’s a gamble in MLS because of the rules.

The difference in acquiring those players and a player like Steven Bergwijn, the player who was the focus of the earlier tweets, is that Atlanta United would have had to pay $15 million on top of a few million each year in salary for a player who, again, might have been good, but it wasn’t a slam dunk. And he hasn’t won a World Cup or European Championship.

Now, look at the money spent by the teams that have won the past MLS Cups.

Columbus didn’t have a player with a guaranteed salary of more than $2.67 million in 2023. That was Diego Rossi, who had a $5.6 million transfer fee. Its total salary was 13th-highest in MLS that season, according to capology.com.

LAFC didn’t have a player with a guaranteed salary of more than $2.74 million in 2022. That was Carlos Vela, who had a $5.3 million transfer fee. Its total salary expenses ranked sixth-highest in MLS that season.

NYCFC didn’t have a player with a guaranteed salary of more than $3.3 million in 2021. That was Maxi Moralez, whose transfer fee wasn’t reported, but he has never been sold for more than $5.8 million. Its total salary expenses ranked seventh-highest in MLS that season.

I think you’re getting the idea.

In fact, when Atlanta United won the 2018 MLS cup, its highest transfer fee paid was $13.5 million for Ezequiel Barco, who was on the bench by the end of the season, and its second-highest was $8.8 million for Miguel Almiron. Its highest guaranteed compensation paid was $2.3 million to Almiron. Its total salary amount was eighth-highest in MLS that season.

That’s a lot less than $15 million AND a salary for Bergwijn.

I can understand the frustration that some of Atlanta United’s fan base may feel that the club didn’t spend money to acquire players. But it’s also important to note that spending, at least in MLS, doesn’t guarantee trophies. For all of the $30 million spent on salaries by Inter Miami, it won only the Leagues Cup last season. It also has been eliminated from all competitions except MLS Cup this season.

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Atlanta United’s 2024 schedule

Feb. 24 Columbus 1, Atlanta United 0

March 9 Atlanta United 4, New England 1

March 17 Atlanta United 2, Orlando 0

March 23 Toronto 2, Atlanta United 0

March 31 Atlanta United 3, Chicago 0

April 6 Atlanta United 1, NYCFC 1

April 14 Atlanta United 2, Philadelphia 2

April 20 Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 1

April 27 Atlanta United 1, Chicago 1

May 4 Minnesota 2, Atlanta United 1

May 7 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte Independence 0 in U.S. Open Cup