DP Controversy: Claudio Reyna Revisited

By: Dave Martinez | August 20th, 2007

Ok. Time for a cold shower. The season didnt end at 5-4.

This WILL be difficult for me, but oh well. Its my virtual job.

Todays Topic : In light of “The Game of the Year,” and with nearly three quarters of the season already in our rear view, we have had more than enough time to analyze our Designated Player acquisitions. There is no question that JP Angel at 1.5 million has been an excellent buy.

But then there is Captain America (Whom recently died in Marvel Comics).

So . . . with pain in my heart . . . I ask . . .

IS CLAUDIO REYNA WORTH THE DP SLOT?

SYNOPSIS

Over the past several weeks, we have enjoyed a fair deal of success without our Captain, Claudio Reyna, present to partake in these conquests.

In the beginning of the season, Claudio was heralded as the stabilizing force that would both steady our defense and attack - THE catalyst to many of our wins.

Somewhere in between, we lost Claudio. Where did you go Cap’n?

THE STATS

#…….POS……NAME…………GP……GS……MIN…..G…….A……..SH…..SOG…..FC….FS……C…….E
10…..M………Claudio Reyna 15……15……1229….0…….3…….12……1…….19…..14…….0…….0

1229 mins = 13 2/3rd Games

12 shots, 1 on Goal

3 Assists

ANALYSIS

I am going to put away my pom poms for this one article and analyze fairly.

What is Claudio Reyna? A strong ball holder and backfield distributor. Probably one of the most difficult positions to rate on the field, since the intricacies are seldom translated to the stat sheets.

Is a holding midfielder worth a DP slot? It depends on the person, as well as the teams needs. Claudio can be a beautiful orchestrator in the right formation. Typically, he has enjoyed success in a 3-5-2. There is no chance of that happening here. Personally, I feel a holding midfielder shouldnt warrant a DP slot to begin with - its too difficult to cite the success and justify the costs.

The idea of a DP is to bring in a star quality player to a soccer ignorant nation. No matter what anyone says, that is the goal. Reyna or players like Reyna would NEVER be able to garnish the star power to earn or deserve a DP slot, because what the public wants is a GAME TURNING SUPERSTAR. That Reyna is not. So he is already behind the 8 ball.

So let me stop beating around the bush. Holding midfielder or not, Claudio Reyna can not, and will not be able to justify to this soccer hungry region his current DP status. Sure, fans were smart enough to realize the early play of Reyna in the wins for the team, but when the league adjusted to him, we were suddenly shut down.

3 Assists is not enough. 1 shot on goal in “15″ games isnt enough. And “15″ games isnt enough. Not for a DP.

So far, 3/4’s into the season, and in light of the signings of Beckham, Angel and Cuat, I think it is fair to say that REYNA IS NOT A DP QUALITY PLAYER. Whew. There. I said it.

Think about the NONE DP players that have signed on this season, and compare them to Reyna.

Schelotto, Marinelli, Richetti, Wanchope, Toja, Galindo, Fred, Emilio . . . just to name a few!

Now, keep in mind that they make SUBSTANTIALLY less money than Reyna and one has to scratch their head. So many of us thought Schelotto would warrant the DP, and look at the bargain Columbus got!

IS THERE A RESTRUCTURING CLAUSE IN THE DP CONTRACT?

Straight answer . . . I have no idea

But it is something to look into. Listen, Reyna can go back and do the things he did earlier in the year, with either Vide or Dema on his side. But this whole millions of dollars business is getting to be alot for our monetarily-struggling team to handle. This shouldnt be a retirement reward for a soccer legend - this has to be feasible in the business sense as well. The Yankees we are not.

I would venture to restructure his deal, and give him one more year to attempt leaving the game “on top.” And Reyna, as he told Ives, expects fully to be back next season. But a DP slot again would be a hurt that this club could not bear to deal with - not with the growing competition in our very division. Right now, Reyna isn’t earning that DP money the way we all saw the first 5 games of the year. And its a sad fact that I am finding difficult to deal with. But facts are facts.

Its time to revisit our 2nd DP slot. Restructure, tear down, whatever, as long as we a) retain that slot and b) improve our team in doing so. I want Reyna to stay. But not at this price.