JPA 2 NYRB: ttyl

Caught up in the boringness of last nights US/Colombia match was Juan Pablo Angel's announcement at half time that he "probably won't" return to the New York Red Bulls next season.

This isn't entirely surprising. He and Thierry Henry play very similarly as strikers and with nearly $11m tied up in Designated Player salaries already with Rafa Marquez and Henry New York isn't likely to put $500k+ into another striker. So that leaves us with the question: where does Angel go?

He's said his family feels at home in America, so he may stay around with another MLS team. Also, he obviously still has the skill to contribute a lot to any MLS team, and will deserve DP money for at least a couple more seasons.

Some possible targets:
New England Revolution: There have been a couple articles lately that New England is finally ready to open up and pay for a DP who can help them win. Does that mean that they'll go outside the organization to get one or just that they'll give Shalrie Joseph the money he's deserved for years? Or, is this all just a big gimmick to get season ticket holders to stick around?
Houston Dynamo: Assuming, of course, they aren't still bitter from signing Luis Angel Landin for way too much money last time they tried a DP experiment. Sure they could use more help on defense than offense, but they still have the 3rd lowest number of shots on goal in the league.
DC United: Yeah, there's not much good going on in attack here outside of Najar and they've put the money up for DPs before.
Expansion clubs: This idea is a little more out there, but signing JPA would give instant credibility to either Vancouver or Portland's attack.

Also happening last night:

Chicago Fire 0 - 2 Kansas City Wizards
Kansas City had to win in Chicago to have any hope of making the playoffs and they did. Teal Bunbury scored another goal, got an assist, and had a couple other good shots. He's already turned down a callup from Canada (who he also has the option of playing for) holding out hope that he could play for the US one day. Given the terrible play of our forwards recently I say make it happen; let's call him up.

Thierry Henry. Best DP in MLS History?

Major League Soccer Talk can be pretty hit or miss. Some of the writers there are very good, some are not, and some serve only to up the pageviews by taking creating controversy where there need not be any.

Their latest article by Eric Altshule is a look at the effect Thierry Henry has had on the Red Bulls and if, given his stellar playing record and rather young age, he can become the best Designated Player in league history. I especially liked the following passage and think it's a good look at why he may be right:

And yet, since coming to the Red Bulls, Henry looks like a man reborn.  Henry seems intent on integrating into this Red Bull team and not dominating it, and his link-up play has been terrific.  As Henry has gotten his fitness back, his football has become more dazzling.  He is looking to form a striking partnership with Juan Pablo Angel, and yet there is nothing exclusive about his play.  He is feeding every Red Bull that can get in position, and looking to be an outlet for every Red Bull who possesses the ball.

Most importantly, Henry looks like he is playing with joy for the first time in a long time.  He was simply dazzling tonight against San Jose, and had his backwards lob evaded the tips of keeper John Busch’s extended fingers, Henry would have added a top 10 goal to his personal highlight reel.  Finally, when his first Red Bull goal came, Henry proved him self to be a true teammate.  The goal came after an outstanding cross by Dane Richards, and landed at Henry’s feet in a position where it was harder to miss than to score.  Henry did score, and though it was the moment that many Red Bull fans were waiting for, Henry immediately pointed at Richards to tell the crowd who really created that goal, and went over to lift the diminutive winger into the air.

Check out the whole article here.

2 Stories From Today

1) MLS Players Association released an updated list of player salaries. The price tag for some of these additions:

Thierry Henry - $5,600,004
Rafael Marquez - $5,544,000
Nery Castillo, Forward, Chicago - $1,788,060
Mista - $987,337
Branko Bošković - $516,000
Alvaro Fernandez - $300,000

At first glance, "wowowow" at Nery getting nearly $1.8m and Mista getting almost $990k. I can kinda understand the Nery number since he got stupid overpaid a few years ago by Shakhtar and every loan deal is going to require picking up a player's current salary.

Mista seems like a bad deal by TFC.  Even though he's been in La Liga, he's only scored 5 goals in 61 appearances over the past 5 years. Not exactly a world-beater they brought in, but if he performs I guess he can earn that money.

2) US U-20 forward Omar Salgado's loan to the Vancouver Whitecaps for the rest of this season is apparently not going to happen.

The former Chivas youth player was signed to a Generation Adidas contract by MLS with the plan being to loan him out to a team in USSF-2 until the MLS Superdraft. The initial choice was Vancouver, but apparently FIFA rules complicated their attempt at bringing in 16 year old.

He was originally registered in Mexico when he was in the Chivas youth system and hoping to play for the Mexican National Team. Recently he changed his mind and was let go because of the Chivas policy to only use Mexican players. Because he's under 18 he can only transfer his registration to another country if his family moves there. His family has already moved to the US so he can transfer his registration to here, but not Canada.

Apparently Portland Timbers is the best bet for where he'll go on loan now, and they also have one of the top two picks in the upcoming MLS Superdraft. Since he couldn't play with Vancouver for a full year if they drafted him, this could very well be a tryout for him if he goes to Portland.