Crew Gets More For Less

The Columbus Crew not only won their first MLS Cup and the Supporters Shield in 2008, they did it with the cheapest payroll in major league soccer, a Nordecke Luchador analysis has found.

With an average salary of $79,949, the Columbus Crew ranked dead last in the amount it paid its field workers in 2008. The second cheapest team, Chivas USA ($74,723.37), paid its players nearly 4 percent more on average than Columbus.

The team with the most generous average payroll, the Galaxy, paid its players an average of $278,181, nearly four times as much as the Crew. Of course, this figure is somewhat skewed by the ridiculous salary paid to David Beckham.












El Luchador based his analysis on the official numbers from the MLS Players Union. The salary listed for each individual player is an average of that player’s base salary and his guaranteed compensation. For a copy of the Excel database, email nordeckeluchador@hotmail.com.

On the one hand, it is a tribute to the hard work and talent of the players that they had the best performance with the worst compensation. On the other hand, the capitalists who run the Crew factory should be ashamed of themselves, and should look to increase compensation in the coming year as certain contracts come up for renegotiation.

Here’s a look at some key numbers:

• Guillermo Barros Schelotto, the league MVP and MVP of the MLS Cup, who was snubbed in the MLS All-Star game, was the 16th highest paid player in 2008 at $312,500.
  
• Schelotto was the only Crew player in the top 20.
  
• The second highest paid Crew player was mid-season acquisition Pat Noonan, who earned $175,008 and was the 45th highest paid player in the league.
  
• The highest paid goalkeeper in the league was San Jose’s Joe Cannon at $213,000.
  
• By position across the league, goalkeepers are the lowest paid ($58,147), followed by defenders ($74,792).
  
• Midfielders are paid the most on average ($156,498), but if you remove Beckam’s unearned and exorbitant pay, the number is actually $114,000, making forwards the highest paid at $134,916.

Guille to Remain in C-Bus

All the signs pointed this way, but it is now official: The Crew has re-signed Guillermo Barros Schelotto.

"Securing Guille's return was one of our top priorities entering the off season and we are pleased to get that accomplished," Crew President and General Manager Mark McCullers said. "It goes without saying that he was one of the keys to our championship season and, on top of that, he helps attract international attention to both the club and our region. We look forward to his continued dynamic contributions next season."

Schelotto was voted league MVP after scoring seven goals and making 19 assists in 27 games during the 2008 regular season. He earned six assists in four games in the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs.

We’re not worthy!

A Tale of Two Footballers

As everyone knows, the story goes like this: David Beckham came to America with much fanfare in 2007. He was sent to save “soccer.” He was promptly injured and missed most of the season. In 2008, he stayed mostly healthy but posted mediocre results for a man whose annual income (more than $6 million) exceeds the payrolls of most entire MLS franchises.

Meanwhile, another 30-something foreign soccer legend came to the U.S. at around the same time, making about one twelfth the salary, with no celebrity endorsements, no Posh Spice wife, no entourage and no breathless commentators analyzing his every move.

The Columbus Crew’s Guillermo Barros Schelotto is everything David Beckham is not.

Both men were born in the early ‘70s, enjoyed storied careers in their native countries and are making a last stand in the United States in the twilight of their careers. Both are midfielders, team leaders and play makers known for their ability on set pieces.

But the similarities end there. In short, Schelotto is an honorable man destined for greatness, grounded in the essence of the beautiful game, humble, with an exemplary work ethic and now the double MVP for 2008’s indisputable best team in the U.S., the Supporter’s Shield and MLS Cup winning Columbus Crew.

Beckham is a washed up has been, a poser who pretends to care about the game when all he really cares about is (to paraphrase Johnny Rotten) his self, his beautiful self.

Schelotto is a worker. Beckham is a member of the ruling class.

Beckham lives in swanky L.A. with his celebrity wife and three children being raised by paid help. Schelotto lives in New Albany, Ohio, by himself, as his wife looks after their three sons in their native Argentina while he completes this temporary adventure in America. Schelotto is a family man who makes frequent trips home to be with the boys and is known on the Crew as a teetotaler with no interest in “partying.”

Beckham globetrots preens, poses, changes hairstyles and has his own blog. People magazine writes articles about Beckham spending the Thanksgiving holiday with Tom Cruise and his family.

When Beckham comes to MLS stadiums, the home teams sell special three-game package deals to hordes of mindless bourgeoisie from the suburbs who normally couldn’t care less about “soccer” but show up wearing LA Galaxy gear, packing the stands like Catholics who show up to church only for Easter.

Schelotto doesn’t have a blog. He has not a single friend who has jumped on Oprah’s couch. He can walk unrecognized down the streets of Columbus. He shows up to all the tedious promotional events he is asked to. He is the real deal.

Schelotto's results on the field are impressive. Beckham's are average. Schelotto had 7 goals and a league-leading 19 assists and was voted by sports-writers and coaches as the best player in the league. Beckham had 5 goals and 10 assists and led his Galaxy to a tie for last place in the league with expansion San Jose.

Schelotto made some of the most artistic plays of 2008, including the final goal of the 2008 MLS season, a wizardly flea-flicker chip to the head of Frankie Hejduk to seal the deal on the MLS Cup final.

But the past week tells the real story. As the Crew prepared to face the New York Red Bulls in Beckham’s home stadium, a true American soccer fan might assume that the British saviour of Football would be doing wall-to-wall commentary in and around the stadium, using the occasion of America’s closest thing to a soccer Super Bowl to promote the game in the hopes that one day the MLS Cup might at least approximate the Super Bowl. Well, not exactly. Beckham did not attend the premier U.S. soccer event taking place in his own back yard. No, he flew to Las Vegas for a boxing match, then was spotted that night back in LA, not at the MLS Cup but at the LA Lakers game.

Here’s the moral of the story: A great man came from a foreign land in 2007 to save American soccer. That man was not David Beckham.

He lives a humble existence among the toiling masses. He is authentic. He led his team to the pinnacle of success, has fallen in love with soccer in America, and has announced his intention to stay next season.

His name is Guillermo Barros Schelotto. And he makes David Beckham look like the wanker that he is.

Schelotto, Schmid

Not to throw a downer on the MLS Cup celebrations, but more bad news: Sports Illustrated reports that unless the Hunt ownership group ponies up some serious cash, the prospects are not good for retaining double MVP (regular season and MLS Cup) Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Coach of the Year Sigi Schmid. The next year will be a huge test for the organization. With all the talk by Clark Hunt about "family" and yada, yada, yada, how committed is he really to making the Crew a dynasty franchise. They have taken Sigi right up to the brink with his contract set to expire in a matter of days. Wewill know within the next week whether they intend to rest on their laurels or offer a serious defense of their newly acquired title. The Nordecke Luchador was on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse Tuesday evening as hundreds of Crew faithful gathered to honour the club in the company of Gov. Strickland. Every time Clark or Schmid was mentioned, the crowd chanted, "Re-sign Sigi!" Indeed. Resign Sigi, do what it takes to keep Schelotto, and don't let go of Lenhart, Moffat, and Gaven to name just a few. It's not as challenging as it sounds. "Cash moves everything around me."