Colin Clarke=Sir Alex Ferguson?

One of the early stories in MLS this season is the resurgence of Dallas Burn. Let me float an idea about why that is.

The big difference for Dallas this year is that Colin Clarke has options. Like all great teams (ahem), the Burn are now in a position where very good players will be sitting on the bench on any given week. This is a good thing. Another manager you may have heard of, Sir Alex Ferguson, is the master of keeping great players on the bench to keep the great players on the field motivated.

This is a very un-American strategy. In this country, if you’re good enough to start, you start. Somewhere; even if it means being traded. Nobody in baseball, American football, or basketball keeps talent sitting. Granted, you don’t have to in some cases, because all these sports have unlimited substitutions, but the point remains: Americans don’t sit starter-quality players.

This poses two questions. First, will American players react to this competitive environment by getting sulky and demanding trades (as they’ve seen their childhood heroes do), or by putting in the effort to win back a starting spot? Second, will American fans understand this strategy, or will they constantly be calling for the manager’s head when their particular favorite sits.

The acid test in Dallas will be coming soon, as Jason Kreis gets back to 90-minute fitness. If the Burn continue to win, how will people react when Johnson and Nhleko keep their starting spots, while the all-time franchise scoring leader continues to wait for opportunities to substitute?

How Kreis will handle the situation doesn’t concern me, because he is class, and always has been. He’s a professional. But how would a younger player react, one who has started all his life and never experienced anything else? It’ll be interesting to see. Eddie Johnson may find himself in that situation before this season is over. Eddie, as has been noted, has matured quite a bit in the last year. This may turn into an opportunity for him to mature more.

I look forward to the day when every team in the league has enough talent to have similar problems. When it happens, MLS will be most of the way towards becoming a league that can hold its own with any league in the world.