Commentary
Rafa Marquez a huge coup for MLS
- by Paul Gardner , Jul 21, 2010
By Paul Gardner
Rafa Marquez to the New York Red Bulls? A done deal, or a very nearly, as near as you can get, done deal, I am informed. A three- or four-year deal at
$2.8 million a year.
That really is exciting, and not just for Marquez -- a world-class player, in his prime at age 31. A player who would be welcomed by most of Europe’s
top clubs. One might, therefore, be suspicious as to why Barcelona would let him go -- but a more intriguing question relates to his choice of MLS as his destination.
Because, make no
mistake, this is a huge coup for MLS. In the Beckham class, for sure -- certainly in the sense that Marquez brings much more on-the-field potential than Beckham ever promised, even had he managed to
remain fit, or available, for more than a few games at a time.
The marketing and the celebrity prizes will no doubt remain firmly in Beckham’s corner, but it would not do to
underestimate Marquez’s pulling power among the huge Mexican-American -- widen that to Latin-American -- soccer community.
The question mark that hovers over the recent signing of
Marquez’s Barcelona teammate Thierry Henry has precisely to do with his ability to put backsides in seats ... quickly. Of Henry’s skill and ability to excite there should be little doubt
-- but how many New Jersey/New York fans are there waiting for Henry to turn it on? It seems quite likely that Henry will have to prove himself, will have to quickly turn the Red Bulls into a
super-team before the fans start to stream in.
With Rafa it will all be different. As one of the most prominent Mexicans of this era, he is an automatic draw for Mexican fans. He will
surely have an immediate, dynamic effect on both attendances and on the performance of the team.
The problem for Coach Hans Backe is now one that became quite familiar during the old NASL
days -- when teams would sign one or two stars, and attempt to get the best out of them while surrounding them with a mediocre teammates. In this sense, the more that the Red Bulls’ three DPs
see of the ball, the better. That surely means that Marquez will play in midfield, where full use can be made of his wide range of defensive and attacking skills.
The team will be
unbalanced, of course. In particular, it lacks a playmaker. Possibly Joel Lindpere can grow into that role, but so far he has shown little more than a willingness to do a lot of running -- and a
lamentable tendency to play too deep for real playmaking activities.
But an inspired Rafa Marquez could bring on a reborn Thierry Henry and a rejuvenated Juan Pablo Angel, and that might
be enough to ignite the Red Bulls, to turn them from a winning but dull team into a team that both wins and delights.
There is another aspect to Marquez’s arrival that promises good
things. He is an obvious candidate to mobilize the Latino community in this country, to help it gain its merited place on the American soccer scene.
Thirty-five years ago, Pele arrived in
New York, signed by the Cosmos. An article appeared in The Sporting News headed: “Pele - A Signal to Recruit Blacks?” The author pointed out that, at that time, there were
precisely no American-born blacks playing in the league. Not one. The coming of Pele could alter that, he surmised, and suggested that a “soccer for cities” program be introduced,
with Pele as its chairman, acting as a sort of Pied Piper leading young black Americans to the promised soccer land.
Nice thoughts, but naive. They were my thoughts. I was the author of
the article, but I had not thought things out. Pele knew a lot more than I did about the workings of black politics in that era, and decided to steer clear. There would be no Pele-led initiative, and
I realized, much later, that getting black Americans interested in soccer was a lot more complicated than I had imagined.
I recall -- very clearly -- my vision of Pele visiting Harlem.
Harlem, it was always Harlem. That was the buzz-place -- if you mentioned Harlem you gained immediate attention -- and sympathy. Except that Harlem wasn’t interested in soccer. And, you know,
not much has changed. When MLS and Don Garber and David Beckham put on a fundraising dinner a couple of years back, it was Harlem FC -- a club with little history in this area -- that was pointedly
featured in the publicity.
But Marquez comes into a very different situation -- in fact he comes into the sort of situation that I had dreamily concocted 35 years ago. There is
now a huge, nationwide urban minority community ripe for leadership. Hispanics do not need to be sold the sport, they already embrace it. But they do need to be assured that their presence is viewed
as an asset rather than a nuisance or a menace.
This time, it should not take much to induce Marquez to act as a trailblazer for both Hispanic fans and Hispanic players. This time
it’s different -- the time is ripe. Marquez will help MLS attract other top world stars. The Red Bulls can use Marquez as a supreme ticket seller -- but they must also use him to make sure that
the club’s academy system encourages Latin talent.
Ric, I do not believe the cosmopolitan nature of NYC has any relevance on the Latino community that lives there. Unlike the cities that you would rather have Marquez go to, NYC has large populations of soccer loving Latin American countries other than Mexico. The issue for the Latinos in NYC is that the mainstream market is dominated by the baseball culture from Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, hardly soccer countries. So Marquez gives the Latin American soccer fans someone of great international pedigree and a focal point regardless of nationality. As per the RB academy, they do have a number of players from Latin background (the most recent graduate Juan Agudelo is from Colombian ancestry), and it is likely that number will increase. Cheers
Ric, I think that NYC is a great spot for marquez to come and i really think he will pull a huge crowd. I whent to the Mexico Equador game in meadowlands (80,000) and it was jam packed with mexican fans. not to mention how fast the game sold out! It it more than just NYC aswell. you are forgetting all the NJ cities and towns as well that have a massive mexican/hispanic population. I live in the heart of harlem and during the world cup i saw nothing but Marquez and blanco jerseys everywhere i went (i was the only one rocking out the Anelka and Henry Jersey :P ) I really think that Marquez and henry together will force me to have to buy season tickets next season so that i know i will have seats.
I think that Henry, Marquez are great signings for the league but not until we create more Landon Donavans' or Clint Dempseys' will Americans take more interest in the sport. If Charlie Davies didn't get in the car accident I believe we would be talking about how great he played in the World Cup and more AMERICAN kids could look at a American Player as their hero. We need American players as our Heros'. This is the UNITED STATES not Mexico or Honduras its easy for owners to go after foreign players to bring in the Mexican fans but not until there are more world class American Soccer players playing in the league will the league be respected. The other side is by bringing in more foreign players how can we develop our home grown talent. If we flood the league with foreign players we will be going backwards. The league can only survive if the United States can be successful in the World Cup.
this is just wonderful may the rest of the league follow in red bulls footsteps.
Bring Deco to Revolution!
Charles, it is a catch-22 situation. One of the things that Dempsey and Donovan attributed their success to is the opportunity to play a lot against Hispanic kids since very early on. One big issue is that the soccer system is not geared to produced the talent that we are looking into bringing as DPs. Yes we need to grow more of our own players but we also need good reference players to try to emulate. Who knows, maybe the Agudelo kid from the RB academy will benefit and learn from training and maybe playing with Henry, or Tchani learns from Marquez and both go on to become the next American stars. We need the influence of these great players to teach our own.