(Some more of) Your Questions Answered

IVES-Haven’t heard anything new on it. It’s probably something Orozco will be more inclined to talk about down the road.

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JAMES- If you could sign two foreign players to the league who would they be.

IVES- Thierry Henry and Kaka. I’d put Henry in New York and Kaka in New England. Not only would both players play at a high level and dazzle fans, they would sell tickets and be marketing dreams. Unfortunately MLS doesn’t have the quarter of a BILLION it would probably take to land both players. That said, I’d still bet money on Henry playing for New York next year.

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GO RAILHAWKS- Any chance of an MLS team ever getting located in/around Raleigh, NC? Great local soccer tradition at club (CASL) and college (UNC, NC St, Duke right there, and Wake Forest close), and they’ve had good turnouts for NCAA tournament games there as well as the occasional int’l friendly.
Raleigh wasn’t a first-choice for the NHL, either, but the Hurricanes have drawn very well, played for the Stanley Cup twice, and won one. The area is starved for major sports and might easily rally around a top-tier soccer squad (heck, the two-year-old Railhawks draw 7k/game).
Is it ownership? Small(ish) TV market? Not a ‘cool’ location? Or just no one’s really thrown their hat in the ring for it?

IVES- I think the small market hurts Raleigh, but more importantly, I haven’t heard of a potential ownership group there. You need rich people to step up when you want a pro franchise and I’m not sure there are soccer-loving rich people ready to invest in trying to bring a team to Carolina.

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KCJ- What do you think of the job done by Peter Vermes in KC? He has turned down LA, but is that because it was the safe choice to stay in KC or because working with Arena would be a no win situation. Also any hints on what trades he may be interested in making to help the Wizards into the playoffs this year?

IVES- I’m not sure if Vermes was going to be hired to work alongside Arena. What I have been told is that Vermes was approached to be the Galaxy’s president and he alone would have made the decision on hiring a coach. Vermes has spent quite a bit of time in the Kansas City area and I can see him wanting to stay there as the team gets a new stadium and moves into a new phase in its history. As for trades KC might make, I haven’t heard a peep.

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FREDDY ADU- as we near closer and closer to the Collective Bargaining Agreement being re-negotiated, can you give me a guess as to what the new salary cap will be?

IVES- I have no idea what it will be. I can tell you what it needs to be. I think the cap should go from $2.3 million to $5 million, with senior rosters expanding from 18 to 24. I feel like that would be a logical step in the league’s evolution. Obviously more money would be better, but I think that would get done what needs to be done. The problem is we’re talking about a $2.7 million increase per team. That’s $36.8 million MLS owners need to come up with. I’m not so sure owners are ready to pony up that kind of money. Well, not all owners.

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STEVE- Exactly how much money do you think Chelsea would be willing to throw at AC Milan for Kaka? I think Man U said they wanted somewhere around $150 million for Ronaldo…how much would Milan want for their star?

IVES- I really don’t think Milan would sell Kaka for any price. Now I know you can say "Well, what if they offered a BILLION." Realistically speaking, I just don’t see Milan selling and definitely not this late in the window.

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BRANT- What’s the one question no one asked this week that you were waiting for? How would you answer it?

IVES- That’s a good question Brant. I really don’t think about questions I might get asked. If I think of anything I’ll include it in a later section of the Q&A.

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JJJJJJJJJJ- Why won’t Bob Bradley pick Kenny Cooper? It is honestly baffling and maybe you can explain it to me.

IVES- It boils down to this. Bradley has had Cooper in camp, had him in camp in January of 2007. At that time Cooper was not impressive and didn’t play that well in the camp. Even before he could work his way back into serious consideration he suffered an injury last year. Fast forward to now, while Cooper has emerged as a great goal-scoring threat in MLS, you could argue that he was also scoring goals in MLS in 2006, which is right before he went into that 2007 camp and failed to impress. Now, I think Bradley would want to be able to bring Cooper into another camp and have a long look at him in training, playing against fellow national team players to see how much he has really progressed.

Maybe Bradley will bring him now now that the national team has a pair of games coming up and will be together longer than a few days. Bringing in a player you’re not sure about when you’re not going to get many training sessions with that player doesn’t really make much sense, which is why I didn’t have a problem with him getting the call against Guatemala. That said, if the U.S. team is going to have its team together for a week next week, that does seem like a good opportunity to bring Cooper in.

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SEAN- Who do you think are the most underated players in MLS right now that might deserve to go overseas?

IVES- Assuming you just mean American players. I would go with Jeff Larentowicz, Nick LaBrocca,

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ERIC GRIESHEIMER- At one time Michael Bradley looked like he was headed to one of the top teams in one of the top leagues. Is he stuck in Holland or do you think he moves soon? I’d love to seem him make a splash at a bigger club.

IVES- Bradley could still move and could still go to a top league. Things will sort themselves out in the next two days.

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TED HILL- 1. What do you think of Juventus chances in the Champions League this year. I know it will probably have a lot to do with the group stage draw, but what do you think of the squad and the chances to make the knockout rounds?

IVES- I think Juventus could make some noise in Champions League but I wonder if the depth is there to challenge for the title. The knockout rounds are a definite possibility. It’s so tough to say without seeing the groups they have to pass through to get there. That being said, with the addition of Amaury and return of Giovinco, Juve might have enough depth in attack to make challenges for the Scudetto and Champions League trophy, but I can’t help but wonder how much longer Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet will be productive.

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MARC- Does RBNY have remaining allocation money following the Jozy transfer and the subsequent signing of Rojas, Pietravallo, Cichero and Jiminez? If not – and assuming that RBNY is not good enough to win the Cup this year – it seems like the money would have been better spent if some was saved until next year.

IVES- Yes, there is money left. The money spent so far looks very well spent but the club isn’t done trying to make moves.

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AC- If the USA Men’s National Team experiences success in their qualifying group early on, or even in the hexagonal portion, do you think we’d probably see Adu and Altidore called into camp or would Bradley probably let them develop with their new clubs?

IVES- It’s safe to say that Bradley will call Adu and Altidore at some point this fall, perhaps as soon as next week. You do want players to adapt to new clubs, but you also need to have them in camp to work with the rest of the national team.

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MIKE FROM BALTIMORE- Hey Ives! What’s the deal with some of the unsigned American goalkeepers right now? Any word where they might end up (Cervi, Pickens)?

IVES- I think we’ll be hearing something on Cervi very soon. As for Pickens, I heard an MLS team was very interested but squabbles with MLS over how much the team could pay him led to the deal falling apart. Not sure what his next step is.

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IVES FOR PRESIDENT- Outside of Houston and New England, what MLS team do you see as a possible legitimate chance to make it to the MLS Cup championship game?

IVES- Making it TO MLS Cup? I could see Columbus and Chicago making it. Don’t really see anybody else in the West making it, though having an East team win the West could very well happen this year. If D.C. can get Marcelo Gallardo and Fred back healthy late in the year you could D.C. rolling through the West (that’s assuming they finish in fifth place, which at this point is only likely to happen if the Red Bulls pass them up, a very real possibility the way things look right now.)

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BRAD- What, if anything, do you think can be done to improve the atmosphere in the stands at MLS games (short of resorting to China-Olympics style methods)? What can MLS do? What can the supporters’ groups do? What can the average fan do?

IVES- That’s four quesions Brad. Seriously though, I think the problem in a lot of cases is that teams are targeting groups for ticket sales that aren’t necessarily the die-hard, chant-singing fans that really add atmosphere to a game. That’s not a knock on those people, just a reality. Perhaps teams could reach out to fans and offer tips on how to be more vocal at games, come up with team-created songs that a whole stadium can sing. I’m not sure what more supporter’s groups can do. The only problem with Supporter’s Groups is that they aren’t bigger. That will come with time and as more soccer stadiums are built, supporter’s groups can grow ASSUMING that the teams realize and appreciate the valuable resource that die-hard fans are. I hear too many stories about stadiums mis-treating the die-hards, and that’s just pathetic and dumb.

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DREW- I saw that LA went after Peter Vermes as their GM…the Wizards’ record isn’t outstanding since he took over, so why do you think they came to him before Arena?

IVES- Very good question. It should be noted that after Vermes took over, KC snapped its playoff drought and won a playoff series to reach the West final last year. KC has taken a step back this year but Vermes has done a good job of not only hiring a very promising young coach in Curt Onalfo, but also in remaking an old and underperforming KC roster and infusing it with young talent as well as some good foreign talent. Right now, while KC is struggling you have to be impressed with the young talent on the roster and like the Wizards chances of building a winner in the very near future.

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