MLS CBA Rhetoric Changes Tone

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 | View Comments
John Wolyniec

I was tempted to subtitle this post "But did anyone notice?", but refrained because I'm certain some of you have; for months, all we've heard from MLS players was talk of management intransigence, contracts that violated FIFA rules, and plans for being locked out come February 1st.


Yet suddenly, in just the past few days (or as Fake Sigi said on Twitter "since the draft"; there could be a connection), Goff reported "good vibes", John Wolyniec told Big Apple Soccer he's "hopeful", and Adrian Hanauer said he's "cautiously optimistic". From the Players' end (Wolyniec), it seems like a massive change in tact; what was doom and gloom, talk of rights, and MLS needing to fall in line with the rest of the world, is now a much rosier outlook. The language used is still noncommittal (as one would expect), the tone of it should not be taken for granted.


Nothing said, by either side, is without forethought. While I'm sure Michael Lewis caught Wolyniec either going onto or coming off of the training pitch, that doesn't necessarily mean the Red Bull striker was speaking candidly. Wolyniec knows Lewis is a reporter, after all, and likely chose his words carefully. Bottom line, if MLSPU didn't want what Wolyneic said to be out there, he wouldn't have said it. If you need a little more convincing, know that Wolyniec is on the bargaining committee for the Players, and would surely be more in tune with the need for discretion than most.


If taken as a sign of change, be it actual progress or the players softening (a possibility), then this new tone is promising; perhaps the two sides are getting slowly closer to a compromise that will allow for an on-time start to the season.


But wait; while there's suddenly good vibes and hopeful feelings from certain quarters, others are talking about the need for a "Plan B". If there is a lockout, players, especially those with World Cup aspirations, will want to be playing. Greg Seltzer examined those backup plans, and while his information came from the players' and agents' sides only (Seltzer related that MLS and D2 clubs had stonewalled him in the search for information, something I don't read too much into), the timing of the piece contradicts all of those good feelings, just a little bit.


I'm hoping it's just a matter of two aspects of the CBA story pushing in different directions, and that the backup plans are being discussed as a matter of prudence rather than because there's a real belief they'll be needed. If there's a chance, even a small one, that a work stoppage is coming, then we can't blame the players for looking for opportunities elsewhere just in case.


Perhaps I'm reading too much into what really only amounts to a few journalists going out and getting stories, with what they've been told a matter of fact rather than any premeditated choices. Hell, if Wolyniec is being candid, that could actually be better than the alternative because he feels comfortable with the way the negotiations are going to let go a little bit.


I don't think everyone is chummy, and I have no sense of how close the two sides might be to getting a deal done, but I'm suddenly much more optimistic than I was only a week ago.


A change in tone will do that.
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