Mathis to Greece, Goodson to Norway

Clint Mathis is taking another stab at European football as has left the LA Galaxy and signed with Greece side Ergotelis. His last gig in Europe didn't end so well and his second stand in MLS was mostly a wash. Perhaps a chance with a team that is interested in having him play will motivate him to return to form, as it was obvious MLS bored him. Then again at 31, it might just be too late.

Either way, LA has just opened up a lot of salary space with this move. Mathis's base salary for 2007 was $410,000. Add to it the $190,000 from Cannon and you've got a good amount of lout to play around with during the transfer window.

In other news, San Jose will not have the services of Clarence Goodson for their first season as he has decided to give Europe a go after signing with Norwegian side IK Start. Start is a famed club in Norway but after a bad season last year is in their second division. However, the team is making the need investments to turn things around and return to top level after this season.

Goodson has all the makings of a fantastic player and more then deserves this chance at the big time. My guess is he will only be in Norway a couple seasons at most before a bigger club comes looking. Also, since Goodson is gone without playing a single game for San Jose, FCD's decision to leave him unprotected makes a lot more sense, but since he was out of contract, one has to wonder why the 'Quakes picked him. Maybe they were hoping he wouldn't go till the summer transfer window?

Update: For those who might be wondering what Mathis's new Greek club is saying on their website concerning this trade, here is a translation from a Greek friend of my wife.

PAE (the soccer team) gets Clint Mathis for one year. He was born 1/25/76 and is 1.77 meters tall. The rest talks about the teams he was on in the bast.

So no real news other then it being a one-year deal.

Clint Mathis back to LA

The traveling madman that is Clint Mathis has again hit the road, this time landing back in LA with the Galaxy. After a decent season in New York, Mathis will now head to the home of Beckham and Donovan to see if he can make anything happen on the West coast.

In return for Mathis, New York got LA's natural third round pick in the upcoming 2008 MLS SuperDraft.

"Who makes the most in MLS?" Brought to you by Becks millions.

Major League Soccer's Players Union has released this year's salaries. It should come a no surprise that the team with the largest payroll is LA thanks to David Beckham, who is the top earner in the league.

Anyway, here are the team numbers:

Team	Base Salary	Guaranteed Compensation
1. Los Angeles Galaxy	$8,056,188.83	$9,179,948.56
2. New York Red Bulls	$4,334,615.50	$4,896,656.83
3. Chicago Fire	$4,185,825.50	$4,464,612.50
4. Kansas City Wizards	$2,429,925.00	$2,625,050.00
5. Real Salt Lake	$2,168,437.25	$2,602,531.00
6. Toronto FC	$2,174,290.00	$2,497,378.50
7. Colorado Rapids	$2,322,113.75	$2,431,763.75
8. FC Dallas	$1,992,803.75	$2,385,628.75
9. DC United	$2,171,178.00	$2,328,503.00
10. Houston Dynamo	$2,184,349.00	$2,260,349.00
11. New England Revolution	$1,992,948.00	$2,087,948.00
12. Columbus Crew	$1,807,199.19	$2,064,349.19
13. Chivas USA	$1,757,875.08	$1,893,125.08
Totals	$35,584,945	$44,717,850

Chivas USA has a very small payroll, but it is actually less then what is reflected in the chart now that $291,250 Amado Guevara has left the club.

Here are the top ten paid players in MLS:

Player	Team	Guaranteed Compensation
1. David Beckham	LA	$6,500,000
2. Cuauhtemoc Blanco	Chicago	$2,666,778
3. Juan Pablo Blanco	NY	$1,593,750
4. Claudio Reyna	NY	$1,250,008
5. Landon Donovan	LA	$900,000
6. Eddie Johnson	KC	$875,000
7. Freddy Adu	RSL	$550,000
8. Carlos Ruiz	FCD	$435,000
9. Clint Mathis	NY	$410,000
10. Taylor Twellman	NE	$350,008

Again, no shock that Beckham is making the most. Actually, Becks will make more this season then the total salaries for Chivas USA, the Columbus Crew and the New England Revolution combined.

Now lets look at pay by position.

Forward

Player	Team	Guaranteed Compensation
1. Cuauhtemoc Blanco	Chicago	$2,666,778
2. Juan Pablo Blanco	NY	$1,593,750
3. Landon Donovan	LA	$900,000
4. Eddie Johnson	KC	$875,000
5. Carlos Ruiz	FCD	$435,000

Midfielder

Player	Team	Guaranteed Compensation
1. David Beckham	LA	$6,500,000
2. Claudio Reyna	NY	$1,250,008
3. Freddy Adu	RSL	$550,000
4. Clint Mathis	NY	$410,000
5. Ronnie O'Brien	TFC	$258,750

Amado Guevara of Chivas was in fifth till he left the league.

Defender

Player	Team	Guaranteed Compensation
1. Pablo Mastroeni	CR	$298,000
2. Eddie Pope	RSL	$265,000
3. Greg Vanney	CR	$236,667
4. Jimmy Conrad	KC	$206,000
5. Ivan Guerrero	CF	$187,500

Goaltender

Player	Team	Guaranteed Compensation
1. Shaka Hislop	FCD	$220,800
2. Ronald Waterreus	NY	$200,000
3. Joe Cannon	LA	$192,000
4. Pat Onstad	HD	$168,000
5. Matt Reis	NE	$150,000

I guess if you want to get rich in MLS, being a goalie is not the way to do it. Interesting that Hislop is FCD's backup keeper. Their started Dario Sala earns almost half of what Hislop does at $119,875.

If you want the numbers for all the players, take a look here.

Clint is a Bull, FCD wants an Argentine and Johnson to Boca?

Clint Mathis has been traded from Colorado to New York, in a move that could only make people think, "the Red Bulls couldn't find any other forward."

New York has been looking for help up front during the whole of the off-season. This search sparked many rumors on who might be coming in as a designated player, but in the end, Mathis was what they got.

Last year Mathis had his moments, but they were very few in number and often punctuated by stupid fouls that resulted in cards. That Bruce Arena is turning to him to guide their offensive attack has to worry the Red Bull faithful.

Mathis is due to join the team in Charleston, South Carolina today and is likely to mark his return to New York (he played for the MetroStars from 2000-03) on April 7 when they play Columbus.

Meanwhile, down in the oil palace known as Dallas, it looks like FCD is about to fill the hole in their midfield caused by the trade of Richard Mulrooney. Argentine Pablo Ricchetti is all but on the team, now they just need to work out some details with his visa. They expect this to take a couple weeks, but coach Steve Morrow is hoping he will be available for their April 7 opener against Real Salt Lake.

Ricchetti brings something special to the middle of the pitch for Dallas. His ability to read the game and his great touch will give the side more offensive options and should help take some pressure off their defense. And let's be honest, anything that takes pressure off their defense is pure gold.

Finally, as pointed out by reading 'Pitch to Pub', it looks like Boca Juniors are interested in Eddie Johnson.

Now that article is in Spanish and although my language skills are not great, it seems that chairman Mauricio Macri wants to get EJ for next season. If I recall my international soccer schedule correctly, that would mean a move during the August transfer window.

Johnson is one of MLS's stars, however the last two years have seen him collapse. As difficult as it would be for the league and Kansas City to let him go, they really should give him the chance, if he wants it. Sometimes players need to get completely out of their element to rework themselves. So far, his time back in MLS since his 2005 injury has not resulted in a reawakening of his play. If the next few months of MLS play do not sort him out, then, for the betterment of his future, he should go elsewhere.