Well it is time once again for the SB Nation Power Rankings for MLS, the votes are done by the bloggers who write for SB Nation:
It is hard to believe that the Sounders have fallen that far, and that DC United who looked in the preseason to have everything going their way is still at the bottom. Still no surprise is bigger than the New York Red Bulls, who despite a bad loss at San Jose still remain atop the Eastern Conference.
Robbie Findley
Well a World Cup call up can mean good things for a player who is near the end of his contract, or if his club is looking to trade him. For Robbie Findley his contract is up at the end of the year and his agent (who was also Yura's agent) has gotten in his ear about the riches of Europe and despite what he calls a competitive offer from RSL and MLS, his agent is "shopping" his player to teams in Europe. You can read Michael Lewis post on this here.
It has me wondering a couple things, would Robbie be as interested in moving to Europe if he were starting every match? Is he willing to go play for a feeder club like Randers, whose only interest it to "churn and turn" talent? If he doesn't make the US roster for South Africa, will his value drop down in Europe? Does his slow start 0 goals and 2 assists so far this season hurt his value? Will we see more drama with Robbie as we saw last year with Yura?
Who knows the future? I know RSL has expressed a lot of interest in keeping Robbie, but a player must make his own decision on his future. I only hope that Robbie takes time to look around himself and sees that the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence.
Robbie will be heading off to the USMNT camp in a couple weeks, and the process of playing for the national team makes it much easier for him to get a work permit in Europe. I hope his focus in camp is on how to be of value to the team, and not how being there might increase his value to other teams.
OFF MY SOAPBOX