Tip Sheet: Discourse creates accountability for MLS, U.S. Soccer

Published Oct. 17, 2014 4:00 p.m. ET

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Kyle McCarthy

The response to the response lacked the vigor of the maelstrom created by MLS commissioner Don Garber the day before, but it proved no less important.

United States manager Jürgen Klinsmann attempted to soothe the tensions without walking back his comments. Klinsmann also offered perhaps his most telling comment as he remarked upon the events over the past few days. The debate and the resulting furor signal the continued growth of the sport, according to Klinsmann.

“It’s great to see that we have debates and public discussions like this because that shows that more and more people care about soccer in this country,” Klinsmann told Reuters on Thursday night.. “In Europe, in South America and in Mexico, we’re all used to this. It’s part of people’s everyday lives – to have debates about different opinions. It’s just starting now in the United States and I think it’s pretty cool.”

Reasonable minds can and do disagree about the right approach to take and the right course to follow. This series of exchanges illustrates a gap that extends all the way to the top and shows how the nuances often get lost in the struggle. The arguments -- and yes, they even include public bickering from time to time -- are healthy and necessary to drive the proceedings forward.

MLS and U.S. Soccer are increasingly formidable entities, but they are not finished products yet. MLS isn’t the best league in the world. U.S. Soccer isn’t winning the World Cup any time soon, either. There is plenty of desire and room for continued advancement on all fronts despite their perfectly respectable current stations.

This is the time to challenge the emerging status quos and transform the potential into greater production. Everything – from additional investment in the all-too-modest player budgets to player development mechanisms to promotion/relegation to the relationship with NASL and USL to standard of play concerns to tactical decisions in individual national team matches to the treatment of stars by the national team coach – warrants inspection.

Increased discussion and scrutiny remains an integral part of this evaluation process. Klinsmann makes a point of trying to push his players to perform at their highest level. The same tenets hold true for the leaders and the structures in place. Contentment is the enemy for a league and a national team program with considerable ground left to cover.

Both parties remain more formidable when they work together, but they must also protect their own interests. It is down to everyone involved to take these disagreements on board and use them to examine their own beliefs and produce the answers required to make them worthwhile.

Diego Valeri and his Portland teammates must procure a result against Real Salt Lake on Friday night to keep their postseason hopes alive.

Five Points – Week 33

1. Portland must produce against Real Salt Lake to keep its season alive: There is no latitude left for the Timbers at this stage. Vancouver holds the inside track to the fifth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference after that stunning victory at Seattle last weekend. Portland must win both of its matches – including a tricky test against RSL at Providence Park tonight – and hope San Jose (now with interim coach Ian Russell in charge for the match at Buck Shaw Stadium) or Colorado trips up the Whitecaps.

2. FC Dallas faces its own challenges in Commerce City: FCD will root hard for Portland to take a point or three off RSL ahead of its matinee against the sputtering Rapids on Saturday. The race for third spot in the Western Conference matters a great deal -- the prospect of playing the first leg of the conference semifinals against LA Galaxy or Seattle holds little appeal – to both sides. If FCD can eliminate its one-point deficit this weekend, then it will enter its tricky finale against Portland with control over its fate.

3. Sporting Kansas City attempts to keep pace with New England: Lee Nguyen kept the Revs on track for second spot in the Eastern Conference with his late winner in Houston on Thursday. Sporting must somehow match that result in Philadelphia on Saturday without captain Matt Besler (ruled out after sustaining an injury during the United States’ 1-1 draw against Honduras on Tuesday, according to the Kansas City Star) to keep the chase alive and ward off a potential challenge from below.

4. Columbus, New York stage potential dress rehearsal for knockout round: The two sides enter this weekend in fourth and fifth spot in the Eastern Conference. Their meeting at Red Bull Arena could exert significant influence over their playoff fates. If Columbus secures the point required to guarantee its exceedingly likely postseason berth (or if Toronto FC fails to win at home to Montréal on Saturday), then the two sides would

5. LA Galaxy, Seattle battle for Supporters’ Shield: The two teams will start a de facto home-and-home series with the top spot in the West and the inside track to hosting MLS Cup on the line. Seattle – by virtue of its win total – holds the tiebreaker advantage: One win over these two matches will ensure Sounders FC finishes atop the table.

This pair of matches promises plenty of intrigue. Can Seattle find a way through the Galaxy’s solid core with its direct approach? Is the Sounders FC defense sturdy enough to handle Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes? Will the supporting casts determine the outcome?

Keane offered perhaps the best take as he pondered the compelling fare to come in his comments on Friday.

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