Yesterday it was reported that Arturo Alvarez, midfielder for the San Jose Earthquakes, has switched sides and will play for the El Salvador national team. Alvarez is himself American, being born in Houston, but his parents are originally from El Salvador. Alvarez has never played for the senior USMNT, and the same rule that freed Jermaine Jones to join the US has given Alvarez a chance at international soccer. Before you start getting all hopped up about an American rejecting his birth nation, ask yourself: is Alvarez worth caring about?
I have nothing but respect for Alvarez, but he never had a snowball’s chance in hell at even sniffing the field for the USMNT. His position is the USMNT’s deepest. Alvarez, while a good MLS player, is just that. Only great MLS players end up on Bob Bradley’s squad, and even that is a stretch at times. Arturo is no Donovan, Dempsey, Clark, Bradley, or even Kljestan. With both Stuart Holden and Kyle Beckerman having their coming out parties at the Gold Cup, the poor guy stood no chance. He’s just not good enough.
To put it in better perspective, let’s compare Alvarez to the premier US midfielder and former teammate, Landon Donovan. While it may not seem fair, they play the same position and wear the same number in MLS (10). In his six seasons in MLS, Alvarez has twenty-one goals in over one hundred appearances with both the San Jose Earthquakes and FC Dallas. Last season, in just twenty-five appearances with the Galaxy, Donovan scored twenty times. To put it mildly, there is no comparison.
What does this all mean? Don’t fret over Alvarez. This isn’t Rossi or Subotic. They would have played, and probably played well. The man had a chance to play international soccer, every player’s dream, and he took it. He saw the writing on the wall with the USMNT. Can you really blame him? What it does in the end is make MLS look good. El Salvador is looking for a spark in the Hexagonal, and Alvarez can provide it. Strong play from him shows the world that MLS isn’t just a place for American internationals, but for players from all backgrounds and international commitments. Do the league proud, Arturo. I wish you nothing but the best of luck, except when you play the Yanks.
12 responses so far ↓
Twitted by mrwray // August 3, 2009 at 2:47 AM |
[...] This post was Twitted by mrwray [...]
Kartik Krishnaiyer // August 3, 2009 at 11:08 AM |
Bradley is skeptical of guys in MLS as you correctly point out. I’ve actually been waiting for Alvarez to do this since the rule was changed. He’s always been a bit of a loose cannon- a decent attacker who neglects defense- that and being an MLS player are death wishes in Bradley’s system.
It’s again a shame as I point out often that MLS had so many more non CONCACAF internationals playing with their national teams in the late 1990s. Someone left a comment somewhere (Big Soccer maybe?) that it was 9/11 that changed things. I had never really thought about it, but 2001 was really the last year of big internationals on their national teams in the league before Beckham and Blanco came.
Hopefully Fredy Montero can begin the trend of younger MLS stars playing for their national teams. We saw a lot of call ups in the late 90s as I said, among younger guys (Shaun Bartlett, Doctor Khumalo, Ben Iroha, JAMIE MORENO, etc, etc) but today see very little of that. But Montero could help change things.
wjmooner // August 3, 2009 at 11:37 AM |
Really good analysis. I have no problem with someone like Alvarez representing their ancestral homeland once it becomes apparent that they are not going to get the chance for the USMNT. No love for those who reject the opportunity to play for us though (Rossi, Subotic to a lesser extent).
Jason Gatties // August 3, 2009 at 5:45 PM |
Nope…don’t care about Alvarez.
Drew // August 3, 2009 at 5:48 PM |
Honestly, after covering Alvarez while he was down here in Dallas I can tell you I wasn’t at all shocked to hear this story. He truly had no shot at the USMNT though, not because of Bradley or being in MLS but because he truly isn’t good enough. Maybe some time with his new country can change my mind. Let’s just hope he can get time down there.
P2 // August 6, 2009 at 4:13 AM |
You guys will regret letting Alvarez come to the ESNT (Which is already loaded with young talent) on September the 5th.
ian // August 6, 2009 at 5:35 PM |
a little harsh, no?
jerry // August 8, 2009 at 8:20 PM |
i dont care , with him or not we are not goin to be champions , our soccer is no match for the world cup , world cup player are way too much for our only good player donovan,…
jerry // August 8, 2009 at 8:22 PM |
we did great in the gold cup better then el salvador, we got beat 5 0
jerry // August 8, 2009 at 8:26 PM |
i dont know why we dont learn from the uk, they are always better then us, damn British, i hate them for all that, they always win
ALX AND1N0 // August 18, 2009 at 1:41 PM |
I am from El Salvador and I really appreciate your goodwill to Arturo Alvarez. In fact, any success for Alvarez in this tournament will make look good MLS soccer.
But (and very respectfully) I desagree with you when you make a comparison between Alvarez and Landon Donovan. Donovan is (no doubt) the best referent in the USA Team. I think there is no player to replace him in Bradley’s team. So, Alvarez could not be better than Donovan, but that not means that Alvarez is not good enough to be in the USA Soccer Team as an alternate player.
As you said, El Salvador is looking for a spark in the Hexagonal, and Alvarez can provide it. Next September, when El Salvador play with USA in Utah, that match will be the chance to Alvarez to show them his skills and arguments in the field, despite El Salvador team chances to go to South Africa are really far.
Greetings from El Salvador…
Adam Soucie // August 19, 2009 at 12:46 AM |
I understand your point. Alvarez could have been a good back-up for the USMNT, but the problem lies in that midfield is the US’ deepest position. Assuming Freddy Adu eventually gets his act together, he is the heir-apparent to Donovan. Since the Gold Cup, we know that Stuart Holden might be the next Donovan. If he could pull his head out of his ass for two seconds, Sacha might be an option as well. Alvarez just came along at the wrong time, or never stood out enough to get on Bradley’s radar.
Still, I’m glad he’s found a home. As you said, the more internationals from MLS playing well, the better. His success can only make MLS look better.