Creating a roster that is both effective and meets league imposed guidelines is one of the many challenges that face Major League Soccer technical directors, coaches, and general managers. This edition of Fire Insider will look at the various roster restrictions and how the Fire has managed to maintain a solid squad while adhering to league imposed guidelines.
28-Man Roster
The Fire cannot simply add an infinite number of players to its roster; the league only allows every MLS team 28 men - 18 on the senior roster and no more than 10 on its Developmental Roster. All 28 are available for selection on game day.
The Senior Roster
The senior roster is made up of 18 players. Other than a time period at the beginning of preseason and because of season-ending injury situations there may be no more than 18 players at a time. This roster is comprised of Domestic Players, as well as Senior and Youth Internationals.
Domestic players are U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or holders of other special status such as those who have been granted refugee or asylum status.
Senior Internationals are players that turn 25-years or older during the season. Each team's roster is limited to four Senior Internationals and while teams may trade Senior International players, teams may not trade the roster spots. The Fire's Senior Internationals at the beginning of the season consisted of Ivan Guerrero (Honduras), Gonzalo Segares (Costa Rica), Pascal Bedrossian (France), and Thiago (Brazil). Guerrero received his green card on Wednesday, June 27, technically becoming a domestic player and freeing up a Senior International roster position. Also on Wednesday, the Fire announced that they would not be exercising their option for Bedrossian, thus termination his contract and opening yet another Senior International roster position. On July 1, the Fire's Designated Player signing Cuauhtémoc Blanco will be added to their roster as a Senior International, leaving one of four Senior International roster slots open.
Youth Internationals are players that will remain younger than 25-years-old during the season. MLS teams are allowed only three Youth International roster spots, and unlike Senior Internationals positions, these roster spots may be traded on a temporary or permanent basis. Youth Internationals may be signed to either the Senior Roster or the Developmental Roster. The Fire currently holds all three of their Youth International spots, but only has two Youth International players signed: Osei Telesford (Trinidad and Tobago) and Willian Oliveira (Brazil). This means the Fire have room in their roster to add one international player under the age of 25.
The coveted Designated Player roster spot is a new addition this year. The Designated Player Rule allows the League to sign players whose full salary will fall outside of the team salary cap. The Designated Player's salary will only count as $400,000 towards the league imposed salary cap, and that $400,000 will be paid for by the league. The remainder of the player's salary will be the financial responsibility of the team itself. The Designated Player position can be traded, as in the case of Chivas USA trading their Designated Player spot to the New York Red Bulls for midfielder Amado Guevara; however, no team may possess more than two Designated Player positions. The Designated Player Rule is a three-year initiative and will be reviewed in 2009. The Fire opted to sign Mexican International Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who will be the second highest paid player in the league, as their Designated Player. As previously mentioned, Blanco will also fill a Senior International slot.
The Developmental Roster
The Developmental Roster is also comprised of domestic and international players. Field players must be 24-years or younger and goalkeepers must be 25-years or younger during the calendar year of the season. These players are signed to non-guaranteed contracts and can be waived at anytime; in addition their salaries don't count towards the team's salary cap. Teams are permitted to an unlimited number of developmental player signings during a given season to ensure all 10 roster spots are filled. Generation adidas players form a part of the Developmental Roster and the Fire have two in forward Chad Barrett and midfielder Bakary Soumare. With the recent release of defender Erik Hort, the Fire have only nine of their 10 developmental positions filled, leaving room for an additional player.
The addition of Blanco on July 1, will result in just one spot left to fill on the complete 28-man roster.
Be to check the Fire's website, www.chicago-fire.com, to stay informed about any future Fire roster additions and subtractions.
