Galaxy Midfielder Chris Klein (And Others) Slam MLS Schedule

With MLS blithely carrying on with a regular schedule this weekend despite the heavy World Cup qualifying fixture list around the world, criticism is mounting about the harm the domestic league is doing to its credibility at home and internationally.

Coaches hate it, players hate it, fans hate it, but the MLS suits don't appear to understand the harm they are doing to the league. Soccer is a global game. MLS needs to get with the rest of the world and at least - the very least - honor FIFA international dates.

By this point it's a bit of an old saw, but it's worth talking about just to keep it in the public eye and keep the pressure on MLS.

Toronto FC Coach John Carver fired the first salvo last weekend after the game against Chivas USA, observing he will be without nine or 10 players who are on World Cup qualifying duty this coming weekend:

"We asked the MLS, because we thought it's an extreme circumstance, if we could postpone the (return) game (this weekend against Chivas USA). They turned us down. ... On this occasion I don't think common sense has prevailed.

"I'm going to have to get kids and put kids in. It's that embarrassing. I may even have to go get kids who play in amateur teams.

If I'm a fan of Toronto FC, I don't think I'm getting value for money because I've paid good money for my season ticket - we've got fantastic support up there - yet we're not putting the product on the pitch.

"It's something they have to look at. I don't think there's another league in the world that would ask a team to play in these circumstances."

He's right and Galaxy midfielder Chris Klein piled it on:

"It's a disgrace. ... (MLS) Commissioner (Don) Garber came out and said a few things about scheduling problems and all I can say is we have to figure those out. You play a game on Thursday night when you're missing David Beckham and Landon Donovan and Cuauhtemoc Blanco and (Gonzalo) Segares and the list keeps going. And these are games that are at the most important time of the season. For us, come Saturday night, we're missing four guys - four very important guys and that doesn't help the league. We need to make this league about the product on the field first."

(The Galaxy are without Donovan, Eddie Lewis, Beckham and Canadian Ante Jazic, who are all on international duty).

Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena is similarly unimpressed with MLS scheduling:

"That needs to be again reexamined by the people who make the decisions in MLS. I've spoken about that for years. I don't think it's the way to go, but I'm a non-voting member, so-to-speak. You look at our team this weekend and we lose four players in our first XI. That's a factor and it is for other teams. Obviously there needs to be a reexamination of the schedule. You look at (Tuesday) night - you have two MLS teams eliminated from the (CONCACAF) Champions League by clubs from Panama and Trinidad (& Tobago) and that tells me the schedule is catching up with everybody. ... Of course I believe you honor (FIFA) fixture dates."

Boston-based soccer writer Frank Dell'Apa agrees with Bruce about the CONCACAF Champions League.

And it's humiliating for the U.S.

Meanwhile, Galaxy striker Edson Buddle has the last word (and best quote) on the issue in regard to Saturday's game against second-place Western Conference team Real Salt Lake:

"Hopefully we'll put them to sleep not having four good players here. So hopefully they'll go to sleep and they won't think it will be a tough game and we'll steal some points."

Not a bad hope.

I'll be back in the morning with previews of the Galaxy, Chivas USA and U.S. games.