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The biggest complaint most fans of European soccer have with Major League Soccer in America is that the regular season has too little value. Eight out of 14 clubs make the playoffs, and teams that finish last don't get relegated to the second division. MLS and CONCACAF are trying to change that by tying regular season performance into international competitions like SuperLiga and the new CONCACAF Champions League, but those events don't quite have enough prestige to convince MLS players to play with the same urgency in the regular season as European players do.Someone really needs to explain these things to Eddie Johnson.
The former Kansas City Wizard moved to Fulham last January to help the club with its offense, and he's displaced Clint Dempsey in the starting lineup. In three starts, Johnson has produced a grand total of one shot on goal. He's also been easy to push off the ball and less than eager to chase after crosses that aren't put right on his head.
Basically, he's playing with zero urgency. Johnson plays for a club battling for its Premier League life, and he acts like he's just playing out a string and will be back in the top flight next season. That was evident today in Fulham's 2-0 loss at Newcastle.
Johnson might have been able to rack up goals in MLS without much struggle, but it was obvious today that he's no match for stronger defenders. Newcastle's back line didn't look the least bit threatened by Johnson today, and he never gave them reason to be.
It's exactly this sort of lackadaisical play that has Bob Bradley starting Dempsey and Jozy Altidore ahead of Johnson on the U.S. national team. Why Fulham manager Roy Hodgson thinks Johnson is better than Dempsey here remains a mystery. Yes, Dempsey hasn't scored since Boxing Day, but he's still Fulham's leading scorer with six goals on the season, and giving him only 20 to 25 minutes a game to spell Brian McBride is not going to help him out of his slump -- nor will it help Fulham avoid the drop.
The difference between Dempsey and Johnson, though, is that even if Fulham is relegated -- which is looking more likely after today -- Dempsey won't be playing in the Coca-Cola Championship next season. Dempsey understands what a relegation battle is. Johnson does not, and he needs to step up his game quickly, or he might find himself bombing out of Europe getting shipped back to MLS faster than you can say, "Landon Donovan."
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