SoccerDe Rosario's outburst ill-advised

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Dwayne De Rosario's goal celebration on Saturday, a mock signature on a cheque, was a rare public display of petulance. De Rosario clearly feels that his value to Toronto FC is not being compensated sufficiently - and he certainly has a case. 

No one else on the team is even close to producing the numbers that De Rosario has produced this season, 12 goals and three assists. Chad Barrett is the only other player to have scored more than two goals, notching up six while assisting on two others.

TFC's highest paid player, Julian de Guzman, has no goals and two assists, while the team's second highest paid player, Mista, has yet to find the back of the net in nine MLS games.

Considering that de Guzman takes home $1.7 million per season, while Mista picks up just under $1 million US (pro-rated), De Rosario feels that his $443,750 salary undervalues his contribution to the team.

But he shouldn't.

I don't recall anyone forcing De Rosario to sign his contract against his will when he joined the club two years ago. He was happy to sign on the dotted line for his hometown club and happy to come home to be the star player that the fans were craving.

If he didn't like the terms of that contract, he never should have signed it in the first place. If he felt his ability merited a contract of designated player status, as some people believe it does, he should have held out for one.

I didn't see any clubs lining up in Houston in 2008 to make him their designated player though, and I don't see any clubs lining up at the gates of BMO Field to do that now. The demand for his services as a designated player just isn't there.

It isn't that he doesn't deserve it. I could make a strong case to argue that he does, since he is more important to the fortunes of his team than just about any other player in the league. 

It's that he has played his entire career - apart from a brief stint in Germany - in the United States. He has worked his way up from the lower divisions into Major League Soccer, where he has developed into the player he is today. 

Bumping domestic players up to designated player status only happens if you are the poster boy of American soccer, like Landon Donovan. While De Rosario is considered an all-star-calibre player, that doesn't carry as much weight as he might believe.

Because De Rosario is under contract for two more years, Toronto FC doesn't have to make him a designated player, either. He isn't going anywhere unless the club decides it no longer requires his services. For all the criticism he gets, picking up De Rosario on a four-year deal without having to make him a designated player was actually a smooth bit of business from Mo Johnston.

Questionable timing, questionable advice?

After Saturday's outburst, De Rosario has made the likelihood of an improved contract even more remote. Rather than bringing the matter up in private with the executives of MLSE, De Rosario has instead left them to ponder if they want a player on their team whose first concern is his own paycheque. 

It would be a dangerous precedent for MLSE if they were to bow to De Rosario's demands. Every disillusioned player from now on in would do the exact same thing if he felt he was due some more money. Make that mistake once, and it will come back to haunt the club over and over.

I'm told that Mo Johnston repeatedly promised De Rosario an improved contract - only it never materialized. If that is the case, then De Rosario should be venting his anger to his agent instead of to the media.

A verbal agreement is meaningless in football, and if it isn't written into your contract, you're not getting it. Simple.

His agent should have protected De Rosario from this eventuality by inserting a clause into his contract that stipulated that De Rosario would remain the highest-paid player at the club for the duration of the contract - regardless of who else joined in the future. 

That way, if at any point during the contract the club decided to sign a designated player - which is exactly what happened when de Guzman joined - De Rosario's contract would then bump up to designated player status as well. 

That clause has protected many players over the years from feeling exactly what De Rosario feels right now - underpaid and undervalued.

I can't help but wonder who advised De Rosario to take this course of action, because it doesn't reflect well on the TFC skipper. While no one questions his ability, he has undermined his own captaincy by putting his own interests ahead of the team's.

Perhaps it was the same agent who failed to negotiate a contract that protected his client.

If so, I suggest that rather than looking for a new contract, De Rosario should look for a new agent. 

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