Why I Want to Keep Joe Cannon

Interesting discussion on the previous post about my 2008 Wish List, particularly on the issues of Landon Donovan’s consistency and Joe Cannon’s salary.

First off: Am I too harsh on Landon? I’ve been trying to figure this out since I started following the man and his play. How much of the harsh judgment he gets, in general, is based on his being a homesick kid in Europe a couple of years back? Is he really more inconsistent than other players, or is it just that, as commenter VictorM pointed out, he’s been forced to carry the teams he’s been on almost singlehandedly?

I think it’s a little bit of all of the above. There are games when he’s just amazing, and games where I look back and honestly find myself thinking, “Oh. Was Landon playing tonight?” I’m really hoping that a year with a healthy Beckham (and, with luck, a star striker or two) sharing the burden will put these thoughts to rest, because I honestly like Landon. But I just can’t shake the feeling that he’s capable of so much more than he’s produced up to this point. Am I wrong here?

And now about Cannon. Here’s the main argument against keeping him, which I understand: He makes a lot of money. With Beckham and Donovan (and, God forbid, possibly Carlos Ruiz) on the roster, the team has salary cap issues. Cannon makes $192,000 a year. Cronin, the backup, makes $34,728.75. (Don’t ask me. I just copied the number.) That’s a huge difference.

Here’s the thing, though. Let’s look at our back line as it stands. Mike Randolph will probably be starting at leftback. In the center, I can’t imagine that Abel Xavier will be back — we need more bang for the buck — so who does that leave? Probably Ty Harden and Troy Roberts? Or possibly Ante Jazic? How comfortable does this lineup leave you? These guys are potentially very good, but they’re young. (Except for Ante, who is generally solid but not stellar.)

Granted, this is all balanced out a bit by having both Chris Albright and Chris Klein available at rightback. But I’m still seeing some defensive holes here, caused not by lack of talent but by lack of experience. How many times last year did we see a young defender forced to make a split-second decision that turned out to not be quite the best one? And how many times did you find yourself thinking, as he played catch-up, “That’s okay, because Cannon is there”?

For me, a lot. And I was right more often than not.

Sure, Cronin has potential. He was stellar in that early game (my memory is saying Open Cup against New York?) But after that he was up and down. Is that really what the team needs right now? Can we afford young and inconsistent in both the back line and the goalkeeper?

Goalkeeper, for me, is one of those positions where I don’t want to take chances. Not this year. Yes, we could upgrade at some of the defensive positions, but I see that as counterproductive for two reasons. First, because wouldn’t the point of getting rid of Cannon be to save money? Do we want to spend that money on the back line when we so desperately need offensive reinforcements? And second, because I think we have a back line that will eventually be pretty solid here, but only if they get the experience playing together. But while they’re getting that experience, they’re going to need a very solid keeper behind them to help them up the learning curve.

And I think that keeper is Joe Cannon.

(But feel free to disagree with me in the comments. That’s what makes life interesting.)

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Category: Player News