Sportsnet: Sutton cherishes FC chance
Publié : 30 novembre 2006 20:26
http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/article. ... 80543_4772
Sutton cherishes FC chance
November 30, 2006
Greg Sutton returns to Major League Soccer with the asset he was missing six years ago in Chicago -- experience.
"When I first joined MLS, I don't think I was game-ready," the six-foot-six goalkeeper said Wednesday. "I had the skills, but in goalkeeping, a lot of it is decision-making on the field.
"Having games under your belt makes a big difference. That's why you see goalkeepers who are 33 or 34 playing at their best."
The 29-year-old is to be introduced Friday as the latest addition to FC Toronto, a new team in MLS that is gathering together some of Canada's top players. Sutton becomes Toronto FC's 12th player -- and its first goalie.
Sutton joins Toronto after five seasons with the Montreal Impact, where he developed his game well enough to be named the United Soccer Leagues' goalkeeper of the year the last four seasons -- as well as league MVP in 2004. He also earned eight caps with Canada's national team.
He said the USL years have given him what he was lacking when he went 1-6 as an MLS 'keeper with the Chicago Fire, who cut him loose after some high-scoring defeats, and briefly the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in 1999 and 2000.
"Any goalkeeper can make a save, but it's things like deciding when to come out for a cross or telling the defence where to be that you only learn from playing games," he said. "The last five years in Montreal gave me that experience."
Sutton expects a slightly higher calibre of play in MLS, where he said strikers get shots away more quickly and from more dangerous positions than in the USL.
The move should also help solidify his place with the national team by playing full time with fellow internationals like midfielder Jim Brennan and defenders Marco Reda, Chris Pozniak and former Impact teammate Adam Braz.
Braz, a right fullback in Montreal, signed as a free agent with Toronto last week. Sutton, who had two years remaining on his Impact contract, was transferred in a cash deal to MLS.
He said the longer MLS season -- nine months instead of six -- will also help keep him sharp.
Sutton, a Hamilton native who grew up in Connecticut, said he had accomplished all he could in Montreal and wanted to move on. .
The Impact have a solid backup in Andrew Weber, who stepped in when Sutton sat out half the season with a broken index finger on his left hand.
And team president Joey Saputo said his club expects to battle for a championship and retain its league-high 11,000-plus spectators per game even without Sutton and Braz.
"We always have players looking to play at a higher level, whether it's in Europe or the MLS," said Saputo, whose club has lost stars like Sandro Grande, Patrice Bernier and Ali Gerba to European teams in recent years. "We've never held any player back."
Saputo was miffed that MLS moved into Toronto, whose weak USL club played before mostly empty seats, while Montreal and Vancouver had built good teams and had strong local followings.
Sutton believes fans will turn out in Toronto for the MLS club, which is owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and will play in the new waterfront BMO Field stadium that is being built mostly with tax dollars.
"The support in Toronto wasn't there because the product on the field wasn't any good," he said.
"This (MLS team) is a totally different product that will be on the field in Toronto," he added,
Without mentioning numbers, Sutton said he got a nice pay raise, although Saputo doubts that money was a prime reason for the move.
Saputo said that after the top four highly paid stars on MLS clubs, the salary scale in the two leagues is similar. The median salary on the Impact is about $40,000. He said many players in MLS make less than that.
"It's not that far off," he said. "Greg felt he wanted to play in a league that will give him more of a challenge and we respect that. He's been a gentleman with this team."
Veteran Pat Onstad, a native of Vancouver who has twice been named MLS goalie of the year, was the league's highest-earning goalie at US$160,000 last season with the Houston Dynamo, according to a Washington Post salary survey. Chivas goalies Brad Guzan and Preston Burpo, in contrast, made US$62,250 and US$49,992, respectively.
Sutton cherishes FC chance
November 30, 2006
Greg Sutton returns to Major League Soccer with the asset he was missing six years ago in Chicago -- experience.
"When I first joined MLS, I don't think I was game-ready," the six-foot-six goalkeeper said Wednesday. "I had the skills, but in goalkeeping, a lot of it is decision-making on the field.
"Having games under your belt makes a big difference. That's why you see goalkeepers who are 33 or 34 playing at their best."
The 29-year-old is to be introduced Friday as the latest addition to FC Toronto, a new team in MLS that is gathering together some of Canada's top players. Sutton becomes Toronto FC's 12th player -- and its first goalie.
Sutton joins Toronto after five seasons with the Montreal Impact, where he developed his game well enough to be named the United Soccer Leagues' goalkeeper of the year the last four seasons -- as well as league MVP in 2004. He also earned eight caps with Canada's national team.
He said the USL years have given him what he was lacking when he went 1-6 as an MLS 'keeper with the Chicago Fire, who cut him loose after some high-scoring defeats, and briefly the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in 1999 and 2000.
"Any goalkeeper can make a save, but it's things like deciding when to come out for a cross or telling the defence where to be that you only learn from playing games," he said. "The last five years in Montreal gave me that experience."
Sutton expects a slightly higher calibre of play in MLS, where he said strikers get shots away more quickly and from more dangerous positions than in the USL.
The move should also help solidify his place with the national team by playing full time with fellow internationals like midfielder Jim Brennan and defenders Marco Reda, Chris Pozniak and former Impact teammate Adam Braz.
Braz, a right fullback in Montreal, signed as a free agent with Toronto last week. Sutton, who had two years remaining on his Impact contract, was transferred in a cash deal to MLS.
He said the longer MLS season -- nine months instead of six -- will also help keep him sharp.
Sutton, a Hamilton native who grew up in Connecticut, said he had accomplished all he could in Montreal and wanted to move on. .
The Impact have a solid backup in Andrew Weber, who stepped in when Sutton sat out half the season with a broken index finger on his left hand.
And team president Joey Saputo said his club expects to battle for a championship and retain its league-high 11,000-plus spectators per game even without Sutton and Braz.
"We always have players looking to play at a higher level, whether it's in Europe or the MLS," said Saputo, whose club has lost stars like Sandro Grande, Patrice Bernier and Ali Gerba to European teams in recent years. "We've never held any player back."
Saputo was miffed that MLS moved into Toronto, whose weak USL club played before mostly empty seats, while Montreal and Vancouver had built good teams and had strong local followings.
Sutton believes fans will turn out in Toronto for the MLS club, which is owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and will play in the new waterfront BMO Field stadium that is being built mostly with tax dollars.
"The support in Toronto wasn't there because the product on the field wasn't any good," he said.
"This (MLS team) is a totally different product that will be on the field in Toronto," he added,
Without mentioning numbers, Sutton said he got a nice pay raise, although Saputo doubts that money was a prime reason for the move.
Saputo said that after the top four highly paid stars on MLS clubs, the salary scale in the two leagues is similar. The median salary on the Impact is about $40,000. He said many players in MLS make less than that.
"It's not that far off," he said. "Greg felt he wanted to play in a league that will give him more of a challenge and we respect that. He's been a gentleman with this team."
Veteran Pat Onstad, a native of Vancouver who has twice been named MLS goalie of the year, was the league's highest-earning goalie at US$160,000 last season with the Houston Dynamo, according to a Washington Post salary survey. Chivas goalies Brad Guzan and Preston Burpo, in contrast, made US$62,250 and US$49,992, respectively.