MLS, Players to Talk; L.A., Everton Won't

While Major League Soccer and the players' union have promised to continue negotiating, the Los Angeles Galaxy said Friday that they're not interested in entertaining Everton's request to extend Landon Donovan's loan. Both developments are good signs for those hoping MLS kicks off as scheduled later this month.

On the collective bargaining front, the league and players are heading to federal mediation. It sounds serious, but at least they continue to agree that disagreeing is preferable to canceling games. MLS has said all along that it has no interest in a lockout, but the players have been unwilling to make a similar pledge.

But preseason preparations continue nevertheless, and the league announced Friday afternoon that the two sides will head back to the negotiating table next week in Washington to try and hammer out an agreement. The season starts March 25.

George Cohen, named as the director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, will take part in the discussions. Even the government wants to see soccer this spring.

Coincidentally or not, within an hour of the labor announcement on Friday afternoon, Galaxy general manager and coach Bruce Arena told the league's web site that the club is "not interested" in extending Donovan's stay in Liverpool.
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Everton manager David Moyes was quoted as saying, "I am keen to keep Landon and it sounds initially in America that they might say yes. I think Landon is keen to stay also, so it looks as though all parties are keen

"But I have not got that confirmed yet. I can't say exactly if that is going to happen. If we can make it happen, we will."

Turns out Arena isn't so "keen."

"Landon will be back here March 15. We're being consistent with everything we've said all along," Arena said.

"Obviously the collective bargaining could change that. If we didn't have a league going on, we would certainly entertain the idea of allowing Landon to stay there. If we have a league, Landon's going to be playing for the Galaxy."

And next week's talks make that more likely.

Certainly Donovan's performance at Everton has been promising, but it shouldn't be surprising -- at least, not to anyone who has watched him play for the past year with either the Galaxy or the U.S. national team. And, of course, he's going to say all the right things when asked about his Premier League experience. Even if he wasn't having a blast -- which he obviously is -- he's too savvy to admit otherwise.

So good performance and good vibes, neither of which is unexpected, shouldn't serve as a sign that this deal is going to become anything but what it was originally. L.A. was within a penalty kick of the title last year. The club is not going to give up its best player and shot at a championship unless the offer is too good to pass up. Only four teams in England have that kind of money, and Everton isn't one of them.