Valentin hopeful for return
Player representative thinks MLS will adopt format similar to the World Cup
In Houston’s two games before Major League Soccer suspended its season, defender Zarek Valentin helped the Dynamo navigate through opposing defenses.
In the months since MLS halted play, Valentin has made time to help the league navigate through its future as Houston’s player representative during collective bargaining negotiations. The MLS players’ union ratified a new agreement with the league on Wednesday.
“It was almost three months with two or three calls a week just trying to figure out exactly what we want as a union,” Valentin said. “Obviously, in a negotiation like this, no one wins because the league is taking a big hit financially and the players are taking a pay cut to help the league and the teams, so it’s not great, but ultimately I think we were able to find a good compromise.”
Valentin’s role involved learning about his teammates’ needs. He represented the team along with midfielder Memo Rodriguez and goalkeeper Cody Cropper, although Valentin is its only voting representative.
“Being somebody who could speak English or Spanish and articulate the intricacies of the negotiation to my teammates is important,” Valentin said. “Not every rep has that ability, so they have people usually surrounding them that can translate. I can do that, which is nice, and obviously having Cody and Memo to kind of bounce ideas off is great.”
In the league’s plans to resume play in Orlando, Dynamo players were most concerned about the safety of and difficulties facing their families back home.
Valentin said the team has offered to help players’ families in Houston with transportation and other needs during the competition in Orlando.
The league has not released full details of the tournament, but Valentin envisions a World Cup-style competition tied to league standings.
“I think it will be later this month, if not early July,” he said. “We would play and basically finish up before the NBA gets there. To my understanding, it’s going to be something similar to a World Cup format; probably a few groups, one team out of a group, then you have a quarter, a semi and final. I think a portion of those group games would count toward league standing.”
During negotiations, no particular issue especially touched Valentin, although he felt satisfied that the two sides found common ground on a force majeure clause in the agreement. The clause enables each side to back out of the new collective bargaining agreement in case of unforeseen events, including those related to the pandemic.
According to ESPN, MLS owners tried to tie a force majeure clause to attendance — something Valentin felt would have given the league disproportionate leverage — but it was dropped ahead of the final agreement.
“Labor talks suck, and I think everyone will tell you that,” Valentin said. “But we just want to get back on the field, we want to get back in front of our fans and get back to normal as quickly and safely as possible.”