Major League Soccer 2010

31st January has been something of a deadline in North American football this year. With the existing Major League Soccer collective bargaining agreement (CBA) due to expire, it became the day which could trigger a players' strike - or rather a lockout by the owners - as labour negotiations moved into February.

So it seems like a sensible enough day to kick of twofootedtackle's coverage of the 2010 Major League Soccer season.

The negotiation between the owners (MLS) and the players (Major League Soccer Players' Union, MLSPU) will indeed encroach into February, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and there is no lockout thanks to an agreement to shift the deadline to 12th February. The very fact that this agreement has been reached is encouraging, and means the players can return to work for pre-season.

I want to point you in the direction of the latest installment of The American Soccer Show, a stable-mate of the TFT Podcast on the Champions Soccer Radio Network. In a special edition, Jason Davis and Zach Woosley spoke to New England Revolution striker Taylor Twellman (pictured) about the CBA negotiations.

Not only does Twellman give a good insight into where the players are coming from, but the conversation in general neatly explains the sometimes complicated detail of the CBA process. You can give it a listen here.

So why is there a dispute, why now, and what exactly do the players want?

The latest CBA, signed and sealed in 2004, will now expire on February 12th. I've previously written about the legacy of the 2004 agreement, and highlighted the monetary factors. MLS has come a long way in the last five years, and the league must be flexible in its approach to growth and progress - its potential is enormous.

Single entity, salary capping, parity - these are all phrases you'll hear a lot if you follow Major League Soccer, and all pose questions and threats to the league's growth as well as giving it the kind of stability that was so sorely needed in American football. The players do have the league's well-being in mind, but they want the owners to open their wallets in order to push the league to the next level.

And they have a point. Losing players to the Premier League or the Bundesliga is inevitable, and will remain so as long as MLS produces or nurtures talented players. But in recent months the league has lost players to the second division in Germany and to the Danish league. The players believe that by being just a little more ambitious with its money, MLS can go past those leagues and retain players like Kenny Cooper, Chris Rolfe and Yura Movsisyan, and rightly so.

But as the details of the players' wishes have gradually come into public view, it's become clear that money - at least on the face of it - is not their primary concern. Instead, their two main demands centre on reform of contract rules. As Twellman discussed with Jason and Ginge, the players want free agency and guaranteed contracts, both of which are available elsewhere in the football world and in some cases enshrined in FIFA law or even on the statute books.

Free agency is the ability of a player to move clubs upon the expiry of his contract. Currently, clubs in Major League Soccer still exercise control over players after their contracts have finished. While the single entity system is not really conducive to full free agency, some level of compromise would certainly be a good thing.

The sparcity of guaranteed contracts in the league is understandably a real bugbear for the players' union. In Major League Soccer, clubs can sign players through various means (trades, allocation, etc.) but can terminate contracts in-season, which helps them offload deadwood or create room under the salary cap.

It might sound like a good idea to the disillusioned European football supporter, but MLS players are, by and large, normal guys on normal pay. Knowing their pay is guaranteed, even just for the current season, would make a huge difference to their quality of life.

Clearly, these are both player welfare issues and MLSPU is understandably looking to help the players benefit from the league's improved solidity and potential, for which the players are largely responsible.

For their part, the owners are determined not to bankrupt the league with over-ambition. Again, that's a routine stance and compromise must be the answer here. Thankfully, the noise at the moment seems to be that agreement will be reached and a lockout avoided, so the league season will kick off as scheduled at the end of March.

And twofootedtackle will be there all the way, including a full series of team-by-team season previews in the days leading up to first kick and news and reviews between March and November.

(Pic via Sportsblog.projo.com)