Editor's Notes: Cubo Torres, DC United starts a residency program and the CBA

Cubo Torres

How long does it take to say something isn't working? Or in this case really isn't working?

For those who don't know when MLS signed Erick Cubo Torres it was done with the agreement that he would go on a six-month loan to Chivas who are fighting relegation in Liga MX. The Houston Dynamo then became the winning MLS club to sign him and while it sucked to not get him until June/August at least we got him right?

However, now that he has been at Chivas for a while Dynamo fans are seeing what he is doing or..well...not doing as he is continually not playing for Chivas. In fact, he hasn't been making the game day roster at all.

If this is what Chivas' plan for Torres then MLS needs to end the loan A.S.A.P. Provided a CBA gets put in place soon and the season starts MLS needs to end his loan and bring him back so he can start playing. I say that not only as a Houston fan but also as a MLS fan.

How many top leagues are going to allow one of their top players wither on the bench at a bottom feeder club in another league? I get that Torres wanted to go to Chivas and help the club stave off relegation, but great as he may be he can't do it from the stands.

Then again is it really surprising? Chivas U.S.A. was a disaster so should it really be a surprise that Chivas Guadalajara would be as well?

D.C. United Residency Academy

DCU announced last week that they would be launching a residency program for their U-14 through U-18 programs. This will allow them to bring in players from further away to train and play under the DCU banner. The team is partnering with The Calverton School, a college preparatory school, for the educational side of the program and will have a DCU staff member permanently on staff according to a press release on the club's website. It will be open to both boys and girls as it "will also offer professional training in an all-inclusive development platform for aspiring female players."

While they aren't the first MLS team to set up such a program it is another step towards growing soccer in the United States.

Residency programs are commonplace in Europe for talented youth. Youth attending these programs typically have training sessions in the mornings and evenings and go to school in the middle of the day. School is shortened so that players are able to put more focus on soccer rather than education. While it may help produce high-quality soccer in Europe these programs often leave players undereducated and ill prepared for life if they fail to make it as a profession footballer.

CBA

Tick tock goes the clock.

We are less than two weeks away from what is supposed to be the start of the MLS season, but there is still no CBA in place. Free agency is the major sticking point that the players are refusing to give up on. An increase in salary cap and raising the league minimum are also major sticking points for the players.

While the league may be willing to give the players more money they don't seem inclined to give the players free agency. Owners want to protect the single entity system that MLS currently has in place and creating free agency would start to destroy that.

Top players like Michael Bradley and Brad Evans have spoken openly about striking if MLS fails to give the players free agency. With such a short period of time to work it is hard to see the season starting on time, but both side seem hopeful that an agreement can be made in time.

Tick. Tock.