As Metro was in the process of losing to Chivas last week, we glanced at the available substitutions and noticed one thing: Markus Schopp was nowhere to be seen. World Cup player, national captain, Bundesliga and Serie A veteran, the 1.2 (or 1.5?) million dollar man, can't even start over a rookie, Dane Richards, and can't even make the bench over a washout, Santino Quaranta. Meanwhile, he takes up a precious senior international slot, and more importantly, costs 175,000 against the salary cap. So where did Metro go wrong?

Let's examine how Metro acquired Schopp in the first place. After Red Bull's takeover, we heard the rumbles of players from Salzburg trickling down to New York. Never mind the fact that the quality of the Austrian league does not compare favorably to MLS, as it is nowhere near the top tier of European leagues. Yet the improving quality of the Salzburg side, as well as Red Bull's millions, and the thoughts of a loan deal circumventing the pre-designated player salary cap, held some promise at least. So when Schopp came on trial in August and signed in September, most welcomed the World Cup player, national captain, Bundesliga and Serie A veteran.

As Schopp started his Metro career, he did not set the world afire. He wasn't horrible, but the one resounding image of Schopp in 2006 was running into an opposing defender, flopping and falling, waiting for a call that would rarely come. But we brushed that off; surely, he would learn that the diving calls would not be there, he would have a full offseason to train with the team, and we should have our starting right midfielder for 2007.

Then the offseason came, and Schopp was bitten by the hernia bug, and not being ready for the opening of the season, Richards won the starting job and kept it. But as Dane's form kept slipping and Schopp started to get healthy, the Austrian could not win the spot back. He started a couple of games at right back during the defender crisis and understandably played horribly, and then finally got a start at his preferred position during the Houston match. Of course, that ended in a 4:0 blowout, and as bad as the entire team was that night, Schopp stood out as the worst. He barely touched the ball until being mercifully subbed out. Since then, he made one sub appearance, and now can't even make the bench.

And that's where the salary comes in (the international slot is not that important because another one cleared with Dave van den Bergh's green card). Schopp's 175,000 figure is a huge dent on the salary cap, counting over 8% of the supposed 2.1 million. That 175,000, if freed, could be used on a couple of quality MLS players (say some defenders, as Metro is currently down to just three healthy ones) or perhaps on an international. However, we're now passed the guaranteed salary deadline, so even if Metro was to release the Austrian, the 175,000 would still count against the cap. The only option would be to trade him, but we're sure that not only Salzburg's loan deal would not allow that, but that no MLS team would take an albatross contract of a player who hasn't shown anything in this league (although... paging Real Salt Lake?)

So we are left with a player who seems to be of no use to the team. And it's sad, really. Metro is struggling right now mightily on offense, with only two goals in the last six matches. One would thing that an offensive-minded World Cup player, national captain, Bundesliga and Serie A veteran could show more that he showed before and could find a way to contribute to this recently-morbid squad. Yes there he is, earning his 1.2 (or 1.5?) millions, not even from the substitutes bench. So why didn't Bruce Arena cut him adrift before the guaranteed deadline? Why is Schopp even here, a non-entity cap-tying a team that can't field a healthy defense? And if the rumor of a bigger Austrian involvement is true, what's preventing Red Bull from filling the Metro roster with similar non-entities?

Sometimes, we don't want to know the answers.