I haven't had much time to post recently but letterhack John Bohland wrote in to suggest this piece and ask when the four piece series on MLS' "positive" aspects is coming. It's a nice look by colleague Grant Wahl at the Barra Brava, so check it out.
As for the MLS series: I am having a hard time finding stuff ON the field to talk about. Off the field is easy; on... not so much. The MLS players seem very...beat down, to be honest, and the games I have seen have really been pretty awful. I've been watching (or tapng and then watching) almost every game played, and it's been, well, really tough viewing.
I went to Gillette last week and then caught the weekend game vs. the Fire side-by-side with the Santos-Vasca game on TV (what seven dishes and five TVs will do for you...) and it was revelatory. The stadium atmosphere was fine (I was actually thinking of doing a piece on how an empty stadium SHOULD be an attraction — it isn't crowded and parking is free; it's really comfortable to see a game!), but the game wasn't hot. The TV game, however, was death. Bad ref'fing, bad, bad fouls (how Jay Heaps and Joe Franchino weren't ejected is beyond me), one good goal from Andy Herron, but so many flubs.
The only thing I can compare it to was seeing the Lokomotiv game from Russia earlier in the week. As in MLS, the match was kick and chase, with no tactics to speak of, and very little athleticism. It's honestly really depressing — I want so much for it to be better, but it's difficult to honestly say that MLS is very good — this isn't high-level soccer.
There is clearly a small core following for MLS, but I am having a real difficult time figuring out why this is when
high-quality games are so readily available elsewhere. I don't
want to be snobbish and suggest that folks don't know what they are
watching because the fact is people clearly enjoy it, and even I am not
enough o####rinch to deny joy. But from a pure, global soccer point of view — well, I'm not
seeing it.
I'd like to be proven wrong on this one.
Contrary to what BigSoccer
and its ... er...well, you know, tell you, I do want MLS to succeed,
and I would like to see some good soccer. Now, I do have a couple MLS topics that I've already penned, but I'm open to suggestions. What players do you guys think are playing well? Am I missing them? Tell me — I'll go catch a few of their games.
And, if y'all post some comments and
suggestions, and I'll chat about them over the next few days.
You should talk to your bro Bobby McMahon about this point. He made the quite simple point on FSWR the other night that it's not always the "product" on the field that people are passionate about. Fans can appreciate the sport on a variety of levels. I guess this is why so many folks watch something like the Little League World Series (although maybe that's a bad example because I'm pretty sure that Taiwanese team would smoke my Baltimore Orioles).
If people were only willing to watch "good" soccer, you'd have no one in the stands, ever, in El Salvador, Guatemala, Saudi Arabia and about a hundred other countries because they'd all be at home watching Chelsea and Barcelona on satellite.
Jamie - I don't disagree that the quality of soccer at the majority of MLS games is poor. But Ivano makes a good point....around the world, people support an "inferior" product, because it's their own.
If you're having trouble finding entertaining soccer, then just focus on the more entertaining sides (would you watch Arsenal or Watford if you want to highlight the 'entertainment' of the EPL?).
I'll set my DVR for DC, Chivas USA and FC Dallas. Not surprisingly, these are the three highest scoring teams in the league, and probably, the three with the greatest latin influence. Check out the DC-Chivas match up on Sept. 3rd.
One final comment on the ref's, I too think it's a disgrace. If games were called tighter, play would open up and flow better (after an adjustment period where we'd suffer through a whistle every 2 minutes!). IMHO, that would make games a bit more attractive to watch.
I love the fact that you are trying to write about the positives of MLS on the pitch, and you're having a tough time finding the alleged positives. You even had to ask MLS fans what players are playing well, because you can't find any. How can that be, afterall it is "Major League Soccer" isn't it?
I'm waiting for someone to post an angry message that says Landon Donovan is dominating the league or that Jeff Cunningham is completely unstoppable!!! These are the kind of delusional statements that MLS fans love to make. Show us the colors of MLS.
I think we can also reasonably expect posted responses from people on this board that say we just need to be patient, MLS is getting better, we're developing talented young players with (insert name of supposedly talented youth development team somewhere in the US), and we just need a few older European players like Beckham, Figo, and Ronaldo and everything will be fine. Keep dreaming MLS fans.
Last edited by MrRedDevil on August 23rd at 2:54 PM.
Without even worrying about the quality of play/players, the first thing they could do is tweak the season/playoff format.
Single table, conferences, whatever, there's plenty of ways they could do it, but right now there's very little if anything at stake in the regular season games--and the players too often play like it. And I don't blame them.
Red Devil: I'm no apologist, but what's the alternative? Fold the league? Do you think the economics are actually there to support the wages of the world's elite players? Even with the new deals, what does the league make in TV revenues? Something like $20 mil a year? if that? Okay, that gets you maybe Rooney and Rio on free transfers. But then what?
I support the Galaxy simply because I can. There is no experience like standing in 138 with the Riot Squad and enjoying the match. Yeah, it's not the best, but it's mine and in person. Plus, if I don't support it now, my kids and their kids won't be able to enjoy it. I grew up with no professional soccer and will never forget being at the Rose Bowl in 1996 for the first ever match and I want to ensure future generations have the same chance. Let's not forget that even most of the Premiership is ####. Aside from Arsenal and maybe this year Reading and a few others, most clubs play boring football. "Good" soccer is hard to come by contrary to many opinions. Barca plays beautifully, but nobody will ever come near Ajax of the mid 90's. That was great football.
But MLS will get there someday. Maybe not in five years, maybe not in ten, but someday. Let's not forget the entire Premiership was #### 10 years ago.
I think there a a number of things MLS could do to improve things without spending very much money.
1. Change their name. Everyone knows it's a feeder league, and most people are annoyed by the fact that MLS acts as if they are in fact a major sports league. Accept what you are and try to make it better incrementally. They need to stop with all the LIES.
2. Change the playoff format, as a previous poster said. I've been saying this for a while also. Even if they couldn't spend another dime on salaries, they could make the league far more competitive by going to a single table. 12 teams with 4 teams in the playoffs. Two leg semis and two leg finals. That will force the players, coaches, and gm's to compete and actually fight for their jobs and for championships, just like every other socer league in the world.
We will never see improvement if our players never have to fight for anything. Let's start by putting the players we have under pressure and competition and see what we get. I think that could produce a far better level of play.
3. Fire Don Garber. He's a liar and generally full of ####.
I know that we need a league, but if we the consumers don't tell them that their product sucks, then they will never do anything about it. Simply accepting whatever they force onto us, to me, is not an option.
Last edited by MrRedDevil on August 23rd at 4:47 PM.
I have no problem looking at how to improve MLS, however what you cosistently fail to mention in these snobby pieces is that MLS is 11 freakin' years old! You are comparing a league in its infancy to leagues over a century old. Of course the quality is better than with that much history and more imprtantly money under your belt. You expect too much too fast. MLS is like a child that is learning to walk. Do you give up on your child if he or she falls the first try? Of course not. You will encourage them to get up and keep trying. I don't know about you, but I am for US soccer in the long haul. I would much rather see a slowly improving league, than one that buys the best talent in the worls and burns out quickly (NASL). Again, I'm not saying you should not give construction criticism to the league. This is healthy, but I get a consistent negative vibe from your articles that borders on mean spirited and is definitely snobbish. I suppose you would rather we went back to the days of the A-league. I for one am thankful that we have a league that is actually trying to succeed and put a good product out there. Your standards would dictate that about 95% of the leagues should just fold because they don't have a prayer at reaching the quality of La Liga, EPL etc. Let me ask you? Why are even interested in Dundee United. Is it because of they play the most atttractive and top notch football in the world? I think not. Its because you identify with you Scottish heritage. Why don't start identifyng with your american heritage and support american soccer.
Jamie...I'll keep it short. Yes the quality is poor. Yes, I have seen great games and undertsand great games. I was in Hannover for the Italy Ghana match..........but MLS is all i have if i want to see a live game. What can I do?
Gongatore: What exactly are you adding to the discussion?
It seems that your modus operandi is to slander people while adding nothing of substance to what other posters might want to talk about. This isn't the first time this has been brought up — you've harangued a number of other posters with off topic, ad hominem statements that seem to have little use other than to express your displeasure with something another poster wishes to chat about.
In this post, you claim I have "an axe to grind" against MLS and USSF. This is blatantly false — I have nothing personal at all against MLS or USSF. I don't agree with some of their business practices, nor do I aways think that they are putting the best possible product on the field. But having an "axe to grind" implies a personal prejudice, when I have none.
I've tolerated attacks on me (and will continue to) but I'm not going to tolerate them against other posters. Nor will I tolerate outright slander by someone using a pseudonym. Your posts will be deleted.
Ivano and Jam fan: You make some good points, so let's chat about them — I'm going to copy your posts and bring them to the front of the blog so I have a little more space to discuss them. In addition, some folks emailed me when the comment boxes went awry, so I will post those as well. It's going to take a few hours — I am traveling today — but this afternoon or evening I should have a new post up.
Oh, and Jam fan (a great LP too; one of the first I bought with my own sterling...): I love Dundee United, because I went to see them as a kid. There's no secret there. However: Do I think DUFC and the SPL is great football? No. I still watch them (I watched the Dunfermline game the other day and it was appalling... sigh) but loving them and wanting them to take the steps to improve are NOT mutually exclusive.
I feel the same way about MLS. I actually have a soft spot for one MLS team, and if anyone can guess which team that is (Hint: it's not Chicago), I'll send them a prize.
Last edited by JamieTrecker on August 25th at 8:13 AM.
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