I did, and it's not. They may have often lined up with two "forwards," but Henry has a habit of drifting into central midfield, and he was often paired with Cahill, who drops into an attacking midfield role frequently.
Santos Laguna beat Penarol (Uruguay) 4-1 in the Copa Libertadores group stage today. Off topic, but in light of recent events somewhat relevant.
Uruguayan clubs are going through tough times now. Their league (appropriately named "Liga Coca-Cola") is one of the weakest in South America. The Bolivian league may surpass them soon. Which is surprising, considering the success of their NT.
Liga MX teams don't take MLS teams seriously. Gotta remember that. Would never feel the need to push the envelope or anything.
For the longest time, salaries sucked. As such, being a pro player wasn't one of the things too many kids were all that interested in. Now the TV money is good and there are academies popping up everywhere. The next generation of players is going to be much better.
There are a lot of potential viewers and players that MLS is starting to attract that would be worthwhile for MX fans. Having the competition start being, well, a little more internationally competitive should raise the profile and potential money involved. Furthermore, if MLS can continue to attract European stars (at any age, really), that can bring an entire range of player that never seems to appear in MX squads. A raised profile and competitiveness of the competition will also help sharpen MX squads, which would benefit, if nothing else, their strength in Copa Lib and the CWC. Just figure a real competition here would be of more value to everyone involved, even if it means that the trophy doesn't every time go to their league. In the short run, though, I'm sure it's a point of pride and a regular source of silverware, so in no way should fans of Toluca/TJ/Cruz Azul be sad about this, ha.
Maybe never. Maybe shortly. Who knows? MLS and MX are both growing pretty impressively. MX just has a massive head start and a much stronger national loyalty. Their top teams are clearly streets ahead of MLS's top teams. I just feel with the rate of increase from both leagues, before way too long both can be making this corner of the globe much more relevant in the international club scene. It's gonna take at least two leagues of note to make that happen.
If you want to quicken the pace for this to happen or close the gap. Ha! Stop investing on old euro players and look to S.America for young talent.
Less that it will directly benefit MX than that it will directly benefit the CCL. One-horse races always lack a bit of edge... just thinking, for example, of Celtic in the SPL. Much as they all hate Rangers, they're a better team when the title isn't guaranteed. MLS may be seen that way, but in almost every case, that doesn't really match reality.
Just as a counter-example: that is clearly not the case with Tijuana. The Xolos are younger than most MLS teams, and they grew up in what was traditionally baseball country, what with the nearest Mexican Football League teams thousands of miles away.
Even though I agree with your overall point I don't quite think Tijuana and MLS teams are paying by the same rulebook.
Gotta say, I usually don't mind the FSP commentators... but they were obnoxious tonight. Every other sentence mentioned Joe Corona, Castillo, Herc, Arriola, etc. Especially with how many times JP (I think it was) mentioned the apparent grievous tactical error of not even bringing Gomez on the trip. All in all, a decent match. Cruz Azul looked a lot less aggressive than I expected, and both looked pretty exhausted by the end. Both teams seemed better on the weekend.
JP is a below-average commentator. For someone who has been around the game for so long, he doesn't know it that well.
You think that's bad? You should hear the Argentine commentators for ESPN and FOX Sports Latin America do UEFA Champions League games. And Copa Libertadores ones with no Argie team involved...if they're not making sacrifices at the altar of Messi, they're hyping up any and all Argentineans on the field...including the referees.