Admittedly, I hate the All-Star Game. I'd much prefer seeing the teams either give their players the week off to recharge, or set up a friendly with teams they feel are important to their team. However, this year I'll change my mind if the league does something that gives back to someone, specifically, New Zealand. Basically, the earthquakes over the last year have pretty much destroyed major parts of Christchurch, NZ. Play an All-Star Charity Match, MLS versus NZ National Team. The league has had several NZer's come through its ranks throughout the year, so it seems like something that could work.
Weren't they supposed to announce the opponent within a week of the initial announcement that it was going to RBA? lol I guess they're having a tough time finding somebody. And I guess this would be a great way to save face.
Looks like its Man Utd again. http://www.epltalk.com/manchester-united-finalize-details-of-2011-u-s-preseason-tour-29749#comments
Bad idea imo. Why two years in a row? There are plenty of other teams out there that MLS can schedule to play.
it wont be man u bc theyre playing it at RBA not the meadowlands. its not going to one of the top 5 biggest clubs bc of the limited seating capacity but i could see it being Arsenal tho bc of the Henry connection or maybe tottenham/man city except they were just at RBA last summer
All-Star Games are unnecessary, but if it must happen, I don't think playing against an elite European team is the best way to go. To me, that format appears like the league is saying our best out of 18 teams is probably comparable to your squad of mostly back-ups and reserves in pre-season form. I know brining in a team like Manchester Utd or Real Madrid brings more attention, but I think it just looks bad to say that the best of MLS is a single European team's preseason practice. What MLS needs to do is market individual players better, and have an All-Star game made up of only MLS stars. North America vs Internationals, with the NA team made up of Americans and Canadians. Donovan, De Rosario, Agudelo, Gonzalez, Ream, Hainault, Bunbury, etc. vs Beckham, Henry, Marquez, Angel, Montero, etc.
I agree this is a great idea. Especially after the thrashing we got last year by Man U. These matches were cool for a while, but I think it's time to bring back the All-MLS format.
I'd prefer that too. I actually paid to go watch East vs West all star games. Though I must admit that the players didn't take those games too seriously. Which doesn't bother me at all, but seemed to bother a lot of fans.
It depends. Some people consider the US and Canada as being North America proper, while Mexico is more Central American. Culturally, Mexico has a lot more in common with Central America than with its northern neighbors.
Another vote for Home Grown vs Imports or East vs West. No more 5 - 2 thrashings by a pre-season Manchester United. It makes MLS look bad.
Well, I've never seen a textbook that doesn't include Central America in North America. I'm sure the vast majority of fans recognize N.A. to be all-inclusive as well.
I don't get your point. Should a club team feel bad when they lose (5-2) to an all-star team from a league that aims to be taken seriously? No. Vice versa, yeah.
My point was that the MLS All-Stars have beaten 5 of their 7 international opponents, and drawn a 6th (losing in the PK battle between U.S. national team keepers). But 1 loss and suddenly MLS looks bad? Please, get some perspective.
Well, I think it's kind of a no-win scenario for MLS. On the one hand, yes, they did beat those teams, but they were not full squads and were in pre-season form. At least that is the perception of anyone watching. And if MLS loses to one of these squads, then it makes us look bad (for that game at least). Nay-sayers will point to the fact that MLS was beaten by a team that is not playing all of it's stars and is not fully match fit. Don't get me wrong, I love to see the All-Stars play against these teams, but there is a down side. Especially when the majority of the crowd at the game isn't even rooting for the MLS squad. Maybe a break from this format would be a good thing for a year or two. But, it's been rumored that our opponent this year will again be Man U.
Of course that All-Star team is 18 guys who have never played together that's had one day of practice. so its not exactly a true MLS team either.
That's true. I'm just not sure how many MLS detractors will see it that way. Those who want to dump on MLS probably will choose to ignore that little fact... lol.
I think about how I feel when I hear that ManuU went to Asia and beat some all-star team from a league over there. My thoughts regarding that league are simply that it must not be very good. I'm sure others have that same opinion of MLS when they hear the same thing. I understand that MLS is a bunch of guys that haven't played together and therefore, are not a real team. That doesn't change the fact that the all-star game against big clubs is a PR move and when your "all-star" team loses that badly to a team that gets as much press coverage as ManU does, it could end up being "bad" PR. As the other poster said, it's a lose/lose situation. If you beat them then ManU is just in pre-season. If you lose to them then you're just not as good and now everybody knows it. I have always thought, win or lose, that it was a bad idea.
Just keep it on a weekday. I'm just going to make sure to vote for players form a team that my team will play on that weekend.
I think MLS should put the All-star game and maybe even the MLS Cup in a location that doesn't have a team. This could be a great way to get a broader support for the league. I would love if the game was in ATL, just look at the 50k+ turnouts for friendlies Atlanta has hosted over the past couple years. I am sure places like SD, Atl, Miami, Charlotte would love to be shown some MLS love.
I totally understand and agree, but anytime you can get people to see and experience the MLS product first hand it can only benefit the league. Non soccer fans might go see Barca to see Messi who they saw in the WC and say hey this is more fun than I thought. I see and hear it all the time with people I know go overseas and see what soccer really looks like then they start to look into what we have here.
