Same can be said of the MLS. Some matches are surprisingly good, in both. The Ipswich-Doncaster last week. Very nice footie, specially the second half. Or the RSL vs. Toronto last month. They are good leagues, all things considered. Watch some matches from the Emirates, or from the South African league, and by comparison, the Championship and the MLS look good. And the top teams in the Ch'ship are better than anything the MLS has to offer. Leicester, Burnley, Derby are heads and shoulders above the rest, and above the best MLS team (right now, that's arguably the Crew, a team about even with Brighton in my estimation). In my personal ranking, I have the Championship as the #18 league in the world, and the MLS as the #23. Mainly because that half dozen teams at the top of the Ch'ship. But there are 24 teams, so toward the bottom, there are some that may be even weaker than Chivas or Montreal. Yeovil and Barnsley are dire. Out of their depth.
And probably wrong, but at least I try. Can't stomach the SPL since Rangers went down, and finding streams for sub-Saharan leagues and Middle East leagues is a pain (for most of Africa, it's just impossible --I'd love to see how tough Mazembe's competition is). So there are glaring gaps in what I've watched in the last 18 months. I think I can safely assume Southeast Asia is a soccer wasteland. I managed to watch a couple of Viet league games when Lee Nguyen was there. They are dire. And I mean dire.
Im not sure I agree with your overall assessment of individual MLS teams, it seems like your are basing it on only the beginning of this season while using the current almost finished season of the Championship to judge those top teams. Im not arguing your ranking of the leagues as a whole, because I agree that the top Championship teams are probably better that almost all of the MLS teams. But the way you argue it just seems wrong, Montreal hasnt had a good start but they were one of the better teams just last year and they surely arent the worst in the league right now.
Well, the Championship and the MLS are two leagues I've been following within the last week. So when I evaluate them, I mean how they are right now, as of 04/20/14. Not the same with leagues I'm not following close right now, like the LNP (Honduras) or the K-League. Montreal is playing quite badly right now. I guess that would be a better way to put it. Let's keep in mind rankings are descriptive, not prescriptive, and eternally fluid. PS: I bet on the Sporks hammering Montreal yesterday and, go figure, I won.
Did anyone watch the Sheff W-Charlton match? Listening to matchday summary on talksport radio, the commentator mentioned that "Newyu" was at fault for Charltons second. I did not hear it particularly well unfortunately, but it sounded like they meant Gooch and did not pronounce his name correctly. Can anyone confirm or deny whether a Gooch mistake led to the goal?
Didn't see the game, but Wednesday have a forward named Nuhiu, who is probably the player referenced. Not sure how he would've been at fault for a Charlton goal, but I'll find out soon enough, I'm sure.
Even though, on those bottom teams (or in League 1) you get a Luke Rodgers who comes to MLS and looks like a more than competent player, it makes me think that some of those clubs might deserve a little better treatment.
Luke Rodgers, incidentally, is playing in the English 5th tier and hasn't scored a goal in over a year.
We knew him for what he was - the guy who would run through a brick wall so Thierry Henry wouldn't have to. Hell, after he left we replaced him with Kenny Cooper, who scored 18 goals all while trying to learn about the offsides rule.
Holy shit was Nuhiu at fault. Beautiful throughball to create the gamewinner for the wrong team. Bad breakdowns from Wednesday on all three goals but not a lot Gooch could've done on any of them.
5th? How does 1 drop to that level. Might as well retire. He also did a bit in Norway a year or 2 ago right?
It's way too specific, based on some general analysis and a bunch of personal prejudices and assumptions. It's fair to say that both are below the top leagues and even the second tier of leagues but above many leagues in Europe and elsewhere.
Hard to tell if Gooch was responsible for the first goal, but he wasn't at fault for the 2nd or the 3rd.
Gooch starting but currently down 3-0 to Bolton and it's not even half. I don't know if he is at fault for the goals but this could be a "tryout" for jk to see who he takes as his last cb.
1-3 SW down, they replaced their fullbacks (McCabe & Mattock). Gooch still there, in central defense with Loovens. They've criticized their midfield the most.
So basically Gooch is 1 of the best performers on the squad. What explained for that bad performance against Ukraine? Was it just cause he hadn't played with the full squad in so long or paired with the newboy Brooks? Or just some guys can play terrific for their club squad and stink it up with their NT?