Yep, with a couple of exceptions (Pope and Donovan), folks are stating the obvious (MSL lifers will not have much of a role on the international game at the World Cup). It has been like that pretty much since MLS was created and we first qualified. In, 2014 6 out of 23 were MLS lifers and nearly all were reserve players. In 2010, there was 1 MLS lifer (Donovan) In 2006, there were six (Pope, Donovan, Albright, Mastroeni, Conrad, and Ching). Now, what happens if MLS continues to grow financially and starts to wield more clout and attract more prime, international talent. What if in ten years now, MLS can compete with all but the big four. There is potential.
Based on the popularity angle our kids should be snubbing the EPL and MLS for Liga MX. And the Bundesliga should be one of the least desirable destinations.
The UCl is played in the afternoon.........while kids are playing/practicing sports. On weekends kids are often playing with their club team. Most kids don't even watch sports on TV these days. They do, however, watch highlights on YouTube. So what does everyone think of Steffen's trajectory? Seeing as he decided to LEAVE the promised land of Europe for MLS, and very likely wouldn't have went to Europe if Philadelphia had handled him better during the early days of their academy/team. He's very likely to spend the rest of his playing career in MLS.
No, what I meant was that there is a large number of American players in MLS. Only a few can get significant time for the NT. The situation is the same in most NT/domestic league cases. The very best American MLS players likely would have played, at some point, in Europe. I'd consider at a lifer as someone whose career was, to a large majority, in MLS.
I think the plan would be not to sit on the bench in Europe but to win a spot and start for a great club. Or at least try... Nagbe is a guy who played it safe. He had a good offer from Celtic and decided to stay. He is a play it safe player and when the pressure got ratcheted up in T&T, he broke and had to be subbed out early. Better for the NT if he had gone to Celtic and broke there or learned to deal with the pressure.
Different kids. Very little Liga MX content on American TV in English. We will have to attract those kids another way. They are certainly not watching MLS at the moment. Most Liga MX stars move on to Europe now. So, aspiring to start in Liga MX not the same as being caught in a series of 5 year contracts in MLS. Liga MX sells players regularly, like every other league in the world, except MLS.
Depends on what kind of contract Steffen signed with Columbus. What drives him. Is he a Landon Donovan type that just wants to make money or is he a Pulisic type that won't stop until he is playing for the best against the best. Or maybe a Bradley type that thinks he wants to be the best but at the first sign that isn't going to happen look for the money. If players think they can wait around in MLS for offers, see Kellyn Acosta. You have to force your way out and move at the first opportunity. I don't care what each player does with these decisions. But it does inform me of their mental make up. Since I think our NT was mentally weak the past cycle after mentality being one of the few strong suits before that, it is important.
Nagbe will be a regular in the team going forward. I'm guessing Pulisic isn't playing for free at BvB.
I think we need to attract more soccer interest in general. Most watched Premier League game in U.S. television history drew 1.72 million, and that's including Telemundo viewers. Premier League games outside the top six teams are around MLS level ratings. Bundesliga ratings are mostly pathetic despite that league carrying the load as far as American players at a high Euro level.
That statement demonstrates hyperbole and confirmation bias. Donovan was not motivated solely by money; he has often spoken about his personal struggles. Pulisic by contrast had his father accompany him to Germany, a luxury many young players don't have. Bradley did face adversity in Europe and overcame it. (in Germany and Aston Villa). I am happy that our players want to challenge themselves in Europe and it is a bigger challenge, but it is not a one size fits all situation and belittling players with hyperbole only shows confirmation bias.
A stronger MLS will be training more youth players for free at higher levels. Those players will raise the level of competition for other youth players who play against them. It will provide more opportunities for people to do soccer as a full time job. It will provide more and better ex-players who will become coaches and parents of players. You could replace MLS with "growing/improving professional league that is stable enough for people to make long-term decisions based on". The World Cup is far more popular than the Champions league in this country. That's the initial big hook into the game for people here. The CL (something that takes place while many kids are at school and people are at work) is where they go to get the best fix for their obsession. I don't think MLS plays much of a role in setting ultimate dreams and goals but having a strong league tells people "this is a viable profession to dedicate years towards and this is a stepping stone".
He was subbed out, after providing an assist in the second half, in the 84th minute for Feilhaber. https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...-2018-world-cup-qualifying-in-trinidad-tobago You are the most "factually challenged" poster on this website. I could say I admire the chutzpah but that would be a lie, which is a concept you are familiar with.
The rest of his post is true. Nagbe turned down callups to chill with his wife ffs (although, I think maybe she'd just had a kid, so perhaps I'm too harsh)... He is clearly a homebody (nothing wrong with that per se, I'm one too) who wants to be comfortable wherever he is. The chutzpah is thinking we can rely on Nagbe to bring the toughness back to this team.
The nerve of Nagbe to turn down a contract, with no raise, from the Scottish Premier League. Toughness was low on the list of issues that caused the team to fail.
Yeah, he's really improved as a player, that's for sure. An offer from a CL club in Scotland is basically nothing. He definitely wouldn't improve by schooling the SPL, a league so terrible that Hearts chewed up and spit out Kitchen, and helped turn Bjorn Maars Johnsen into a top Eredivisie scorer. Certainly, Celtic are below Nagbe, who wouldn't have benefited from playing for a team that's got more EPL exports than all of MLS. It's not the league that matters, it's the situation. Celtic would've been a waaaaay better situation than languishing in Portland producing diddly-squat. A breath of fresh air, a change in scenery, and a European stepping stone.
Nagbe was already 26 and he never tore up MLS in the first place. I doubt the EPL was ever a realistic goal even if he did move to Celtic.
Not saying it was, just that Celtic's not a place where your career goes to die. Certainly, for example, Celtic benefits from being right next to England and the EPL.
The SPL turned Emerson Hyndman, Maurice Edu, and Perry Kitchen into world beaters. They sure kicked on after their SPL stints... Even Altidore scored a bunch of goals in the Eredivisie... Nagbe moved to Atlanta. That was his change of scenery.
I think the recent Wells Fargo fiasco demonstrated LD's main motivation. That is still fresh in my mind...
Nagbe is having a fine MLS lifer career. He is not an international CM. If Johnson or Brooks or Gooch or any X-American turned down a call up, they would be ostracized around here. And rightly so.