Now that the World Cup is finished, it's time to turn our attention to domestic leagues. Juve signed some over the hill scrub, Bayern wins Germany, Chelsea has had 14 different coaches this summer and 7682 players loaned out, Barca blah, blah, blah. The real story is the English Championship. Hull City have been actively signing players, including American Eric Lichaj, and look to regain their rightful spot in the top of the pyramid. Discuss.
Newcastle is really trying to pry the award of World's Worst Owner from Columbus's hands. Good thing I am a fan of both teams...just need to cheer for the Browns and I can successfully never watch sports again...
Tim Weah scores his first for PSG. Watch him Rise. 🇺🇸 @TimWeah scores his first goal for PSG, against Bayern.https://t.co/AD3bX4dyyN— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) July 21, 2018
BREAKING: #Sampdoria sign #Ronaldo! pic.twitter.com/vTZafVkMBF— Sampdoria English (@sampdoria_en) August 3, 2018
ESPN+ to air Ronaldo's Juventus debut as part of new Serie A deal http://www.espn.com/soccer/italian-...os-juventus-debut-as-part-of-new-serie-a-deal ESPN+ will broadcast Cristiano Ronaldo's Serie A debut with Juventus and hundreds of additional league matches as part of an exclusive, multi-year rights agreement between ESPN and Serie A TIM. In addition to Ronaldo's Aug. 18 introduction against Chievo, ESPN+ will stream more than 340 matches per season -- an average of nine matches per week from the league's August start to its May conclusion. ESPN networks will air a Serie A TIM Match of the Week, with most telecasts set to be broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2. It will also be available in Spanish on ESPN Deportes.
I liked beIN. They almost always played more than 1 live Serie A game a week, and they had every game available to stream on beIN connect. I never missed a Roma game. Dre Cordero, Matteo Bonetti, and Richard Whittle were all fantastic commentators. Don't get me wrong. This is great for the league. The production value will be much better. There will be more eyes on it. They'll invest some in a weekly show. It will be on Sports Center. However, ESPN would be well advised to add some other commentators. And they definitely need more than hot take merchants Burley, Nicol, and yes Crew Legend Ale Moreno on ESPN FC. They are terrible all around. Good move for Serie A. Just hoping ESPN invests in talent for the calls and studio shows as well as the production.
Not worried about MLS. The only team I watch is Columbus. However, ESPN+ is now carrying The Most Important League In The World aka English Championship where Hull City plays. That is my concern.
Honestly, the average Championship match and Serie A tactical calcio extravaganza on ESPN + is gonna be out drawing nationally televised MLS games over the air in no time, once they start promoting it. MLS will be lucky to remain nationally relevant outside of a few losers like myself who continue to watch and check a message board for a team that I moved away from in 2007. Serie A on ESPN, the Championship on ESPN+, even USL on ESPN. Tell me how much ESPN is gonna invest in the dregs of soccer that is MLS. This league is a joke and deserves the irrelevance that is coming to them.
[QUOTE="hangthadj, post: 36981413, member: 13651"This league is a joke and deserves the irrelevance that is coming to them.[/QUOTE] Unfortunately, this league is owned by some heavy hitters. We're stuck with it as our top league.
Unfortunately, this league is owned by some heavy hitters. We're stuck with it as our top league.[/QUOTE] But guys, haven’t you heard of this WONDERFUL idea called pro/rel? It is going to save US soccer!
But guys, haven’t you heard of this WONDERFUL idea called pro/rel? It is going to save US soccer![/QUOTE] Pro/rel beats Calvinball any day.
It wouldn't "save" US Soccer. It would provide us with a better product than the shit we are being spoon fed now.
While I am not going to start that argument in any depth, I'll point out that most of the big European leagues are not very competitive. Only a small handful of teams are even able to compete for the title. So, I'm not convinced that it's a "magic sponge" that would give us a better product.
When the EPL changes rules and gives City more money mid season that argument holds more weight. Not necessarily disagreeing but I don't remember the big leagues claiming their strong suit is parity then giving certain teams advantages. MLS is a parody of parity.
And yet, in reality, it's been pretty competitive. About half the league (12 teams) has won at least one championship, and the most anyone (Galaxy) has won is 5. Only three teams have been back to back champions. Contrast with Bayern, who have won half of all Bundesliga championships. Or ManU, who has won half of the 26 EPL championship. Only six teams of 49 possible have won the EPL. Don't get me wrong. I don't like the Calvinball either. But MLS is quite competitive.
Depends. Have 12 teams won or 12 MLS offices won Employee of the Year? Big difference. Don't confuse competition with quality. When I watch MLS, I ask which players would improve Hull City? The answer is Steffen almost 100% of the time. I don't think pro/rel will magically improve the league but a loosening of bizarre rules would help. I understand you are looking at the top of the table and yes it is not as competitive. Some teams have owners willing to lose tons of cash (City,Chelsea) and well run quality teams are now farm teams (Arsenal, Schalke). But there is an entertaining middle that people forget.
Entertaining is nice. But having a chance to win something is also important. The cup competitions do help with that.
Let’s not compare MLS Cup to winning a league. If you are to make an argument either way please limit it to either MLS Cup to a domestic Cup or the supporters Shield to a league championship. Even then the obscure East vs West dynamic isn’t 100% comparable to a balanced schedule league.
In addition. If you’re going to compare MLS to any other league then perhaps it would be fair to compare leagues at the same age? eg. mls is 25. Well how did that compare to the first 25 years of the Bundesliga for example.