Friday14 Dec 2018

Oh my god. What drivel. Written by someone who appears to think the Twitterati is where one can learn what MLS thinks about itself and how it acts. It's as if the good folks at Yanks Abroad condescended enough to allow themselves to be MLS fans.

The sad thing is that the author probably thinks he's spot on about the history of the league.

I guess if the article is a gateway justification to allow various Eurosnobs to allow themselves to be okay with MLS, it'll serve its purpose, but sheesh.

 

Exactly! MLS has never claimed it's on the level of the top 5 leagues in Europe. But the Eurosnobs LOVE to repeat that lie. The only thing I have ever heard Don Garber say is that MLS has a goal to BECOME one of the top leagues. Which is a very reasonable goal in my view.

 

Unfortunately, I'm somewhat mixed. If this kind of logic allows the snobs to allow themselves to support an MLS team begrudgingly, then what the hell. Right?

 

What a pile of garbage. Slinging around a bunch of moth eaten stereotypes, assumptions and outright lies, combined with a disdain even for very word "American" does not make you a sophisticate, just an oikophobic shithead.

The funny thing has always been that American jagoffs like him have been saying for years that Europeans laugh at fans of MLS teams when, in fact, the opposite is true.

In England, being a die hard Wolves or QPR or Forest fan doesn't make you an ignorant jerk who just doesn't get that there are better teams in better leagues and they don't think that about MLS either.

Case in point: my son was at a bar in London watching a Champions league match. He was wearing a Barca jacket his girlfreind had given him because damn it was.cool.

Some guy asked if he was a Barca fan and he said he was actually a Columbus Crew fan, which is true but he's been a Manu fan since he was 5 but he didn't want to give them the satisfaction.

Contrary to what you hear from clowns like that writer, everybody was interested and respectful, asked questions and basically treated him.the same as if he had said any other team in the world

The bottom line is that Eurosnobs like him flatter themselves into believing that they have the same.poi nt of view as European fans, looking down on MLS.

Actually, it's pretty much just them being assholes. Europe has soccer culture, not snob culture

 

Question for you, Bill...how close do you think we are where the game in the country gets to the point where we can gently smile at the Eurosnobs and politely tell them to pound sand, because we don't need them?

Or are we already there?

 

The guy has a few salient points. I mean ATLU are probably going to sell Almiron and perhaps Martinez and It would help the valuation of MLS's for guys like Adams and Davies to do well in the Bundesliga. I'm also sure that MLS would, as Garber said, like to sell more players. However, anyone with functioning eyes could see the league's steady move toward BUYING younger talent and their increasing investment in academies and USL sides for their reserves. It doesn't take a genius to surmise that the league saw that these players could not only be exciting on field talent, but also that they could be marketable assets in the global market. This didn't start when ATLU entered the league and it isn't exclusive to them.

To me, while ATLU's box office success is evidence of the league taking another step forward, it is really more about ATLU just being a really, really well run professional sports franchise. It started with Arthur Blank spending millions and millions on facilities and genuinely taking into account the fan experience for SOCCER in MBS. Not only that he spent tens of millions more on training and locker room facilities that would be state of the art in any league in the world. At the same time he made two tremendous hires in Darren Eales and Carlos Bocanegra to run the club. They in turn made a tremendous hire in Tata Martino. Blank then gave them a real budget to go out and bring in talent and those guys identified and recruited some tremendous young players capable of playing truly attractive soccer. Nothing about that equation leads me to believe that ATLU is evidence that MLS has accepted it is second tier. Second Tier clubs don't spend that kind of money, don't play in Billion dollar stadiums, and don't draw the way Atlanta does. They are a first class, well run organization and a credit to MLS.

 

I've been there all along. I like MLS because I love soccer, because I want the game to grow and because I'd prefer to root for an American team vs rooting for some random team in Europe I have no real connection to. I want the product to improve, for sure, but I can still enjoy it (for a myriad of reasons) even though MLS is not the best league in the world.

If I'm a European soccer fan, I look at some American running around claiming affiliation with a Premier League or La Liga side as nothing other than a lame ass bandwagoner. They also do absolutely nothing to advance the game they purport to love in the country and community in which they live. Worse, they probably detract from it by feeding into the notion that the game is a joke here. I'm not saying to blindly turn your money over to the league in a completely non-critical way, but be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. Other wise you are just a guy who thinks soccer jerseys are cool and who like to have an excuse to drink first thing in the morning on the weekend, not a true fan of the game.

 

You mean my Saturday morning soccer is an excuse to drink? Go Man City! Actually I am all about Reading, because that makes me more "authentic."

 

I was giving it a chance until the quote from some random person about Atlanta United being behind "Bury FC"

 

Of course it's ironic that these same types will go on and on about "Drink Local" when it comes to craft beer or brag about the latest "farm to table" restaurant they went to featuring local produce. Or what a fantastic community they have created down at the local coffee shop. Then they shun the local Football/Futbol/Soccer club and slip on that Arsenal shirt before heading down to the local Soccer Pub to watch the match with the other Eurosnobs....

 

I typically have no beef with folks that watch soccer from other leagues but also enjoy MLS or their local MLS club. That describes a lot of us. But Eurosnobbery is a unique and odious phenomenon among certain Americans...

 

Same.

 

I agree with this. I thought that was absolute nonsense and shows ignorance from the Englishman and the writer to even entertain that idea.

But the faux outrage from some people on here is absolutely laughable. It kind of ignores the salient point, which is simply that in order for "the" MLS to progress, it does need to become a go to destination for talent for the big leagues, and that it is slowly becoming one.

It isn't fair to say that this article is only about Eurosnobs making themselves feeling better about enjoying MLS, because it is also true that until now there has hardly been a conveyor belt of talent from MLS to the big 4 leagues.

 

The "league" has never had a problem with, or misunderstood, it's place in the global scheme of things. MLS has been progressing steadily for over 20 years.

If there's any misunderstanding it has been amongst fans and detractors and people who misconstrue marketing as mission statements.

 

It's been my experience that people overseas are more curious about our US league and are usually familiar with some of the bigger names and could possibly name a few teams if pressed. They think it's great that we have a pretty decent league, a somewhat competent national team and that the sport is thriving in a place where a lot of people thought wasn't possible not too long ago. It is pretty much the same thing as an Austrian, Belgian, Dane, whatever, supporting their local team, or someone in a big country supporting someone other than one of the Usual Suspects.

It's the Supermodels On The Internet syndrome. Sure, your wife/girlfriend doesn't look like her, but that doesn't make you lover her any less. In fact, you love her more because she's yours and not some abstract notion that you have no real connection to. You can admire the way Barca or Bayern play, but my heart and energy (and masochistic tendencies) is with the New England Revolution, thank you very much!