If you can do it better go ahead and do it. But, I feel having a division 1 league that sucks is better than having all division 2 and below leagues. What exactly is stopping usl/nasl/etc from forming their own pyriamid?
I won't write a thesis on this issue, but MLS and SUM have been preventing another pyramid and rival D1 league to form in the way they bled NASL to death. Right now MLS is a joke league and it's much better to get rid of it and start new than having this stain on US soccer. We've already put up with MLS for 20 years and enough is enough. If MLS folds, there are PLENTY of investors that would immediately fund existing clubs like Silva and Commisso. What do you think the Chattanooga convention earlier this year was for? Read midfieldpress.com if you don't think that anyone is ready to take MLS's place if the league collapses. I'd celebrate its demise like overthrowing a corrupt dictator.
Before I ignore you I’d like to point two things out to you. 1) Silva just wants to get into MLS. That’s been his end game since day 1. He has distanced himself from NASL and Commisso since the league went on hiatus. 2) It became obvious during the Chattanooga convention that the amateur teams and leagues want nothing to do with NASL, NISA, Division Zero, Commisso, & Silva. They realized they where going to be used by them and want to do their own thing.
Sorry, guys, I can't resist... Number of soccer specific stadiums opened during the glory days of MLS: Zero. I was going to give you Lockhart, but apparently that was built in 1959, so no. Number of soccer specific stadiums opened since the start up of MLS in 1996: Sixteen (including Audi Field) with one more (Allianz Field) for 2019. Have you done your reading yet?
You. You are literally the only one. Can you add a poll to this thread? It'd be nice to confirm what I think we all already know...
He is a good point about strikers. By the law of averages you would expect a Donovan or Dempsey to pop up every 10 years. MLS developed Morris, Altidore and Weah, otherwise the alternatives are much of a muchness.
MLS didn't develop Morris and Weah. Weah particularly, has spent a single year of his life connected to MLS.
Honestly, MLS just needs a new commissioner. Garber has held that role since 1999!!!!!!!!! that's crazy. Like a dictator. You can act like your a Big-League and then allow yourself to be second-rate at the mercy of RED BULL Gmbh and City Football group just because they threw a lot of $$$$$$$ at you.
Morris came through Seattle's academy. I think BW Goetschee NY were affiliated with the Red Bulls before switching to NYCFC.
That's pretty stupid. We have one domestic major league and you want to kill it? Having a First Division League is AN END UNTO ITSELF, I want teams in MY CITY, I don't want to watch European teams on TV at 7 am, I want to actually attend a few game IN PERSON every season, and no, I wouldn't trade that for a better USMNT it's not only about the USMNT, it's about having a domestic league, even if it's not the best quality in the world. hell I go to NPSL Games (3rd division) I go to MASL games (Indoor), because I want live soccer entertainment that I can attend near my home, that's more important than developing a better national team that plays 6-8 times a year.
Because it's not about that, it's about having teams in cities to make a profit and entertain fans who want to go out and enjoy a live product.
The thing is, MLS is maybe in the top 10-15 leagues in the world, not only that, it has as good as or better major league facilities, and most of them pretty new, and also, THE USA DOESN'T DESERVE to have a top professional league! If MLS is 15th best in the world, we're OVERACHIEVING! Because this county ignored soccer for 100 years! So we are damn lucky to have a league and a national team as good as MLS and USMNT.
MLS folding would set back the soccer being played here a long way. New soccer specific stadiums are going up, new academies are being built. Is it perfect, absolutely not and it is a drain and the partnership between USSF/SUM/MLS needs to be made public and evaluated because they can control all the lower leagues too. Folding though would cause more problems then it would solve at this point.
Thierry Henry once said he doesn't understand the inferiority complex Americans have about MLS and soccer in the United States. I agree with him. Its mindless. Those of us who lived thru the pre-MLS era when any league could have started that wanted to start...........................would never, ever say MLS should be disbanded. Its mindless. The issue today is folks have as much access as they want to European/South American leagues that have had generations worth of a head start on MLS. There's a group of fans that want MLS to be the Bundesliga TOMORROW! Americans aren't known for their patience. Are there still issues? Or course. Player and youth development is one of them. MLS clubs are investing and investing and investing. Its as if people don't realize that half the league has been formed since 2007. Are folks expecting the Portland Timbers to be churning out players as if they're River Plate? Of course not. Its mindless.
Very true, but then again I often get the impression that some people are totally okay with a barren domestic scene as long as it means players have to go abroad to make any kind of living.
Well........................we did make the knockout stages of the World Cup in 1994 and the semifinals of the Copa America 1995 before MLS even existed. So at least they have that data point. I don't buy it, though. I just think some of the ideas here are cutting off your nose to spite your face. The overwhelming majority of kids can't move to Europe until they're 18 (there are exceptions like Pulisic). So without a domestic league pouring money into development programs, what are those kids doing until they're 18? Its as if folks forget that Weston McKennie spent 7 years at FCD prior to moving to Schalke. That Eric Palmer-Brown arrived at SKC when he was 12 and they developed him to the point that Man City bought him. That Matt Miazga arrived at NYRB when he was ~13, and they developed him to the point that Chelsea bought him. They forget that Josh Sargent, Christian Pulisic, and company were developed in Development teams like Scott Gallagher and PA Classics. That Tim Weah spent a long time at BW Gottshee in NY before he spent a brief period at NYRB. I can go on and on and on. We all know there is a lot more that MLS and the USSF can do. We just can't snap our fingers and accomplish it. Even pouring money into it isn't enough. Developing a nationwide youth coaching infrastructure doesn't just happen at the drop of a hat. Its taken generations in Germany and Argentina.