Re: Shame & Embarrassment... For starters the guy didn't specify. In fact he ripped the FIFA Club World Cup, which I can be fans overseas probaly look forward to. Either way, if the goal is for us to build our own relevant international club tournament, then people have to actually give a shit and show up to games. Everyone starts somewhere. If we just continue to have fans say, "who cares, lets just focus on the regular season", then things will never change. I think as soccer fans we should expect more. These tournaments are one of the aspects of the game that make club soccer so much fun if you are a fan of the European (or South American) leagues. We're really missing a huge aspect of what makes club soccer so compelling.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... MLS IS weak. People go on and on thinking somehow MLS is a top 25 league in the world but the reality is leagues like the J-League, K-League, and others are miles ahead even though they are relatively new. They win their international competitions. MLS = Major League S.U.M Friendlies with a league season thrown in... As long as MLS insists on making things like a meaningless "all star game" and friendlies against "Man U" appear more important than real international competitions the players won't really get up for it. The message has to come from the top down and not simply from some committee. Deeds not words. At some point football has to become more important in this country than cash grabs. The league is stable. What it needs now is credibility. How do you build credibility in this sport amongst those soccer fans who aren't MLS fans? You perform well internationally.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... Fans in every confederation outside of UEFA care about the FIFA Club World Cup. UEFA is stuck up their own urethra and just assume the UEFA Champions League winner is the best club in the world. Think "World Series". But fans of clubs throughout the Americas, Asia and Africa all want THEIR club to get to the Club World Cup to prove themselves against the best in the world. MLS and US Soccer fans can not take the attitude that the UEFA club fans can with regards to the FIFA Club World Cup "not being important" as our clubs have proven nothing in real international competitions. Instead we're all distracted because Kansas City beat Manchester United's B-Squad in a meaningless friendly.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... You Guys really need to get a grip!.... Bad games happen for every single team. You guys remember last year when Real Madrid lost 4-0 to a third division team in the league cup and ended up being bounced out...it Happens!!!!! ( BTW, if I remember correctly the third division team had a payroll around one and a half million). I Would also like it if MLS would put more effort into CCL, but I can totally except a singular incident like this one. Most leagues have problems with the teams taking their domestic cups seriously until the late late rounds... UEFA Cup, erm excuse me, Europa Cup is filled with upsets by little minnows because top teams don't give a damn until the late rounds.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... Naw man, Honestly, as someone who has lived in Mexico and Portugal.... they don't really care about it, sure its nice if their club wins, but you would be hard pressed for them to tell you with a straight face that it means much. Atleast for Mexicans and Portuguese.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... until the salary cap goes up we should all expect MLS teams to get the elbow from the sky.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... Anyone have the salaries of the Puerto Rico Islanders? I do not believe salary or fixture congestion is the issue, those however have become convenient excuses. I believe there may be something about MLS structurally and culturally that infects and affects the mentality of everything from how front offices treat this tournament down to the way it's (not) taken seriously by players and coaches, and thus fans. Meanwhile the friendlies...dear god, this is what is part of the problem: http://www.denverpost.com/rapids/ci_15617288 In games that don't matter? Ok. So.... some MLS players think that friendlies are actually a true test against "the best in the world" but when they go up against "the best in the region" they fold like a deck of cards. As a result they shuffle those cards off into the corner, fans discount the importance of the tournament, wait for the next friendly vs Euro-superclub XYZ and declare victory when the MLS team beats their B-squad running at half speed. Forgive me for borrowing an image from another decade that sums up this mentality:
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... Our clubs never will prove anything on the national stage until people actually take it seriously. It looks like you are a Seattle fan. I know Seattle fans get ripped contantsly on here, but I your club is the one that seems to be trying to actually push the importance of CCL hard. I think the other clubs in this league can learn a thing or two from that. I think it all starts with the local club. There isn't much you can do to get MLS fans to care about other teams, but the front offices for the five clubs in this tournment should be pushing this non stop with advertising and hype. Unfortunatley it just seems like most clubs only care to push the friendlies with international super clubs rather than something that can actually move this league forward. I read some comments that apparently the Galaxy front office has been pushing the Real Madrid friendly really hard with little effort put into CCL, despite the fact that on paper, their club had the best chance of getting far. For all of those who want to see MLS suceed and really become a legitimate force in world soccer, then you need to start with sucess on the international stage. If the MLS started to win CCL's, eventually gain entry into the Copa Libertadores (and actually have teams go far into the tourney or even win), then you will definitely see this league's stock go up. As long as we continue to fail miserably, then the MLS will continue to portray the image of being a lackluster league for American soccer players who can't cut it overseas and a handful of aging world stars looking for that last paycheck.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... Wow, a perfect example of how MLS is looking at this completely wrong. Everywhere else in the world, leagues are judged by how they perform in international competition. The stock of the Mexican league has gone up to their great sucess in CCL and some deep runs in Copa Libertadores (Chivas is currently in the semis). Nobody is using the Mexican leagues W/L record against European clubs to determine how good they are. If the MLS really wants to prove their are better than their world image says they are, then the MLS needs to start to dominate CLL every year. Then, they need to demand entry into Copa Libertadores and start to prove themselves against the best clubs in the Americas. Unfortunately, I fear that most front offices in the MLS and the leadership of this league really do think friendlies are the answer. I've seen so much hype for this Man U All Star game, yet not a word about CCL.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... True, but the Galaxy have to get 4 (while not allowing a goal) in Puerto Rico if they want to move on. I went through a few different phases during/after this game. First, obviously, was disbelief that PRI could get 2 goals in before half. After 3, hilarity. I was laughing. When the dude was about to crank that 4th, I was talking to the player through my television, telling him to just rip it and see what happens and was morbidly pleased when it went in. Then, of course, was the rage at what all transpired. How could they let this happen? More importantly, 4 of those players will be prancing around tomorrow night in Houston like this never occurred. But once the rage subsided, I have realized there is not too much to get worked up over. PRI played an excellent game, and most MLS teams would have struggled against this very well prepared, organized, and deadly finishing team. None of their goals were soft, and they were all created through hard work combined with individual skill. Something about this tournament gets these guys geared up, there's no shame in losing to a team that is firing on all cylinders like that. Also, the past month has made me realize that the Galaxy is a completely different team than it was during the first half of the season. Perhaps they peaked too early, perhaps they got too full of themselves, perhaps Donovan hasn't actually returned from South Africa. Either way, they are letting goals in, not scoring goals, and generally looking like an average MLS team. A month ago, I was saying that LA is the best team in MLS history... obviously that no longer stands, but you can bet the coaches and players were thinking similar thoughts. This may just open their eyes a bit, and perhaps they'll realize that they aren't good enough to have an off night and still win game in and game out. Perhaps they will take a much needed look in the mirror and dig down deep, not only for the return leg (which they had better go balls to the wall in), but for the rest of the season. The MLS Cup won't be handed to them without other teams giving them a fight. Whatever ill-conceived notions the team had about their ability should be quickly purged and replaced with the fire to leave nothing on the field after 90 minutes. So enjoy your show tomorrow night, Landon & company. On Thursday its time to get your asses back to work and solve this problem. If they go down again in PR, I'll have no qualms rooting for the Islanders to make another deep run.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... Thanks for the good words. I will say this: Even though Seattle has had 2 friendlies (vs Boca and Celtic) and have another one scheduled for later in the season they have made it very clearly known that the CCL is: 1) Not a friendly 2) The beginning of a longer journey which if the Sounders are victorious would see the Sounders represent Seattle against the best teams in the world in a real international competition 3) Important for the fans who want to see how our team measures up against others. It's a point hammered home on every billboard, bus sign, TV and radio commercial, newspaper and magazine ads, in-stadium advertising etc. I really want the Sounders to do well not just because I'm a Sounders fan but I want to see just how far the front office can take it. Kinda like that FIFA10 commercial "How big can soccer get?" It's "How big can the CCL get?" in America. We'll never know if we don't advance. Wish us luck. There are no easy games in the CCL.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... Honestly I wish other MLS clubs put that effort in. I think that would go a long way to getting more interest from fans. Like anything else, you can't blame fans for not knowing.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... I'm a lot more excited for Seattle's game tomorrow than I am for the all-star game. Even though I think Seattle doesn't have a team good enough to get past the group stage, I am hopeful that they can get through Metapan and bring their great crowds and media attention to the next phase of the tournament. It would be a great advertisement for MLS and I'm sure the players on Metapan, Marathon, Tauro, etc. will note it and it will improve MLS's reputation in their respective countries - and hopefully lead to more of their top players coming here.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... How about we give the Islanders some credit too?? I love the Galaxy but I am just being honest and admitting that the Islanders were the way better team tonight! Congrats you freakin Islanders!
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... I also think that Americans (not the hardest of hardcore MLS fans...like us geeks here) are not really familiar with the concept of international CLUB competition. It's going to take a lot of marketing and education from the clubs, MLS. AND CONCACAF to really drive this home and build interest.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... And at some point US Soccer has to pull it's head out of its ass long enough to realize they have a responsibility outside of just the national teams. In other federations the federation and league work together in promoting the international club tournament. USSF is AWOL on this and the Open Cup. It's like they don't care. Contrast that with Football Federation Australia which prominently features a banner link to the AFC Champions League on it's Asia page... http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/2009Asia/default.aspx?s=2009-asia-australia-the-afc_new The closest equivalent I could find on ussoccer.com http://www.ussoccer.com/Tournaments/Tournament-Landing.aspx Absolutely nothing on the CCL.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... First of all, weeknight games suck...especially early in the week. Tuesday and Wednesday games are harder for people to get to...especially with 7:30 or 8:00 starts. Those pesky things called jobs make it hard for people who have to travel an hour or more to games... Also not calling this part of the "season" in season ticket packages undersells the value of the games. Sell the full possible schedule of games and credit back any unplayed games. Both USOC and CCL suffer from these problems. Then there is the shit lineups some teams trot out. I never want to pay to see Taylor Graham play soccer again. $10 in the USL days was ok..... but he's not MLS quality... $10 for a CCL match where I have to see guys like him play....... not a hot sell for me. Especially with an hour and a half drive to and from the stadium.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... All excuses aside, the Galaxy knows how important American soccer fans are now taking the CCL and there is absolutely no excuse for their horrid, embarrasing performance. The entire team and coaching staff should be fined and prevented from participation in the next match, regardless of competition.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... Like I said when it was first rolled out in the new format, the CCL is a bloated, absurd competition and no one should take it seriously. It's a year-long correspondence course in thumb-twiddling. It's a hypnopædic cassette on proper farting procedure. Who cares? Take the champions of each half-respectable CONCACAF league and have the lot of 'em play a short tourney in a single host country. Anything more than that is a sad joke. This is not UEFA and we do not need a Champions League. The CCL is a goddamn joke. For real, just try to parse that phrase from a neutral perspective: "CONCACAF Champions League". "NAMBLA Award for Ethics". "KKK Humanitarian of the Year". "The Grammys". I know a lot of people need external validation, but most everyone else recognizes this farce as being exactly what it is, and that's why they stay away. You know how no one cares about the Grammy for Best Assistant Recording Engineer on a Polka Fusion Album? It's like that. The players know it and the fans know it.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... So no other confederation has the ability to have a respectable Champions League type except for UEFA? You know there was once a day where the Champions League was a shadow of what it is today. It took time and development to make it what it is. You have to start somewhere and if we want MLS and the US club soccer to be a force int he world eventually, we need to be succesful at international competitions. Having a short Superliga style tourney won't do shit.
Re: Shame & Embarrassment... Liked it better as a shadow, trust me. And it was an oversized shadow even then. As for being successful at international competitions, what can I say? Beating teams from Guatemala - or, Jesus, Puerto Rico - just isn't the route to being a world force. It's not like anyone will take MLS teams seriously even if we are top dogs in CONCACAF. We can settle for what we have now - a fun little league without much of a name on the world stage. (This does not require the CCL, and the CCL can't take us there...since we're already there.) Or we can shoot to be a world force. (This does not require the CCL, and the CCL can't take us there, since CONCACAF is a joke.) If we want to shoot big, the Mexican league is the only one worth thinking about, and that's why I put more hope in the growth of the SuperLiga than in the CCL. Besides, any competition under the auspices of CONCACAF will always be a joke. Let's not tie our hopes and dreams to these freaks any more than we already have to. I don't expect much love or agreement here. Last time I made these points, I got neg repped hardcore. MLS teams might suck at the CCL and it might be a sh*t competition, but boy do the BigSoccer boys love it...