a whole lot of Mexicans fan showed up to watch hernandez play they already believe MLS sucks. Look weve been having these battles for a better part of a decade now. the league has a steady fanbase. it grows every year. Im that fan MLS hoped would be in the stadium when it started 15 years ago. I was a Kid when i watched my first Galaxy Game in 96. Now im a Father to be with Season tickets who will bring my kid around to continue the tradition. People like Me and all the Die hards here on bigsoccer and supporters Boards have done more for the game in the states then any Eurosnob or latinsnob. Snobs are good for filling stadiums for foreign teams and fill the coffers of SUM, MLS and the USSF. You know what is said had the All Stars won? it be alot of Ohh MAN U didnt really care. You never win with Eurosnobs and Latin Snobs these people are content watching their teams every morning or weekend afternoon on TV. I say ******** them, theyll bandwagon when MLS is successfull and ill happily have USSF and MLS collect their money then. Well be enjoying the fruits of our labor building the most passionate fanbases in the world due to all the Bullshit we as US fans have are and will go through for the next 20 years. this about money for the investors they are too deep in it now to ever go back.
Doesn't "building" imply that progress is being made? As a disaffected San Jose fan, I can say we did not expect to be worse off than Trojan stadium after 15 years. I suppose Miami and Tampa fans could tell you what they thought they were building. Even generally speaking, I think MLS is no better than it was 10 years ago, when it could actually win a couple of CONCACAF club championships. Garber seems a good person to hang it on. The soccer is not his focus. There's expand at all costs, and the foreign player dog and pony show. Of course the soccer will suffer. For each new expansion team, 23 players who weren't good enough to make an MLS roster now have a job. I don't see how this helps the league's worst problem, and it makes me want to stay away.
While disappointed in the result, I have a hard time looking at last night's game as any sort of referendum on the state of the league. As others have stated, it was an "All-Star" team who had little time to gel who was facing a team that was embarrassed their last time out and clearly had a point to prove. And prove it they did. In looking strictly at the run of play, it was fairly even. The big difference was the comparative quality of the forwards and their ability to make something of their chances. MLS is stacked with good midfielders, but when you think about real quality forwards, not so much. And those who might be considered in that real quality group, such as Juan Pablo Angel and Jaime Moreno, their best days are more or less behind them. If anything, this was the thing that really jumped out to me last night, the need to cultivate a new wave of talented, crafty YOUNG strikers who can capitalize on the good work that their midfielders are capable of doing. Beyond that, hey, MLS got their coffers filled and some of the younger guys a first-hand look at what the caliber of play at the highest level is. MLS is doing well; growing new markets, bringing in recognizable names, and doing it on sound financial footing that is laying a stable foundation for the game's future here in the U.S. One "All-Star" game isn't going to undo all the good things happening right now.
Didn't speak with any Mexicans at the game so i am not sure who or what you are talking about. The two groups of people that were most dissapointed with the game were both groups of unaffiliated fans. Those are the ones we had a chance to win over. If that is not your goal - why play the ASG? I don't care what Man U fans think. But I do care what soccer fans who should be supporting the local club but fall back on the "MLS quality sucks" argument - and we show them that on the field. These guys don't know that KC just beat Man U - they know what they saw because THAT ASG was televised. I just think it does more harm than good. Oh and as for money - the MLS and Dynamo made almost nothing on this game aside from any extra advertisers. They had to sell about 63K of the 70K seats to break even. So it is not a HUGE money grab. Which leads me to wonder why we do it?
Why is it that the ASG has been an acceptable representation every other year when the MLS All Stars do well against European opposition under the same circumstances, but when the all stars get thumped it isn't? How is it that KC getting a very fortunate result against a top quality team playing a youth keeper, a mostly inexperienced back 4 that have never played together before (Smalling is new), and missing most of their big name players, in pre-season truthful advertising? Fact is, upsets happen in football every year, all the time. Was the Puerto Rico thumping of LA a couple days ago truthful advertising of MLS vs USSF, or a one off upset? I'm not bashing the MLS here - I'm a season ticket holder and a fan. But the truth is - these results mean nothing. Either way. Top quality European teams are way better than the MLS club teams, and they are way better than the MLS All Stars. There is no shame in that, because they are way better than teams in their own leagues, and way better than the vast majority of other teams in world. What matters is that the MLS is increasing in quality, and doing it at what appears to be a steady, sustainable rate. Not how it stands up against the best of the best.
Any ASG is not a representation of anything - win or lose which is kinda my point. In fact, this is the first one I have watched and only because I had free tickets through my season ticket package. Anyone who claims that the game last night was a representation of MLS is grossly incorrect. International teams playing other "teams" in MLS is a better representation as All stars play together for two days. Not sure why that is hard to understand. Sure KC got lucky but regardless they played Man U well and tight. That is closer to reality than the ASG. Whether MLS is increasing in quality is a different discussion. I tend to think the OVERALL quality of players is pretty stagnant right now - due to expansion and low salary cap. But again - another discussion.
And people make too much of those CONACACAF wins. Back then the tournament was played ENTIRELY in the US. When LA won for example they played entirely in LA. Not the same as a true home and home Champions League.
Wow you guys are reading way too much into this match. I was at this game and it was exactly what an MLS All-Star game should be. Here's a list of positives: 1. Sold Out Stadium 2. High Scoring Game 3. Manchester United scores 5 goals 4. Hometown Hero Brian Ching scores a classic Ching Header 5. Brian Ching to Dero for a goal (Great for local Dynamo Fans) 6. Chicharito debuts and scores (Great for everyone) 7. Seeing Legend Ryan Giggs 8. Seeing US Legend Landon Donovan take the pitch to a standing ovation etc etc I could go on... but this event was a success. The fact that the MLS All-Stars got their asses handed to them means jack. Yea I wanted the MLS to win but I also wanted Manchester United to live up to their billing and that's what I got, I left the match happy. It was great entertainment but now it's time for what really matters to true MLS fans: the reminder of the MLS regular season.
San Jose is alot closer to having there own stadium then they were back when the original team moved to Houston. Miami and Tampa are the fault of the Glazier Family. They choose the easy route which backfired on them. The Glazier family could have been heros by saving the 2 florida teams instead they are responisble for the huge debt that Man U has. most MLS teams have there own stadium. verse 10 years ago where there was only Columbus that had there own stadium. MLS is doing fine and is building.
The problem that I have with this All-Star game is that we just made a fool out of ourselves in front of 70,000+ people. That's 70,000+ people that we could have won over, but, getting smashed with the league's "best" players by a single team without their best players really puts the league in a bad light. We, as hardcore MLS and soccer fans know that they only had a day or so to prepare for Man U, but the casual fan doesn't know this. They just know that the best from an entire league just got smashed by a single team of mainly reserves.
It's wasn't our 'best'. Donovan barely played. Any game where the coach doesn't select the starting line-up for his team and has 2 days of practice while the other team has 20 days of practice is silly. This over reaction is mind boggling. If we won it didn't mean we were the best league in the world nor does losing mean the end of the world. Wow just Wow. If this is the reaction to this loss what about all the all-star games we won against EPL/FMF teams?
I'll give you 70,000 reasons you're nuts (whoever started this post). I was entertained and did not give 2 shits about the result. I'm sure any casual fan tuning in and those at the game had a great time and saw 7 goals and several other near-goals. If Garber "sucks" because he sold out a football stadium and had 7 goals scored well, I guess sucking is brilliant. Your lunatic rantings are bizarre and useless. Yeah, you're a real MLS fan alright. You can arrest your case with the cop from the Village People in a back alley by the way.
I agree with your sentiment. However, my original response was to a different statement. Someone said it was a representation of the league. My point is club versus club is a good representation . . club versus a team that practiced for two days - regardless of how good the players are - is not.
can we name a sport where the all star game isn't a joke? MLS didn't have the best showing but who really cares? These games are money grabs, pure and simple. It'll be forgotten about in a week.
I find this hard to believe. MLSE made $3m on the TFC v Real Madrid friendly in 2009 selling 21k seats. So unless the ASG tickets were $5 each the league and Dynamo are playing accounting games.
*sigh* The Dynamo do not control Reliant. They had to split ticket revenues. They had to pay the appearance fee of Man U. Reliant kept parking revenue. I am not sure about the split on concessions. Whether you believe it or not - it is not accounting games. Now, the team made several 100K due to the sell out - but that covers one player's salary. TFC controls their stadium. Dynamo were lucky if they got 30% total revenue share. Plus Man U commands a much greater appearance fee than RM. edit*** I should note that I am sure MLS made incremental dollars on advertising and TV rights but not sure what it was.
Depends - to your point and my comment - MLS may have gotten a crap load of money from the larger event. The odd thing with our ASG is that the host team takes all the risk financially and it seems for limited upside financially. It worked out for the Dynamo and the week was GREAT. However, if 10K less seats were sold it would have been an issue. On a smaller scale with less expensive teams - it certainly can be a money grab if played in a SSS. The sort of event we just had - if that sets the bar for future games - is only a money grab if the advertising dollars and TV money follows (and I think the TV money is set as part of the SUM/MLS contract so wouldn't change).
You're an idiot. An absolute idiot. Your whole post was ruined with that sentence. Your argument is invalid because of it.
I went to the game with two friends who don't give a rat's a** about MLS, but they are going to the MLS game on Saturday now. You can't say that this game means nothing. If 500 of the 70,000 people at that game do that then there is an extra 1,000 spectators for the next MLS game. The game was exciting, who cares what it means?