soccer is not golf and how to improve mls overnight

A domestic league's purpose is not to make the best national team. It is to make itself the best league it can be. The fortunes of a national team are determined by the federation, not any one particular league.

Ok, English teams havent won the UEFA CL in 3 years. But there's been an English team in the final in 05, 06, 07, two in 08, 09, and 11. That's 4 different English teams making the final a combined 7 times in 7 years. In that same span, there's been 3 Spanish teams in the final, in 06, 09, 11. And all 3 happened to be named FC Barcelona.

Barca may be the best team in the world, but in terms of overall strength at the top, the EPL has provided a greater quantity of competitive teams in recent years than La Liga.

 

Name one that's CURRENTLY working a second job. Plenty has changed in salary structure in the 5 years since that article was posted.

 

When was the last time you watched any German soccer? You have no clue what you're talking about.

Nobody doubts that Barcelona is the best team in the world. They play nice soccer. However, the only style I care about is the style that will win my team the most games. You can complete a lot of short passes but if you don't put the ball in the net, it don't mean shit.

Italian is a Latin language? What wonderful insight. Can you by chance tell what what color the sky is? You seem to be pretty good at stating the obvious.

 

This thread is comedy gold...

He contradicts himself constantly, lmfao...

I love how the guy trashes Seattle, then goes on to suggest that every team should copy everything they do. Oh, the Sounders rank among the top 50 in the world for attendance. I don't think Qwest/C-Link is a problem, it is actually a pretty big help.

Mauro Rosales, look up the guys name. He is currently making league minimum. He must suck right? What about Alvaro Fernandez? Yeah, he never played for the team that finished 3rd in the World Cup?

Seattle still manages to play some attractive Soccer on their plastic pitch.

And the simple reality is that FC Dallas and RSL have just as good of teams as Seattle. The three teams are remarkably very level in terms of quality.

The reality is that the sport and the league is improving every year. I think the league is doing things mostly just right. I have some issues with the league, but overall everything is being run pretty damn well at this point.

 

The answer to that is:

 

So your one example is 5 years old and at least 1, if not 2, CBA's ago?

Name one from at least the last say 2-3 years.

 

So stats can prove purpose.

 

What's in the water in Seattle? They lost the Sonics. They have no hockey. The Seahawks are mediocre. The Mariners are terrible. And, someone from the PNW feel free to correct me, College Football isn't the huge draw that it is in the SEC or Big 12.

Husky Stadium at 75,000, used to sell out all the time and hopefuly will again after it is rebuilt. So no, on an attendance basis we are not up to Big 12 levels, it's still a pretty big deal up here.

 

You're right. If you look at only a certain number of years, a certain decade, you can make a case for any league or any country. But the fact remains that only TWO Spanish teams have ever won the European Cup, Real and Barca. In fact, only four Spanish clubs have ever made it to the final. England boasts four teams with European Cups in their trophy cabinet, and seven teams total that have made the final. And that consistency and diversity of elite teams is not limited to a specific decade. An English team has won the Cup in every decade of its existence except the 1950s where no one could touch Real.

The European Cup we re-formatted into the Champions League in 92-93, same time that the English 1st Division was re-formatted as the Premier League. In that time, three Spanish teams have made the final a combined nine times. Four English teams have made the final a combined eight times. So I don't see where this massive gulf in quality that you see between Spain and England exists.

EPL teams are not slipping in quality. Because the last time a Spanish club not named Barcelona made the final was 2002. Four English teams have made the final since then. La Liga can not be the best league in the world when it has produced only one team that has represented it in the final since '02. La Liga's recent record in the Champions League without Barca is dismal.

 

Jason, done.

Now answer the f------ question.

 

Those big name players aren't looking to go to Villarreal, Valencia or Atletico are they? The point I'm trying to make is that there are only 2 teams in Spain that are in the conversation when it comes to challenging for the European Cup. Valencia had a nice little spurt there in 2000, 2001, but other than that, it's the Real and Barca show and no one else even comes close. Italy has had more diversity of competitors than Spain in recent years, although it is clear that they are falling off, with Juve no longer the powerhouse it used to be, and Inter in the post-Mourinho era has some rebuilding to do.

England, meanwhile, is the only major country where you can see an increase in the number of high quality teams worthy of being European contenders. Yeah, Liverpool has fallen off, Arsenal needs to rebuild, Chelsea as well. But England's "Big 4" as a group have a very good track record in the Champions League is recent years, which I've shown in my previous posts. In addition, you see teams like Tottenham and Man City breaking through. So while Liverpool may not be what they were, you've got another team rising up to take their spot.

Meanwhile, in Spain, Real Madrid went through a tough spell with six consecutive Round of 16 eliminations. But did we see another Spanish team rise up and become a strong ambassador for La Liga? No. Only Barcelona held the La Liga flag up proudly.

What it shows is that while the EPL may not have the #1 team in Europe, it certainly fills out the top 10 much more so than Spain or Italy.

 

1. good point. not going to happen.

2. who the hell is pibe, we don't want latin, euro names but we want shitty brazillian coaches who are gonna get some more suckass latinos in the mls.

3. turf is cheaper to maintain, looks better, and every sport uses it.

4. any mls player could rape you on the soccer field.

5. i agree.

6. no one in seattle is going to agree to pay extra tax money for a SSS in seatle when Century link works just fine. in 5-10 years they'll fill it.

7. seattle doesn't have some sort of master plan to make people go to their games, same with Portland, LA, or Vancouver. people just like soccer their.

8. horshoe stadiums are traditional american. there is nothing wrong with them the way MLS attendance is going.

9. announcers are critical when a bad play is acctually made. you go out their and try to make even 10% of the plays they make. Like i said you would get raped

10. i agree but the bill of rights says every american has the right to express their opinion and have the freedom of speach. the acctuall sections are regular people sit. let them do what they want.

11. the MLS player salary cap is 335,000 without DP. they should still raise it to more like 500,000 and add 1-2 more DPs. still you need better info you have no idea what you are talking about

 

If only there was some objective measure, say created and published by UEFA that ranks the various Leagues, say by the success they have against other federations' leagues over the recent past. And if they could publish this 'League Ranking', it'd really put an end to the debate over what league is the 'best'. And if only it were available at a convenient URL, say http://tinyurl.com/25e453a. That'd be nice, wouldn't it, boys?

 

because anyone who is as good as an MLS player wouldn't be sitting at his computer typing useless shit into a blog like this

 

I didn't think you could rip off anything more asinine and retarded than you already had, but I was wrong.

You cite angry/warlike/psycho fans as a reason NOT to emulate an EPL-esque direction yet you're championing the cause of Italy and Spain ?

I'm sorry which countries have huge fences/cages around the field and sections of the stands ? Which countries tosses flares on the field and regularly tumble with the police ? Which countries have ..... Ah Jesus man:

 

One team defines an entire league. Barca was better than ManU last year therefore every team in the EPL is worse than the ones in LA Liga and it has been this way forever.

We are now informed. Thanks.

 

by that logic, Chivas beat Barca during the summer with noobs and therefore every team in La Liga is worse than the ones in the Mexican League and it has been this way forever.

or, if you love that logic,

UNAM beat Toronto FC 4-0 in the CCL this week, and UNAM lost to relegation`zone Queretaro 4-0 this past saturday. Meaning that even the relegation bound FMF teams would spank MLS teams by a margin of 8 goals, using ONLY this single piece of data.

unfortunately,Queretaro may not claim best team in the world yet until they beat chivas.

 

I see. So the style of football played in England is a result of an immigration wave 1500 years ago?

Well that's entirely logical.


I do also like the idea that English success is just about money, but the success of the immensely rich, and often billionaire playthings of Italy and Spain, is about style.


I do also like the idea that MLS could just state that it wants teams to play like Barcelona, and suddenly incisive possession football will be the norm.

I'd like to know what policy decision MLS could take that would cause a US-based Heysel.

 

This thread has to be a record for TLDR posts. But this one is just a gem and proves your idiotic ethnocentric viewpoint.

If you have to ask the question "is there anyone interesting playing in MLS?" Then maybe you shouldn't be posting about how to change the league.