Saturday 5 Nov 2022

Jim Curtain, with all due respect , is dreaming.

We all know MLS has made great strides in the last 10-15 years.

The growth, franchise and stadium values have gone through the roof.

I'm sure they will grow even more with North America hosting World Cup 2026.

Still , even though they may be in the top 15, I think there is a long way to go to be considered among the world's top leagues.

 

Former Rapids HG defender Sam Vines announced on Instagram that he had surgery for a broken tibia and will miss the World Cup.

 

Curtin isn't dreaming. What other country has the resources and quality of life that the US can offer? The facilities in MLS are already on par or in some cases exceed those in other top leagues in the world. With the league soon to grow to 30 teams there are plenty of opportunities for players to ply their craft in the US and make a very good-to great living. Add in the Liga MX partnership which will add more competitive games, and the Apple TV deal which makes MLS available on one platform across the World and it's easy to see how MLS will continue to grow at a rapid rate.

Outside of England and Germany the other top leagues in Europe and the world for that matter don't have as much money as one might think. Even in Spain, Barcelona is in dire straits financially. Real Madrid is really the only Spanish team with money and even they have curbed their spending in recent years. Outside PSG, France's Ligue 1 is closer to MLS levels of spending than they are the EPL.

 

You are correct.

There is no other country on earth that has the same resources the USA or Canada for that matter, has.

No one has the facilities or living conditions North America offers.

That still doesn't mean they will be the best league on earth in the next 3 years.

I mean Christian Pulisic (an American) was transferred from Dortmund to Chelsea for €60.00m only 3 years ago.

Using him as an example, this means MLS transfer fees can and will equal that amount in the same time period or rather, by 2026.

I don't believe they will reach those level of funds in the next 2-3 years.

Again, I'm not saying MLS isn't or can't be listed a top 10 league in the world in 2026 but they still won't be considered among the elites like EPL, Bundesliga , La Liga ,Serie A or even Ligue 1.

Having said that, I am happy at where the league is at.

If the next 10 years are any indication on what the last decade has brought, there is no telling where MLS can get or climb to.

 

Atlanta sold Miguel Almiron for $27M not that long ago.....

Also, notice how only the EPL teams are spending ridiculous money on transfers these days?

https://www.espn.com/soccer/blog-ma...-yet-again-in-summer-transfer-window-spending

MLS will be one of the best leagues in the World sooner than most would care to admit or realize.

 

I hope so as I'd love to see it.

Although, it certainly won't happen with a $4-$7 million salary cap the league currently has in place.

I also believe the Euro leagues are and will start to suffer and continue to feel the effects of the pandemic and inflation.

That still doesn't mean MLS will surpass those top 5 circuits in only 2-3 years time.

 

I know I’ve seen this badge somewhere before. I just can’t remember if it’s sported by French club Croisé en Brochette (Skewered Crusader), or Croatian side Belichikova Majica s Kapuljačom Bez Rukava, aka Belichikova MKBR (Belichick’s Sleeveless Hoodie. Annoying, really. A great visual interrogation.

 

He doesn’t have a TV?

Thx,

Jay!

 

The New York Times recognizing Major League Soccer?!?!? It's an early Festivus Miracle!

 

1588921248649998336 is not a valid tweet id

 

It also depends on your measures. Take Spain, for example (I use them because I'm most knowledgeable about that country). I'm a Sevilla fan, and they're an excellent team, better than any MLS team currently. However, once you get past the top 10-12 teams, you start running out of both teams and cities. There are two big teams in Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Valencia (sort of), and individual teams in Bilbao, Vigo, and a couple other somewhat sized cities. However, you consistently get teams such as Cadiz, which plays in a 20k seat stadium in a city of 120,000 of Real Vallecano, who is in Madrid, but plays in a 15k seat stadium that any MLS team would reject. Those teams have nothing on MLS teams currently, but people only see and notice the European level teams anx project from there. Most MLS teams are on a relatively flat plane compared to other leagues.

 

Of course, but those top 5-10 teams in each league outweigh anything MLS is close to producing.

I lived there and I know how difficult it is to play in those leagues.

The lower half are fighting for their lives and trying to avoid relegation.

If a club gets relegated, they lose all their revenue and players.

Other years though, they can climb up to an UEFA EL or CL spot which is where the real money is.

This is a luxury MLS clubs do not have , however.

The Concacaf Champions League has nothing on the Champions, Europa or even Conference Leagues.

I am not saying MLS is an easy league by any means but to be in line with Barca, Atletico or Real is a far reach.

Same with the other top 5-6 European leagues. .

Portugal for example has Benfica, Sporting . Porto, France has PSG, Italy has Juventus, Inter , Milan and now Napoli, Atalanta, Roma and Lazio.

MLS can't beat any of the top 510 EPL clubs currently.

Also, it was mentioned that Miguel Almiron was sold for $27M but that was three years ago.

Many of these similar transactions happen on a yearly and sometimes bi-yearly basis in most of Europe’s top 5 leagues.

Those are somewhat common transfers for many leagues.

Again, I’m not saying MLS has not made incredible strides and won't become a big league one day but to become better than La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga or EPL, will take a lot longer than 3 years’ time.

 

Proud to be an American Citizen 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/hl6Ex8uTQ4

— Julian Gressel (@JulianGressel) November 5, 2022

Thx,

Jay!

 

A club like Venezia in Serie A last year is the perfect example. 11,500 seat stadium in a city the size of Lubbock, TX, and it's nowhere near as nice as some USL stadiums right now. They spent what they could last year to stay in Serie A, didn't really come close, and now are having to sell off players while finding new ones for Serie B has mostly failed and they're in danger of going down to Serie C.

 

The cellar dwellers will always exist in every league but the top half of the Serie A or the "Sette Sorelle" though are maybe among the best in the world.

They may not win trophies in Europe but still do well and make a lot of revenue.

Inter and AC Milan are great teams.

Napoli this year is tearing it up.

Juventus is having a brutal season but they will always bounce back.

I mean they just recently won 9 scudetti in a row.

Atalanta was a perennial Serie B franchise not long ago and now they are a top, elite club.

Lazio and Roma are always among the league’s best.

Roma for example, won the Conference League earlier this year.

Fiorentina where I worked, will never win anything but they will always play the role of spoilers and are always there midtable.

Same with Udinese.

Again, I am not saying it won't happen someday and I hope it does but right now anyway, it's very difficult to believe MLS will overtake Europe's top leagues in 3 years’ time.

 

BTW, common knowledge in Rapids-circles but for those who don't know, Sam Vines girlfriend who moved to Belgium with him is Richard Fleming's daughter. If anyone has the inside knowledge on what happened, its Fleming.

 

On MLS becoming one of thr top leagues in the world, it depends on what changes the league is willing to make post World Cup 2026.
The last time the WC was in the US, it elevated the game in this country. So the interest level post WC 2026, is going to be through the roof.
MLS will have to be willing to make significant changes to the salary structure, certainly more than just doubling the current salary cap.
It's certainly within their means to elevate the league to a significant higher level.

Finally, nobody is saying that MLS will be the top league, so all you Premier League and Bundesliga fans, need to settle down. MLS can certainly surpass other leagues outside of the top 5 in the next 4 years, but they have to do way more than what we've seen to date.

 

I'm not going to argue at all with the Milan, Juventus, or even Roma of the world being a leg up on the MLS teams, but again, most European leagues go 10-12 deep if they're lucky. Many of them are maybe three deep, such as Portugal, which you cited. I would bet that even those three teams wouldn't be any better than LAFC or the Union. At this point, the EPL is starting to separate itself from the pack, but I could see MLS becoming competitive with Ligue 1 in a relatively short amount of time. Even now, how good are Sassuolo or Cagliari?

 

Sassuolo are in 11th place.

They are good but not great but do hold their own.

Cagliari is mid table Serie B but they will be back in a few years time.

The problem with a team like Cagliari is they have one bad year, get relegated, then have to sell off all their players.

This will not happen in MLS where teams can go worst to first.

When you have no relegation, it changes the game and the clubs.

Milan will always be a great team no doubt and difficult to beat but the bottom level clubs are good too.

I just finished watching Milan -Spezia played at San Siro at the same time that I was watching MLS Cup.

Paolo Maldini's son Daniel, just scored a killer goal for Spezia against his dad's team and he is only 21.

They lost 2-1 because 36 year old Oliver Giroud scored a beautiful goal for Milan at the end.

Still Spezia played well and they are in 17th place just above the relegation zone.

They played a heck of a game.

Even though the MLS Cup match is exciting for those who like goals , I don't think either Philly or LAFC can match the players, tactics , defenses and GK's of either Spezia or Milan.

We all know there are different factors involved and you can't really compare leagues because the funds are just not the same.

Still speaking solely on basis of skill level, talent of players and/or rosters, there is just no comparison in the styles of play, pressing or formations.

 

MLS has a long way to go to become a top league. It's roster building rules and salary budget would need to change in order for that to happen. Imagine a team like Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Napoli etc with MLS rules of DPs, TAM, GAM, U22-I, U23 DP? Those teams won't even be where they are now.

MLS will need to modify and relax its roster building rules and most importantly get bigger and better TV deals and sponsorships. Once they get at least NHL style deals and relax some rules then MLS will have a shot at competing with the top leagues. That won't happen in 3 years. We are stuck with the Apple deal, although it is a good deal but not enough to improve better quality signings.

 

They could have easily done that years back but they refuse to do so. So many changes they can do even with a salary cap in place and without spending more than they are spending now. They just complicate the rules too much, supposedly for parity, which on turn hinders quality of play.

 

I also believe the DP rules should be changed and the salary cap raised.

You won't become a top league with a low salary cap of $4-$5 million or by signing two or three stars, giving them all the money while everyone else is making by comparison, peanuts.

I though have gone on to defend MLS in the Euro threads.

As opposed to what many abroad think, it is far from a minor or inferior league.

Again, I reiterate it's not the Bundesliga , La Liga , EPL or Serie A but it's a good league.

Maybe somewhere between the top half of a good European 2nd and the bottom level of some first division clubs.

Again it's difficult to compare because most clubs getting relegated are having to sell their players and often times implode.

Those same clubs in 2-3 years time can drop to a 3rd or even 4th tier.

MLS is different as a team winning a wooden spoon keeps much of their roster intact and can even get better from one season to the next.

This was true of LAFC who were #19th overall in 2021 firing their coach and #1 in 2022 winning it all.

In most leagues, a team coming in 19th place will have been relegated but this doesn't happen in MLS where teams can go worst to first.

We have also seen so many superstars come over , struggle and fail so it's far from an "easy league".

Both Giorgio Chiellini and Gareth Bale sat on the bench yesterday in the MLS Cup Final.

Chiellini played a hand in giving his country the Euro Cup win just last year and even at 38, he will most likely have started for Italy had they made the upcoming World Cup.

Bale will be Wales WC captain and even though he scored in the OT , he still should be starting.

Regardless of their ages though, I doubt they were signed in the summer being paid millions to sit on a bench.

This is a testament to the other players LAFC has and it must mean the quality isn't all that bad as the Euro snobs tend to think.

Gonzalo Higuain was also benched earlier this season and then bounced back.

He then retired and I heard him in an Italian interview saying how difficult MLS was to play in.

Zidane asked Beckham once how far LA was from NY and he told him 5-6 hours by plane and he couldn't believe it.

All the Europeans know mostly is maybe Miami, NY , LA or maybe Toronto.

They have no clue how tough it is to play in North America where you have brutal hot summers, playing on turf in some cities and then have to travel.

Teams fly from Montreal- LA - Charlotte- Miami -Vancouver - NY - Philly - DC - Columbus -Chicago -Dallas -Toronto- Seattle-Minnesota -Nashville-Portland-San Jose-Orlando and then to Atlanta and this will make anyone sick.

The traveling coupled with the hot summers I'm sure doesn't help the quality of play.

Again, in defense of Jim Curtin, I think MLS can become a top league one day but I also believe many things have to change in order for them to compete with the world's best come 2026 , which is only 3 seasons away.