We'll see. I'm just seeing the same Liga MX dominance that I've always seen. MLS league play is a different ball of wax.
I was at Estadio Caliente two years ago, the #s they brought for a continental tournament away game a convenient 2 hrs away was embarrassing.
Gerrard is the only really old guy that played tonight. Granted, he raised everyone else's age by 3 years on average...
Unless they absolutely put asses in seats and in front of the TV like Becks, I'm through with this fetish for over-the-hill English NT players. Give me eight young Argentinian players with something to prove for the wad of cash being thrown to the Lampards and Gerrards of the league.
Zimbabwe's African Champions League representative this year goes by "Gamecocks". They gave Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) a scare after winning the first leg in the first round. And yes, that is a fast food vendor. Consider your day brightened.
LAG - most pathetic club out there. Sweet Lord, they invest so much but they get embarassed every time they play CCL. Arena, climb up to the highest point in LA and jump off, you twat. If they don't want it, they should just ask USSF to transfer their berth to some other club. Disgraceful.
I don't know if Portland will be the same team as it was last season for the Ccl. Dallas will likely be similar unless they sell their young players.
There's some guys who hit the age wall at 31,32 and then there's guys like Drogba who can still scare the crap out of defenses at age 37. Gerrard was already used up when he left Liverpool. He was a British legend and he was kept on until it became obvious he couldn't be sheltered by his teammates anymore. I feel both Lampard and Pirlo were in the same boat. He really has nothing left to give LA. MLS by it's very nature isn't an easy "rest" league either. There's tons of long travel, varying pitch conditions, and extreme climate situations from match to match. One week you could be playing in the cool and damp northwest on concrete carpets, then next week you're flying 2000 miles and hit a wall of stifling heat when you arrive in Texas. MLS teams need to be more selective and understand the current physical state of over-aged players before bringing them over.
I'm actually optimistic reading this thread. People are starting to understand the path to success for the league isn't in paying aging, semi-retired European stars $5M a year. It's in developing our youth and bringing in talented South American and European youth. I'm happy to see that even though 99% of MLS fans hadn't heard of Giovinco when he came here he's become a household name, proving you don't have to have pre-made name recognition. I'm glad that there's starting to be an understanding that the Mexican teams are mentally tougher than us, and that we need to put more pressure on our teams to be the same. I think I'm at stage 7.
No ancient midfielders should be the rule--natural finishers like DiVaio or Drogba, sure. CBs, OK sometimes. But going out and acquiring players (stars or no) in their mid-30s to play in MLS midfields is just dumb. Even an old warhorse like Sarvas has clearly lost a step. Positions that require a lot of running and old legs are not a good combination.
MLS teams lack depth and the quality attacking players Liga MX has. That's my captain obvious comment.