That's not entirely ture. US Nats have quite a few key members playing abroad. From O'Brian to Bocanegra to Reyna to goalkeepers (which is U.S. forte). Russia, on the other hand, barely has anyone playing outside - Smertin, Semak, that's about it. Furthermore, Russian leagues have more quality internationals than does MLS. Over the last 2-3 years, top Russian clubs have stockpiled on players both from next door (Ukraine, Croatia) to far away (Brazil, Portugal). Don't get me wrong - MLS clubs would definitely be competitive in the Russian league. But I think League Title would be a stretch. I think even top MLS teams would probably finish around 3rd-5th in the Russian league. However, as I've said before, MLS is more consistent top-to-bottom. Thus, I doubt even the weakest MLS clubs would be in real danger of relegation.
Well, I watch alot of european soccer, i dont need watch the russian league to get a idea of its level play (i would if i could). Alot of the love for the russian league comes from what CSKA did, I`ll bet you $$$ that they wont make it back. My point is that its not the Serie A, EPL or La Liga, if Damani is one of there key guys then its just not that high of a level. Its in the middle where MLS is now. I think ur point has some turth but Where were you when people on this same thread, said the Russian Leagues level was higher then the MLS?
Thats pretty much how I feel about MLS and almost every single league around the world. Course in leagues like EPL etc... I have a feeling our top teams would be lower mid table but avoid relegation, while our bottom teams would be relegated but do well in 1st division. The only difference between MLS and most of your super leagues is the top 4 or 5 teams. Your top 3 or 4 Russian teams probolly win 8 out of 10 games against MLS sides, but lower down the table you wont find that.
Ignoring them, probably. Some Euros are truly delusional about their home countries' leagues. I watched MLS Cup '03 with a Russian who, every time someone made a bad pass, said something like "you never see passes like that in Russia" and every time a through ball beat either team's defense talked about how Russian defenders would never be beaten so easily. Probably a comment about how much better the Russian league was every 15-20 seconds, all game long. I came away with the impression that all Russian league teams had forwards who never shot off target, four Zidanes across the midfield, defenders who read through balls and executed offside traps perfectly every time and would never be beaten on the dribble, and Lev Yashin clones in goal.