Why don't you think it has a hard ceiling? What the heck do you mean by better or best? All of this sounds incredibly vague without being able to actually determine. I think it is by design but would like to confirm. Are they trending fast enough?
To be fair, we are the ones giving oxygen to these unhinged, adolescent viewpoints. People seem to believe that just because we don’t think everything that happens in this country should be about what is best for the World Cup (Concacaf doesn’t matter) including blowing up MLS because somehow that’s hurting us, that means we are Berhalter apologists. It’s some weird kind of inferiority complex - unless we are destroying Concacaf, it’s embarrassing and the coaches fault. Many of these internet experts barely seem to watch European soccer (and have no historical perspective) but just know that some players are better and think we should achieve specific results just by showing up. It’s absurd. Someone said I accept mediocrity and on some level maybe that’s true - I love it when an MLS player like Donovan has a mind blowing game and tournament to end Spain’s historic winning streak or a guy who went to college scoring against world powers in the World Cup. I love that we are underdogs in almost any game we play in. The journey of slow improvements is so much more fun to me then waking up and suddenly we’re Brazil. And a whole lot more fun than being constantly angry and deluded about how a mediocre coach doesn’t turn our mediocre player pool into a much more dominant side.
And some people get their kicks by defending a dysfunctional organization even when they know they are wrong.
at some point dont you want to update your example of an mls player? landons been retired for a while now. those moments youre talking about are old enough to drive.
This is such a feel good approach. We could make aafterschool specials about these types of things. However, it feels very anti-competition. Not surprising at all.
I have zero concern about the bank accounts of billionaires. But those billionaires aren’t funding soccer out of the goodness of their hearts and aren’t purposely looking to flush money down the drain. They are the ones who have to be convinced not me. I’d be perfectly fine with promotion and relegation being instituted.
And we are truly at a conceptual chasm, because I just can't wrap my mind around an attitude that isn't looking at the hottest iron this program has ever had and absolutely starving for more.
So we all have the opportunity to learn again that MLS player being Best XI player with 18G and 6A doesn't mean a he is good enough for international soccer and definitely not the WC. I doubt many here will learn the lesson. These are the only clips I could find of Ferreira's dreadful performance.... Ferreira first half highlightspic.twitter.com/D0hwZyUzRi— Jay Hernandez (@JayAH985) December 3, 2022
That is the only argument I hear against it. Thise who understood Pro/Rel wouldn't view this as something that could be overcome. If it can't, it would be clear that there is only value in being a monopoly and our federation should do something because it harms the game.
Just about every single commentator (Donovan being the only exception I have seen so far) says no to read-upping Gregg. Among former players even Lalas, Conrad, Herc, Davies, Pearce — all opposed, though Pearce is a soft no. Among punditocracy it is unanimous except for MLS writers.
You know at the holidays when there is the grown-up table, and the kiddos sit at the card table set up in the family room. It would be nice if we had that set up here.
Any take on the leaked news about ongoing contract discussion being refuted by Stewart? I have seen some speculate but I am choosing not to so I don't get called an unhinged conspiracy theorist by moderators.
I would love to get rid of casual soccer fans. It weird that you think not being that into something is mature.
yeah...I will probably just delete my account and stop following the team if berhalter is re-hired. maybe just tune in at the next wc.
The case for an MLS hard ceiling is that between Eurosnobs and US residents of Mexican heritage you have groups who MLS needs as ticket buying, TV watching fans to break through, but can't break through unless they have them, so they're stuck in kind of a Catch 22. I think there is a degree of truth in that. However, the league has gotten much much better in the last decade regardless and has a ton more runway to continue to do so before it really runs into those barriers. The MLS hard ceiling is fundamentally a 2050-type question and it's hard to have huge confidence in either direction about what 2050 looks like. If the league has a successful next decade and trends in the European game continue, a category of player in the USMNT pool is going to be "sub-MLS Europe" for places like Antalyaspor or Norwich or Boavista or Venezia. Even today that's an argument you can have, but if trends continue that's just going to be an undisputed reality and it will be a new conceptual framework for looking at the pool.
not getting my gist. 1 - the US talent level at 23 years and younger RIGHT NOW - is literally ELITE in the world (and will continue to be so forseeably assuming MLS academies continue operations) . like top 5 at least. this is something totally unprecedented and new for the US. the US basically sent it its olympic team to the World Cup - very few countries could do that and have ANY success. 2. even though very few teams could have done this - it isnt an excuse for poor play or mistakes in strategy and decision making and basically poor management! the team left a lot on the table even being as young as it was in my opinion. which is Berhalter's fault.
Well that is huge challenge as they have alienated both of those groups. By euro snob to you just mean soccer fans that aren't MLS fans? The anti-comoetive framework will also be a big challenge.
I just use eurosnob as a familiar colloquialism. It's a spectrum between people for whom the attraction to soccer is the elite of the elite level of competition and quality of play and amazing stars (something MLS doesn't have, but could) and people for whom the attraction to soccer is performatively differentiating themselves from American culture (something MLS by definition can never have). On this we totally agree. The bridge is not getting crossed if MLS can't develop juice and stakes for its rank-and-file matches. (Shameless plug for my You Be The Don post, you guys, I solved this problem: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/regional-leagues-a-modest-proposal.2123499/)
Now all we need to do is resign Berhalter. We can 2023 getting Tim Ream and Aarom Long as many minutes together as possible. Quick follow-up on Tim Ream: I’m told that the 35-year-old has no intention of retiring from the #USMNT https://t.co/83h6Vi8AEf— Doug McIntyre (@ByDougMcIntyre) December 8, 2022
De Bruyne Salah Haaland Neymar Lewandowski Lukaku Gabriel Jesus Son Vinicius Jr Modric Could go on but what do they all have in common? Came from various leagues well outside the top 5. Could go older and name players like Ibra or Berbatov. Could go younger and name Endrick, the 16 yr old Brazilian Real Madrid is about so sign for 70M who'll be at Palmeiras until he's 18. Point being, chasing the top 5 league (which was a marketing error by Garber) is a fool's errand. The money, history and UCL/Europa are in Europe. That's not changing anytime soon. That's the top of the global pyramid. But the upper echelons are littered with elite players who came from elsewhere. Goes back to talent is talent. They just need a platform. And as far as a platform MLS is improving. The quality has improved although I'd largely rank it #18-20 globally, although again the ranking doesn't matter a whole lot. Right now you'd rather be a young player in MLS than Liga MX as the pipeline to Europe is there in MLS and has dried up below the border. It wasn't that way 10 years ago. And I'll point out again there is nothing stopping high quality players from using MLS as a platform. Would Almiron be starring for Newcastle right now without having gone to ATL? Maybe, maybe not but that path worked out for him. Fans in Arg and Bra don't have this weird discussion of their leagues chasing the top 5. Or Japan for that matter. They enjoy their domestic league for its history and culture, enjoy it for what it is and celebrate their elite moving up the pyramid to the top leagues. I could see MLS and Liga MX combining in some manner down the road. I think MLS should be a regular participant in Copa Libertadores which would benefit coaches and players. But I am no longer concerned with the discussion of will MLS ever replace the pressure and quality of UCL. Because that is not a requirement to having a good league which is a platform and provides opportunity. It's chasing a unicorn. And the top players in the game, all they needed was a platform. All Alphonso Davies needed was a platform as a teen and look what he did with it. If Haaland can use Bryne as a platform to become arguably the top striker in the game, don't tell me a potential equivalent can't use an LAFC or NYCFC or Cincy. Just need that level of player to come thru the ranks.
Some people don't want to be great, because it then sets high expectations. It's easier to be middle of the road and not demand a lot.
Berhalter has earned a new contract for sure. What can he do to make sure the players don't get complacent and that he doesn't fall into the trap of sticking with his guys too long for the second cycle? Donovan admitted in the new Rivals series on amazon prime that he got complacent going into the 2006 world cup and wasn't up to it. Berhalter doesn't seem to have the problem of being overly committed to his guys... he dropped Pepi after all the games he gave him. He surprisingly didn't play Long at all in the world cup despite his love for him.
I have no problem with a good to great argument, but Jackson was a nightmare. As I noted in another thread, he had split the locker room, he was openly fighting with management -- who he accused of spying on him, and he was trying to motivate players with fear and paranoia. This all came out later, but the Warriors did get a great coach in Steve Kerr -- and the ideal coach for that roster because they had all the fire they needed from Draymond. But Jackson was much more of an issue than was publicly known.