Mine has. The worst part is that the league was probably at an all time high on Sunday: they were still piggybacking the US's success in the World Cup Landon Donovan is a frickin' superstar Ronaldinho-to-MLS rumors were still a goin Henry had impressed in his first two appearances for NYRB Castillo has signed with Chicago and Marquez may be on his way New York and Kansas City took down the Manchesters of the EPL. 3 days later, all that momentum is gone. MLS is still going to have a good second half of the season, but with soccer's popularity in America being so fragile, they can't afford monumental setbacks like this. Even as an avid MLS fan, I'm shook to my MLS roots by these two days.
Oh my God... a bunch of guys that don't play competitive matches together as a team got taken to the woodshed by one of the top three clubs in the world. Let's disband the league.
I am with this league through and through, but it is really disappointing that all the positives were set back by these 2 games. I don't know what the deal was with the Gals fracking up against PR, but I had a feeling this was gonna happen against Man U. And the reports that the mostly Man U and Mexican crowd were there to see this game makes it more infuriating. This is supposed to be a celebration of MLS, but only gave more fodder for the Eurosnob/Mexican fan. And all for a buck - which seems to be SUMs goal nowadays than growing and cultivating an American soccer fanbase. We just need more time I guess.
Any knowledgeable sports fan knows the difference between a team and an All Star team. When Greece beats NBA all stars at the World Championships in 2006, no one said it meant the NBA sucks. All Stars will always have the disadvantage when playing against real teams because they don't play together. How long did the MLS All Stars train together? Five seconds??? Man U is Man U. If someone lost respect for MLS because Man U beat a team that never had any real training together to speak of, then they really don't understand anything about sports and All Star teams. The New Orleans Saints would've clobbered last years AFC pro-bowl team presuming that pro-bowl team had as little training together as the MLS All Stars had preceding the All Star game. While Man U might've been in pre-season the All Star team didn't even have a training match to prepare them. The arguably best player in MLS history played 90 minutes the day before as did another World Cup participant.**Bornstein also wasn't available, and they had virtually no preparation. It was an ill-conceived game to have them play Man U with so little preparation. As for the Galaxy. Most certainly disappointed, but it doesn't really cause me to believe that MLS is even close to being inferior to USL. Nor does it make me believe that a team of MLS rejects magically acquired the talent to consistently play in MLS. Cr@p happens. Upsets occur. In 2008, when Portsmouth beat Cardiff City in the FA Cup final I didn't come to believe that those teams were English powerhouses. And I am going to point this out again: when athletes are used to playing in front of 20,000 people and a few hundred people show up to a match at home, I wouldn't really be too shocked that they have a let down. The result was disgusting, but I don't judge MLS or even the Galaxy by it.
Seems like everyone is only taking into account the LA match and the All-Star game. My shattered enthusiasm also includes the other two MLS teams' games in the CCL. TFC and Seattle were onloy able to scrap 1-0 victories AT HOME against CONCACAF qualifiers. Combined with LA's embarassment and the All-Star game shellacking makes it devastating to me mainly because MLS had a ton of momentum on Sunday, and now its all gone.
a) Being "devastated" by 1-0 wins indicates a lack of perspective. b) About 130 people outside of Seattle and Toronto know about those 1-0 wins.
How is it lack of perspective? MLS had new fans coming into the league lately. They're scared away when they find out MLS teams can barely beat Central American teams. Its about reputation. I don't agree with the ranking, but there are still rankings putting MLS at 88th best in the world. Failure in the Champions League only facilitates those perceptions.
Not at all. All star game isnt a big deal, and for the most part the RSL players did well. Nick got scored on 3 times but i dont think any keeper would have got those, Olave was arguably the best defender of the game, and Morales arguably played the best of all the MLS players. As for LA vs PR. I would have liked a win, but wont lose any sleep over it.
Yeh, I don't get it. I've pointed this out repeatedly: soccer is very susceptible to flukey results (i.e. Switzerland beating Spain, New Frickin Zealand tying Italy), a win is a win in any sport, all the more true in soccer. The New Orleans Saints lost to Tampa Bay of all teams during the regular season last year, then it won the Super Bowl. Does that mean that Tampa bay was good enough to win the Super Bowl last year or that the Saints had a suck @ss flukey performance before getting their heads on straight? MLS fans would've made great medieval Catholic monks. They love the self-flagellation.
Nobody cares about the CCL, particularly new fans. You need a stronger composition. I've said it before and I'll say it again. MLS is the most successful startup league in ALL AREAS in the history of North American sports. Two bad days don't change that, especially when RBNY is beating Man City, DC United is crushing Portsmouth and KC beats ManU with 10 men WITHIN THE SAME ********ING WEEK! This league gave me Red Bull Arena and Thierry Henry in a matter of months, two things that 98% of leagues on this planet couldn't/wouldn't do. It rules. You have to be in your teens or early twenties to have such an entitled and warped POV on this.
Exactly. Getting tuned up by Man U on national TV may not be a good thing, but let's not act like this was a serious blow to the league's image, either. The Wizards just beat Man U, but no one's lining up to say the Wizards are somehow Premiership material, and should be petitioning for promotion. So I'm not going to lose my mind because the MLS All-Stars lost to them. Besides... look at who played in this match. Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who was the league MVP two seasons ago, only played a half. Landon Freaking Donovan came on for, what, the final fifteen minutes? Jaime Moreno was our "super sub"? DeRo didn't start? Seriously, guys. If this game was actually meant to be a litmus test for MLS vs the World, it wouldn't have been up to the fans to decide who went. A group of coaches would have gotten together and strategically chosen who they wanted, and the roster would have looked somewhat different. Now, I'm sure someone's going to counter with "Well, the Red Devils didn't exactly send their A-squad out there, either." Exactly. It was a FREAKING EXHIBITION. Besides... was anyone really convincing themselves that MLS, regardless of the result last night, was suddenly on par with the Prem, or its biggest clubs? I don't remember anyone going nuts when we beat Fulham, so I don't know why everyone's going berserk because we lost to Manchester United.
Honestly I think people put way too much into friendly match results. A few days ago people thought MLS had reached the EPL's level when Man City and Man U lost over the weekend and now due to the ASG, people think the league has regressed. A friendly is meaningless. It's an exhibition game and nothing more. These games, all star games of any sport included, are about the spectacle, not the result. It's no different than people who take preseason or spring training results as indicators of how a team does in the resgular season when you often find out the opposite occurs. What is a big worrisome to me is the whole CCL issue. I don't think one loss is end of the world for MLS. What is a concern is the following: 1.) The LA loss is another one to add to the list of regular disappointments by MLS in this tournament. One result itself doesn't mean much. When you build a body of work that shows MLS teams regularly losing early in this competition, that is a concern. I think that is why so many people are worked up. The team that has been the best in MLS this year, and some think one of the best sides in MLS history got blown out on their home field. Added to regular failures by MLS in CCL and it gets people seriously concerned. 2.) The lack of interest or caring for CCL is a concern. I've read countless comments on here about people who say the LA loss doesn't mean much because CCL means nothing to most people. I'm afraid taht attitude will seriously hamper the ability for MLS to move past the troubles they are having in international competition. It may not matter to some, but if people really want MLS to continue to improve as a league, international competition must be taken seriously. As others have pointed out, regular success in CCL can eventually lead to Copa Libertadores. That is, or at least should be, the end game here. Eventually having the best MLS sides competiting with the best clubs in this hemisphere would be a great way to continue to attract talent into this league and maybe even keep more talent here. This is an international game and for a league to succeed and grow, it takes more than just success in league play to attract top talent. CCL success must com before Copa Libertadores is even a possibility, and that will never occur if people continue to blow it off like it's a waste of time. That is the biggest concern I have. To answer the original question, no my enthusiasm hasn't gone down as I feel pretty much the same as I did before the last 48 hours. I don't take the friendly results seriously. The last two days have just continued to prove my concern that one of the important aspects of long term growth and success of this league, international competition, isn't taken very seriously by the teams or many fans. That is the real issue here and one people need to be worried about.
This. In the first two years of the Champions League, MLS representatives weren't exactly having good seasons whilst playing in the CCL also. The two teams who had the best seasons, Houston and Columbus, are also the only ones who got to the quarterfinals. What can you say if the best team in the league can't even get into the group stage? The 1-0 wins by Seattle and TFC are weak enough, but its the fact that those leads are not safe at all heading into Central America. They blew all of the games AT HOME. That would leave MLS with only 2 teams in the group stage. Those 3 games were compounded by the poor All-Star game performance. Even when they lost last year they were the better team. Scheduling may have made it worse this year, but the all-stars have never looked that bad before. People can joke that the "sky is falling," but I've personally seen MLS lose fans over the last couple of days and that is the worst part.
Still think the league is completely headed in the right direction. I'm not reading much into allstar games, friendlies, or midweek tournaments that half the teams could care less about.
The only thing that should be taken from this is a newfound enthusiasm for Real Salt Lake and Columbus Crew fans who see Bruce Arena sucking it up; A potential opening to overtake them and get the SS and all the goodies that entails.
Maybe all of those people that jumped on the bandwagon after MLS beat Chelsea? In your fantasy world, did it go something like this: Couple years ago: "Hey, MLS All-Stars beat Chelsea! I love MLS!" Last night: "Hey, MLS All-Stars got whooped by Manchester United! MLS sucks!"
So two losses in two days by MLS clubs and all hell is breaking loose? It's a good thing you don't follow baseball. Those guys lose about 60-90 times a year.
I look at these results as a wake up call. We as a league and a soccer nation have a long way to go. Look at man u's reserves, there probaly more talented than more than half of our mls teams. The main things we need to go to the next step, are: player developement and coaching.
I don't know if 60-90 was meant to be a 60-90 days joke double entendre thing, but I gave you rep anyways.
Yeah, but when I see 60-90 on BigSoccer I think "60 to 90 days". If he meant a double meaning by it, it was genius.