Anyone have a link or ticket information for the Barca V. ManU match in Philidelphia this summer? Want to get my ticket as soon as possible.
I see no reason for a hard core MLS fan to support this tour. None. Go ahead, it's a free country. But don't discount the possibility that their success will only breed more copycats. Until they play MLS teams on the Magical Money Tour, they don't get anything from me.
It's about spreading the world's game dudes, not about bringing down MLS. It's going to be a fun and exciting tour with very entertaining soccer. Don't listen to this guys...go to the games if you can, it's better soccer than you'll ever see in the USA. It'll make you realize how far MLS has to go before it will ever compare. It'll put a reality check in that expansion, contraction, new stadiums, the I/O structure, etc. is all meaningless is you can't put a high quality exciting product on the field that the fans will pay money to see.
If by picketing you mean going down to MLS HQ and picketting them for not making the right deals and jumping on this before Champions World did, then Im in. Or how about orchestrating someone else to come over in the same way? You know Man U is not the ONLY popular team. Real Madrid could bring in as many fans and come to play MLS and EURO teams. But lets blame Man U for doing what MLS is supposed to be doing shall we?
I love MLS... I hate ManUre, in an admittedly jealous way... I love Celtic... but more than anything, I LOVE SOCCER. I will go and thoroughly enjoy the Celtic-ManUre match in Seattle as much as I will enjoy the MLS season for years to come because I LOVE SOCCER too much not to. Sorry to disappoint you "hard-cores".
I find it very hard to be so tough on people who are hundreds and hundreds of miles from MLS teams if they choose to go to this, like you... still..the sad fact of the matter is that your money is voting 'yes' to more of these tours. And that's not a good thing at all, in the end.
This reasoning is still speculatory, but I do see your point. That said, I still feel that attending the game in Seattle could still help persuade a potential MLS I/O to see the interest in soccer in the region, which is why I will support any soccer event in the region, including the Sounders, the Spokane Shadow, meaningless club friendlies, and any USMNT matches, besides the number one reason... I have a freaking good time watching!
so that would mean it's only ok to go to seattle but then again, seattle has an a-league team hmm... me thinks there are tons of posers out there
i'm against any and all euro teams "touring" here... they want to play a friendly and work with our teams/leagues here... cool if they want to trump us, ************ 'em if anyone wants to act like having this game in any of the four cities is a good thing for domestic soccer in their cities... keep dreaming
With all my respect for you, why do you post this thread in the Major League Soccer Board?. This could cost you a yellow card.
Man U will be laughing all the way to the bank even if they play to an empty stadium.. we're talking about a team that is the richest sporting team on earth.. they could buy the entire MLS 10 times over and still have enough cash to go out and spend 20 million on a new player... Man utd do tours every year all over the world.. so what if afew MLS jokers dont show up?? who cares?? answer == nobody.. LMAO
They probbably would like to too, if MLS could ever put a good deal in. Who cares it's REAL teams with REAL players. Not Mickey Mouse teams with no heart, soul, or sense of identity. People see that as quality regardless of what it might do for soccer. And people are gunna go watch it. And if you think this somehow impeding soccer in the US then you better dream on. If anything it CAN help, if MLS gets their ass off the ground and gets on board they can make some money off of it and use it for our league.
Ah... the age old Big Soccer tradition: labeling those you don't know, because they don't see everything the same way you do. Refreshing. Sincerely, Poser
You know, 10 years ago, we in the Boston area would get maybe 1-2 games a year, often featuring national teams with ethnic appeal. And that was a lot more than most places in the US got. I saw Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, England, Greece and of course the US in the years leading up to WC 94. The "get out the vote" message then was to support the game no matter what, even if it wasn't your team of choice, since by showing that lagrge crowds of people would pay to see soccer would help us get selected as one of the WC host cities. It worked, and in 94 we got first round games with Argentina, Nigeria, Greece, Bolivia and South Korea, and later matches with Italy, Spain, and Nigeria. That helped us get an MLS team, and despite being crap for 6 1/2 years, it has been one of the best supported clubs in the country. So for the folks in Seattle and Philly, I can't argue with them wanting to not only see some big-name teams, but also show the powers-that-be that they are "deserving" of a possible future MLS team. Ultimately, MLS needs to expand its footprint, and Seattle and Philadelphia seem like a decent place to start, although there are plently of other cities also on that list. Having said that, I despise Man Utd and everything they represent. Particularly that sanctimonius pr!ck Alex Ferguson, implying that this was the only soccer people in the US would ever see live. Yes, it would be preferable for them to work more closely with MLS on future tours, but that was not to be this time around. Maybe next time. So who cares if you want to go. Have a good time, but don't come back with this Euro-snob wannabe poser attitude that the standard is so much better than MLS, etc. When NBA teams play in Europe, the fans come out, but that doesn't mean they won't support their own local clubs, even though they aren't of the same calibre. The US is a second-tier league, and there's nothing wrong with that. The only way we will eventually become a first-tier league is for people here to support it. Tom
Soccer will live or die on this country in the next few decades via MLS. But it will live or die on the basis of whether people learn to watch soccer (i.e., learn to love it by watching it). As we all know, the US has an immense soccer-playing population. And yet, it has relatively tepid support for soccer, be it MLS, WUSA, etc. Why is that? It's because people don't know HOW to follow soccer. I have played for 25 years and still play on a pretty intense club team with former Division I players and even a couple of former pros. I can tell you that half of them don't watch ANY soccer -- WCQs? Nope. Meaningless WC matches? Nope. MLS final? Nope. Many of the rest don't quite know what's happening at a distance -- playing and watching are different skills. Why? Because they've never learned how to appreciate it by watching it. If you want soccer to be successful at a level where it's safe in this country, the way baseball or football are safe, you need to have avid fans, whether or not they know how to kick a ball. You ONLY get this by watching hundreds of hours of the game, learning how to read it and appreciate it. That's why watching ANY soccer in this country is good, whether its MLS, the ManU tour or a girls U-14 game. The average American needs to learn the game and anything that gets them to do that is a big, big plus.