Mario Rosas is training with Numancia (2nd Division Spain)

in the long run?...not only do i agree, i think guevara will have to be average to prove to be a better signing than rosas ever would've been...personally, i strongly feel guevara is going to be a much better signing in every possible way, and i'm glad bob was given the time to go through 8 billion players to find someone he was comfortable with...barring any problems in the locker room (i dont know if he's been known to cause problems), he's a proven veteran on club and national team who is still 27...can't f'n wait for a few games to give us some time to gel...METRO

 

My understanding is that Rosas had a tryout with DCU, left camp, than negotiations resumed and DCU did make an offer but apparently only for 1 year and Rosas wanted guarantees and a multi-year offer. At least that is what was reported. So that could be one of the "offers" he's talking about.

 

Lost in all this is that MLS has come quite a long way. We may not be La Liga, but you need to be better than Spanish 2nd division to play here.

 

I'm probably the only Metro fan to have seen Mario play in a match in the US. He came on for Etch at center mid for DC in the (approx) 55 minute against the Fire in an exhibition in Boca (FAU). He is short and looked a little overweight. He just did not stand out. He was mediocre. Used side to side passing to keep possession, fought for loose balls, but did not initiate any offensive penetration or real speed. I think a one-year contract offer would have been a fair offer to see how things would work out.

 

Yeah, I'm sure there are no players in the Spanish second division who could play in MLS. Teams like Zaragosa, Salamanca, they'd get run off the field by the Columbus Crew. Geez, I bet the Rochester Raging Rhinos would give 'em a good game.

Huh, what's that? Tab Ramos? The "greatest American player ever produced?" What's that?

Oh, someone trying to tell me that the American Maradona never played above the second division in Spain? Can't be true.

Sarcasm aside, Mario must've been a dud. But just because he under-estimated MLS, don't think there aren't a ton of MLS star-calibre players in Segunda.

 

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Originally posted by DoctorK
Lost in all this is that MLS has come quite a long way. We may not be La Liga, but you need to be better than Spanish 2nd division to play here.
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Actualy Spain's second division is much better then some people might think. There are teams represented by some National team players from all over the world making some money and hoping to make the leap into the LaLiga.

After the early exit of our MLS teams and some ugly results from the Concacaf i wonder how good we realy are head to head with other leagues.

One thing is certain MLS will not sign unproved players, our teams look for leadership and impact players when looking at foreign players.

 

I"m not sure what this says about the level of play of MLS vs. other leagues and divisions. More specifically, I think the point is that Bob Bradley had some very specific pictures in his mind of what he wanted his A-mid to be. He wasn't willing to settle for a compromise or a "decent" alternative or a "nice little player" but insisted that his #10 candidate be a specific kind of player (who I would guess Guevara is--certainly seems that way from the few times I've seen him). And that is probably part of the reason why Bradley is a successful coach.

 

Didn't last summer in Korea send any message re. USA vs. España? La Liga is overrated; MLS, at this point, is vastly underrated, especially since talent is so carefully distributed evenly amongst the 10.

Vistula, how dare you or anyone mock Ramos! He may well have been the finest American field player - since RICKY DAVIS (know/remember him?). The first two years of MLS beat the hell out of Ramos, as he was most fouled, far and away, at a time when his level of skill did indeed exceed that of the rest of the league. I'm not saying he's a Figo, but Figo's an exception, not a rule, for any league. Others have emerged since Ramos was hailed as America's greatest, of vastly superior talent, without ANY foreign pedigree. He will go down as the link between NASL (drafted, though didn't play for, Cosmos) and MLS. Reyna isn't a fair comparison either, but it sure would be nice to see him wear the Metro #10, though he's chosen to fight his way out of the English 1st division next year, instead. We have always had great 'keepers here, now we've great defenders, and some threatening strikers. You will see the creative midfielders emerge if we don't waste those spots on the pitch with foreign signings.

I think the Rhinos would hold their own in the Spanish 2nd division. Perhaps not against the aggresively upwardly mobile teams, who operate financially in hopes to move (back) up to the next tier, but they'd fare well against those who aren't pursuing foreign talent to rise above. They wouldn't face relegation. It is one thing to cite a Zaragosa or a Salamanca, but before you mock the Crew, you'd better admit that McBride can play for damn near any side in the world right now.

Quite frankly, I've wondered if Bradley's lack of interest in Mario has had to do with precisely this notion: we've got plenty of Americans who can develop their talent while performing a similar function for the Metros. Why waste the foreign allocation on someone who may or may not work out? We should set the same standards here for foreign talent as they have in the EPL. Play for your national team, or forget it, leave the roster spot for homebred talent.

If MLS teams aren't able to hold their own in international competitions, that is due to the MLS salary structure, not American talent. It might be better to let teams like the Rhinos, who don't have to deal with their league assigning players, to compete on the international stage. Rochester has players who can't afford to play for the MLS minimum.

Still, my initial point was that the talent level has increased in MLS exponentially, and that is something that someone who has followed the league since its inception wouldn't dream of denying.

 

Just a question: at what point did the mythical #10 stop being a goal scorer and become a creative midfield general?

 

I wasn't mocking Ramos. I was mocking the poster who was mocking the Spanish Second Division. Ramos is the greatest ever American field player and playing for Real Betis was a great accomplishment. Saying MLS is better than Segunda is stupid. Sure, the Galaxy may be better than a lot of teams in that league, but I'm guessing Zaragosa and Tenerife would do ok in MLS, too. As for Mario, he thought he'd come here and be a stud. He didn't know what he was getting into.

 

I'll give a shot at your question but i don't have any hard facts names or dates.

Growing up in easter europe i had my share of watching international football . In the 50' 60' emphasis was on the quality of strikers on that goalscorer. I own a few tapes from those years and the game was very different then it is today. The game was much slower for one and open, rarely saw a body check or a hard foul ,resulting in lots of goals being scored. You rarely had 1-0 results in those days. So the striker was your main guy those your number 10.

I would have to say things slowly turned around in late 60' early 70's . Beckenbauer introduced the sweeeper and more emphasis was put on building an attack from the back creating your playmaker. Defenses got better so did goalkeepers. All around players were better then that specific striker, many teams started playing thru that central midfielder creating your number 10, as was Valderama, Hagi and many other greats.

 

La liga is overated? So why do they ever yeat get 3 teams in the quarterfinals, and why does Barca 13th in the League beat Inter 3-0 in the CL?
As far as the WC the USA made the quarters but lost 3-1 to poland and got a major break to make it and than played well. Spain didnt lose any game they got beat on pk's by korea in a game where 3 goals were wrongly called back against spain,sparking scandal. So lets calm down the spanish league and national team is currently better than there us rivals.

 

Let me clarify my position. An average player in Segunda may equal the average player in MLS, maybe - as some of you insist - the standard is higher, but a foreign allocation shouldn't be wasted on such a player. The US needs to maintain the same foreign allocation standards as are in place in Europe. Does that make sense?

I prefer the style of play in EPL and Serie A to that of La Liga. That is simply a matter of opinion. I enjoy watching Real, Barca or Valencia in the Champions League (provided they are either not playing or losing to Arsenal), but couldn't care less about watching them in a league match. The players on La Liga teams that I like to watch are French, Italian or Brazilian, though I'll confess Figo's goal vs. ManUre was brilliant (it was Figo, wasn't it?). I'm sick of espn always showing Spanish teams' matches in the CL. I don't know the percentages, but it seems the coverage favors them for early round matches, and I think that is due to the hype. That's just me.

I'll confess that I don't watch any 2nd division football, regardless of country, to have much if any opinion on their quality.

If Spain wins the next Euro or WC I'll shut up. They were overhyped heading into Korea. I thought that was apparent to anyone who watched but I guess not. I'd personally much rather see EPL, Serie A or Bundesliga sides on my television.

 

Apologies to my friends from Happy Holland. The Dutch masters very much spice up what I see of the play in La Liga and by Spanish sides in the CL.

And to follow up what I said about the Spanish national side, they seemed to me last summer like ten guys + Figo, who was not himself.

 

Figo doesn't play for Spain, he plays for Portugal.

 

DoctorK, is it possible you have Portugal and Spain confused here? The "Golden Generation" clearly underperformed in S.Korea. As for Spain...they played fine football in the WC and were unlucky (IMO) to lose to S.Korea. Raul, Enrique both played excellently in the WC from my perspective. I thought the keeper they ended up starting (can't remember if it was Iker Casillas or not) had some outstanding play and I thought became the second keeper (after Friedel) to stop a PK in that WC. About the only way I think one could argue they were overhyped (especially considering where they ended up) was if they were expected to win the WC (which I don't recall anyone saying that--other than a few Spaniards).

 

Its humerous some of the posters, it was portugal not spain, Figo is from portugal,the us beat portugal not spain.

 

wrong my friend, your forgetting about the second best goalkeeper in the world(1st is Kahn), Gianluigi Buffon.stopped the Koreans in the round of 16

dre

 

Well, obviously, I must sincerely apologize for my ignorance and, most of all, poor memory re. this past summer, and Figo's nationality. I watched all those matches, but obviously, I'm deeply guilty of conflation. This of course discredits my entire argument, and leads me to confess that Segunda is most likely as high if not higher quality than MLS, because much more reliable discussants than myself have a much better knowledge of the talents in those southern European leagues than I do.

I really just follow Arsenal and the Metros closely, the US nats a distant third, and follow football solely from the perspective of a fan of those teams, as I'm also a close follower of the NY Giants, Rangers and Yankees.

I'm obviously over my head with regards to Spanish (and indeed Portugese) football talent, therefore I'll avoid any such further discussion.

I suppose my ignorance reveals a gut AngloAmerican (and, well - Scots, Italian and German) blend of (blind?) optimism and lack of global perspective. I hope you won't despise me for thinking the English and Americans world beaters and superior in all ways. I don't.

 

Perhaps the most ironic aspect of my misinformed outburst is that I thought Figo an exceptional example of homegrown talent in La Liga.