Us-eligible mls stat leaders Goals (assists) White 15(2) (Duke) JoMo 13(5) (Stanford) Mihailovic 11 (14) Agyemang 10 (5) (East Conn/URI) McGuire 10(3) (Creighton) Bassett 9(7) Luna 8 (12) Ramirez 8 (6) (UCSB/Concordia) Gutierrez 6(3) Ebobisse 6(2) (Duke) Assists (goals) Mihailovic 14 (11) Luna 12 (8) Gressel 12 (1) (Providence) Stroud 10 (3) (Colgate) Sullivan 11(5) Farrington 8 (4) (Milwaukee/Oregon State) Arfsten 8 (4) (UC Davis) Lennon 8 Lletget 8 (2) Bassett 7 (9) Arriola 7 (5) Ramirez 6 (8) McGlynn 7 (4) Rodriguez 6 (2) Combined Mihailovic 25 Luna 20 JoMo 18 White 17 Bassett 16 Sullivan 16 Agyemang 15 Ramirez 14 Gressel 13 Stroud 13 McGuire 13 Arfsten 12 Farrington 12 I just made a note of the guys that played college ball for the hell of it. Also, totally OT: Schaffelberg(er?) is an MLS nobody and Jesse has him balling for Canada. Something is fishy with the USMNT.
I guess if you make the criteria too narrow you will exclude almost everyone. Jozy Altidore is certainly the most successful MLS starter to [..] to Eredivisie USMNT player.
Sure but the discussion was about whether an Eredivisie club would think an MLS player like Luna or Gutierrez was worth the amount of money they would spend on them given Eredivisie clubs' experience with other players that have come from MLS. Mihailovic and Pepi were two names that were cited as players that might give Eredivisie clubs some insight into how MLS players would perform in the Netherlands to help them make that decision. Mihailovic was purchased straight from MLS. Pepi spent half a season in Germany first but played very little there before being loaned to the Eredivisie. So presumably the thinking behind those examples is that those were two players that were almost entirely developed in MLS, and their success or failure would reflect more strongly on MLS for that reason. Altidore by contrast first went from MLS to Spain, where he spent a full year. He then went to Hull City in the English Premier League, where he spent another full year. He then spent another year in Spain and Turkey. Only then was he transferred to the Eredivisie. In total, he spent 3 full years in Europe prior to his move to the Eredivisie, appearing in 60+ games across all competitions during that period. So the question is whether the Eredivisie clubs look at an example like Altidore as a strong point in MLS's favor, or do they place more weight on the further development that might have occurred during those intervening 3 years in Europe.
I get it but IMO it is just overthinking. When teams are trying to source players from 3rd tier leagues like MLS it is all about the individual player potential, the source league is just not a major concern.
Brian White needs to look overseas after this season if he can. Hes got pretty solid production over the past few years.
How once mighty Atlanta United have fallen. That said, Brad Guzan arguably had the best American goalkeeper performance in recent memory. This could have been a 8-1 win if not for him. Noah Cobb was actually quietly good too. Not standing on his head should be with the USMNT right now good. But for a 2005 center back, we should be talking about him more. He was Atlanta’s best defensive player, in my opinion.
True. I won’t say that he was special. But he was the ONLY player on Atlanta team who didn’t seem to embarrass himself and played both sides of the ball without error. For a defensive player, sometimes those quiet-but-steady players go unnoticed.
In terms of revenue, club values, and real estate, no. In terms of spending on players and quality it is. Personally the first tier are the top 4 leagues. The second tier is Ligue 1. Then the third tier is Portugal, Belgium, Holland, MLS, the Champo, etc….
That's a perfectly fair ranking, third tier just sounds bad in a world where most tiers are very big. A third tier college is probably not accredited for example.
Yes. And also we don't have to spend too much time debating league tiers when we just got this from Opta like a week ago... Looks like if anything Tier 1 is just the Premier League... the gap between Ligue 1 and the others is smaller than the gap between the others to the Prem. Or all five are Tier 1, which coincidentally is how ignorant casuals have had it (eg "The Big Five Leagues") for many years! https://theanalyst.com/2024/10/strongest-leagues-world-football-opta-power-rankings
Yeah, its kind of an impossible discussion. Those Opta ratings tell the story, but also make sure we know the analysis is fraught with difficulty. MLS, a league built inherently on parity, has almost all of its teams bunched in one tier. So when you compare MLS to the eredivisie in those Opta Rankings.........................there are 6 teams in the eredivisie with a score above 80. Then it falls off a friggin' cliff. Most of MLS is bunched between 75 and 80. So they end up with an average and mean score higher than the Eredevisie. Only 3 teams below 75. We're also talking about comparing leagues with 29 and 18 teams. MLS is now the largest first division in the world, and we're adding San Diego next season. Its like when somebody wants to compare MLS to SPL. The 29th best team in MLS is San Jose. The 29th best team in Scotland plays near the bottom of their 3rd tier. Compare San Jose to Celtic if you want, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Compare San Jose to Annan Athletic (who play in a stadium that seats 2500).
But anyway, last night the "little domestic engine that could" Colorado got their heads caved in by the Galaxy. Colorado's lineup seemed to be missing a lot of its star power. Mihailovic is out with an ankle injury and Bassett is out with a quad injury. Bummer. They were quite anemic last night without them.
Orlando 2 Charlotte 0 LAFC 2 Vancouver 1 I watched the start of that Orlando-Charlotte game and was thinking to myself: How many USMNT-eligible players are even on the field? Tim Ream and........................ But anyway, Orlando is probably the most nondescript "good" team in the league.
¨Ragen, 26, has been a staple in the backline of the best defense in MLS this season, as the Rave Green allowed the fewest goals (35) league-wide and ranked first with 13 shutouts, surrendering more than one goal on only 12 occasions. The Seattle native and Sounders FC Academy product started a team-high 33 regular-season games in 2024, the only player on the team to start every match he played in, while scoring a career-high three goals with one assist. His 77 clearances were tied for seventh in MLS, while his 1,921 completed passes ranked fifth among all players and third among defenders, with 91 percent passing accuracy. Ragen added one goal in five appearances (all starts) in Leagues Cup 2024 action.¨ https://www.soundersfc.com/news/jackson-ragen-named-finalist-for-2024-mls-defender-of-the-year He took more passes than any American in MLS and completed 91% of them. He´s also huge and hard to beat in the air. Makes fewer mistakes than, say, Omar Gonzales in his prime. Scores the occasional goal. If you want a center back from MLS for depth, it ain´t Ream anymore.
I agree it's not Ream but is it Ragen? We are thinking short term here, not sure I'd take Ragen over Zimmerman or Long or Miles Robinson.