Who'd Porto lose to at the CWC again? Panathinaikos payroll is $24M USD THREE MLS teams spend MORE. While SEVEN are within $2M-$3M of the Greek Super League Leaders. A simple search would have gotten this info.
Also the “over the hill washed up players” idea is disingenuous at best. Messi and Son are still excellent, you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think clubs across the world would jump to sign them if they could. Muller could still play in Europe even if his time at Bayern ended. Giroud didn’t produce and so he moved elsewhere. Funny how some want us to respect players proven in the Euro game but also turn on them as soon as they step foot in MLS.
MLS got waxed at the club world cup...an embarassing string of losses saved by one messi free kick to a porto team in it offseason..... inter miami has zero americans on their roster....so what does that really say about AMERICNS in MLS???? should usmnt start calling up americans bc messi had modest success in CWC? this is US men.....not messilovers.com its so funny ...this is part of point ...(that you so conveniently want to ignore) look at what transfermarkt values panathinaikos at: 94m euros more valuable than every MLS team.....you guys want MLS in the USMNT but dont want anyone from a much better team like Panathinaikos....its such a clear case of MLS bias...im sure a lot of you work for MLS, tbh IF MLS is good enough for USMNT, Panathinaikos certainly is...but you guys wanna dismiss one of the best teams in Greece, or Belgium or Netherlands or Portugal etc because of how much they reportedly spend on salary?
why do you apologize for the greed of american soccer owners? as if once the training facilities are done...MLS will all of a sudden take the training whells off lololol if theres one thing I know about MLS its that the training wheels are NEVER COMING OFF you act like fans should care about valuations of MLS franchises...as if that matters in any way to what happens on the field. it doesnt. (you could tell me LAFC is worth 5 billion dollars and it wouldnt maek them actually good internationally) yeah duh they care about p/l statements...duh thats my whole point...thats literally all they care about euro league onwers cannot only care about p/l statements...and thats a good thing for those leagues!!! .bc they have to actually compete outside of their own little profitable bubbles and they cant make everything about marketing and p/l like MLS does youre totally wrong that MLS making their product better would imperil their profits.....the whole point of my post shows that that actually isnt the case at all...their buffer in MLS is waaaaaaaay bigger than other leagues....it shows MLS could comfortably spend a lot more and still make hefty profits......just like every other league does yeah MLS coudlnt make astronomical profits and get away with cheap rosters...yeah....so? thats what im trying to convince you guys to stop accepting are you that indoctrinated? are you that conditioned to acceptance of mediocirty? your imagintion cannot think outside of MLS owners making astronimcal profits and actually caring about the competitiveness of their product globally? i dont undersand how american soccer fans can support a league that makes EVERYTHING about that league subservient to MAXIMUM possible profits, including quality of play, to the nth degree. I suppose it is bc that is just how EVRYTHING works in america...health care, education, politics etc....so they are just so conditioned to it they dont ven see it as unusual or unacceptable
soccer in america doesnt have to be about rich guys making money....even though I realize thats all we know as fans in this country....there is another way we could actually sey up a league that would try to make the best possible players and teams as the priority....I know thats a lot to wrap your heads around...but it is actually possible fans would need to demand it.....bc rich guys wont do it unless they are forced to.... which is why apologists like all of you in this thread boggle my mind (and make me suspect you work for these rich guys who mafia soccer in the USA)
That’s because our stadia are loaded with premium seating. It’s not an apples to apples comparison. And even if it was a direct comparison, is your argument here that capitalists (an economic system I think is the best, so I’m not being pejorative here) shouldn’t act like capitalists? It’s like saying coaches shouldn’t try to win, they should focus on God knows what.
I’m just pointing out that fans and owners have different agendas. Apple is an insanely profitable company; do you march into the local Apple Store and bitch and whine about the price of an iPhone? PS…the idea that Euro clubs don’t care about profit and loss in this era of spending restrictions just is another data point that you don’t know anything about anything. Barcelona cares way, way more about profit and loss than any MLS club. Chelsea’s whole recruitment policy is based on creating a good p/l statement. Look at what Ratcliff is doing at ManU. Matt Turner’s transfer to Lyon was nixed due to their finances. I could go on forever with this. Like, you’re 180 degrees wrong about this. It’s probably not the stupidest thing you’ve ever posted here, but it’s a candidate for the Mt. Rushmore of Stupid Tash posts.
Inter Miami already beat Porto, a team many USMNT stans hype up so much. The Brazilian league showed how strong it is too and when compared to European leagues I.would say they are amongst the top 5. Yet MLS had these results against the Brazilian league (much stronger than most European leagues that get so hyped); Inter Miami 2-2 Palmeiras LAFC 1-1 Flamengo Seattle Sounders 0-2 Botago Hopefully FIFA does expand the Club World Cup and keeps the same rules of 2 clubs per country. If that were to happen UEFA should be getting at least 16 clubs in the CWC. That means teams like PSV, Ajax, Club Brugge, Celtic, Rangers etc will have a chance to compete in a CWC. Throw in a random MLS team (since MLS doesn't have top teams that ALWAYS dominate) I would take my chances on saying MLS teams would fare very well against those teams. Might even win just like they did against Porto. Also add that in 4 years MLS teams will be spending more, yea, I'm confident MLS will surprise those teams. And also confident the MLS haters will bring up excuses as to why a win won't count.
Not gonna lie, I actually agree with this. But don't act like in Europe they don't care about profits and that everything that is done is done for the good of the sport.
In the early 20th century the US had a strong pro league, and we made the semifinals in 1930 and qualified for 1934 (by beating Mexico for the single slot lol. We’ve beaten Mexico in a competitive match in every confederation except Oceania (which will never change) and Africa.). Then the Depression killed that league and we had one fluky appearance in the next half century. We’re in the other golden age of US Soccer; we typically make the R16 nowadays. And that’s because of soccer in America being about rich guys making money. We didn’t have that problem in the 1950s and 1960s, and we also didn’t qualify for the World Cup. Again, you’re 180 degrees wrong here. It’s like that Seinfeld episode where George decides to do the opposite. You should post the exact opposite of what your first instinct is, because your first instinct is always wrong.
"premium views" of an inferior product cant qualify as premium views of the premier league and the top leagues. theres every reason that MLS shoudl try to make as much money as possible. but if that doesnt translate to actual competitiveness, fans have every right to object. this is the whole reason the pro/rel debate is so fiere......pro/rel forces teams and leagues to aim for the highest possible quality within its means. MLS is cheapskating its way by with the lowest possible quality it can economcailly get away with (while also forgetting to care about american player developemnt while theyre at it) its the worst of both worlds to me. its fans that are paying the player salaries, not owners. i dont think it is rational that MLS should cost as much as major league sports when it has more of a minor league talent base. and it is definitely so compared to top 5 leagues. MLS charging MORE than top euro leagues, let alone similar prices, is wild. the real issue I have is the combination of high prices and mximum profit motive AND tepid interest as best with maximizing the quality of play. this mismatch is what grinds my gears about MLS and prevents me from supporting. its about marketing and profits not quality of play. IF MLS charged high price and actually tried to be "major" that would be cool. IF MLS decided to acknowledge how minor league it is and marketed itself as such, I would be more cool with that than I am now. But pretending to be major and charging prices that are major while providing minor league soccer, for me, is reprehensible.
MLS ticket prices don’t seem to be a barrier to strong crowds for the most part. EPL prices are irrelevant, fans are paying to see their local teams.
USL will implement ProRel soon. Let's see if that "pro/rel forces teams and leagues to aim for the highest possible quality within its means" really stands and how it compares to MLS. One thing is for sure, players follow the money not the quality of a league. If a league has money and quality then great but money is the main driver. After all, it's how EPL became the best league in the world; by offering better salaries than Serie A (previously the top league in the world), La Liga and Bundesliga.
Again, capitalism FTW. The prices are rational because the tickets sell. You might as well bitch about gravity. And your assessment of pro/rel is very incomplete. It forces clubs to always think short term, plus, it insulates rich clubs from competition by everyone else. Pro/rel most assuredly does NOT force teams to aim for the highest quality.
i am not in the apple ecosystem and never will be. total ripoff. you can point that owners and fans have diffrent agendas but owners can only get away with that if fans let them. euro fans hold their owners and teams much more accountable than MLS fans do. MLS ow besides, we as fans can recognize that owners have different agendas and also hate that fact. and organize against that fact. calling out fellow fans that see that is weird to me. theres a big difference about euro clubs - they cannot and do not skimp on quality of play. they cant. im fine with them making profits because they are the best. its weird to me that USA is so communist and socialist about its soccer. a country obsessed with being the best somehow made a soccer league that doesnt care about competing. its also funny the clubs you mentioned bc they are so poorly run. chelsea ? lololol its not everything but the euro leagues are at least not going to set their systems up in a way that wont benefit (or maybe hurt) their home national teams.....the rules in spain, england, germany etc are much more protective of their domestic players than MLS is. theres not this palpable conflict of interest between domestic league and national team there the way there is in the USA...and theres a reason every american who goes to benfica gets benched in favor of a portugeuese player and they dont sacrifice sporting concerns for marketing purposes like MLS does. Euro teams dont (ever?) sign players because or keep them around for marketing the way MLS does. if they sign you its bc of on-field considerations only. you can just feel the calculated way MLS makes its signings...why would they want messi or ronaldo? for profits and marketing...not on field performance. at some point, when are USMNT and MLS fans going to wake up and realize its been DECADES since MLS actually helped the national team make any meaningful strides? 2002 with LD and beasley is still the highwater mark for the program. basically none of the "gains" MLS has made has translated to the national team and that SHOULD be a problem for soccer in the USA. it should be a problem for MLS. but MLS fans are so soft it isnt.
yeah bc the fans are dumb. and most cannot assess how poor their teams are vs the best esp interms of revenue vs quality for their team ...MLS fans should be paying a fraction of what they do for the returns they are provided, imho on top of all this, we get MLS ramrodded into the USMNT...which is the main point of this thread - IF MLS was truly pushing the envelope competitively, I wouldnt be so dead set against MLSers in the USMNT (well, that, and the fact of low performance from those players, which wouldnt be a problem in that scenario anyway). I dont think MLS deserves to be rewarded for its "training wheel" addiction....its refusal to have a reciprocal relationship with the USMNT .....with DEI spots reserved for it. I hate seeing mediocrity rewarded. even moreso at the exense of my favorite sports team. on top of all that, it is by choice, bc of greed. not bc of lack of means. this path MLS is on and has been on is 100% by choice, at this point...in the 90s and early 2000s, it was survival and that was different. the excuses simply lack any weight at this point. Im very surprised MLS doesnt seem to be doing much of anything differently to capitalize on the WC coming up (other than infiltrating the USMNT, apparently) Im not just a blind MLS hater...i hate how it functions as a retardant of the sport and the national team in the USA and how so few seem to care or acknowledge....holding it to such low levels of accountability bc it "makes money"
That American at Benfica is losing out to the Brazilian, and other South American imports that Benfica paid a transfer fee for. Do you ACTUALLY watch any of these leagues??? The EPL is largely a league of non-English players at this point. At least for the teams actually competing in the top half. How's Italy fared at the past two World Cups? Clubs don't sell their players for the benefit of their federation's national team either.... they sell them for profit........ Name me the AMERICAN PLAYERS on Ajax, Club Brugge, Porto, Sporting Club, Anderlecht? Benjamin Cremaschi, Noah Allen, Drake Callender, Fafa Picault, Ian Fray, William Yarbrough.... All played for Miami during the CWC, and all are AMERICAN players.....
Fans know MLS isn’t on par with the very best leagues in the world. They also know it is comparable to a lot of leagues in Europe, they know that Inter Miami can get out of a CWC group and beat Porto in the process. They probably also know more than the dumb NT fans who refuse to hold players accountable for anything as long as a Euro contract is involved.
You are wrong. Leagues don't work for the Federation which runs the National teams. Leagues are byproducts but not the sole purpose of its existence. You complain about MLS having too many foreigners (as per your definition of foreigners it is anyone that can't play for the country where he plays at). La Liga, EPL etc have a lot of foreigners based on your definition. It's why Real Madrid and AC Milan have played with ZERO Spaniards and Italians respectively. You are also ignoring when Real Madrid stole the Spain NT coach days prior to the World Cup starting. That's proof clubs in Leagues don't care about the NT, they care about their clubs. If it were up to them they won't even release players to National team tournaments. They just happen to be obligated by FIFA to do so but it's not by their own choice. Clubs pay the players, not National Teams. You really live in la-la land.
Germany isn’t more protective of German players. Germany is an open league. You continue to be wrong about many things. You should learn things more, and write things less.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homegrown_Player_Rule_(England) The Homegrown Player Rule is an initiative of the English Premier League to allow for more domestic players to be developed from an earlier age in the hope of nurturing more homegrown talent. It forms part of the League's Elite Player Performance Plan. The Premier League proposed a maximum of 17 non-"homegrown" players in each club squad, and the squad size is a maximum of 25. This means that in a full squad of 25 players, there must be at least eight homegrown players.[1][2] Greg Dyke, the former chairman of the Football Association (FA), wanted to implement much stronger regulation of foreign players. His intention was to help England to win the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as he stated in an op-ed piece.[3] Some of the most significant of Dyke's 2015 proposals included: Homegrown players in a top-flight 25-man squad be increased from eight to 12[1] two of whom must be brought up in the team's youth system Tightening the definition of what it is to be a homegrown player. As a consequence, fewer foreign-born players would qualify see these limits are NEGOTIABLE and FLEXIBLE. youcan see the motive - for england to do well in WCs. This would be like Cindy Cone making proposals to MLS to help the USMNT win the WC......the type of thing I WOULD LOVE TO SEE BUT WE NEVER WILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! why? becasue what us soccer cares about is finding ways to gouge fans of japan and korea and mexico at home matches exobrbitant ticket prices and celebrating pride day as per Wynder, youre such a tool - Wynder was left off the ucl roster for a few portugeuesers....some from the reserves....he isnt making the bench so that portugeuse scrubs can. its not only an issue of minutes....its favortism keeping him from even making rosters............to the benfit of portugues national team in the end. even fans of benfica do not like it if you read their forums. bc it doenst make sense from an objective, fairness angle to maximize benficas winning chances.....but thats a sacrifice benfica is willing to make to help their national player pool.