MLS PLayers getting more recognition...Are we Selling all of our talent???

Ralph is going to be training with Feyenoord. There's no such team as "Rotterdam", the full name of Feyenoord is Feyenoord Rotterdam.

 

I think you're overreacting. Read more closely what I wrote. I didn't say it wasn't a high priority (I actually think PROFITABILITY is the #1 priority in a business, but "Customer Satisfaction" plays a BIG part in profitability). There are more "customers" to MLS than just the fan - Clubs/Leagues who shop the world market are also potential MLS customers. These customers tend to understand the quality/development of the players better than the average fan (or worse the collective understanding of the majority of fans).

No one said fans are important and don't need to be satisfied... but they aren't the most knowledgeable evaluator either.

Fans judge the "entertainment" value of the product... many fans recognize good talent when they see it, but you suggested the great compliment to ability was the "American Public". Sorry, you're wrong. In no sport does the public put together teams more than exhibition teams (like the Allstar games)or decide how much a player is worth... clubs/teams/professional organizations do that, they have the ability to appreciate things most fans don't. Really, go in any field/sport/endeavor and the greatest honors come from their knowledgeable peers. It's not a slight on the average fan and they don't exclude eachother.

Nobody's dissing MLS or the need to keep fans happy (you're reading into it what you want/fear to hear)... You're being way too sensitive.

 

I think if Dempsey and Johnson impress with their resepctive Dutch clubs, they could make a move...there is always a move to Europe shocker out there, it makes Janurary all the more fun.

 

Oh, this better be a typo.

 

this is the sad realizatoin that 95% of countries in the world live with right now. the best players will go to the top 4 leagues

Zidane plays in Spain.
Beckham in Spain.
Henry in England.
Ronaldo in spain.
and South American after South American, all in Europe
etc, etc

can we really claim to be above this?

MLS can't duct tape players onto the field here. After about 4 years, most are free agents and can leave to Europe.

It's in the financial model that makes this league viable to sell players to Europe. Sometimes the challenge is good for these players. MLS hasn't sold too many players. This year McBride, Beasley, Convey were sold before MLS had to let them go. Last year Howard and maybe a couple of others I can't remember. Players like Barret, West, Thornton, Mathis, Bocanegra left cause MLS can't afford to compete with all of Euorpe. How many domestic players has MLS actually sold (going back to the thread title)? I can think of Lewis, Hejduk, and not too many others. Sanneh left out of contract. Maybe Joe-Max though my guess is he was out of contract. Olsen was almost sold but got injured. Hahnemann was sold. Daniel Hernandez was sold. Not sure about DiGi. Such a list would be interesting.

MLS has surely spent more on transfers in than out though maybe in the last few years that has turned (Howard, Beasley, Convey). Such a turn isn't great for the fan, but step back and think about what it says about the league's viability, and that's great for the fan.

I'm hoping like most of you that within my lifetime this will change. Not going to demand it now. If MLS is mostly and under-23 US league featuring the Adu, Szetela, Gaven's, I'm ok with that. Sorry if others aren't.

 

Not in a sports business. Franchise value is the priority and is directly and distinctly linked with the popularity of the product.

 

I don't demand anything anymore, but it is always worth pointing out that until this changes, simply allowing Europe to turn MLS into a blue light special at K-Mart can't be good for the league. Good for the players, perhaps. Maybe, possibly, could be good for the national team. For MLS, I don't know.

I think it's great that, if what you say is true, more talent from the experience end is coming in than going out. That is what the league needs for real growth.

 

Certainly should be the aim. We have far stronger economies than every country in the world. Argentina and Brazil sell players because their teams lack the money to be able to keep them. MLS doesn't lack the money (the owners of MLS are swimming in money) it lacks the league necessary to make the decision to keep players here reasonable.

Mexico keeps most of its high level players at home. I don't see a reason why we ultimately shouldn't be able to do the same.

 

Ultimately being the key word. I agree then (players willing to play for slightly less to stay home). I guess Mexico's culture is more closed than ours and the trip overseas is much bigger than between most European countries. Our economy isn't that much stronger than Europe. But their willingness to pay money to support pro soccer is much, much greater. I think it's changing, but we're nowhere close yet. Reforming the Cosmos isn't going to bring us there that much soooner IMO.

 

I think if you gloss over the last five years in the history of MLS, you'll be pleased to know there is nothing like NASL anymore. Trying to achieve an acceptable equilibrium with Europe over player talent can't be bad business.

 

I believe I read something recently that said $400 million. It was the VP in a Soccernet interview.

 

Maybe not a hollow league, but perhaps a league with a few holes that could have been plugged up.

And do feel free to equate the Eredivisie with MLS, considering Holland is practically next door to Italy and Spain. When I move back to New York, I'll have to examine the feasibility of driving to England via the New Jersey Turnpike for a game in London.

 

1. A mexican will make more playing in mexico than in europe which is probably why they don't move. Getting paid big bucks to play the game you love, close to home, in a high quality league against high quality players is a big motivator.

2. A mexican moving to europe will face a much smaller culutre shock than an american. I hate to say it but we are the closed society not mexico. The country is very cosmopolitan. Its not just a bunch of people descended from aztecs down there.

What does that mean?

 

1. I don't think anyone says it will become hollow.

2. The difference with Holland is that it is part of the world pipeline. There is a heirarchy of leagues that don't exist on paper but it is a real thing. The leagues on top buy from the leagues below them and those legaues in turn buy from the leagues below them and so on. Holland may have lost 15 players but thye got money for them which they will spend on players from scandinavia and eastern europe and south america etc. Those teams will spoend money on players in smaller teams within their own leagues.

The problem with MLS is that for the last few years we have sold/lost players and haven't really replaced them all. This is the major differnece between MLS and most leagues. Have we replaced the Ectheverry's and Valderama yet? I am not sure. If Ajax sells Robben and PSV sells Kezman they have to replace those players or face a stiff challenge from a Heerenveen or a Utrecht which could mean the difference between a UEFA cup spot and oblivion. So the pressure to constantly improve is always there.

 

He said they have spent that much. Not that thye lost that much.

Then again with the lack of transparency in MLS how can we be sure they lose any money? Maybe they have extremely small profits. We wouldn't know.

There used to be tax laws against maintaining a buisness that constantly loses money. Those laws might have gone by the wayside though.

 

Don't know about that... Mexicans are notorious for their difficulty in adjusting to overseas life, especially outside of Spain. Mostly, I think this has to do with the huge safety net the MFL provides for them. Fighting for respect and playing time can be hard when you know that you could be adored and make more money back home.

America is a pretty closed society, of course, but most American soccer players have grown up with at least dreams of playing in Europe, and seem to throw themselves into the experience with gusto. Of course, it goes sour once in a while (Donovan) and they come home to MLS, but a fair number go native (Friedel, Reyna, etc.) and become extemely Eurocentric in their points of view.

Also, Mexico is not exactly all that cosmopolitan. Mostly, because it is poor, and doesn't share the same European immigration ties of some other Latin countries (compare it to Argentina, for example). I'd say outside of the top 5-10 percent of the D.F. population, you have a pretty insular society with far more cultural affinity to the US than to Europe.

 

The reason for the Mexican players love of home cooking is two-fold: they receive excellent wages and play in a country with a fairly low cost of living. In other words, the ratio of an average footballer salary to an average national salary is much higher in Mexico than in Western Europe.

Russia is becoming the same style of a footballing nation as the local oligarghs can spend millions (although the average salary in the top league is ~ $200K but with next to no income tax) on players where the average wage is under $200/mo in absolute dollars. With compensation like that, many prominent Russian players have come back from the West European Leagues despite being offered a full Euro status in some of them.