Am I the only one? I keep hearing about the quality of MLS going up every year. Where ? I have watched MLS games this year and the only one that impressed me was one a week ago involving columbus and some other tam I can't recall. Yesterday I was watching LA/ colorado. I watched until 15 minutes from the end. Too terrible. Constant, constant bad passes, no imagination. No pressure. I think the way MLS is run is now working against the quality of soccer in this country. It certainly improved in ther first three years or so but now it has stagnated or going down. The ridiculously low salary cap plus SEM prevents teams from improving. The result is that teams are forced to loan or get rid of some of their best players (EG Grazianni loaned to central america). No wonder our teams got a drubbin at the concacaf champions. That will continue. Because no team in the mls is fielding the best team it could have. The others are doing that. Am I the only one who does not see any improvement at club level in the last two or three years?
My only problem is that players trap the ball too much instead of passing first time. Most of the players don't think one step ahead of what they will do with the ball once they receive it and as a result, plays are waaay to predictable and quite bland. To tell you the truth, some of the good plays I've seen were the ones done on accident because of bad touches or tackles that remarkably wind up rolling to someone in a good position. Well, this is a very young league and a very young "soccer nation" and I'm sure the game will develop better in years to come.
Constant bad passes? Do you really know the meaning of constant? There was not constant bad passes all game long yesterday No pressure? What the hell were you expecting? EPL level pressuring? I've already explained that to Anglophiles. MLS is played in the spring, summer and fall. The avg. high London temp during the EPL season is 48 degrees. I think Dallas' avg. high this year has been around 80 with like 50-60% humidity. So do yourself a favor, go out and run in 48 degree weather, and then go and run in 70-80 degree weather. Tell me which one of those is going to dehydrate you, and thus fatigue you faster? Even when MLS reaches a world class level, the pace of the games won't be EPL like. It's the eighth year of a league with limited finances in a country where the game is just starting to take hold. Catch a game every now and then until the Euro season starts and relax...
i disagree. i was watching the columbus game yesterday and i was constantly impressed with the level of play. sharp passes, good combinations, good runs and some good footwork from the players. the thuoches and creativity isn't there yet but the quality of play is definately improved.
The Columbus-San Jose game? Really? I thought the second half was pretty good but neither team seemed able to string together more than three passes in the first half. The Columbus-New England game a couple weeks back was probably the best game I've seen this year.
yeah i only watched the first half and down that right side with Heydude he was doing a very good job of creating. i thikn the bigges thing that MLS quality of play needs to improve upon is the offense in the last third of the feild, but they were doing a good job of moving the ball especially on that right side.
No, you're not. I've found the biggest key to enjoying MLS to the fullest extent possible is not to watch a game from some other league or country before or after it. MLS simply doesn't measure up. On the day you are going to watch MLS, try to make it the only game you see on that particular day. It helps.
This is something that has caught my eye, as well. Even if the subsequent passes are quality, the first touches in MLS seems to slow and deaden the flow of play.
"Am I the only one? I keep hearing about the quality of MLS going up every year. Where ?" I AM THE ONE THAT ALWAYS SAYS THIS! the level of play gets better every year but this year it has risen more than any other year. "i disagree. i was watching the columbus game yesterday and i was constantly impressed with the level of play. sharp passes, good combinations, good runs and some good footwork from the players. the thuoches and creativity isn't there yet but the quality of play is definately improved." you really shouldnt use the columbus/sanjose game as an example (that game was awful)
i just thought i saw soem good play from columbus in particular areas in that game. though i think that those who thikn that first touches are what sets MLS apart from other leagues are about right.
No arguments here..Santeria or whatever his name was is right. We should just ignore anything MLS and concentrate on watching on La Liga or Serie A....or the EPL......in fact, maybe we should only watch the top teams in those leagues while we're at it. Just like a bad radio station or TV channel: If you don't like it, change the station! Freaking whiners.....
I actually was debating this with someone today. I don't know if it;s just the matches I have seen recently, but the quality of play does seem to have stagnated or dropped off. The lack of creativity in the offensive third is the biggest glaring weakness, in my opinion. When half the teams in the league start declining, 40-year old attacking mids, I guess that is understandable. I am trying to watch more and more MLS to help support the league, but between the refs and the quality of the games, it is not easy. On a player-specific note, the more I watch Mathis and Donovan, the more they seem to need to get over to Europe. Their style of play and ability just does not fit in with their teammates and this league in its current form and they are both stagnating. And just for the heck of it, Cobi Jones continues to be the least skilled professional player I have ever seen. It's almost comical every time he tries to kick the ball, whether it be a shanked cross or a dribbled shot. He has to be the worst player ever to have earned 100 caps. That is all. I will continue to try to support MLS for the sake of the Nats.
i have to admit that i've been coming to the conclusion that the level of play this year is significantly down from how i recall it in 2002 and even 2001. like people have said - the imagination in the offensive 1/3, the combination play, the downright lack of soccer acumen seems to be on display game in and game out. some games is better than others, but overall i've been disappointed. remember: MLS is relying on a lot more american youngsters than ever before and while you can see the talent in most of these guys, many are still quite raw. they haven't been polished in numerous reserve games or the like; they're learning while paying Div. 1 games. anyway, the best passer i saw all weekend plays in the A-league: that aguilera guy for virginia beach. classy play all night for virginia beach on FSW. i know he played in MLS before for a cup of coffee and he probably sucked (i don't remember him) but he sure did exhibit some flair. not a fair comparison, but still it was the best "pure" soccer exhibition i saw.
      Don't forget that the lineups San Jose has fielded so far this season haven't been inidicative of the team's overall talent, as anywhere from a third to half its roster has been injured all season (especially evident is the absence of the usually-smooth distrubution from the middle by Ronnie Ekelund, who's pretty much been out all season due to injury). -G
1) Excellent point. 2) Agreed also, but I would also add that Atlanta is terrible (and seemed to be especially so last night) and would make the Rapids look like Real Madrid, I'm afraid.
Now, that's funny You can not be writing about the same game I saw. To call it turgid is to be mild. I refer you to the thread called Columbus Drinking Game, where in you can get soused as the Crew commit one boneheaded play after another. Yeah, it was that bad. That noted, did anyone else happend to notice that playing on the 81 yard wide pitch in LA made for some passages of soccer that were at least credible? I kept watching the Columbus game thinking what would an extra yard on each side line do for that game. Alas, very little. But keep watching, overall MLS quality is getting better, and do keep this in mind, MLS already is pound for pound one of the best Goalie leagues to be found anywhere.
Re: Now, that's funny Yes. Good point. On an unrelated note, I also noticed that, in a turnaround from earlier in the year, the last two ESPN matches have featured good play and a number of "talking points," while the last two FSW matches have been pretty bad (While the Crew match got interesting once Walsh got sent off, and had me on the edge of my seat for the last few minutes, it still was pretty crappy for about 75 minutes at least.) So, of the two games on TV, if one of them is really good, we can't complain too much, though of course we will.
Believe me Goodsport, I know! I think the league's problem right now has to do with the general lack of creative offensive midfielders. Actually, let me rephrase that: I think it has to do with the general age of our offensive midfielders: Beckerman (what, 22?), Convey (19?), Martino (22?), etc. As Flashman mentioned, these players aren't getting the kind of reserve seasoning they'd get in Europe, so we'll see quality stagnate a little bit, but I'm sure that will change in the next few years (if a few of those players aren't snatched off.)
I don't fully agree with you on the lack of quality. I do agree that the cap scares me. It needs to be nudged up a bit. My fear is that it's putting too much pressure on teams to field players that are just too young. I'd rather see an 19 year old getting loaned out to Charlseton or Minnesota for a year than get pressed into playign top flight ball when they're not really ready. And that increased cap room goes for both keeping some experience around (see Grazianni, Dante, Cannon, Barrett, et al.) but also some more depth by expanding that roster back up to 21 or so.
This is a crazy idea, why not have the MLS office or whoever tell all the league coaches to work especially on one pass touches and other drills that stress an attacking mentality. I believe the US has a huge soccer market that is ready right now for a professional league. All it needs now is a professional league that plays some good ball. It doesn't have to be EPL or La Liga calibre, but just good enough to keep fans entertained. Now that it appears to be that a few more teams will be getting SSS, I think now is a good time for some decent coaches. We have so many young, raw talent and all they need now are some good coaches to help them improve. Instead of scouring the globe for pricey players, it would be more affective to have good coaches (like a Hiddink) to help improve the level of MLS.
not constant bad passes, but most of the time, yes there were really bad passes. players need to be more stable, and the mls will get even more better every season.
Great point. With more and more draft picks being forced into bigger roles , due to injuries and postage stamp sized rosters, the quality of the coaching here comes to the forefront. Or maybe the lack of quality coaching here. In any case, besides the need for better coaching staffs, the salary cap does realistically need to be raised to allow for the signing of some veteran players to fill out the rosters a bit. Having players go from the college ranks directly to MLS is just not going to cut it.
Low quality in MLS I agree. The quality of MLS is poor. It hasn't improved at all over 2002. There are many problems. 1)Strikers stink who else other than Landon, Ruiz, twellman, can play? 2)Midfielders have little imagination (at least Jeff Biliyk is gone) 3) chicago, and dallas's stadiums are embarassing (i know ..they'll be gone soon) 4)some of the coaching is shocking (check....Colorado, D.C., Dallas) 5)Commentators are abysmal (Ty Keough blows, stone sucks,and wynalda needs to shut up)
get some european players, some GOOD european players to raise the level of the game a bit. get some competition.