As someone who has no particular affiliation with any one MLS club due to the fact that the closest team is over a ten hour drive from me; i wonder who are the most popular clubs among neutral fans. in other words, if you are a neutral observer who do you like and dislike in the league? or if you are taken with a team, what do you think of the other teams? support: N/A- I'll only support a southern team. That includes any team in GA, SC, NC, AL, or TN.... maybe Jacksonville... maybe a team in LA, AR, or VA, but that would really be pushing it. like: 1. Houston Dynamo -probably the most southern of the MLS markets. 2. Seattle Sounders -use to live in Fort Lewis, WA. 3. DC United -the old flagship club. somewhat southern influence, i guess. 4. Los Angeles Galaxy -i like them because they're the most recognizable club in MLS. can go either way: 5. New York Red Bulls 6. Portland Timbers 7. FC Dallas -stop rooting for them when they adopted the "FC" europoser nickname. 8. New England Revolution 9. Philadelphia Union 10. San Jose Earthquakes 11. Colorado Rapids 12. Chicago Fire 13. Sporting Kansas City 14. Columbus Crew root against: 15. Real Salt Lake -hate the name. 16. Toronto FC -i've decided to root against all Canadian teams. 17. Vancouver Whitecaps -same 18. Montreal Impact -same dislike: 19. Chivas USA -probably the only team i truly out and out don't like. i don't like the name... And i don't like anything about their brand. i hope that they relocate to one of the other southwest markets like San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Antonio.... maybe include also: Tuson, Austin, Riverside, Sacramento, Albuquerque, and El Paso.
Are you kidding me? What does nationalism have to do with club play? Are you confusing MLS with WCQ's? Too funny.
In terms of popularity, the Galaxy are the most popular, followed by the Sounders. As for the Canadian teams, there is noting wrong with supporting Canadian teams. Toronto Blue Jay caps are the most popular MLB cap around the area I live and it's only 40 minutes from Citi Field and an hour to Yankee Stadium. Most Americans don't have a problem suporting a Canadian team, why should you?
it's just a quirky thing i do because i have no teams to really root for or against because there are no teams in the southeast.
I for one cannot stand the Galaxy. The only time I will ever pull for the Galaxy is if they are playing someone not in the MLS because I care about the MLS reputation. It just seems like the Galaxy get all the attention for no reason at all. They are like the Patriots or the Yankees or Alabama in college football. You can understand the hatred of Alabama because you are from Georgia.
If I am watching on tv I tend to root for the home team, I like watching the enthusiasm of the home fans. Otherwise I tend to cheer on: TFC Portland and Seattle ( I know thats crazy but I am neutral so give me a break!) LAG Some interest: SJ CBUS Montreal Vancouver Philly SKC Indifferent: Colorado Dallas RSL NYRB Houston DCU Least interested in: Chicago CHivas NE I do watch every game that I can regardless of whose playing.
Support : Montreal Impact Portland Timbers Like : San Jose Earthquakes Los Angeles Galaxy Vancouver Whitecaps Some interest : New-York Red Bulls Seattle Sounders Indifferent : FC Dallas Sporting Kansas City Real Salt lake Philadelphia Chicago Colombus Crew Colorado Chivas USA D.C. United Least interested in (Hockey grudge leftover and shit) : Toronto FC New-England
In leagues when I am a neutral fan, I will always root for the underdog and smaller market teams. It just seems cheap to root for the super clubs or bigger markets to me. If you dont have a rooting interest, why not root for the small guys?
I don't really rank them but they tend to be the teams with any combination of large supporters culture, interesting history, entertaining players and nice stadiums. Basically the teams who I enjoy watching play their home matches. It's no coincidence that most of these are newer franchises, though I've followed the league for years: Seattle Portland Vancouver RBNY LA Galaxy Houston SKC RSL Montreal TFC Phili DCU I am trying to pick a real rooting interest, but it's hard for me to get out of my current eclectic mindset with regards to the league. I still mainly root for the league as a whole even though it's long since turned the corner. Perhaps NY could be my team since I'm originally from the East Coast and have family in NY still, but I still don't always root for the same team if they're playing a team with good support at their house. So I might root for NY when they're at RB Arena against say a Seattle, but when the tables are turned I root for Seattle. It's weird, I know. I'd be a horrible ref.
It's fine to support more than one team. The Whitecaps are my #1 team, but I also like the Impact, and the Sounders. I also would like to see the Red Bulls to do well even though I don't have any passion for them. When these teams face each other, I try to stay neutral except with the Whitecaps, which I would support them over the other teams I don't like as much as the Caps.
Start with supporting your local teams. This includes any NASL or USL teams that may be found in your general vicinity. If your local team happens to be NASL, USL, etc., if you really want to support a top-league soccer team, and if there are no MLS teams in your area (yet...I'm hoping for a MLS team in the SE as MLS' #20), then reach out through family. Find any soccer supporters in the US or CA and find out who they root for. Join them. After those two parameters are explored, if you don't have a local team or family connection to a MLS team, then weigh the pros/cons/etc. like you have so far, and make your decision from there. But once you make your decision, commit to that club. Do not change teams, and do not waiver in your support. Good luck in your decision!
I would support ANY MLS side coached by Ray Hudson... especially if he referred to his dog's post-match comments with the media! "Last night, I went home and my dog took me for a walk... and told me that the second half was one of the worst he'd ever seen..." (paraphrased"
knowing what i know now, but trying to be objective... i'd probably end up a DC United fan were i unafiliated currently. mostly because they are the only team with black kits (yeah asthetics mean that much to me) and they have usualy been fairly decent, but certainly had their fair share of adversity it seems too. and their supporters are pretty cool, albeit smaller groups
Why not enjoy being a neutral and each game you watch you can root for the underdog, or the team colors, or a certain player or whatever floats your boat. I'd bet over time you'd end up figuring out who you want to throw your support behind.
I'm from Australia my team is Melbourne Victory FC so I don't really love/hate any MLS teams. there are teams I prefer to watch but mainly because of their supporters over anything. MLS is more interesting to me as a whole because of the comparisons with my own league (a-league) my teams support is similar to Seattle's in a size we regularly draw 30-40-50k + but unlike the Sounders our supporters can go a little missing if we aren't winning, also we're like Portland as in our main stadium (27k) which is brand new but is too small for all our supporters for some of the more high profile games (at which point our games are moved to a different stadium that isn't really suitable for football but has a 56k capacity) in that aspect we're like Montreal. Mainly the clubs I like are Seattle Portland Montreal RSL Philadelphia D.C United Chicago Kansas In no real order I don't like NYRB because and solely because of the name I don't mind franchises but I really ********ing hate that sort of shit. I also like that MLS gives me a football fix (in English) during our and Europe's off seasons. Mostly though MLS is to me what a-league will be in 5-10 years depending which way you look at it we're never too far away it seems that every step MLS has had to take we've had to follow in almost exactly the same manner so it's always great insite into what not to do.
I tuned in to the season opener for Portland and NY in Portland, and I have to say I was inspired by the Timber's Army and the general atmosphere the Jeld-Wen. Going forward, they will always be a club I casually support and admire because of the fan support and the effort the team puts out.
Until such time as Orlando gets an MLS team, Houston Dynamo is my team. Have been a fan since they moved there. Went to the 2007 MLS Cup for them. I am also fond of teams with strong supporter cultures, like Portland, Seattle, Kansas City and Philly. The teams I am against are the big city teams. RBNY, LA Galaxy and Chivas USA.
In a way I consider myself a neutral, but at the same time I've had prefred teams, but not one yet that I could really cheer my heart out for like I can for Bayern or the Pens (NHL). I first started following RB New York, then followed Seattle for a time, but not sure if I can say I can root strongly for them consistently. Right now, along with Seattle, I've also found myself really liking Montreal and Sporting KC. So, if I had to list them... FAVS: Sporting Kansas City Montreal Impact Seattle Sounders FC NON-FAVS (I refuse to use the word hate): LA Galaxy NY Red Bulls The rest of the bunch I like and respect. If I had to choose a favorite it would probably be Kansas, but honestly, I am just struggling with this.
Whoever Will Johnson plays for I take an interest in .. hence RSL is now dead to me, but I'll watch Portland games and want them to win (strangely their only loss currently is to us!). The fact his career got a boost from the switch is a bonus. And they're fun to watch. I've noticed I've developed interest in Colorado's fortunes probably because they are so overlooked but have impressed me. NE gaining my interest, because again, they are surprising people. Teams I take a strong dislike to are usually over-rated teams. Also tend not to like teams with commentators who are shameless homers.