The biggest reason I can think of is that the MFL teams would rather use their academy products, but wouldn't every league? Is it due to a lack of respect of MLS or American players? I know they have money down there and pay better than MLS so why so few Americans there. I could see Marshall playing well and making some dough if he'd gone there. What about Boswell? Is it that Americans don't want to go there and would rather go to lower level Euro leagues? It seems like MFL is better than say Denmark, Norway, or sitting on the bench anywhere really. I'm not saying they should or shouldn't want Americans or that Americans should or shouldn't go...I'm just wondering why it doesn't happen.
They don't want to spoil their little club down there. They will take those Americans of real Mexican dissent as in moved from the mother country to their adoptive one which is the USA. But if you are a real American or anglo saxson, forget it. The Ochoa's, Jose Francisco Torres can go and play there, but when it's someone who isn't from Mexico, Central America or South America, they aren't welcomed.
Long time ago, before MLS I believe M Balboa and D Kinnaer, maybe as well M Sorber played in the mexican league About playing in Norway or Denmark, let's not forget that over there almost every body speaks english very well, which is not the case in Mexico
Yes, and my impression is that TV being very important to the Mexican league, if you can't give a decent interview in Spanish, they wouldn't be as interested in you.
As people have pointed out already, very rarely do you see teams going for players that do not speak Spanish. The farthest that the Mexican league tends to reach is Brazil, and they either already know Spanish or have no problem at all picking it up.
I suspect that if Landon Donovan was looking for a big paycheck America would be happy to write one...the American diablo playing for the snootiest team in Mexico, and he speaks Spanish also...
That is right. Before the MLS startup in 1994-95, many USMNT players went down there. Wynalada went down there also in 1999 I believe. I'm sure they are good enough but since there has been a league to play in , I guess there is no more desire for the Americans to go down there. The last MLS non Mexican player I can remember other than Waldo was Leonel Alvarez but that was about it.
Yes he does speak spanish, but 1. a few years ago he did something stupid in Mexico, so mexicans hate him, and 2. he has scored enough goals against them with the USA MNT, so they hate him even more. I believe that most mexican soccer fans follow the copa libertadores, so the teams in order to please their fans, give contracts to argentinos, paraguayos, colombianos, brasileños etc... from that competition.
I'm not a huge LAndy fan after what he pulled on San Jose but all he did was take a leak in the bushes and the press for some reason made it into an international incident. Makes no sense.
thats my whole point...hes the gringo devil...much like Blanco is perceived here...I think America fans would love him; and other Mexican fans would grow to respect him... On that note-now I have to take a leak
Not really in the bushes, more on a training field in estadio Jalisco while the mexican press was there Anyway, what Oswaldo Sanchez did last year was 10 000 times worse, he could have broken both legs of ..., was it DMB?
No, it was the wonderfully talented Eddie Johnson. I've hated Oswaldo Sanchez since then. I can't believe that he didn't get at least a yellow for that.
Yeah you guys are right, I remember a few guys going before MLS. I would think more Americans would want to go if not for the money alone. Like I said some defenders here would do well there. I also think some young attackers would bring something a little different to the teams there that they might like. Just think if Adu was there, kinda Gio. Edu would be a beast in their league. I could see Rogers doing well there also. I'm thinking more of the mid tier guys tho that want more money from MLS and can't get it. I feel what you guys are saying about the language barrier though...Seriously though, it's the world's game and it's spanish, one of the fastest spreading launguages. Also it's close the states of course which is better than EU.
A couple of thoughts based on the figures I looked at for Apertura 2008. 1. Mexico produces enough players to meet its rosters. Foreign players made about 18% of the contract rosters.* I am not sure how that compares to MLS, but the numbers are Mexican (born or naturalized) 376 vs Foreign 85. To a certain extent (and including league rules of MEX players vs Foreign player ration), Primera academies create future players. 2. "I know they have money down there and pay better than MLS so why so few Americans there." Three things. First, there is a subjective factor. Mexican FMF fans have a "mystical" view of Argies and Brazilians players (right or wrong). They are better, jogo bonito, they know their footie, etc. Owners are no different. Would they rather plunk in let's say $200,000 on a MLS player or an Argie/Brazilian. Take a guess? Second, not all foreign players have expensive contracts. FMF has history of Argies that made great....and a good number of cheap Argie players that were never worth a damn. If you follow Mexican fut media, it's a ritual that by the end of thee season some writers will decry the glut of bad Argie players. Nevertheless, that hasn't stop owners from contracting them and fans to ask for SA players. Third, there are Argentenian players that really want to play in FMF even if its a pay cut just as some are willing to come to MLS. Why? At least in FMF, the teams are stable and will pay them on time. 3. Knowing Spanish helps a lot. A great majority of the foreign players came from South America with a huge portion coming from the Spanish speaking SA countries. Here is the breakdown from this past season: ARGENTINA 32 URUGUAY 14 PARAGUAY 13 BRAZIL 9 COLOMBIA 5 CHILE 5 PERU 2 PANAMA 2 ECUADOR 1 VENEZUELA 1 COSTA RICA 1 * By contract roster means the player was under contract, but could have or have not played during the season. I still counted them.
That was Marquez and honestly, not being a Galaxy fan. That made me a fan of Rafa Marquez for life. It just can't be the language barrier though. I mean the guys are moving to Germany, Holland, Norway, Portugal, France, and Spain. Plus Eddie Johnson in Wales....that sorta counts... Plus lots of them made it to college, even for a year or two. Thats better than 95% of soccer players around the world. They're smart kids, they should be able to learn new languages relatively fast. I think it's just that no top American player is thinking of Mexico as a destination. It's Europe or bust.....well not bust but MLS. Although if I was in the place of Feilbaher or Lee Nguyen. I wouldn't turn my nose up at Mexico. They pay good money and they would only be 3-4 hours away from home. Maybe less. It's also a more demanding league than MLS, although not as physical. I dunno, I would honestly love to see Donovan play there for half a season. It would be great, I'd love to buy a Club America Donovan shirt............................................and burn it.
i can parachute you into any of Mexico's major cities and you will find an English speaker (or French speaker, although that won't help a US player) within walking distance. for example, you really think a team physician on a major club won't be fluent in English? language ain't the issue. so you can be the next Maradona, but if you can't give a decent interview in Spanish then FMF teams won't want you? language ain't the issue. Bulgaria: Emil Kostadinov (Tigres) Cameroon: François Omam-Biyik (America) Jacques-David Embé Alain N'Kong (Atlante) Romania: Ilie Dumitrescu Miodrag Belodedici Sierra Leonne: Abdul Thompson Conteh (Rayados) Serbia: Bora Milutinović (Pumas) Zambia: Kalusha (America) some of you guys make it sound like any bum of the street can walk-on and make a FMF team, so MLS guys should be able to walk-on at any team. it's a very competitive league, with a large domestic player pool, lots of $$$ to spend to fill the remaining roster, lots of foreign agents (Argentines & Brasilian mostly) who work in Mexico and recently a league that has served as a feeder to La Liga (if you weren't good enough to impress Villarreal from your native South American country, score tons of goals in Mexico and impress them in that manner). chapulin and radmonkey have better reasons, other than language as to why MLS to FMF doesn't occur more often. IMO, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey are 2 recent US/MLS players that could have easily started on some FMF teams. beyond that....its kind of shaky.
Is this supposed to disprove my point, because I think it has the opposite effect. Only one of these players has played in the Mexican league this millennium and you had to go as far back as 1971 to put together a list of 9 players who did not speak spanish when they made it into the league. There used to be more non-spanish speakers playing in Mexico in the 90s and 80s, that is a given and no one was disputing it. Hell, Eric Wynalda even played in Mexico. Currently though, non-spanish speakers are few and far between. Really, do you seriously believe that? I am going to assume you forgot to mention Howard, who is much better than Donovan and Dempsey. To say that no other American player could start on a team like Puebla, Necaxa or Jaguares is very ignorant. The Mexican League has good quality players, but come on, we are not England or Spain.
I think the simple fact is that if you are an American of sufficient quality to make it in Mexico, you almost always have non-MLS options that seem to be more appealing (to Americans anyway) than playing in Mexico. Sure Donovan could play and succeed in Mexico, but then there's about 14 Premiership teams that would take him in a heartbeat as well. The question is how much interest is there from Mexican sides and why?
Tim Howard has been gone for a couple years now. i meant recent/current US players in the MLS ("IMO, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey are 2 recent US/MLS players that could have easily started on some FMF teams. beyond that....its kind of shaky"). of course guys like Tim Howard and Benny Feilheiber would start on some FMF teams but that's not the point of this thread - its MLS to FMF. on how many FMF teams do you think a guy like Taylor Twellman (MLS performer) could start on? btw, i think the most important thing to remember is this business is agent-driven. there's obviously an agent pipeline between the US and the EPL and not much of one between US and FMF.
I'm personally surprised that players who play with a latin american style ala sasha klejstan don't entertain offers from the FMF. They'd do well over there.