Reply to Jesus Christ MLS

Forum Index » Sports General Discussion

Reply to "Jesus Christ MLS "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]MLS does not have promotion/relegation, and this is a major reason why the level of play is generally not on par with other leagues throughout the world. In MLS, what's really at stake if you loose? And if it were open, just imagine the motivation to find and develop players, and to improve and compete, when your very existence and viability as a club depended on it. In the broader sense, these teams are not independent soccer clubs but rather franchises in MLS.

Wake up U.S. Take off the kid gloves. Unleash the full potetential of the U.S. player pool and create an open system with promotion/relegation. And then turbo-charge the new system by following existing FIFA rules for training compensation to youth clubs.[/quote]

Training compensation, yes.

The rest of this is nonsense. Pro/rel is a symptom of a thriving soccer culture. Not the cause. The stakes in MLS are missing the playoffs.

Without the threat of relegation, D.C. United was able to give a lot of time to younger players a couple of years ago. It paid off the next year with a good run. It's all fallen apart since then because United is lagging behind other MLS clubs in getting its stadium built (thanks, D.C.) and is still flushing a ton of money into rent at RFK.

Pro/rel has pros and cons. The pros are that it adds a bit of interest farther down the pyramid. The cons are that the clubs end up losing a ton of money -- Aston Villa has laid off 500 employees. And most clubs in the current lower divisions here don't want to (or simply can't) move up. In fact, many have "self-relegated" from Division 2 to Division 3 or from the pro ranks to the amateur PDL. Much more sustainable.

We're not to the point yet at which we could do this. But that's OK. Pro/rel doesn't magically make soccer better. If pro/rel and population were all that was required to have a great soccer league, China would dominate. It does not.

And it doesn't necessarily make for more entertaining soccer. Teams threatened with relegation are more likely to play older players who know how to grind out results, not youngsters who have something interesting to offer.

MLS has some bad games and good games. Like a lot of leagues. Even the mighty EPL has some games that are like watching paint dry -- often between a couple of clubs in mid-table or hovering above the relegation zone.

You'll see a handful of former European stars, most of them coming over at an earlier age than they did in the past. Lothar Matthaus was in his upper 30s and finished by the time he came over for what he treated as a vacation. Thierry Henry and Robbie Keane have been much better.

But you'll also see a lot of young stars. FC Dallas has built a tremendous academy. D.C. United's academy isn't bad -- Bill Hamid and Andy Najar are among the players who've come into the club via the academy. DeAndre Yedlin and Matt Miazga have moved from MLS academy to MLS first team to the EPL.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics