Alexi Lalas: MLS on Par with Premier League

[KDawg]

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He is a fool. Beckham is playing out his retirement days for cash. IF MLS was that good would not the Whole US national team be MLS players

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if the argentinian league was that good, wouldn't the entire argentinian national team be made of argentinian league players, same can go for the dutch and czech leagues. you're point is wrong, DUCY

[Chairman Wood]

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If everything was equal, yes, however all things aren't equal. One massive factor is the level of pay in Europe as opposed to the level of pay in the US, or Brazil, or Argentina. Now I am not comparing MLS to the Argentine Apatura, but I think you see my point.

Really when you look at the top 3 leagues, La Liga, EPL, Serie A, those leagues for the most part contain the players on the nations national team. However, other countries, specifically France, Brazil, and Argentina, all have good domestic leagues and good players playing abroad. The reason is the pay and fame the other 3 leagues allow.

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Not to be a nit TSC or distract from the discussion, but I gather from your general posts that you like to be informed of these things. In Argentina if you want to talk about the top league in general you would say La Primera o La Primera A. The Apertura (opening) is the name of a championship that begins I believe in August/September and ends in December. Then we have the Clausura (closing) which starts in Febuary and just ended now. In effect, it is run like most leagues but two championships are given out each year. Both of equal importance.

[guilt_trip]

Lalas is either seriously deluded or he's trying to make the MLS seem bigger than it is. Also Lalas seems to be getting visibly frustrated with the popular view on the Beckham transfer (fame, money etc.)

I'd say that MLS teams would fair well in the Championship but would get torn apart by alot of Premiership teams. For them to finish above 16th would be a very big achievement for them.

Basically from watching MLS you get the feel of a Watford or Sheff U, in that they have good, solid players but not much in terms of skill, flair, creativity or true class. Also the defending is generally horrific.

Any US player who shows any of these qualities is usually leaving to play in Europe very quickly for a varity of reasons (better wages, better teams, better players, bigger challegne etc.)

The MLS has potential but to say its on a par with the Premiership is plain stupid.

[ThaSaltCracka]

CW, I really appreciate the explanation!!!!! That has been confusing me for months.

[ThaSaltCracka]

If you took some of the coaches from the Championship and assigned them to MLS teams, the teams would be considerably better. It is apparent when you watch the games that many MLS teams are poorly prepared, or lack the proper knowledge on maintaining possession and proper marking. Thats all coachable stuff.

[Fallen Hero]

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I was under the impression that the Brazil league was pretty weak since so many top Brazilians play in Europe. Is league on the rise?

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You'll find a lot of those youngsters who are bought at an early age are loaned out to Brazilian teams to continue development. It's a fascinating league and you'd be amazed at how much these players are actually paid. Don't forget that some players do decline the chance to play in Europe.

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I can't watch south american leagues, every single game has a "all star game" feel to it, horrible defense and offensive players who try to pull some crazy move every time they get the ball.
There are plenty of talented young players but that doesn't make it watchable for me.

[mmbt0ne]

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He is a fool. Beckham is playing out his retirement days for cash. IF MLS was that good would not the Whole US national team be MLS players

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Would you say the EPL is lacking too then judging by England's recent performances?

MLS is good and getting better. 12 of 13 teams have youth programs now with NYRB and DCU having the two most well established, and rules will allow the teams to begin signing one player a year straight from them starting next year. The only team who doesn't have a youth program yet is Toronto and they are currently working on one.

Also, teams will be able to keep more of the money they get for selling young talent (ie. NY and Gabe Ferrari) which will help bring more money into the teams and not the league. This is good for the teams who can produce talent, and good for the league because it demonstrates that it is no longer economically necessary to prop the poor teams up on the backs of the big teams.

[reo]

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I was under the impression that the Brazil league was pretty weak since so many top Brazilians play in Europe. Is league on the rise?

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You'll find a lot of those youngsters who are bought at an early age are loaned out to Brazilian teams to continue development. It's a fascinating league and you'd be amazed at how much these players are actually paid. Don't forget that some players do decline the chance to play in Europe.

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I can't watch south american leagues, every single game has a "all star game" feel to it, horrible defense and offensive players who try to pull some crazy move every time they get the ball.
There are plenty of talented young players but that doesn't make it watchable for me.

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That's the general consensus of the national teams (Brazil and Argentina) and doesn't hold water when referring to the domestic leagues. However, I don't agree with any of it regardless (whether referring to the national teams or the leagues). It's all quality football in my opinion . . .

[JaredL]

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I was under the impression that the Brazil league was pretty weak since so many top Brazilians play in Europe. Is league on the rise?

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You'll find a lot of those youngsters who are bought at an early age are loaned out to Brazilian teams to continue development. It's a fascinating league and you'd be amazed at how much these players are actually paid. Don't forget that some players do decline the chance to play in Europe.

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I can't watch south american leagues, every single game has a "all star game" feel to it, horrible defense and offensive players who try to pull some crazy move every time they get the ball.
There are plenty of talented young players but that doesn't make it watchable for me.

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I may get [censored] for this from all the premiership fans, but this is similar to the reason I don't think the premiership is the top league. Admittedly I don't watch a ton of matches, but the premiership feels to me like what you've described here without the crazy moves.

When I watch highlights shows a lot of the goals seem to be terrible defense more than good work by the attackers. This I find strange since the defenders tend to get away with more physical play than in other leagues.

I think this is the main reason English teams traditionally underperform when they play in continental competitions.

[ThaSaltCracka]

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I think this is the main reason English teams traditionally underperform when they play in continental competitions.

[/ QUOTE ] 3 teams in the semis of CL this year......