Alexi Lalas: MLS on Par with Premier League

[ThaSaltCracka]

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my mate (life time preston north end fan) went to see toronto vs ny red bulls a couple of weeks ago and he said it was league one at best and definitely not championship standard so premiership seems way way off

[/ QUOTE ]your friend is waaaaay off.

I am not surprised the English would downplay or downgrade MLS, after all you guys are better(historically speaking) at being condescending then us. Truth is the best MLS teams could compete with some of the lower level EPL teams and certainly the higher level Championship teams. For someone to say they couldn't would be to say Mexico's best couldn't either, which would be flat out not true.

[lippy]

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It's utterly ridiculous, but if it will get even a few more people in the U.S. to regularly watch soccer, than it's fine with me.

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Exactly. This is what he is going for.


On a slightly off-topic idea (and I don't want to start a new thread about soccer), does anyone want Soccer to get kind of big in the US for the same reasons as me? I love the big three and really don't understand, appreciate or like soccer. But, again, I love sports. I want to go to a sporting event like those in Europe where everybody is truly passionate and bat [censored] insane about the sport. Basically, I want more environments that are 'pure' in environment and fan attitude. This really only exists in college football (and kind of college basketball).

I guess I like the idea of soccer, but probably not the game itself.

[MicroBob]

No matter how big soccer gets in the U.S. I don't think you are going to see that kind of enthusiasm over here.

However, the U.S. did have something like this in the 70's with Pele and the NY Cosmos.
Selling out Giants Stadium for soccer games? Wow.
ESPN had a documentary about this a few months ago which I thought was fascinating.
They went from being a semi-pro team playing sometimes to crowds under 1k to having some of the best players in the world with crowds over 70k.


I would love to see soccer gain popularity in the U.S.
I'm a weird fan of the sport in that I think it's a great game but I don't know the players or watch the MLS on TV at all.
I play some rec-league soccer so for the past several months I was playing 2 or 3 games a week. So I dig it, I just don't watch it.

[lippy]

MB,

I gather you're a baseball man (I know you have some posts about your history somewhere, but I didn't read them at the time), did you start playing soccer in your adulthood? I'm going to start looking for a league to play in and am wondering if it is nearly as entertaining as basketball or baseball?

I know this is a complete hijack, but it's far more interesting than talking about Alexi Lalas.

This is going to sound so American, but the World Cup made me actually enjoy watching soccer. For the first time I tried to understand the strategy, which made it much more bearable to watch. However, I couldn't imagine watching anything but the MLS Championship on TV because the games don't feel 'epic'.

[Chairman Wood]

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Exactly. This is what he is going for.


On a slightly off-topic idea (and I don't want to start a new thread about soccer), does anyone want Soccer to get kind of big in the US for the same reasons as me? I love the big three and really don't understand, appreciate or like soccer. But, again, I love sports. I want to go to a sporting event like those in Europe where everybody is truly passionate and bat [censored] insane about the sport. Basically, I want more environments that are 'pure' in environment and fan attitude. This really only exists in college football (and kind of college basketball).

I guess I like the idea of soccer, but probably not the game itself.

[/ QUOTE ] The passion displayed and people going bat [censored] crazy at soccer matches doesn't come from the game itself. To some degree, one could make an argument that more passion gets displayed in soccer due to there just not being as much scoring as there is in other games and a single tally often makes the difference between a win and a loss. i.e a goal is worth in soccer then a touchdown/football/, goal/hockey etc. But people's passion for soccer derives much more from cultural/historical/societal aspects. Even if soccer was the #1 sport in the US people wouldn't behave any more wild or passionate then they do at an NFL game just because it is soccer.

[reo]

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Argentina, Brazil?

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These two leagues along with Mexico and Uruguay don't get enough respect at all. This is a world game . . .

. . . Columbia is on the rise as well.

Argentina and Brazil fill out the majority of rosters in Europe yet they still have fantastic football in there home countries. These players (the veterans of these leagues) are constantly being bought even in there late 20's and early 30's. It's remarkable how many transfers are being made from these leagues.

[PokerFink]

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?

[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.

[kidcolin]

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. . . Columbia is on the rise as well.

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Colombia.

/nit

[Fletcher19]

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my mate (life time preston north end fan) went to see toronto vs ny red bulls a couple of weeks ago and he said it was league one at best and definitely not championship standard so premiership seems way way off

[/ QUOTE ]your friend is waaaaay off.

I am not surprised the English would downplay or downgrade MLS, after all you guys are better(historically speaking) at being condescending then us. Truth is the best MLS teams could compete with some of the lower level EPL teams and certainly the higher level Championship teams. For someone to say they couldn't would be to say Mexico's best couldn't either, which would be flat out not true.

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I disagree,

Firstly my friend went all the way to toronto pretty much just to watch the mls and had a great time and said the atmosphere was better than a pne match. He was certainly being open minded towards it and is no cynic to the mls.

The difference in ability is plain to see, danny dichio can't get a game at pne and then starts for toronto. Juan pablo angel consistently stutters at villa and then is one of the best players in the league in the mls. I am not trying to put the mls down as i am becoming a fan myself, i am just trying to point out the obvious.

I don't think you are overestimating the mls teams i just think you are underestimating the ability of teams like middlesborough, fulham, sunderland, birmingham, WBA etc.