Minor League Soccer???

IrishDawg22

This is why soccer will never take hold in the US. I have tried to watch some Sounder games, but the quality of play is too tough to digest. This league is the retirement home for world soccer players.

Even the top players of the US team go overseas to improve their game. Donovan's best international performances came after he spent time in Europe.

They will never be able to compete for talent with the top Euro teams.

Go Blues!!!!

DerekJohnson

Someone go tell Matt Gregory that someone's wandered into the bistro

Global

The MLS is not as good as the better European leagues such as those in England, Italy, Spain, Germany or France. But some MLS clubs could do reasonably well in some of the other European leagues, and certainly in most leagues in Latin America except Argentina and Brazil. The MLS teams could top most Japanese or Korean teams, and there are no other leagues after that that compete really.

So I would guess that the MLS would rank around 10-15th of the top 25 leagues in the world. It ranked #8 in world attendance this year. That will help with sponsorship and TV, and in turn allow salaries to go up, and continue to improve the quality.

I played soccer at the UW in the 1970s, and also have watched professional soccer in Seattle since its infancy -- the very first game was an exhibition between the old NASL Sounders and the New York Cosmos in the Kingdom -- the very first sports event in the Kingdom. One of my first jobs was an admin role with the old Sounders in the early 1980s. So I have seen a lot of the changes.

The pace of improvement in the last 10 years is remarkable. It remains a work in progress. But I watch teams from Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America regularly, and we are catching up.

Until we can match European salaries, however, we will have a talent deficit with the English, Spanish and Italian leagues, for sure.

But I am not sure why you find the quality of play so difficult to watch. For sure we are not seeing players like Messi, Ronaldo, or Van Persie in their prime, but the designated player rule in the past few years is helping bring better foreign talent.

I would project that the MLS will break into the top 10 of world leagues in the next five years. Getting into the top five leagues globally will take longer, and has some variables that would require some further big changes. In the US, the MLS for many is about where the NHL is -- and not yet to where the NFL, NBA and MLB are. That gap will have to close in the US for the US to join the global top 5 in soccer leagues.

We are now finally in a period where most moms and dads who are raising kids also themselves have played soccer, which is a big plus for national player development. Soccer is the fastest growing sport still among American youth. I am heartened that the US national men's coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, has said that reform and development of US youth soccer is paramount.

I have always enjoyed watching soccer at multiple levels, as a player, referee, coach and spectator. Yes, I am a soccer nut and have been since I started playing in high school when it was first introduced as a sport. But there are more and more and more of us, and a critical mass is developing. Average attendance at Sounders' games this year was 43,144.

DerekJohnson

Global said:

The MLS is not as good as the better European leagues such as those in England, Italy, Spain, Germany or France. But some MLS clubs could do reasonably well in some of the other European leagues, and certainly in most leagues in Latin America except Argentina and Brazil. The MLS teams could top most Japanese or Korean teams, and there are no other leagues after that that compete really.

So I would guess that the MLS would rank around 10-15th of the top 25 leagues in the world. It ranked #8 in world attendance this year. That will help with sponsorship and TV, and in turn allow salaries to go up, and continue to improve the quality.

I played soccer at the UW in the 1970s, and also have watched professional soccer in Seattle since its infancy -- the very first game was an exhibition between the old NASL Sounders and the New York Cosmos in the Kingdom -- the very first sports event in the Kingdom. One of my first jobs was an admin role with the old Sounders in the early 1980s. So I have seen a lot of the changes.

The pace of improvement in the last 10 years is remarkable. It remains a work in progress. But I watch teams from Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America regularly, and we are catching up.

Until we can match European salaries, however, we will have a talent deficit with the English, Spanish and Italian leagues, for sure.

But I am not sure why you find the quality of play so difficult to watch. For sure we are not seeing players like Messi, Ronaldo, or Van Persie in their prime, but the designated player rule in the past few years is helping bring better foreign talent.

I would project that the MLS will break into the top 10 of world leagues in the next five years. Getting into the top five leagues globally will take longer, and has some variables that would require some further big changes. In the US, the MLS for many is about where the NHL is -- and not yet to where the NFL, NBA and MLB are. That gap will have to close in the US for the US to join the global top 5 in soccer leagues.

We are now finally in a period where most moms and dads who are raising kids also themselves have played soccer, which is a big plus for national player development. Soccer is the fastest growing sport still among American youth. I am heartened that the US national men's coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, has said that reform and development of US youth soccer is paramount.

I have always enjoyed watching soccer at multiple levels, as a player, referee, coach and spectator. Yes, I am a soccer nut and have been since I started playing in high school when it was first introduced as a sport. But there are more and more and more of us, and a critical mass is developing. Average attendance at Sounders' games this year was 43,144.

disagree.

MikeDamone

Global said:

The MLS is not as good as the better European leagues such as those in England, Italy, Spain, Germany or France. But some MLS clubs could do reasonably well in some of the other European leagues, and certainly in most leagues in Latin America except Argentina and Brazil. The MLS teams could top most Japanese or Korean teams, and there are no other leagues after that that compete really.

So I would guess that the MLS would rank around 10-15th of the top 25 leagues in the world. It ranked #8 in world attendance this year. That will help with sponsorship and TV, and in turn allow salaries to go up, and continue to improve the quality.

I played soccer at the UW in the 1970s, and also have watched professional soccer in Seattle since its infancy -- the very first game was an exhibition between the old NASL Sounders and the New York Cosmos in the Kingdom -- the very first sports event in the Kingdom. One of my first jobs was an admin role with the old Sounders in the early 1980s. So I have seen a lot of the changes.

The pace of improvement in the last 10 years is remarkable. It remains a work in progress. But I watch teams from Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America regularly, and we are catching up.

Until we can match European salaries, however, we will have a talent deficit with the English, Spanish and Italian leagues, for sure.

But I am not sure why you find the quality of play so difficult to watch. For sure we are not seeing players like Messi, Ronaldo, or Van Persie in their prime, but the designated player rule in the past few years is helping bring better foreign talent.

I would project that the MLS will break into the top 10 of world leagues in the next five years. Getting into the top five leagues globally will take longer, and has some variables that would require some further big changes. In the US, the MLS for many is about where the NHL is -- and not yet to where the NFL, NBA and MLB are. That gap will have to close in the US for the US to join the global top 5 in soccer leagues.

We are now finally in a period where most moms and dads who are raising kids also themselves have played soccer, which is a big plus for national player development. Soccer is the fastest growing sport still among American youth. I am heartened that the US national men's coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, has said that reform and development of US youth soccer is paramount.

I have always enjoyed watching soccer at multiple levels, as a player, referee, coach and spectator. Yes, I am a soccer nut and have been since I started playing in high school when it was first introduced as a sport. But there are more and more and more of us, and a critical mass is developing. Average attendance at Sounders' games this year was 43,144.

Move this to the classics forum. Longest soccer post that no one will ever read.

Dick_B

Americans are bigger than Europeans, so only shrimpy girly boy Americans will ever play soccer.
It's simple genetics. Matt plays soccer........ At 6'5 250 I am not going to play soccer. One has to wonder.... is Matt American? I bet he's some fascist puke.

MelloDawg

Matt is a gutless liberal. Simple fact.

That said, no MLS fan would claim that the level of play is on par with any of the European leagues, but it doesn't have to be. They enjoy the American version for what it is and it's one that improves from year to year. The MLS has staying power, largely due to the economic model it uses versus the previous incarnation.

TierbsHsotBoobs

DerekJohnson said:

Global said:

The MLS is not as good as the better European leagues such as those in England, Italy, Spain, Germany or France. But some MLS clubs could do reasonably well in some of the other European leagues, and certainly in most leagues in Latin America except Argentina and Brazil. The MLS teams could top most Japanese or Korean teams, and there are no other leagues after that that compete really.

So I would guess that the MLS would rank around 10-15th of the top 25 leagues in the world. It ranked #8 in world attendance this year. That will help with sponsorship and TV, and in turn allow salaries to go up, and continue to improve the quality.

I played soccer at the UW in the 1970s, and also have watched professional soccer in Seattle since its infancy -- the very first game was an exhibition between the old NASL Sounders and the New York Cosmos in the Kingdom -- the very first sports event in the Kingdom. One of my first jobs was an admin role with the old Sounders in the early 1980s. So I have seen a lot of the changes.

The pace of improvement in the last 10 years is remarkable. It remains a work in progress. But I watch teams from Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America regularly, and we are catching up.

Until we can match European salaries, however, we will have a talent deficit with the English, Spanish and Italian leagues, for sure.

But I am not sure why you find the quality of play so difficult to watch. For sure we are not seeing players like Messi, Ronaldo, or Van Persie in their prime, but the designated player rule in the past few years is helping bring better foreign talent.

I would project that the MLS will break into the top 10 of world leagues in the next five years. Getting into the top five leagues globally will take longer, and has some variables that would require some further big changes. In the US, the MLS for many is about where the NHL is -- and not yet to where the NFL, NBA and MLB are. That gap will have to close in the US for the US to join the global top 5 in soccer leagues.

We are now finally in a period where most moms and dads who are raising kids also themselves have played soccer, which is a big plus for national player development. Soccer is the fastest growing sport still among American youth. I am heartened that the US national men's coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, has said that reform and development of US youth soccer is paramount.

I have always enjoyed watching soccer at multiple levels, as a player, referee, coach and spectator. Yes, I am a soccer nut and have been since I started playing in high school when it was first introduced as a sport. But there are more and more and more of us, and a critical mass is developing. Average attendance at Sounders' games this year was 43,144.

disagree.

This.

RaceBannon

Global said:

The MLS is not as good as the better European leagues such as those in England, Italy, Spain, Germany or France. But some MLS clubs could do reasonably well in some of the other European leagues, and certainly in most leagues in Latin America except Argentina and Brazil. The MLS teams could top most Japanese or Korean teams, and there are no other leagues after that that compete really.

So I would guess that the MLS would rank around 10-15th of the top 25 leagues in the world. It ranked #8 in world attendance this year. That will help with sponsorship and TV, and in turn allow salaries to go up, and continue to improve the quality.

I played soccer at the UW in the 1970s, and also have watched professional soccer in Seattle since its infancy -- the very first game was an exhibition between the old NASL Sounders and the New York Cosmos in the Kingdom -- the very first sports event in the Kingdom. One of my first jobs was an admin role with the old Sounders in the early 1980s. So I have seen a lot of the changes.

The pace of improvement in the last 10 years is remarkable. It remains a work in progress. But I watch teams from Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America regularly, and we are catching up.

Until we can match European salaries, however, we will have a talent deficit with the English, Spanish and Italian leagues, for sure.

But I am not sure why you find the quality of play so difficult to watch. For sure we are not seeing players like Messi, Ronaldo, or Van Persie in their prime, but the designated player rule in the past few years is helping bring better foreign talent.

I would project that the MLS will break into the top 10 of world leagues in the next five years. Getting into the top five leagues globally will take longer, and has some variables that would require some further big changes. In the US, the MLS for many is about where the NHL is -- and not yet to where the NFL, NBA and MLB are. That gap will have to close in the US for the US to join the global top 5 in soccer leagues.

We are now finally in a period where most moms and dads who are raising kids also themselves have played soccer, which is a big plus for national player development. Soccer is the fastest growing sport still among American youth. I am heartened that the US national men's coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, has said that reform and development of US youth soccer is paramount.

I have always enjoyed watching soccer at multiple levels, as a player, referee, coach and spectator. Yes, I am a soccer nut and have been since I started playing in high school when it was first introduced as a sport. But there are more and more and more of us, and a critical mass is developing. Average attendance at Sounders' games this year was 43,144.

Hi Tequila

IrishDawg22

MelloDawg said:

Matt is a gutless liberal. Simple fact.

That said, no MLS fan would claim that the level of play is on par with any of the European leagues, but it doesn't have to be. They enjoy the American version for what it is and it's one that improves from year to year. The MLS has staying power, largely due to the economic model it uses versus the previous incarnation.

Really, I ran into several Sounder fans @ the Chelsea game who had some bold talk. Many of them said the top 4 teams in MLS could compete in the BPL.

I tried to point out that one of the top players (Keane) in the MLS looked like he was playing with a walker in Euros 2012.

It was probably just the wrong Sounders crowd. Maybe I am just spoiled getting to watch Mata, Hazard and Oscar work their midfield magic every week.

Fire_Marshall_Bill

IrishDawg22 said:

MelloDawg said:

Matt is a gutless liberal. Simple fact.

That said, no MLS fan would claim that the level of play is on par with any of the European leagues, but it doesn't have to be. They enjoy the American version for what it is and it's one that improves from year to year. The MLS has staying power, largely due to the economic model it uses versus the previous incarnation.

Really, I ran into several Sounder fans @ the Chelsea game who had some bold talk. Many of them said the top 4 teams in MLS could compete in the BPL.

I tried to point out that one of the top players (Keane) in the MLS looked like he was playing with a walker in Euros 2012.

It was probably just the wrong Sounders crowd. Maybe I am just spoiled getting to watch Mata, Hazard and Oscar work their midfield magic every week.

The Universe, or Galaxy, or w/e they're called could probably hang with the bottom feeder relegation teams in the PL. I don't know...they might win 3 or 4 of 10...excuse me, they'd win 2, tie 5, and lose 3. But they're the best team in the league and those are obviously the worst.

Like others have said, the MLS has come a long way since its inception in the mid 90s. I've seen it ranked anywhere from the 25th to the 80th best league in the world. It's probably not real far from the second tier of Euro leagues (Eredivisie, Portuguese League, Russian Premier League, Greek League). The model they've used over the past 5-10 yrs. seems to have worked well.

Global

The recent rankings of the MLS (last 5 years) are all top 25 in the world, and the ones I have seen for 2012 are top 20. That still is not saying much, as we've all said, but it is far better than earlier.

PurpleJ

Dick_B said:

Americans are bigger than Europeans, so only shrimpy girly boy Americans will ever play soccer.
It's simple genetics. Matt plays soccer........ At 6'5 250 I am not going to play soccer. One has to wonder.... is Matt American? I bet he's some fascist puke.

Former army ranger?

Also...

I bumped it because I wanted to bump it

SarkFanSixtyNine

Global said:

The MLS is not as good as the better European leagues such as those in England, Italy, Spain, Germany or France. But some MLS clubs could do reasonably well in some of the other European leagues, and certainly in most leagues in Latin America except Argentina and Brazil. The MLS teams could top most Japanese or Korean teams, and there are no other leagues after that that compete really.

So I would guess that the MLS would rank around 10-15th of the top 25 leagues in the world. It ranked #8 in world attendance this year. That will help with sponsorship and TV, and in turn allow salaries to go up, and continue to improve the quality.

I played soccer at the UW in the 1970s, and also have watched professional soccer in Seattle since its infancy -- the very first game was an exhibition between the old NASL Sounders and the New York Cosmos in the Kingdom -- the very first sports event in the Kingdom. One of my first jobs was an admin role with the old Sounders in the early 1980s. So I have seen a lot of the changes.

The pace of improvement in the last 10 years is remarkable. It remains a work in progress. But I watch teams from Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America regularly, and we are catching up.

Until we can match European salaries, however, we will have a talent deficit with the English, Spanish and Italian leagues, for sure.

But I am not sure why you find the quality of play so difficult to watch. For sure we are not seeing players like Messi, Ronaldo, or Van Persie in their prime, but the designated player rule in the past few years is helping bring better foreign talent.

I would project that the MLS will break into the top 10 of world leagues in the next five years. Getting into the top five leagues globally will take longer, and has some variables that would require some further big changes. In the US, the MLS for many is about where the NHL is -- and not yet to where the NFL, NBA and MLB are. That gap will have to close in the US for the US to join the global top 5 in soccer leagues.

We are now finally in a period where most moms and dads who are raising kids also themselves have played soccer, which is a big plus for national player development. Soccer is the fastest growing sport still among American youth. I am heartened that the US national men's coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, has said that reform and development of US youth soccer is paramount.

I have always enjoyed watching soccer at multiple levels, as a player, referee, coach and spectator. Yes, I am a soccer nut and have been since I started playing in high school when it was first introduced as a sport. But there are more and more and more of us, and a critical mass is developing. Average attendance at Sounders' games this year was 43,144.

trinidad and toboggan your days are numbered

GrundleStiltzkin

Such fag J

PurpleJ

GrundleStiltzkin said:

Such fag J

Cultured and worldly!

GrundleStiltzkin

PurpleJ said:

GrundleStiltzkin said:

Such fag J

Cultured and worldly!

But I already said such fag

PurpleJ

GrundleStiltzkin said:

PurpleJ said:

GrundleStiltzkin said:

Such fag J

Cultured and worldly!

But I already said such fag

I don't remember starting this

dnc

Global said:

The MLS is not as good as the better European leagues such as those in England, Italy, Spain, Germany or France. But some MLS clubs could do reasonably well in some of the other European leagues, and certainly in most leagues in Latin America except Argentina and Brazil. The MLS teams could top most Japanese or Korean teams, and there are no other leagues after that that compete really.

So I would guess that the MLS would rank around 10-15th of the top 25 leagues in the world. It ranked #8 in world attendance this year. That will help with sponsorship and TV, and in turn allow salaries to go up, and continue to improve the quality.

I played soccer at the UW in the 1970s, and also have watched professional soccer in Seattle since its infancy -- the very first game was an exhibition between the old NASL Sounders and the New York Cosmos in the Kingdom -- the very first sports event in the Kingdom. One of my first jobs was an admin role with the old Sounders in the early 1980s. So I have seen a lot of the changes.

The pace of improvement in the last 10 years is remarkable. It remains a work in progress. But I watch teams from Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America regularly, and we are catching up.

Until we can match European salaries, however, we will have a talent deficit with the English, Spanish and Italian leagues, for sure.

But I am not sure why you find the quality of play so difficult to watch. For sure we are not seeing players like Messi, Ronaldo, or Van Persie in their prime, but the designated player rule in the past few years is helping bring better foreign talent.

I would project that the MLS will break into the top 10 of world leagues in the next five years. Getting into the top five leagues globally will take longer, and has some variables that would require some further big changes. In the US, the MLS for many is about where the NHL is -- and not yet to where the NFL, NBA and MLB are. That gap will have to close in the US for the US to join the global top 5 in soccer leagues.

We are now finally in a period where most moms and dads who are raising kids also themselves have played soccer, which is a big plus for national player development. Soccer is the fastest growing sport still among American youth. I am heartened that the US national men's coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, has said that reform and development of US youth soccer is paramount.

I have always enjoyed watching soccer at multiple levels, as a player, referee, coach and spectator. Yes, I am a soccer nut and have been since I started playing in high school when it was first introduced as a sport. But there are more and more and more of us, and a critical mass is developing. Average attendance at Sounders' games this year was 43,144.

Sark > Ty Post of all time!












I stopped reading there.