That’s fair enough. Although, I’ve seen many top players from other countries struggle in England but play well in other leagues (such as Kanoute, Helder Postiga, Forlan etc.) Cobi Jones is actually quite popular in Latin America after his performances in the 1995 Copa America.
It seems people will never know how good leagues are in comparison to each other. You can’t really use top teams in competitions as a measurement. For example, if you compare Dutch, French and Portuguese performances in European competition since 1970s to now you would probably say Portuguese and Dutch teams are better than the French but this isn’t the case.
That’s why I used words like “generally” and “commonly”. “American” in everyday use has one specific meaning, despite the additional dictionary definitions. We all knew this. We all knew what country the thread’s title was referring to. Njtt’s comment was at best overly pedantic and at worst borderline threadshitting.
But then again this is the SDMB. Pedantic is seen as a badge of honour here.
Firstly, an MLS team beaing a top European team in a friendly has little to no meaning. The European team will play a watered down team and play at about 70% speed. The MLS team on the other hand will go all out and field their best squad. It’s a money spinner for the European team and nothing else.
Secondly, an average MLS would have no chance in the Premiership. They simply aren’t good enough. Maybe they would survive in the Championship but that’s unlikely. There difference in skill really is that vast. Look at it this way, MLS’ likely best player, Landon Donovan, was a decent player of a middling Everton team.
MLS is getting better and it is a good incubator for growing US talent but absent a once-off shock, an MLS team wouldn’t survive in a league format. And that’s the key, the league format over a season is a true indicator of talent. Think of the MLS as like single A versus the major leagues.
Everton and Donovan is not really a good example. Everton is not an average team. Everton is a good team in England over the past few years. Donovan also had 7 assists in 8 games for Everton on loan.
Also, MLS teams don’t go all out when they play friendlies. They normally make 5 to 8 substitutions when they play friendlies. NY Red Bulls even used a reserve team against Juventus a few years ago.
Nonsense. You absolutely can compare leagues and the MLS doesn’t stack up. Look at it this way, there is a reason that the top talent migrates to the best leagues (and the best compensation).
I feel very confident stating that the CFL is not nearly as good as the NFL, that NPB isn’t as good as MLB but could put up a respectable fight, and that the KHL isn’t as good as the NHL but is definitely way better than the SEL. Any fan of those sports would agree with me. Why can’t you do the same in soccer?
I have a lot of difficulty believing a league with a $3 million salary cap per team is in any way comparable to a league like the EPL where the average salary per player is over a million bucks, not to mention far more opportunity for endorsement deals. Unless soccer players are the world’s most economically irrational people, you can’t explain why the EPL wouldn’t attract more talent.
No, no more than the MLB should be called Minor League Baseball. Regardless of how it stacks up against international leagues, the MLS is the top, or “Major” league in the US.
Well, the* reason *it’s called Major League Soccer is to make it more popular. It sounds more impressive, gives the league a bit more PR panache, is reminiscent of one of the largest, oldest and most popular sports leagues in the world, and sounds different from previous attempts at a pro soccer league in North America. In other words, it’s called that to make money.
So it shouldn’t be called Minor League Soccer because then the league would be far less popular, and they’d lose money.
I do remember in the 2002 WC when the US was doing well, there was a question as to what would happen if the US won the whole thing.Mass suicides in Europe was the answer.
With all due respect, if the euro team wins those friendly games you would be hard pressed to find any mention of it at all, never mind boasting about it.
They are pre-season friendlies, only played due to sponsorship commitments. You can have little doubt that most of the top players don’t take them seriously, they will just walk through them to avoid injury.
On the wider issue, the top European teams are an order of magnitude better than MLS teams. Thats just reality, and its not really a slight on MLS teams to say it, any more than its a slight on League of Ireland teams to say that they would struggle in the English leagues.
The MLS is a young league with various restrictions placed on it. I would be pretty confident that a team like QPR, the current bottom side in the English premier league, would be MLS champions quite easily.
