MLS

SO I grew up with Inter (Milan) and SerieA and was lead to believe that MLS was total shite. So Beckham goes to MLS and I watch a few matches and it's not so bad actually. DC United in particular impressed me with their clever passing. They have several former premiership players there to such as Juan Pablo Angel, Abel Xavier, Claudio Reyna, Jovan Kirovski, Terry Cooke to name a few.

you're a Inter fan?? That's AWESOME man , you're in the right way.

About the MLS i don't give a damn, however is getting better...Juan Pablo Angel is a very good forward.

Oh yeah I love Inter, my mom is Italia. I think Adriano is the best striker.

obviously man....he's from Brazil

Do you know the Mexican player Blanco? He is playing with Chicago now.

MLS teams do pretty well when they play big European clubs in friendlies. Here are some results I found:

DC United 1-0 Tottenham 2005 MLS Select 1-0 Chelsea 2006 MLS Select 3-1 Fulham 2005 MLS Select 2-0 Celtic 2007 DC United 1-1 Real Madrid 2006 LA Galaxy 1-2 Real Madrid 2006 LA Galaxy 0-1 Chelsea 2007 MLS Select 0-5 Real Madrid 2006 RSL 2-0 Everton 2007 Chicago 1-1 Celtic 2007 Red Bull New York 1-3 AC Milan 2005

I found that these former MLS players are now in the Premiership:

Tim Howard Carlos Bocanegra Ryan Nelson Brian Mcbride Brad Friedel Clint Dempsey Simon Elliot

and Damarcus Beasley is now with Rangers.

Before I start my post, since BlackMonday is an American, I will start with DEFINITION.

When I say SOCCER, I'm referring to the sport in the US and Canada When I say FOOTBALL, I'm referring to the global sport you call soccer outside the US, not American Football.

I just made this clarification bacause whenever I mention football to Americans, they think I'm talking about American Football.

There is no doubt that US Soccer/MLS is improving, but then, it's still considered a secondary sport/league in the US. The rest of the football world know that the US can be a global power in the sport. But unless the Americans uplift the status of soccer to a primary sport/league and support the game, the rest of the football world will still consider MLS a secondary football league to European premier leagues.

Don't get me wrong, MLS teams can compete with European clubs. As what you posted with the scores in the thread. But then, when you look at the overall picture, its the world still consideres it "Serie B."

I expect an influx of football superstars around the world to follow David Beckhams steps. They will sign with MLS teams on their "retirement" years. Anyway, it was not the first time football superstars signed to the American League. Pele, Eusebio, and even coach Dick Advocaat among others played in the NASL (predecessor to MLS). But then, according to Pele when interviewed about Beckhams entry to LA Galaxy, mentioned that "the teams/league now are more organized than before when I played."

With global football superstars entering the MLS, it will gain popularity, and uplift its status to a major sporting league. Anyway, the Americans are the number 1 sport fans around the world, and, of course, the most important thing: they have the money!

One thing I've noticed about the MLS games. The scores are a little higher than European league matches. Can we attribute that to lack of defense? Or the goalee's liability?

Indeed*!*

Well I in no way think MLS is close to the Premiership in quality and it's doubtful it ever will be. I was just commenting that the quality is higher than what I've been told it was. Some of the stadiums are pretty nice too!

But yes, given the choice to go to a MLS match or a SerieA match then I'll choose the Italian league everytime, assuming that they allow fans at the Italian game. :)

Good assessment of MLS there Sub-Cultured, pretty much summed up my thoughts. I'm not a big fan of the league though, as none of the teams are in my area, we do have the Portland Timbers of the USL, who drew nil-nil with Sunderland out here last summer (pre-Keane of course).

claudio reyna is not a good example of a class player :P

Sub-Cultured*!* wrote:

One thing I've noticed about the MLS games. The scores are a little higher than European league matches. Can we attribute that to lack of defense? Or the goalee's liability?

Indeed*!*

I don't think it is higher scoring... please to back up if you can find it because supposedly the only thing american footballers can do is defend.

Landon Donovan? Clint Dempsey? Joze Altidore? Freddy Adu? Danny Szetellla (a striker that is being courted by AS Roma) I think you were right about 10 years ago but that isn't the case any longer.

Just to add...

US Soccer is getting popular and popular everyday, particularly in American elementary and high schools. Although I watched over the news, most of the kids who are crazy about the sport are sons/daughers of European and Latin American immigrants/expats.

Also, I just wonder why in the women's division, the US Women Soccer team rule. What I mean is it's not proportional. For the men's, they are considered second-class power in world football. But not to the females. Mia Hamm (probably the best lady footballer), Kristine Lilly, etc., these are the best lady players in the world.

Indeed*!*