What's Wrong With The MLS?

By Ian Taylor on February 2, 2016

I’ve been a soccer fan for as long as I can remember. Growing up in England, even though I am American, I saw David Beckham as a demigod.

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I’m still a big soccer fan, and because of that I have to write this article, and break some bad news to other American soccer fans. There are a lot of other soccer fans in America, and they are some of the craziest in the world. Passion drips from these fans as they spend 90 minutes screaming their throats out, pounding on the stands, and creating an atmosphere like no other. It is because of this passion and desire for triumph that it makes it hard to type these words: The MLS sucks.

Major League Soccer has quickly become the soccer world’s Champion’s tour, with former legends coming to the United States and dominating the American league. At one point, David Beckham and Thierry Henry were two of the five best players in the world, but as their careers were winding down in Spain, many expected them to go back to their home countries and unceremoniously ride the bench.

In 2011, at 36 and 34 respectively, they were selected to the MLS All-star game. They were also selected to the 2012 game, and not out of respect like Kobe Bryant this year in the NBA, but because they earned it. This is not unusual for the U.S.’s top flight. This year was owned by Didier Drogba (old), Kaka (getting there), and Jozy Altidore (not old, just a European reject).

The MLS has always had problems with developing and keeping talent. DeAndre Yedlin starred for the U.S. in the 2014 World Cup, and immediately jumped ship from Seattle to Tottenham. Jozy Altidore was billed as America’s first great soccer export, and was viewed as best until he came back to the MLS, where he once again excelled. Landon Donovan, The MLS’s all-time leading goal-scorer could never get enough momentum outside of the U.S., scoring 11 goals in 58 games in Germany and England.

Now, the real question has become, “What is wrong with the MLS, and how do we fix it?” Well to put it simply, it’s young. It has yet to have the players or clubs that can transcend our country’s borders — those come in time. To be honest it starts from the bottom. We don’t develop soccer players like other countries do, for us the development tends to start at 16, rather than eight. There’s also the money aspect of the problem. Madrid and Barcelona are good because they literally print money. It’s the same thing as the Yankees in baseball, only on a much more expensive scale. We can’t afford to bring in insanely good players in their primes, and the level of competition is hurt by it.

The final problem is image. The MLS has the image of the old man’s league, so nobody wants to play here while in their prime. Lots of players have expressed their desire to come to America in a few years, because they know they will be dominant. Recent reports have linked Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Christiano Ronaldo, and Gerard Pique to the impending franchise in Miami (owned by David Beckham, no less). All of those players will be years past their prime in 2018, but it’s no shock if Ronaldo holds the single-season goal record within three years of his arrival. The only way to fix that is years of cultivating young talent, and hoping for the best.

The best way to sum it up is in the words of Mexico National Team coach Juan Carlos Osario, who said in an interview with ESPN FC: “[MLS] is for the end of a career and not for when a footballer still has a lot to give.”

That’s how we’re viewed, guys; and he’s not wrong.

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