July 23, 2010
MLS – A growing league
By Andrew Hill
The 2010 All-Star game in Houston will have a guest of great prestige: Manchester United from England’s Premier League. The MLS will be represented by 23 players on July 28th in Reliant Park, continuing with the tradition established in 2005 of playing against European teams. 70,000 fans will have the privilege of taking a seat to enjoy this great match.
Bruce Arena, former US national team coach, will be in charge of the team composed with: Goalkeepers: Donovan Ricketts (LA Galaxy) and Nick Rimado (Real Salt Lake); defenders: Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Jamison Olave (Real Salt Lake), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Health Pearce (FC Dallas), Wilman Conde (Chicago Fire), Kevin Alston (New England Revolution). Midfielders: Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC), Marco Pappa (Chicago Fire), Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew), Sebastian LeToux (Philadelphia Union), David Ferreira (FC Dallas), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Shalrie Joseph (New England Revolution), Jeff Larentowicz (Colorado Rapids). And Forwards: Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Juan Pablo Ángel (New York Red Bulls), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Jaime Moreno (D.C. United).
The 2009 edition was lost against Everton by penalty kicks, in 2008 the All Stars team defeated West Ham United 3 to 2, in 2007 they beat Celtic from Scotland for 2 to 0, in 2006 Chelsea lost by the 1 to 0, and Fulham was humiliated 4 to 1 in the 2005 game. The MLS has a positive record of 3-1 against English teams, a good sign that the quality of the league and its players is very competitive. And this reflects in the National team too, where 17 out of its 23 players that were present in the past World Cup, which was held in South Africa, play in a European league, and 2 in the Mexican League.
There is still much to do
Despite the league and National team being competitive, they are not part of the elite in the world of soccer yet, and if they want to get there some changes need to be done. One of them, and probably the most important, is that the big names that are coming to the MLS have already passed away the peak of their careers, and usually arrive in their early 30s. For example David Beckham or the most recent acquirement by the New York Bulls: Thierry Henry.
Even though the French is a great player, he is very far from what he used to be a few years ago, and proof of that is his low performance this last season with Barcelona, where he only scored 7 goals in 32 games, after his 26 goals in 42 games in 2008-2009. The truth is that if Henry was at the peak of his career he wouldn’t be playing in the MLS, because big stars need big challenges, and the MLS can’t offer this, it can only offer a good salary and a lower wear out.
Mexico can be a good role model about how to give a league prestige, since instead of bringing stars that are about to finish their careers; they bring young talented players from South America mostly. Besides that they compete in the most renowned tournament of the continent, the Copa Libertadores de America. In this cup they play against the top teams from the South that have the future stars of many European teams, making it an appealing league to compete.
Once the MLS gets to understand that they need to be a bridge for players with potential to join a good club in Europe, and begin to invest in young talents rather than stars in the final years of their careers, only then the league will change its reputation. These young players would not only increase the competition and quality of the league, but would also make it an attractive market for other prestigious leagues.
About the Author
Andrew Hill has been a prominent writer on daily MLS games, sports news and the sportsbook industry for many exceptional sport web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.