Comments on: Is Portsmouth better than the Chicago Fire?…and the current status of American Soccer http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/the-truth-of-american-soccer/4080 Daily Analysis of Major League Soccer Sat, 20 Mar 2010 21:51:34 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: ranndino http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/the-truth-of-american-soccer/4080#comment-18426 ranndino Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:03:33 +0000 http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/?p=4080#comment-18426 @ Jack What school of debating did you attend? Copying and pasting someone's points and then replying in all caps while mostly yelling things like NO, OMG, YOU'RE AN IDIOT is not even remotely convincing and actually makes you look like a complete tool. You haven't made one convincing argument. Instead you came off as an emotional moron who just can't believe that someone can possibly have an opinion that differs from his own. Same goes for some of the others who disagreed with the author's post. Your opinions are not facts. Get used to that. Yelling that someone is an idiot while not even attempting to make any logical arguments might be convincing only to your drunken pub mates, not anyone with an actual brain. Overall, I would say that debating which league is better is pointless because it's a matter of subjective opinion until the teams from different leagues are actually involved in a competition against each other. Even then most people won't change their mind because most people aren't reasonable and have no regard for facts. They just stick to their viewpoints regardless of the evidence. Magin made a great point above. South Americans always thought that Mexican clubs are inferior. Once the Mexican clubs were invited to their tournaments and proved that they can not only compete, but succeed... well... nothing changed. South Americans still think their clubs are superior (see my point above), but to anyone who judges based on facts the Mexicans have proven that their clubs are every bit as good as some of the top teams in South America. As for MLS the only thing we can currently judge them on are these pre-season friendlies against Euro clubs. Admittedly, it's tough to judge because MLS clubs are in mid season form while Euro clubs are in pre-season, but going on anything other than results is subjective. And the results have not been bad. MLS teams do not get played off the pitch even by the very best Euro clubs, as some of you suggest they would. They look OK, and sometimes even outplay their opponents in these games (and even win). I watch the EPL all the time. The league comes with incredible hype and the English are incensed when anyone says that it's not the best in the world, but the truth is that the author of the article is right. The caliber of play outside the top 5-6 teams leaves a lot to be desired. I can hardly stay awake watching 2 average EPL teams play these days. They can barely string 3 passes together. The English national team has been playing horrendous football for years now despite being full of EPL stars (and I'm saying it as a fan of it who has watched almost every game in the last 5 years at least). It is quite obvious to everyone, but the brainwashed Brits that foreign stars are what makes the top EPL teams so good. Spanish La Liga is a better league top to bottom with far more individual talent than the EPL and a much better overall style of play. When a club like Barcelona play a team from the lower end they still get a game and often the unheralded side displays some impressive football of their own. Yes, often that leads to them getting waxed, but at least they go down playing real football, not parking the bus in front of their net like almost every lower end EPL club does against the top 5. Like a few have pointed out MLS clubs lack depth to compete over a long season due to cap restrictions, but based just on the starting XI's they're not nearly as bad as the British would have us believe. Chelsea was outplayed by Seattle this summer and only lost due to lack of good finishers. Everton was played off the pitch by MLS All Stars, not even a real club team, but a bunch of guys who had one practice together, and only survived due to outstanding goalkeeping by Tim Howard, who is ironically American. LA Galaxy looked quite all right vs. AC Milan and Barcelona. I'm looking forward to more games between MLS and Euro clubs this week. And before someone jumps on me for giving so much significance to pre-season games, like I said above, objectively that's all we have to really go on right now. Everything else is just subjective opinion. Finally, Real Madrid got killed by Barcelona in the 2nd Superclassico this past season, 6-2 (and Barca could have easily had 10) and yet I didn't hear anyone blather about how Real is a crap team that would be relegated from the English Championship. Now imagine this happened to an MLS team. We wouldn't hear the end of how that's proof that MLS sucks. @ Jack

What school of debating did you attend? Copying and pasting someone’s points and then replying in all caps while mostly yelling things like NO, OMG, YOU’RE AN IDIOT is not even remotely convincing and actually makes you look like a complete tool. You haven’t made one convincing argument. Instead you came off as an emotional moron who just can’t believe that someone can possibly have an opinion that differs from his own.

Same goes for some of the others who disagreed with the author’s post. Your opinions are not facts. Get used to that. Yelling that someone is an idiot while not even attempting to make any logical arguments might be convincing only to your drunken pub mates, not anyone with an actual brain.

Overall, I would say that debating which league is better is pointless because it’s a matter of subjective opinion until the teams from different leagues are actually involved in a competition against each other. Even then most people won’t change their mind because most people aren’t reasonable and have no regard for facts. They just stick to their viewpoints regardless of the evidence.

Magin made a great point above. South Americans always thought that Mexican clubs are inferior. Once the Mexican clubs were invited to their tournaments and proved that they can not only compete, but succeed… well… nothing changed. South Americans still think their clubs are superior (see my point above), but to anyone who judges based on facts the Mexicans have proven that their clubs are every bit as good as some of the top teams in South America.

As for MLS the only thing we can currently judge them on are these pre-season friendlies against Euro clubs. Admittedly, it’s tough to judge because MLS clubs are in mid season form while Euro clubs are in pre-season, but going on anything other than results is subjective. And the results have not been bad. MLS teams do not get played off the pitch even by the very best Euro clubs, as some of you suggest they would. They look OK, and sometimes even outplay their opponents in these games (and even win).

I watch the EPL all the time. The league comes with incredible hype and the English are incensed when anyone says that it’s not the best in the world, but the truth is that the author of the article is right. The caliber of play outside the top 5-6 teams leaves a lot to be desired. I can hardly stay awake watching 2 average EPL teams play these days. They can barely string 3 passes together.

The English national team has been playing horrendous football for years now despite being full of EPL stars (and I’m saying it as a fan of it who has watched almost every game in the last 5 years at least). It is quite obvious to everyone, but the brainwashed Brits that foreign stars are what makes the top EPL teams so good.

Spanish La Liga is a better league top to bottom with far more individual talent than the EPL and a much better overall style of play. When a club like Barcelona play a team from the lower end they still get a game and often the unheralded side displays some impressive football of their own. Yes, often that leads to them getting waxed, but at least they go down playing real football, not parking the bus in front of their net like almost every lower end EPL club does against the top 5.

Like a few have pointed out MLS clubs lack depth to compete over a long season due to cap restrictions, but based just on the starting XI’s they’re not nearly as bad as the British would have us believe.

Chelsea was outplayed by Seattle this summer and only lost due to lack of good finishers. Everton was played off the pitch by MLS All Stars, not even a real club team, but a bunch of guys who had one practice together, and only survived due to outstanding goalkeeping by Tim Howard, who is ironically American. LA Galaxy looked quite all right vs. AC Milan and Barcelona. I’m looking forward to more games between MLS and Euro clubs this week. And before someone jumps on me for giving so much significance to pre-season games, like I said above, objectively that’s all we have to really go on right now. Everything else is just subjective opinion.

Finally, Real Madrid got killed by Barcelona in the 2nd Superclassico this past season, 6-2 (and Barca could have easily had 10) and yet I didn’t hear anyone blather about how Real is a crap team that would be relegated from the English Championship. Now imagine this happened to an MLS team. We wouldn’t hear the end of how that’s proof that MLS sucks.

]]> By: radionoise http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/the-truth-of-american-soccer/4080#comment-14074 radionoise Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:36:22 +0000 http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/?p=4080#comment-14074 you. are. a. fucking. moran. you. are. a. fucking. moran.

]]> By: Jack http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/the-truth-of-american-soccer/4080#comment-14053 Jack Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:32:11 +0000 http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/?p=4080#comment-14053 Thomas Skull SERIOUSLY. try to move outside the "i'm an american I need to make myself as big an idiot as possible" stereotype. Obviously American's are not idiots at all, just the moron's like yourself who push your little dumb ignorant opinions forward. Let's have a look at your post. think most MLS teams would easily avoid relegation in England (AVOID RELEGATION FROM BLUE SQUARE PREMIER LEAGUE SOUTH... MAYBE) . Does anyone on this blog seriously not think Hull City who stayed up by the way would beat Chicago or Houston? (YES, PROBABLY MOST SANE PEOPLE WHO REALISE HULL ARE A STRONG TEAM WHO ONLY APPEAR WEAK DUE TO THE UN-DISBUTABLE TALENT THEY FACE EACH WEEK) In fact I think Houston especially would push for a UEFA Cup or now Europa league spot. ( ARE YOU MAD?!?! HOUSTON BETTER THAN VILLA? NO. SPURS? NO. WEST HAM? NO. MAN CITY? NO. FULHAM? NO. DON'T MAKE ME GO ON.) While depth is an issue, most MLS teams have more quality players that simply aren’t hyped by the local media than the bottom 5-7 teams in the English league. (BULLSHIT. CONGRATULATIONS FOR RELYING ON THE AGE OLD DEADOUT EXCUSE OF THE EVERYTHING BEING THE MEDIA'S FAULT.) Saying MLS teams would struggle in the Championship is an insult (NO. JUST NO) . Every single MLS team has international caliber players (LOL LOL LOL ETC) that are better than the best championship players and every single team would win automatic promotion. (EBAINKS BLAKE? JASON SCOTLAND? ALL OF THE BLOODY BURNLEY TEAM? AUTOMATIC PROMOTION MY ASS MATE. ) As far as Mexico, the English teams with their poor conditioning, pie runs and pub culture would pass out after 30 minutes at Jalisco or Azteca (OH MY LORD. OH MY LORD. SO YOUR SAYING, IN THE "EPL" THAT POOR CONDITIONING IS COMMON? OR EVEN POSSIBLE? THAT'S A RIDICULOUS SUGGESTION, THE LARGER CLUBS PLAY AT LEAST 50 GAMES OVER THE SEASON, WITH THE SMALLER ONES PLAYING AT LEAST 40. WITH ALMOST EVERY PLAYER IN THE "EPL" COMPETEING AT INTERNATIONAL LEVEL YOUR SUGGESTION THEY AREN'T THE MOST PHYSICALLY FIT PLAYERS IN THE WORLD IS PLAIN RIDICULOUS. ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE "EPL"'S REPUTATION FOR BEING THE MOST PHYSICAL LEAGUE IN THE WORLD. I'D GO ON BUT THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY). Club America would beat Hull by an embarrassing scoreline.(LOL. IS THIS A JOKE? SERIOUSLY? ARE YOU DUMB.) I actually think the top USL teams like Vancouver and Puerto Rico would be strong in the Championship also.(ON YOUR BIKE SON. ON YOUR BIKE) So all in all, Thomas Skull is some POOMPLEX DERKHEAD who clearly has no knowledge of football. Thomas Skull SERIOUSLY. try to move outside the “i’m an american I need to make myself as big an idiot as possible” stereotype. Obviously American’s are not idiots at all, just the moron’s like yourself who push your little dumb ignorant opinions forward. Let’s have a look at your post.

think most MLS teams would easily avoid relegation in England (AVOID RELEGATION FROM BLUE SQUARE PREMIER LEAGUE SOUTH… MAYBE) . Does anyone on this blog seriously not think Hull City who stayed up by the way would beat Chicago or Houston? (YES, PROBABLY MOST SANE PEOPLE WHO REALISE HULL ARE A STRONG TEAM WHO ONLY APPEAR WEAK DUE TO THE UN-DISBUTABLE TALENT THEY FACE EACH WEEK) In fact I think Houston especially would push for a UEFA Cup or now Europa league spot. ( ARE YOU MAD?!?! HOUSTON BETTER THAN VILLA? NO. SPURS? NO. WEST HAM? NO. MAN CITY? NO. FULHAM? NO. DON’T MAKE ME GO ON.)

While depth is an issue, most MLS teams have more quality players that simply aren’t hyped by the local media than the bottom 5-7 teams in the English league. (BULLSHIT. CONGRATULATIONS FOR RELYING ON THE AGE OLD DEADOUT EXCUSE OF THE EVERYTHING BEING THE MEDIA’S FAULT.)

Saying MLS teams would struggle in the Championship is an insult (NO. JUST NO) . Every single MLS team has international caliber players (LOL LOL LOL ETC) that are better than the best championship players and every single team would win automatic promotion. (EBAINKS BLAKE? JASON SCOTLAND? ALL OF THE BLOODY BURNLEY TEAM? AUTOMATIC PROMOTION MY ASS MATE. )

As far as Mexico, the English teams with their poor conditioning, pie runs and pub culture would pass out after 30 minutes at Jalisco or Azteca (OH MY LORD. OH MY LORD. SO YOUR SAYING, IN THE “EPL” THAT POOR CONDITIONING IS COMMON? OR EVEN POSSIBLE? THAT’S A RIDICULOUS SUGGESTION, THE LARGER CLUBS PLAY AT LEAST 50 GAMES OVER THE SEASON, WITH THE SMALLER ONES PLAYING AT LEAST 40. WITH ALMOST EVERY PLAYER IN THE “EPL” COMPETEING AT INTERNATIONAL LEVEL YOUR SUGGESTION THEY AREN’T THE MOST PHYSICALLY FIT PLAYERS IN THE WORLD IS PLAIN RIDICULOUS. ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE “EPL”‘S REPUTATION FOR BEING THE MOST PHYSICAL LEAGUE IN THE WORLD. I’D GO ON BUT THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY). Club America would beat Hull by an embarrassing scoreline.(LOL. IS THIS A JOKE? SERIOUSLY? ARE YOU DUMB.)

I actually think the top USL teams like Vancouver and Puerto Rico would be strong in the Championship also.(ON YOUR BIKE SON. ON YOUR BIKE)

So all in all, Thomas Skull is some POOMPLEX DERKHEAD who clearly has no knowledge of football.

]]> By: Jack http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/the-truth-of-american-soccer/4080#comment-14052 Jack Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:21:25 +0000 http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/?p=4080#comment-14052 WHAT THE HELL. What idiot actually wrote this? assuming it's serious. Chicago Fire vs Everton (EPL WIN) Chicago Fire vs Aston Villa (EPL WIN) Chicago Fire vs West Ham (EPL WIN) Chicago Fire vs SUNDERLAND (EPL WIN) Chicago Fire vs HULL (EPL WIN) Chicago Fire vs Portsmouth you MUG OF COURSE EPL WOULD WIN. OH MY GOSH. I could continue well into the championship with this. Reading would be champions of mls. ffs. this makes me mad reading this. what goon's idea was this. WHAT THE HELL. What idiot actually wrote this? assuming it’s serious.

Chicago Fire vs Everton (EPL WIN)
Chicago Fire vs Aston Villa (EPL WIN)
Chicago Fire vs West Ham (EPL WIN)
Chicago Fire vs SUNDERLAND (EPL WIN)
Chicago Fire vs HULL (EPL WIN)
Chicago Fire vs Portsmouth you MUG OF COURSE EPL WOULD WIN.

OH MY GOSH. I could continue well into the championship with this. Reading would be champions of mls.
ffs. this makes me mad reading this.

what goon’s idea was this.

]]> By: 30f http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/the-truth-of-american-soccer/4080#comment-14028 30f Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:52:27 +0000 http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/?p=4080#comment-14028 Couldn't disagree more with the thrust of this post. Maybe that makes me a 'purist' or 'eurosnob' - but I doubt it. The MLS is several big, big steps below the top leagues - and not just the Champions League sides. Maybe the Galaxy could play in Ligue 1 - the French seem to love the draws. Couldn’t disagree more with the thrust of this post. Maybe that makes me a ‘purist’ or ‘eurosnob’ – but I doubt it.

The MLS is several big, big steps below the top leagues – and not just the Champions League sides.

Maybe the Galaxy could play in Ligue 1 – the French seem to love the draws.

]]> By: Magin Argueta http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/the-truth-of-american-soccer/4080#comment-14024 Magin Argueta Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:12:34 +0000 http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/?p=4080#comment-14024 I believe the MLS has enough to compete with most of the clubs in Europe excempt the teams that qualify for The Champions League and a few in UEFA cup (Europe League). The top European teams spend too much money in players that it would be a shame were they at the same level. This comparison reminds me of South Americans saying that CONCACAF was not able to compete with them. They made the mistake of inviting Mexico to their competitions and that proved how wrong they were. Mexico went to finals of their tournaments, The USA and Honduras made it to semi-finals, etc. To this date they still think they are far superior (with Brazil and Argentina in mind), just like the Europeans feel in this forum. I believe the MLS has enough to compete with most of the clubs in Europe excempt the teams that qualify for The Champions League and a few in UEFA cup (Europe League). The top European teams spend too much money in players that it would be a shame were they at the same level. This comparison reminds me of South Americans saying that CONCACAF was not able to compete with them. They made the mistake of inviting Mexico to their competitions and that proved how wrong they were. Mexico went to finals of their tournaments, The USA and Honduras made it to semi-finals, etc. To this date they still think they are far superior (with Brazil and Argentina in mind), just like the Europeans feel in this forum.

]]> By: LI Matt http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/the-truth-of-american-soccer/4080#comment-14007 LI Matt Sat, 13 Jun 2009 09:22:47 +0000 http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/?p=4080#comment-14007 <i>I wish there was a law to keep you idiots away from our sport.</i> Ha! No chance. Sepp likes our money too much. I wish there was a law to keep you idiots away from our sport.

Ha! No chance. Sepp likes our money too much.

]]> By: It's called football http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/the-truth-of-american-soccer/4080#comment-14003 It's called football Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:27:54 +0000 http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/?p=4080#comment-14003 Typical yank ignorance. You idiots actually think your league is worth much more than it actually is. What a bunch of retards. This is why we would rather you clowns just stay the hell away from the sport of football. I wish there was a law to keep you idiots away from our sport. Typical yank ignorance. You idiots actually think your league is worth much more than it actually is. What a bunch of retards. This is why we would rather you clowns just stay the hell away from the sport of football. I wish there was a law to keep you idiots away from our sport.

]]> By: Jesse http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/the-truth-of-american-soccer/4080#comment-13994 Jesse Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:59:38 +0000 http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/?p=4080#comment-13994 Come on, man. This kind of punditry is deliberately incendiary and grossly irresponsible. You couldn't possibly genuinely believe that Tottenham and Aston Villa would be 'competitive' amidst MLS calibre teams. That's absolute nonsense. It's probably not unreasonable to suggest that there are less than five or thereabouts players in the entire league who would make one of the 23 man squads of these two particular teams. I am a dedicated fan of North American football and committed to the development of the game in this area of the world. This kind of commentary does violence to our ultimate goal if we're aiming to advance the standing of our teams and leagues in world football; North American soccer will never be taken seriously if the international understanding of it is coloured by opinions like this one. MLS is a better league than it's given credit for being (recognize that it's given credit for being, at best, probably a 'top 25' league in the world game) and I enjoy watching it, but it's absolutely farcical to make the sort of claims that would suggest MLS teams would be competitive with Europa League calibre Premiership teams. It's delusional behaviour,does nothing positive, and only invites mockery and encourages a general dismissal of the MLS product. You are part of the problem. Christ, man. That's just a preposterous thing to say. Come on, man.
This kind of punditry is deliberately incendiary and grossly irresponsible. You couldn’t possibly genuinely believe that Tottenham and Aston Villa would be ‘competitive’ amidst MLS calibre teams. That’s absolute nonsense. It’s probably not unreasonable to suggest that there are less than five or thereabouts players in the entire league who would make one of the 23 man squads of these two particular teams. I am a dedicated fan of North American football and committed to the development of the game in this area of the world. This kind of commentary does violence to our ultimate goal if we’re aiming to advance the standing of our teams and leagues in world football; North American soccer will never be taken seriously if the international understanding of it is coloured by opinions like this one. MLS is a better league than it’s given credit for being (recognize that it’s given credit for being, at best, probably a ‘top 25′ league in the world game) and I enjoy watching it, but it’s absolutely farcical to make the sort of claims that would suggest MLS teams would be competitive with Europa League calibre Premiership teams. It’s delusional behaviour,does nothing positive, and only invites mockery and encourages a general dismissal of the MLS product. You are part of the problem. Christ, man. That’s just a preposterous thing to say.

]]> By: Larry http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/the-truth-of-american-soccer/4080#comment-13992 Larry Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:19:42 +0000 http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/?p=4080#comment-13992 Thanks Mitch for a good laugh. It's been a long week. Thanks Mitch for a good laugh. It’s been a long week.

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