And it's starting...

[General]

Everyone said Beckham was a vanity project, the first year some were seemingly proven right, but then he knuckled down and left having won the title in the U.S.

Before you would see the MLS top teams take players on from the championship, then it was Beckham and a few players arguably at the very end of their careers going for a pay packet... what I've noticed recently though is that whilst these players aren't getting younger there are more and more players who still just about have something that they could offer in Europe heading in the twilight of their careers to the U.S..

That pool is seemingly growing too - Just watched a highlights reel including Robbie Keane, Obafemi Martins and Defoe all plying their trade there and admittedly looking a lot better against weaker opposition, but what I want to know is where's the tipping point?

It's clearly going to come if this trend continues - the U.S. footballing market is bound to become lucrative with a higher latin American community and the proximity to Latin America, whilst if there does become a larger exodus you may start to see players a few years younger go over for the opportunity to play with these players, and the knock on effect will ensue.

Not only that but as far as the way sports players are idolised over there - the weather and also the language you'd be forgiven for thinking that it becomes a relatively viable option for players... presumably if they sort out the interest and commercial viability of the sport and the money starts coming through, we could see Europe perhaps being competed against as the place to go? Or do you think the strength in Europe is the fact that players don't have to speak in English to live and work here - Spanish speakers can go to spain, Brazilians to spain and Portugal, French African speaking players to france etc etc..?

Has anyone else noticed the rise of the MLS - how far do you think they've come if at all?

Do you see them competing against Europes top leagues? Or is the history enough? At the moment there aren't many competitions between Europes elite and the U.S which means the U.S league doesn't get a chance to legitimise itself further and gets the exposure to the players... which as we noticed with the Europa League run, you become a more attractive proposition when you see what a club is capable of and it's support etc...

perhaps also the size of the country and the size of the sport in comparison to basketball, baseball and American football means the celebrity status isn't as big as here which is a relief, or it has the potential to be bigger which is more lucrative?

Thoughts?

[General]

add in Henry and the Bradley guy who went from Roma to Toronto too and Dempsey.

[General]

Tim Cahill red bulls... juninho red bulls too.

[God The Mechanic]

From an outside perspective the MLS is in a lose-lose situation for the time being.  It used to be just players going for final pay day, the money being the only motive and for players no longer good enough to compete in the "top" leagues.  Now players in their prime move and they get criticised for going for the money and lacking ambition.

I'm glad it's strengthening.  I've watched a fair few games over the last few years and whilst the quality may not always be there it's got the action and aggression of Championship style teams.  But it's "American" and "soccer" so people down play it.

[RidgeRider]

Reo Coker and Cudicini as well

[Deanothefulhamfan]

I think the MLS, has come on hugely with the rise of the big stars, and long may it continue.

The players do get grief for joining the mls, but the money is there to lure the players over.... Bradley is an example that decent players who are not passed it can go and join.... He is a key player for the US, and if teams can convince players of his calibre to join, then the mls will be a decent league in a few years.

[BarryP]

Sporting KC's play-by-play announcer Callum Williams gives his short form opinions of MLS in an interview back in 2012.

http://soccernightexclusive.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/callum-williams-soccer-night-exclusive-interview/

As you may well know yourself the MLS in England is seen as a retirement home for veteran players. Which is clearly not the case. How would you describe the standard of soccer in Major League Soccer ?

It really frustrates me when people say that about MLS. The problem is, the first and last time quite a few people in England saw MLS was when Beckham came over in 07 and he was playing in a University American football stadium (which still had the American football markings on the pitch) at Real Salt Lake. That's not the case anymore. 15 of the 18 stadiums in MLS are 'soccer specific' and those who don't have that are either getting it sorted or don't need to. Seattle for example, play in an NFL stadium. Last weekend vs Portland Timbers (their arch rivals) they announced an attendance of 66,000. Seattle will draw a crowd of 40,000 usually (more then a lot of EPL teams). Attendances and TV ratings are on the up; the highest in league history right now and continue to rise. Soccer is now the number 3 sport in the USA behind American Football and baseball but its ahead of both the NBA and NHL. Years ago, this was unthinkable. I know Robbie Keane could have signed for Blackburn before he joined LA, but he wanted a new challenge and he got it. Kris Boyd, 28, 101 goals in 143 league appearances for Rangers, he's struggled this season at Portland Timbers with 7 league goals all season. Alessandro Nesta said he thought he'd come to MLS and play 'easy football', but in actual fact he's said he finds it 'more difficult' playing in MLS then he ever did in Serie A! The quality here is good and players now come here to challenge themselves rather then take a final pay day (they go to the Middle East for that). People need to remember this is also a very young league, its only in its 17th year. So many players, (not just Americans) are getting picked up out of this league to go and play in England and elsewhere in Europe and not disappointed. I've said it before and I'll say it again. MLS is basically identical to the Championship back in England. The attendances, the player wages, the stadiums and of course the quality of the football. I remember pre season this year, one MLS player asked me about football in Europe as he had a chance to go to Sweden. I said "don't do it, MLS is better". Needles to say he didn't go and is having another solid year in MLS. The league here is better then the likes of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Scotland and Poland and because its in arguably the most forward thinking country in the world, they aren't shy of spending a penny or two on the league to improve it. Facilities and quality are better then most in Europe.

Many top European players have made the move to North America over the past few season, the likes of Alessandro Nesta, Robbie Keane and Thierry Henry. Who do you see making the move to MLS in the near future ?

I think the next one will be Kaka. I know he's had offers and wants to come. Thing is, you can never dismiss an average EPL player from just turning up as well. Hendry Thomas (ex Wigan Athletic) for example, left the north west to join Colorado Rapids. You hear names linked all the time, but the difference is now compared to maybe 5 years ago, the player and his agent take the offer very seriously. Djibril Cisse, Michael Owen, Steven Pienaar, Nicolas Anelka are all names I've heard mentioned in the past around MLS.

How big can the MLS become ?

I don't think it'll ever be as big as the English Premier League, but it can certainly get to a position where it rivals other top European leagues for players and coaches. I think in the next 10 years it'll have a big say in world football.

If you follow the link there is more in the interview about Callum Williams, Sporting KC and how Williams landed the play-by-play position if you're interested.

[simplyfulham]

If you're judging the MLS by the standard of it's top player(s), then yes it's up there with some pretty decent European leagues.

But if you judge it by its worst player(s), then it's still along way behind most of it's European and South American counterparts.

[nose]

good luck to the MLS but there is very little coverage in Europe as far as I know and because the teams have no tradition it is hard to form an emotional connection. Ask me about Italian french or even greek football and I can tell you something, but nothing about the MLS teams.
I hope that people in the USA really support the venture so that it becomes a proper league that can compete with the best in the world.

[BarryP]

MLS isn't targeting Europe nose and it shouldn't be.  MLS is targeting the North American TV market and has made large strides with each new television contract it has negotiated.  Some reports indicate the deal negotiated this year is worth five times the current deal and for the first time ever MLS will have dedicated match times every week on three different networks will all non-televised matches streamed free on ESPN3.

I think the league is doing great things for how long it has been in existence and has made leaps and bounds in quality over the last decade.  Until MLS grows enough revenue to remove the financial constraints from clubs it will not be the Premier League or La Liga in terms of technical quality.  However, it is light years ahead of where it was ten years ago and is probably light years behind where it will be ten years from now.

[YankeeJim]

MLS has improved. Ten years ago I found it as unwatchable as Series A, abet for different reasons. The technical skill has improved and I do enjoy the occasional game. The next two things that MLS needs to do is mate its schedule with rest of the world and start beating the Mexican clubs in various competitions. After they have done that than it'll be time to work harder on the development of American players and maybe consider a merger with the Mexican league. The future is bright and as long as it continues to be profitable, then it will continue to grow.

[ToodlesMcToot]

MLS isn't targeting Europe nose and it shouldn't be.  MLS is targeting the North American TV market and has made large strides with each new television contract it has negotiated.  Some reports indicate the deal negotiated this year is worth five times the current deal and for the first time ever MLS will have dedicated match times every week on three different networks will all non-televised matches streamed free on ESPN3.

I think the league is doing great things for how long it has been in existence and has made leaps and bounds in quality over the last decade.  Until MLS grows enough revenue to remove the financial constraints from clubs it will not be the Premier League or La Liga in terms of technical quality.  However, it is light years ahead of where it was ten years ago and is probably light years behind where it will be ten years from now.

MLS is targeting the PL as the largest TV contract for football in The U.S. and that's exactly what they should be doing. Though the PL contract with NBC is/was only for three seasons (MLS's new contract is for 8), MLS was able to get more money per season ($90 million) than the PL got from NBC. I'm sure that the PL's new contract, when it's signed, will exceed that value/year but, this was a huge step forward for the league.

MLS will continue to harvest "ripe" players from the European Leagues since those well known players enhance the quality of play while also driving up ticket sales. More importantly for the league is that MLS is competing with European leagues in South and Central America for talent. They are also dipping their toes into talent pools in Africa. This and the ever expanding development and, especially recognition, of the talent pool here in The States is what will really drive the level of quality of play.

Our league is way behind the other major leagues in Europe but, I believe it won't be long (relatively speaking) before we are in the conversation.