So just to make sure those few people who are interested in my blog never come back, I’m going to commit mainstream blogger suicide and write my second straight piece about soccer, only this time about Wednesday night’s Manchester United vs. New England Revolution game.
For those of you (most of you) who didn’t watch, Man U won 4-1, scoring all four goals in the second half. The score wasn’t really the noteworthy part of the event though (I use the word ‘event’ lightly), it was the amount of “soccer fans” that sprang from the woodwork to come out and see Manchester United It’s no surprise that Man U has a huge following around the world. It’s not even that surprising they have a decent following in Massachusetts.
I do have a problem or question concerning the idea of these top tier teams coming over to the U.S. for friendly matches: how much good does it actually do for a league like MLS?
It’s easy to see the side of the league: any publicity is good publicity. They’re hoping fans come out to games and see the passion around soccer, and it translates into them gaining passion for their local team. At the very least, they’re banking on some extra dough from tickets and concessions.
Here’s my problem though. Do these games do anything except reinforce the notion and fact that MLS, even its finest teams (which the Revs are a far cry from) are still miles behind most of Europe in the talent standpoint? I mean, if you’re trying to convince pessimistic soccer fans (which, I assume, are the people the league is trying to get to come out to these games in addition to their regular fans) MLS games are worth their time and money, are 4-1 losses really what you want being showcased?
Of course, there are Americans making a name for themselves across the pond including Dempsey, Holden, Howard, Bradley, Altidore, just to name a few As noted, however, they are overseas, and it’s because their talents exceed the amount of money MLS is willing to pay to keep them here.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, players that can’t get a starting role in European leagues anymore can still earn a fair living in MLS, but are scrap players really what MLS wants to showcase? Not if we’re trying to compete with the leagues these scraps players can’t get work in anymore.
The real question we have to ask after 51,000 people attended the game, whichnearly tripling a typical Revs game crowd, is how do we get these people to attend Revs games when top-notch teams aren’t in town? If the league answers this question, they will be set.
Eternal optimists may defend Wednesday night’s game and say, “Yeah, but the score was 0-0 at the end of the first half, and that’s when Man U had their top players in the game!” Yes, this is completely true, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say this is the exact reason the score was 0-0— because Man U’s top players were in.
Do you think Wayne Rooney, Nani, and Berbatov need to have a strong showing against New England to secure their spots in the starting eleven? Wayne Rooneyis one of the greatest finishers in the world and owner of the true play of the year with his bicycle goal against Man City. Nani is one of the most creative and skilled midfielders in the league, and Berbatov is the leading goal scorer for the Premier League champions. Do they really have to be at the top of their game? Doubtful. The only thing that could come of them going 100% is risking injury. The players with something to prove (i.e.: the reserves looking to make a name for themselves) came in with motivation and absolutely crushed the Revs.
This leads us to a larger, more noticeable problem. While you could make the argument that when both teams’ starters were on, the game was relatively close, but once both teams removed starters, the roof caved in. Four goals in 45 minutes are embarrassing regardless of who you’re playing.
The reason is the huge disparity in depth between EPL and MLS teams. For a while, people could say that the last man on the bench for any EPL team could start in MLS. It was true. Sure, these days the level of talent and depth has gone up considerably from where it was at the beginning of the league, but it’s still laughably lower than the EPL.
Now obviously the point of this blog isn’t to point out every embarrassing shortcoming MLS has when compared to the EPL (I seriously don’t even have the time to do that, and I’m still…we’ll call it “self-employed”), but it is notable that playing against teams so vastly superior to MLS talent is only going to hurt the fans. No one wants to go out and see their team lose 4-1.
“Okay, Mike. You’ve bashed MLS for almost 800 words now. What are your suggestions to up the credibility of the league?”
Honestly, if I had some foolproof plan to bump MLS onto the next level, I wouldn’t be sharing it on a blog, I’d be calling it into the league. So from a passionate but perhaps not problem-solving fan, here are some suggestions:
1) Owners need to be willing to spend more money. Call me biased (you wouldn’t be wrong), but Bob Kraft is the main culprit behind this suggestion. For too many years, Kraft has looked at the Revs as something to occupy the stadium in the time the Pats aren’t. That’s not acceptable from a fan standpoint. Not even close. Up until this season, the Revs were the only team in MLS to not have one of the following: a designated player, a soccer specific stadium, or a team sponsor. Guess which one the fans care least about? The sponsor. Guess which one Kraft jumped on? You got it. Fine, bring in more money, but you need to be willing to spend it on the team. There have been rumors of a designated player eventually coming to the Revs ever since the rule was put into writing. Never has it happened, and fans notice that. If you bring in a DP or two, not only will it show the fans you’re willing to spend a little cash in hope of winning more games, but it will bring in tons more attention to the team (can you say David Beckham?)
2) Once you have good players, spend the money to keep them! Can you imagine a fan’s reaction if their team’s Tom Brady became a free agent and instead of upping the amount of money they were willing to pay him, they allowed him to go play in the CFL instead? Unfortunately it happens time and time again. Once your team has a player they love, the team needs to keep him, because along with an upped level of play that comes along with great players, the player also brings along a following of fans that support him.
3) The league needs to continue with their youth movement. One of the biggest differences between MLS and other leagues for a long time was the lack of youth academies. These academies allow young players to grow up in a soccer environment and work under the tutelage of professional coaches to help hone their skills. With these academies, players have the opportunity to grow up in the system, which only helps the team in the long run. The best example of this is the next great U.S. striker, Juan Agudelo. He came up through the ranks of the Red Bull system, and now he’s starting for the U.S. With this program, instead of having to go overseas to get aging veterans that who hope for one last team to give them a chance, teams can fill their rosters with young, potential-filled players they already have rights to.
So sure, a job well done by MLS, specifically the Revs, for drawing so many fans to the most underrated sport in America. If only for one night, Gillette Stadium sounded like a legitimate soccer venue. Until they can draw the passion that those extra fans showed Wednesday night though, MLS will continue being Washington Generals to Europe’s Globetrotters.
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