Disaster in DC
Last night's result in Washington DC would under normal circumstances be a complete footballing disaster. But this is the MLS - where normalcy has no place - and the 8th best team in the league preventing the best team from claiming the league championship is totally fine with the empty suits running things. Think of it this way: It would be the equivalent of Reading defeating Manchester United in last year's Premier League and Manchester United being told "Sorry, you may have been some 40 points better than Reading but you didn't get it done in the playoffs". Operating under this mentality, the league should cancel the remaining 1st round matches and allow New York Red Bull and Chicago to meet in the MLS Cup final. That way Juan Pablo Angel & Cuauhtemoc Blanco can allow for at least one Designated Player to be lifting the championship trophy.
I understand this is how soccer in America is operating. That to have a single table and give the best team at the end of the season the championship would be un-American is the reason we have to deal with a playoff format. But it doesn't change the fact the rest of the world does not operate under this format. Playoffs in NFL, NBA and MLB are fine. Do whatever you want because the rest of the word - quite frankly - does not care one bit. However, when MLS is desperate to legitimize the league with the rest of the world, allowing for a catastrophe such as your regular season champion being nothing more than an afterthought is ridiculous. DC United were a class above the rest of the league this season.
They scored more goals than anyone. Played better attacking football than anyone. Have one of the finest American 'keepers on the planet and finished 15 points above Chicago. Losing away and drawing at home over two legs does not mean DC United are not the best team in MLS. It doesn't mean Chicago are more worthy of being crowned MLS champion either. All it really means is that the MLS regular season means absolutely nothing.
So, when MLS Commish Don Garber gives his "State of the League" address on the weekend of the MLS Cup final the irony is that he will be presenting it in Washington DC. Home of the best team in the league. And yet the best team in MLS won't be able to show people just how good play in the league can be. Garber can talk about how the David Beckham signing was a complete flop and the league did nothing to promote Angel, Blanco, Josy Altidore, Dwayne De Rosario, Luciano Emilio, Brad Guzan or Michael Parkhurst. Because why should we lead the non-soccer viewing public to believe the league is made up of some pretty decent players besides Beckham? Garber can talk about how Landon Donovon was voted the best American player by the know nothing American soccer scribes despite the fact he's never made a single player around him better or proven he can raise his own game.
If you really want to see how far MLS has come since its inception it isn't that difficult. One foot has moved slightly forward but the other is firmly entrenched where it was just over a decade ago.
I understand this is how soccer in America is operating. That to have a single table and give the best team at the end of the season the championship would be un-American is the reason we have to deal with a playoff format. But it doesn't change the fact the rest of the world does not operate under this format. Playoffs in NFL, NBA and MLB are fine. Do whatever you want because the rest of the word - quite frankly - does not care one bit. However, when MLS is desperate to legitimize the league with the rest of the world, allowing for a catastrophe such as your regular season champion being nothing more than an afterthought is ridiculous. DC United were a class above the rest of the league this season.
They scored more goals than anyone. Played better attacking football than anyone. Have one of the finest American 'keepers on the planet and finished 15 points above Chicago. Losing away and drawing at home over two legs does not mean DC United are not the best team in MLS. It doesn't mean Chicago are more worthy of being crowned MLS champion either. All it really means is that the MLS regular season means absolutely nothing.
So, when MLS Commish Don Garber gives his "State of the League" address on the weekend of the MLS Cup final the irony is that he will be presenting it in Washington DC. Home of the best team in the league. And yet the best team in MLS won't be able to show people just how good play in the league can be. Garber can talk about how the David Beckham signing was a complete flop and the league did nothing to promote Angel, Blanco, Josy Altidore, Dwayne De Rosario, Luciano Emilio, Brad Guzan or Michael Parkhurst. Because why should we lead the non-soccer viewing public to believe the league is made up of some pretty decent players besides Beckham? Garber can talk about how Landon Donovon was voted the best American player by the know nothing American soccer scribes despite the fact he's never made a single player around him better or proven he can raise his own game.
If you really want to see how far MLS has come since its inception it isn't that difficult. One foot has moved slightly forward but the other is firmly entrenched where it was just over a decade ago.
posted by Anonymous at 10:12 AM
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