MLS Season Wrap-Up
Vein of Form has given MLS plenty of stick over the course of the season. But after reflecting for the past several days on the season that was, we still don't particularly care for it. The positives first - it is great for MLS that Houston Dynamo have won 2 straight MLS Cups. It would have been even greater had New England Revolution managed to win 3 straight rather than lose 3 straight. The reason being that what the league needs is a super club everyone is chasing. Given that there exists so much parody & that the playoff format allows for mediocre sides to have a shot at being crowned champion, it is important that some separation occur. Houston have the model MLS franchise. The best manager in the league (Dominic Kinnear), the best player in the league (Dwayne De Rosario) and just a terrific group of professional soccer players. Houston did not use a Designated Player marketing gimmick to win & barring Kinnear or DeRo getting picked up by a European club this is a legit threat to win 3 straight cups. Now if they could just get them in a soccer specific stadium & do something about those ugly jerseys...
The glaring problem remains the quality on the pitch. VoF fully understands the league is still in its infancy. The sport has been played for over a hundred years elsewhere at the professional level. So, the fact that most MLS matches are - quite frankly - very boring isn't a surprise. But that doesn't change the fact I refuse to watch matches being played on NFL lines or in stadiums not conducive for the game. Poor quality matches in Toyota Park or Dick's Sporting Goods Park or Pizza Hut Park (God, are we serious here?!?!) is one thing, but to watch a dull match in a cavernous three quarters empty NFL stadium with NFL hash marks on the pitch is disgusting.
New York Red Bull will never prosper playing in The Meadowlands. Kansas City needs emergency help. New England Revolution after 3 straight trips to the MLS cup final deserve their own home. When every match-day features stadia that can showcase the game the way it is meant to be presented raises quality on the pitch whether the actual play has improved or not. Look, the players will be developed in America over the next decade that raise the competitive level of MLS and the US Men's National Team. America will continue to produce European league quality players the likes of Clint Dempsey, DaMarcus Beasley & now Freddy Adu. In 10 years time MLS will be much more exciting & appealing. That still doesn't change the league in the Here & the Now.
DP players like David Beckham, Juan Pablo Angel & Cuahetemoc Blanco will come & go over the next few seasons. None as high profile as Beckham but perhaps several that are much better players. Players that will make teammates better (Angel has done so for Jozy Altidore & Blanco has done so for Chris Rolfe) or inspire American kids to play the sport through high school before giving it up for other sports.
The next problem that keeps soccer fans - like those at the VoF offices - from tuning in regularly is the terrible season format & playoff format. The regular season matches are buried amongst the other primary sports in America. They are often times not televised or televised on Spanish language television only. The regular season matches still don't carry the weight about them that the English Premier League or Spain's La Liga have. Where every point won matters. Where a draw at home can devastate the fan base. That isn't apparent after MLS matches.
This is because the playoffs makes it so easy for players to take a match off and coast through the early part of the season. So, when the playoffs do arrive we are not even sure who the best clubs are. Did DC United take the season serious & prove they were the best MLS club in the league? Or did a club like Chicago Fire loaf during the middle stretch & kick it into gear with just enough time to spare to qualify for the playoffs as a legitimate better club than DC United? We don't really know. And until MLS changes to a single table or alters the playoffs to just the top 4 clubs we will not know who the best clubs are during the regular season. We can guess but that is about it.
Finally, ESPN has been a disgrace this season. For a network that airs not just a good chunk of MLS matches but also airs Champions League matches & has purchased the rights to Euro '08 their presentation of the matches is terrible. The talking heads they have doing pre-match, half-time & post-match analysis are unbearable. They have too many match commentators & often times they don't sound like they have a clue what they're talking about. Eric Wynalda is VoF approved. He balances sarcasm, criticism and insight perfectly. He just needs a quality partner. Julie Foudy should be banned from the airwaves.
ESPN should not allow their SportsCenter clowns to do highlights either. They don't take it serious. They make a mockery of the highlights by their tone of voice, their unwillingness to pronounce the names correctly & their lack of knowledge about the sport. If ESPN wants to show the MLS highlights - and they ought to - they should bring in someone else to do the highlights. Someone that can convey knowledge & excitement.
MLS has made its greatest strides forward over the course of this season. But it balances on a knife's edge right now. Next season will be crucial. Beckham & Blanco should be available for the full campaign. Other faces will be brought in. San Jose will be added to the league & with Frank Yallop managing there becomes an instant rivalry with LA Galaxy (not to mention Houston). VoF believes great things can happen for MLS. Now it is just a matter of whether or not the suits in the front offices can allow a proper soccer league to develop & grow. Or if they will fall into the trap that all sports played in America have to be done the American way.
The glaring problem remains the quality on the pitch. VoF fully understands the league is still in its infancy. The sport has been played for over a hundred years elsewhere at the professional level. So, the fact that most MLS matches are - quite frankly - very boring isn't a surprise. But that doesn't change the fact I refuse to watch matches being played on NFL lines or in stadiums not conducive for the game. Poor quality matches in Toyota Park or Dick's Sporting Goods Park or Pizza Hut Park (God, are we serious here?!?!) is one thing, but to watch a dull match in a cavernous three quarters empty NFL stadium with NFL hash marks on the pitch is disgusting.
New York Red Bull will never prosper playing in The Meadowlands. Kansas City needs emergency help. New England Revolution after 3 straight trips to the MLS cup final deserve their own home. When every match-day features stadia that can showcase the game the way it is meant to be presented raises quality on the pitch whether the actual play has improved or not. Look, the players will be developed in America over the next decade that raise the competitive level of MLS and the US Men's National Team. America will continue to produce European league quality players the likes of Clint Dempsey, DaMarcus Beasley & now Freddy Adu. In 10 years time MLS will be much more exciting & appealing. That still doesn't change the league in the Here & the Now.
DP players like David Beckham, Juan Pablo Angel & Cuahetemoc Blanco will come & go over the next few seasons. None as high profile as Beckham but perhaps several that are much better players. Players that will make teammates better (Angel has done so for Jozy Altidore & Blanco has done so for Chris Rolfe) or inspire American kids to play the sport through high school before giving it up for other sports.
The next problem that keeps soccer fans - like those at the VoF offices - from tuning in regularly is the terrible season format & playoff format. The regular season matches are buried amongst the other primary sports in America. They are often times not televised or televised on Spanish language television only. The regular season matches still don't carry the weight about them that the English Premier League or Spain's La Liga have. Where every point won matters. Where a draw at home can devastate the fan base. That isn't apparent after MLS matches.
This is because the playoffs makes it so easy for players to take a match off and coast through the early part of the season. So, when the playoffs do arrive we are not even sure who the best clubs are. Did DC United take the season serious & prove they were the best MLS club in the league? Or did a club like Chicago Fire loaf during the middle stretch & kick it into gear with just enough time to spare to qualify for the playoffs as a legitimate better club than DC United? We don't really know. And until MLS changes to a single table or alters the playoffs to just the top 4 clubs we will not know who the best clubs are during the regular season. We can guess but that is about it.
Finally, ESPN has been a disgrace this season. For a network that airs not just a good chunk of MLS matches but also airs Champions League matches & has purchased the rights to Euro '08 their presentation of the matches is terrible. The talking heads they have doing pre-match, half-time & post-match analysis are unbearable. They have too many match commentators & often times they don't sound like they have a clue what they're talking about. Eric Wynalda is VoF approved. He balances sarcasm, criticism and insight perfectly. He just needs a quality partner. Julie Foudy should be banned from the airwaves.
ESPN should not allow their SportsCenter clowns to do highlights either. They don't take it serious. They make a mockery of the highlights by their tone of voice, their unwillingness to pronounce the names correctly & their lack of knowledge about the sport. If ESPN wants to show the MLS highlights - and they ought to - they should bring in someone else to do the highlights. Someone that can convey knowledge & excitement.
MLS has made its greatest strides forward over the course of this season. But it balances on a knife's edge right now. Next season will be crucial. Beckham & Blanco should be available for the full campaign. Other faces will be brought in. San Jose will be added to the league & with Frank Yallop managing there becomes an instant rivalry with LA Galaxy (not to mention Houston). VoF believes great things can happen for MLS. Now it is just a matter of whether or not the suits in the front offices can allow a proper soccer league to develop & grow. Or if they will fall into the trap that all sports played in America have to be done the American way.
posted by Anonymous at 11:32 AM
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