[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

the MLS is so much shit i think due to many things.

first is that w/ cable and the internet it's easy for people who like this game to watch international leagues where the game is GOOD. for example, i catch the bundesliga free w/ my internet, and starting next year i'll be able to follow the prem-- do i have time for the MLS? no. and people w/ geographic loyalties like mexican immigrants watch the mexican leagues-- that's all you see in channels like Univision for example (and mexican teams try to capitalize on the american market w/ teams like "chivas USA").

I see how the internet issue could be a major problem, although plenty of smaller leagues in Europe and S'th America manage to thrive without being anywhere near the standards of La Liga, The Prem, the Bundesliga, Serie A, etc. A lot of the fanaticism you see in countries like Spain, Italy, Germany and England is fueled by their almost obsessive domestic news coverage. For reasons you're obviously better placed than I am to understand, there just doesn't seem to be much US media interest in the MLS.

second for me is the draft system and the college shit-- teams don't develop young teams but rather "draft" from colleges. at that time they are too old. messi recruited at 14, forget about it. so some kids who are good just go abroad to train. you can't trust some random high school to breed stars.

Yeah, that's a major problem for sure. The draft/college set-up is totally opposite to Europe's academy system. By the time most of the promising players graduate in the US they'll have to compete with those that've been hothoused from their early teens by some of the biggest clubs in the world. America compensates by producing very 'solid' and 'professional' players but the nature of things here means that most will never get beyond journeyman status. I'd say the US system is far more ethical but football, except when it suits it, simply doesn't recognise ethics at all.

third is the salary cap which is intended to create some sort of "fairness" but it hurts the rosters-- a lot of good american players are leaving the country. cherundolo and feilhaber play in germany, dempsey is doing great in england and so is tim howard, there are some players in mexico, and a bunch of other people who i don't know their names are playing abroad. even liverpool is owned by americans, yeah?

Salary caps are always brought up in England whenever some team or another goes bankrupt or news comes out about some other sky-high transfer. But ultimately UEFA is governed by the needs of the big teams so it never gets very far. They've tried to fudge a compromise with something they call Financial Fair Play but the big teams are already busy working out loopholes in that.

And yeah, Liverpool are owned by the American Fenway Sports Group, which also owns the Boston Red Sox. Also, the American owner of Man Utd also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.