I have the MLS show on in the background this morning

[Dave the OAP]

My boys philli Union against Chicago Fire and I am appalled.

This is like watching under 8 football. It's is absolutely pathetic!

Fred, the brazillian comes on, fannies around like a tart, some bloke tackles him really softly, he twats him one and is promptly sent off. So philli are down to 10 attacking, and they can't even hit the target from 5 yards.

The commentators are trying really hard not to keep pissing themselves or start sighing.

These teams make Barnett look like Brazil!

 

[Biscuit Barrel]

I have also watched a few MLS games on Sky over the past couple of weeks. The standard seems very poor. Both teams constantly giving the ball away and games played at a very slow pace.

From what I have seen, the MLS is the same standard as League 2.

 

[Dave the OAP]

I get the impression, that there are two or three teams, la Galaxy, New York and Houston who seem to be reasonable, championships or lower standard with a few " stars" but the rest are shite.....no wonder lampart said no after seeing them...what the hell Gerard is doing going over there I have no idea...kerching$$$$$

 

[Easy 10]

I watched some of this last night, and yup, the standard really was utter GUBBINS.

The highlight of the game for me was when a guy with a trumpet started playing the TETRIS theme, and the crowd joined in.

"Der der der derrr der der derrr der der derrr der der derrrr der der derrr der derrrrr derrrr derrrr. Der der derrrr der der derrr der derrr der der derrrr der der derrr derrr derrr derrr derrrrrr. Derrrrrrrr derrrrrrrr derrrrrrrr derrrrrrr derrrrrr derrrrr derrrrrrrrr"

I bloody LOVED that. I wish to hear it sung at the Amex, forthwith. We can put the lyrics on the screen like that ^^

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Bradley Wright Phillips was the leagues top scorer last year, that sums up the standard.

 

[Pavilionaire]

The U.S. soccer fans deserve better than this tripe.

 

[Whitechapel]

I watched some of this last night, and yup, the standard really was utter GUBBINS.

The highlight of the game for me was when a guy with a trumpet started playing the TETRIS theme, and the crowd joined in.

"Der der der derrr der der derrr der der derrr der der derrrr der der derrr der derrrrr derrrr derrrr. Der der derrrr der der derrr der derrr der der derrrr der der derrr derrr derrr derrr derrrrrr. Derrrrrrrr derrrrrrrr derrrrrrrr derrrrrrr derrrrrr derrrrr derrrrrrrrr"

I bloody LOVED that. I wish to hear it sung at the Amex, forthwith. We can put the lyrics on the screen like that ^^

Was it the Portland Timbers? Possibly one of the MOST bizarre sets of fans ever.





They also have a big tree they chainsaw bits off when they score to give to the goalscorer.

 

[Simster]

Two things in DEFENSE of MLS:

1) Their season is just 3 weeks old. I'd have thought the players are a bit rusty.
2) The majority of the US national team squad is now picked from MLS. The US national team has outperformed our own for two world cups running now.

I think you're doing it a disservice by calling it league one or league two standard. I should think most teams would hold their own against most Championship sides.

And this is a league that charges prices as low as $15 a ticket in some places, and you can take a beer back to your seat. Some stadiums even have standing areas. So I'm not sure the experience itself is noticeably worse than paying £50 ($60) to watch some of the world's biggest mercenary twats play in the now horribly sanitised "greatest league in the world", where none of the teams are actually good enough to be in the last 8 of either European competition.

 

[Triggaaar]

1) Their season is just 3 weeks old. I'd have thought the players are a bit rusty.
2) The majority of the US national team squad is now picked from MLS. The US national team has outperformed our own for two world cups running now.

I think you're doing it a disservice by calling it league one or league two standard.

That's an understatement.

 

[Simster]

That's an understatement.

What is?

 

[Triggaaar]

What is?

The last line of yours that I quoted.

 

[Simster]

The last line of yours that I quoted.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

The game last night was poor, the attendance was about Under 8s level as well !!

There are some good teams in the league, Chicago and Philly arent - they are probably the Rotherham and Blackburn of the MLS - never going to win anything and just dont want to be bottom. Writing the league off because of 1 game is a bit like watching that dull West Ham vs Sunderland game last week, then saying the entire Premier League is awful.

 

[Dave the OAP]

I would love to see our stewards trying to reason with the bloke with a chain saw....they get all miffy when someone throws a beach ball around.

 

[Easy 10]

Two things in DEFENSE of MLS:

1) Their season is just 3 weeks old. I'd have thought the players are a bit rusty.
2) The majority of the US national team squad is now picked from MLS. The US national team has outperformed our own for two world cups running now.

I think you're doing it a disservice by calling it league one or league two standard. I should think most teams would hold their own against most Championship sides.

I've not watched enough MLS to make a sweeping judgement as to the standards in that League, but last nights fayre was certainly no better than L1 standard imo, if that - 3 weeks in or not, it really was utter pony. In fairness though, I said similar on Twitter and was picked up on it by a New England Revolution fan (they finished 2nd last year) who said that Chicago and Philadelphia are the two worst teams in the MLS, so maybe that wasn't the best of games to pass judgement on.

I doubt I'll go out of my way to watch MLS, I was just bored and channel hopping last night. Not sure what kind of investment Sky has paid out for this, but its certainly no substitute for losing the Champions League. Can't see me bothering to adopt a team...I'll stick to the baseball I think.

 

[Simster]

I've not watched enough MLS to make a sweeping judgement as to the standards in that League, but last nights fayre was certainly no better than L1 standard imo, if that - 3 weeks in or not, it really was utter pony. In fairness though, I said similar on Twitter and was picked up on it by a New England Revolution fan (they finished 2nd last year) who said that Chicago and Philadelphia are the two worst teams in the MLS, so maybe that wasn't the best of games to pass judgement on.

I doubt I'll go out of my way to watch MLS, I was just bored and channel hopping last night. Not sure what kind of investment Sky has paid out for this, but its certainly no substitute for losing the Champions League. Can't see me bothering to adopt a team...I'll stick to the baseball I think.

Yep, those two teams are gash, especially Philly it must be said. But there are some decent sides too. NY Revolution look decent, LA are always reasonably good, NY Red Bulls looks a reasonable settled side, and there one or two other decent outfits too. Montreal were good enough to put away Pachuca (a fairly decent Mexican club side) in their Champions League a month ago and are about average as MLS goes.

MLS is a long way from being as good as the big European leagues, but in a decade or so, they might well be competing. It's only TV money that's holding them back these days.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Yep, those two teams are gash, especially Philly it must be said. But there are some decent sides too. NY Revolution look decent, LA are always reasonably good, NY Red Bulls looks a reasonable settled side, and there one or two other decent outfits too. Montreal were good enough to put away Pachuca (a fairly decent Mexican club side) in their Champions League a month ago and are about average as MLS goes.

MLS is a long way from being as good as the big European leagues, but in a decade or so, they might well be competing. It's only TV money that's holding them back these days.

Alexi Lalas said it is the most competitive league in the world, which is hard to disagree with.

 

[Brovion]

Alexi Lalas said it is the most competitive league in the world, which is hard to disagree with.

Indeed. You can thank the franchise system for that; like the NFL the concept is that all the clubs are theoretically equal. I don't think it's quite as egalitarian as the NFL (even though they have a Draft), but certainly it isn't the case that the richest clubs can sign who the hell they like like they can in every other major league.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

Indeed. You can thank the franchise system for that; like the NFL the concept is that all the clubs are theoretically equal. I don't think it's quite as egalitarian as the NFL (even though they have a Draft), but certainly it isn't the case that the richest clubs can sign who the hell they like like they can in every other major league.

to a certain extent yes, although the 'beckham rule' has meant that the richer clubs can afford the big name players (for example, Chivas couldn't afford a squad containing Beckham, Donovan and Keane like LA had not too long ago), but other than that it's fairly equal what with the salary caps and all that. Whilst there are a few inequalities it's a pretty minor gap between the 'big' and 'small' clubs unlike in most European leagues

 

[Simster]

Indeed. You can thank the franchise system for that; like the NFL the concept is that all the clubs are theoretically equal. I don't think it's quite as egalitarian as the NFL (even though they have a Draft), but certainly it isn't the case that the richest clubs can sign who the hell they like like they can in every other major league.

Well they can. There is a salary cap, but up to two designated players can be excluded from this cap, which is how Kaka, Villa, Lampard, Keane, Altidore, Dempsey and David Villa have all ended up in MLS.