Why Major League Soccer Struggles Against Top Flight International Club Competition

Posted By: Tarik
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The recent match between DC United vs. Real Madrid explains why MLS struggles to compete on the international level with many of the world’s largest clubs. While the MLS league as a whole has only been around for 13-14 years, I have several observations that any clear observer can make about US soccer vs. International Football.

League Age

Large international clubs such as Real Madrid and Manchester United, both founded in 1904 and 1878, have over a century worth of experience at managing the daily routines of a successive football franchise. Compare this to New York Yankees, founded in 1901, and you can conclude that time and experience yields powerful results: both in trophies and franchise revenue.

On the other hand, American soccer rebuilt its foundation when the North American Soccer League began competition in 1968 and flopped almost 20 years later in 1985. Johan Cruyff and Pele, two of the greatest footballers in the history of the game, made the move to the NASL in the late ’70s to draw interest in soccer from the American society. Unfortunately, no one cared and everybody was busy watching the World Series (USA Series) Baseball and the Super Bowl. The lack of continuity hurt US soccer dearly, and now we are paying for it since our top flight league has only been around since 1993.

MLS clubs will need at least 25 years of solid competition before we experience a slim chance of competing with any of the longstanding European/Western Asia leagues.

Profit vs. Power

USA entrepreneurs founded Major League Soccer in 1993 and created a stable business model by structuring the teams around major cities with tight salary caps and limited player mobility to ensure long term profitability. As a USA entrepreneur, MLS owners care more about staying in the black permanently than spending the required funds to generate long term value for their franchise.

There is no surprise that Real Madrid invested $400 million in transfer fees on eight new players this summer. To most Americans, this sounds ABSOLUTELY crazy. But if you owned a struggling football club in a hot bed like Madrid, what would you do to increase fan interest, revenue, and team trophies? This is a MUST investment especially since FC Barcelona proved to the world that talent and chemistry yield large dividends. Sure, the MLS is profitable, but who cares?!? Its dollarcentric mentality cripples the ability to sign big foreign names and generate the proper interest to make global soccer fans watch. The MLS transfer policy and salary cap rules must change for the sake of competing with the best clubs in the world.

Technique vs. Speed & Strength

The MLS has some of the fastest and strongest players in the western hampshire. However, Major League Soccer focuses too much on speed and strength while neglecting technique and skill. There must be a change in philosophy where the emphasis is placed on proper trapping, passing, crossing, etc.

It’s nice to be big and strong, but MLS players are inept at stringing passes from their defensive third to the opponent’s offensive third with a shot to finish off the attack. You can lift weights and run sprints, but your technique and skill is what separates the great from the rest. Major League soccer should import more Brazilian and Spanish coaches during the MLS offseason to stress the importance of technique. This would help soooo much!

Game vs. Life

The last important limiting factor is the idea of Major League soccer as just a “game” on a field. That’s BS! International fans treat football as life. If Manchester United wins on Sunday, then the city of Manchester is elated for a whole week. If they lose, then they become sad and deattached. This devotion and love for the game is what makes the players WORK SO HARD to win games for themselves, their teammates, their club, and their fans.

The USA Media treats soccer as a “girl’s sport”, and it’s so stupid and ridiculous. The entire world loves the game 110%. Why does the United States have to be different? If the USA can import products from other countries and go bankrupt decades ago, then why cannot Wall Street and the USA media accept soccer/football? Maybe because 160+ countries are crazy to love a so called “girl’s game” or maybe because the USA has no interest in encouraging global camaraderie amongst the ignorant American populus.

Oh well, I guess only time will tell