It appears the MLS is attracting some big names who are past their sell by date and getting a hefty salary to go through the motions,Beckham and now Henry were and are well past their prime.

I can understand it's good for US football but IMO you would be better spending that money on youth development and giving young local players a chance.

Circuses soon lose their appeal!

Plus why bring in foreigners when the US did so well in the WC?
Better than Henry and Beckhams home countries.

I don't think the MLS is anywhere near the level of the EPL and it will be a very long time before it can be mentioned in the same breath IMO.

A couple of MLS teams have beaten a couple of EPL teams in friednly games, for me, that does not equate to the MLS starting to become a force.

The MLS teams that played are in the middle of their season and the fitness element showed compared to teh EPL teams who are in their pre season.

The teams that were put out by Spurs and Man Utd were very young and inexperienced sides but the Man City side should have been able to beat NYRB IMO.

I don't think there is a lot of substance to MLS teams and that is where they fall down IMO.

"Circuses soon lose their appeal!"

Yep. Look at the old NASL and the names that were brought in there.

"Plus why bring in foreigners when the US did so well in the WC?"

I'm not sure just getting out of group is enough to satisfy expectations anymore, but its an interesting point. I think a handful of foreigners will always be welcome.

A lot of our players with higher potential follow the money to Europe, so with them gone, maybe younger MLS players need those outsiders to help instill a vision of higher play. Otherwise, it may start looking even more like the college-plus game - lacking creativity and substituting athleticism for tactics to an even greater degree.

"I don't think there is a lot of substance to MLS teams and that is where they fall down IMO."

Kieran, what do you mean by substance? Remember I'm from the other country separated by a common language, lol. Are you talking general quality of the players?

I base this only on what I have seen of the MLS which is a decent amount but nowhere what you guys will have.

I think that all the MLS teams play the same style of football and there hasn't been enough outside influence yet.

I look at Real Salt Lake and IMO they play exactly the same way as NYRB, even though they might set up differently.

I think all the players that the US produce are very similar and that the US national team plays exactly like an MLS team.

In the EPL, they are lucky enough to have influences from a LOT of different sources from players, coaches and managers and I think it leads to more of those teams being able to play in different style.

I think that the MLS will eventually come round to that with more time and more coaches going over there.

I just think most MLS teams are fairly one dimensional.

Oh, okay, I see what you're saying. I don't know - have to think that over for a bit regarding the MLS.

Regarding the US national team, it is more one dimensional than not. But I think that's because those guys don't have the ball skills to do much more at that speed of play. When the pressure is taken off, like we see against some of the weaker teams in our confederation, more options open to them. They look like something more than just a high-work-rate counter team - at least that's what I see.

I can understand why you say that, and I don'y disagree, but there are now some exceptions to that which there weren't a few years ago. I was in Salt Lake last fall when they won the league playoff. I saw the last two 2009 RSL league games.

The first game vs Red Bulls was a horrible game to watch, the Red Bulls defenders looked like they were playing hockey with players flying down all over the field, it looked like a small collage playing soccer on steroids. I could see why the Red Bulls were having such a bad season, a bunch of big thugs playing on their back line with little style other than intimidation. Real responded by playing down to their level and just lumping the ball forward into the Red Bulls back line every possession. At one point I almost got up and left I felt it was so badly played. Then I came to realize that Real saw the weakness in their backline's ability to play possession and were just playing them into isolation in their own back third. the ball was bypassing New York's midfield in both directions because the defender (their week point) were always under pressure. Real won the game 2-0.

The next home game was vs the Colorado Rapids. The game was played by Real Salt Lake in a completely different style. Against the Rapids they played a slower build up possession game through the midfield and won 3-0. They used two completely different styles in just two games.

The thing that struck me about living in Switzerland for six months, is that Europe really has no idea what is going on in America because of the time zone difference. They see some of what happens on the east coast (6-7 hour diff), and even less of what happens on the west coast (9-10 hour diff). So if a game is being played in NY at a 8:00-9:00 PM start (which happens so it's not too early out west) then that's a 3:00-5:00 AM game time in Europe. A west coast game starting at 7:00 in LA is also seen at 4:00-5:00 AM.

I tried to stay awake in Switzerland to watch the 2009 (pointy ball) Superbowl 6:00 PM ET Tampa Bay (a big event for all American's) and fell asleep after just a few minutes...

So, do fans in Europe really see all that much of our MLS games played in America? Do you really even see enough to make statements about what the play is currently like? Or are the comments coming from Europe just rehashed old feelings about American league play, based on what someone else told them.

I can still here Capello's word's, "David Beckham must play in Europe..." Look what Milan turned out to be...a not all that great of a team in 2009-10.

And, look what happened to David even with "the worlds best football medical staff" after taking Capello's advice.

If he would have just stayed in America, on his MLS team, they could have beat Real Salt Lake in the final playoff game with him on his own "shaped and influenced team", they could have won the league with one more point during the league play, and then he would have been seen as the important piece of the current champions of the league and playoffs in America.
It would have not been a bad situation for the older player (David). He would have been a proven champion with a team of good attacking players (Landon), He might even have been credited with helping to develop Landon as a player. He also would have been rested up well, over the long off season/winter of MLS. He would have been in good playing form in the middle of his MLS season going into the World Cup in June.

The idea that David would not have made the English NT team by playing and winning the MLS league and playoff is wrong.

Many people are asleep when it comes to knowing what is going on in MLS, Capello was, that has been proven.

The English and their coaches have not proven to be right every time they evaluate what is going on in American football/soccer.

JW,

sometimes not many people (relatively speaking) are watching the MLS here in the States even when it is during prime time! One of the problems is related to what you just mentioned, the inconsistency of game quality is huge from one game to the other.

Ok, I'll admit that where an MLS team may be able to beat a EPL team in a one game event once in a while, last nights MLS All-Star team did not defend very well and did not make the MLS players look very good. The attacking was good by both teams, especially by the All-Stars who played some great attacking players in their line up making for a fun game to watch (if you could blank out the real score while watching)...

Not all of MLS players are past their expiration date, just the most famous ones.

The all-stars first give-away (at something like 20 seconds) is pretty typical of the kinds of things you see from all-star teams. Not only didn't they know one another well, but looked like they were more caught up in being named an all-star than in actually playing.

Just basic stuff, like we all tell our kids - if you're passing square or reverse diagonal in the defending third, put some weight on the ball. And then on the receiving end, how about actually moving to the ball? And then that lazy half-hearted slide tackle attempt...

You know it had to be an all-star game because the keeper didn't jump into both of them. Speaking of Ricketts, how about his trying out the 1v1 footskills against a Man U attacker

Anyway, you're right jw. For stretches there was some good attack sequences by the MLS players. Especially in the second half, once Angel stopped trying to win flopping calls and Pappa stopped shooting every ball he touched.

I don't think this was the best team the MLS could put together, and if I'm right on that, the situation was heightened by none of the LA players being game ready, having played just the night before. So hopefully Man U was able to get something out of the game, in terms of scrimmage benefits.