MLS officials and fans have their Umbros in a knot over some recent comments from USA soccer coach Bruce Arena. After the tournament, Arena suggested that the American team could benefit from having more players get some experience playing in Europe. Here’s his quote:
“And the way for us to get our players to get better is: We do need to get more of our younger talented players in Europe. We need them in a year-round soccer environment. We need them playing in more intense games to help develop them mentally, as well as soccerwise.”
Well, hey… I’m sorry if the MLS people are offended, but Arena is absolutely right. I just can’t believe that there’s anyone out there who feels that the MLS prepares players as well as the EPL or German Budesliga, or Italian Serie A… that’s just insane. Being proud of the MLS is one thing. A complete shunning of reality is quite another.
Hey, I like the MLS, too, and I think it’s getting better all the time. I think it will continue to grow, expand, and attract better players. But right now… it’s a joke to think the MLS can prepare players as well as the Premiership can. The level of play in Europe is higher. The pressure is greater. And if we keep denying that, and we don’t teach our players to succeed in that situation, we’re going to end up with a team of Landan Donovans. Which is probably not be a good thing.
Among the people who are mad are MLS commissioner Don Garber, who called Arena’s comments “ridiculous,” and ESPN analyst Eric Wynalda, who believes that the players Arena was provided with were just fine. I think Wynalda’s been the lone bright spot for ESPN’s coverage of this thing, but… he can’t even believe what he says. I think he’s letting his American pride cloud his thinking here.
And Arena didn’t even take a shot at MLS, did he? The fact of the matter is that the best soccer in the world is played in Europe, and it would be beneficial for us to have more players playing over there. How that offends an MLS loyalist, I don’t even know. It would be like me getting upset if someone failed to mention my site as the greatest contribution to literature in the history of the world.
King Dan
I don’t think even the commissioner believes the MLS is anything more than the 10th or 11th best league in the world, but it is very important to American soccer. It gives the USMNT depth and a place for the diamonds in the rough to be discovered before they do go make money.
The article also states that only 3 of the starting 11 in the first game were MLS players, compaired to 2002 when that number was 6. Sure, the MLS players didn’t play great, but neither did anyone, especially Beasley. I guess the MLS people are saying it isn’t our fault the team blew ass and the coach went conservative.
June 28, 2006 at 9:15 am
danks
Is there an outside chance of Wynalda trying to pick a fight with Arena? It sounds like Wynalda had a lot of money on the U.S.
June 28, 2006 at 9:40 am
Clay
Stop saying “hey” so much in your articles.
June 28, 2006 at 10:06 am
Chris R
As the only single entity sports league (in order to avoid antitrust laws), they have been far too agressive at promoting parity, to the point that crucial players are transferred from team to team without any rhyme or reason. As a result, the teams in the league lack a personality.
Further, most of the games truly don’t matter — since almost everyone goes to the playoffs, who on Earth cares about a mid-July fixture between two teams? Do the players think the game is critical?
June 28, 2006 at 10:15 am
epp
i dont mind the arena comments…i would honestly rather see landon donovan in the european leagues…
but i do laugh at this because i have a good feeling in the coming months we will see bruce coaching in the MLS again (probably with New York).
bruce has some strong feelings toward the MLS, but he is only looking out for the league in its best interest…that’s all
as for wynalda, i do like him in his coverage but i must say he sucks something bad when it comes to doing the MLS…his commentary can be down right dreadful…
June 28, 2006 at 10:34 am
Doug
I don’t think anyone offended thinks the MLS is as good as what’s going on in Europe. However, if you have your best american players leaving to play in Europe, how will the MLS ever improve?
June 28, 2006 at 10:47 am
Roger
I agree with all. MLS is not even close to being one of the top soccer environments but, not trying to be a contrarian, I wonder if it is a chicken / egg situation. The league may need to be better to attract the best talent, but we need to have the best talent to become better. Honestly…for the long run of US Soccer, I wonder if concentrating on our “homegrown” league, at the sacrifice of short term success, is not the best option?
June 28, 2006 at 11:35 am
UC
Arena has proven himself to be a overrated and whiny. It’s not often you see a person fall as quickly as Arena has in the last few weeks. A month ago at this time he was being called a genius. Now he’s just a mediocre coach who complains about refs, his players, FIFA’s seeding process, and MLS.
What will he whine about next?
June 28, 2006 at 11:58 am