Alexi Lalas: why is he so controversial?

I've heard him speak plenty of times and I just didn't get the controversy. I'm no expert so did I miss something?

It just seems personal.

He has strong opinions and is not afraid to share them. Moreover, he is not an humble person. It is natural that people will react to him in a wide manner: some will find him to be awesome while others will find him to be annoying. Regardless, he is entertaining.

What are his views that most us soccer fans disagree with?

He doesn't think we have progressed since WC 2010 (i.e. exited the same round). He also says you can't be a true US Soccer fan unless you are a MLS fan. Personally, I think he likes the attention. He will say controversial things to get people talking about soccer, so I don't mind it.

I loathe his typical message but recognize that he is very intelligent for what he is doing. He plays a character and is purposefully controversial in order to stir discussion.

His character is one who goes out of his way to try and push the companies that his employer represents. He is a national team pundit who also does commentary for MLS. Therefore, he tries to push the merits of MLS as much as he can to get it into the discussion and to have it respected by more people. In trying to do this, he purposefully puts down the EPL, La Liga, and the Bundesliga because those are the leagues that most people watch.

He says absolutely outlandish things in order to try and push the MLS agenda. For instance, when Arsenal were losing to New York Red Bulls in a preseason friendly, Ian Darke stated that the scoreline was surprising because Arsenal were losing. Lalas rebuked him by stating something along the lines that MLS teams can compete with top of the EPL teams. It's simply untrue, but it's the sort of thing that might get a less cultured soccer watcher to buy into MLS more.

He's a smart guy. He plays the role of controversy and plays it to perfection, so people hate him, but they keep watching.

I don't think he plays a character. If you actually listen to what he says to back up what he usually says and you can tell he knows what he is talking about.

quote:

---

He also says you can't be a true US Soccer fan unless you are a MLS fan.

---

This is not what he said at all. He said that in order for US Soccer to grow, the domestic league has to grow and that starts with fan support.

You can play a character and still know what you are talking about. Most people who work primarily in controversy do know what they are talking about. It's just like in a debate. They say the people who win debates are the ones who can argue both sides equally well. Colin Cowherd and Rush Libaugh both work in controversy and both play characters that purposefully cause people to get emotional about what they are talking about. People get either emotional for them or against them, but once you have people emotionally, then you have them vested because they will keep listening.

Lalas does the exact same thing. He knows that an MLS team during the actual season couldn't truly compete within the EPL. The top MLS team would be fighting to avoid relegation, and it probably would go down. However, if Lalas says that an MLS team could compete for UCL spots, it has both MLS fans happy and EPL fans upset and more likely to watch MLS to see how far it has come. Now, his points would all be valid but they would have massive gaps. He would probably point to a Red Bulls win over Arsenal as well as a Colorado Rapids win over Swansea last year among a few other "upsets". What he wouldn't mention would be that the EPL teams are playing youth guys in preseason and experimenting with guys in different positions against MLS guys in midseason form playing the biggest game of the season. It's route 1 arguing.

He actually did pose the question on twitter in March, 2013. He asked, "Can you call yourself a U.S. "soccer fan" even if yo don't support MLS?"

Purposefully tries to get under people's skin in order to ignite debate and interest.