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Message
ESPN Insider piece on ranking the MLS
Posted on 8/7/14 at 4:11 am
Posted on 8/7/14 at 4:11 am
LINK
Thats all the free they would give. Anyone got the rest?
quote:
Major League Soccer is in its 19th season as the topflight professional league in the U.S. and has established itself as the primary driver of player development within the growing soccer country. While it is impossible to deny the impact the league has had on American soccer development, it remains difficult to judge where MLS stands compared to the other top domestic leagues as, per MLS commissioner Don Garber, it strives to be one of the best in the world by 2022.
There are coefficients and other ways to compare the strength of each league around the world, but there are simply too many subjective factors and not enough meaningful intercontinental competitions to create an accurate assessment. The results that are often used to calculate these worldwide rankings do not account for circumstances such as game intensity and lineup strength when teams play outside of their domestic league, and even within a league the disparity that exists from the top team to the bottom one is inexact. Meanwhile, the geographical isolation of the United States makes it difficult for MLS to gauge itself against high-level European competition.
To get a better sense of how MLS compares to top leagues around the world, I spoke with media analysts, former MLS players and coaches, and European club officials to get their thoughts. Here's a general look at the current state of MLS from a perception, talent and competition standpoint, followed by my take on where it ranks among global leagues.
Industry perception
The consensus among people I polled and talked to is that, while MLS is certainly a top-15 league in the world, it is hard to classify it in the top 10. Of the group that I polled, ESPN analyst Alexi Lalas was the only person who put MLS in his top 10, stating plainly, "It's our league. We built it. I love it. Warts and all."
This is undeniably due to the fact that MLS is governed by a set of rules that are fitting for a young league in need of stability. Unlike many leagues around the world, MLS has a playoff system that qualifies 10 of the league's 19 teams into the postseason. The league also has a stringent salary budget of $3.1 million per team, which comes to less than half the average salary of an individual player from major clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea. Further, the amount of travel in MLS serves as a detriment to the quality of the league -- as the 19 teams are separated by four time zones and more than 2,600 miles -- and the distance can wear on the legs of MLS players over the summer months.
Thats all the free they would give. Anyone got the rest?
2
Posted on 8/7/14 at 6:47 am to StraightCashHomey21
I wish someone would name or get the top ten leagues hinted at in the article.
Im not a great expert at it but how can there by more than ten leagues better than MLS?
Im not a great expert at it but how can there by more than ten leagues better than MLS?
Posted on 8/7/14 at 6:52 am to JohnZeroQ
quote:
Im not a great expert at it but how can there by more than ten leagues better than MLS?
The MLS is 20 years old and has a salary cap with an exception for designated players.
Germany
Italy
England
Spain
France
Russia
Turkey
Portugal
Mexico
Netherlands
Greece
Brazil
Argentina
MLS is probably a top 15 league and rising at the moment.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 7:18 am to JohnZeroQ
quote:
Im not a great expert at it but how can there by more than ten leagues better than MLS?
England, Germany Spain and Italy top two divisions. But a few of those second divisions are extremely top heavy with their top 6 to 8.
Holland
Portugal
Brazil
Argentina
Mexico but not for long
France
Id put the MLS right now with the Belgium league which isn't a bad thing esp since they gutted that league and revamped its whole mission.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 10:53 am to StraightCashHomey21
How long before MLS can rise higher than the smaller countries?
More hype than normal has surrounded MLS since Dempsey came home. You have aging EURO stars coming here and still playing at a good level ala Thierry Henry. Seems like the money is being shelled out by the MLS team... so...
I know we will never past the likes of the Premier league, La Liga, etc... but I would like to know we are on par or better than counties like Portugal, Holland, and certainly Mexico.
More hype than normal has surrounded MLS since Dempsey came home. You have aging EURO stars coming here and still playing at a good level ala Thierry Henry. Seems like the money is being shelled out by the MLS team... so...
I know we will never past the likes of the Premier league, La Liga, etc... but I would like to know we are on par or better than counties like Portugal, Holland, and certainly Mexico.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 10:57 am to StraightCashHomey21
quote:
Id put the MLS right now with the Belgium league which isn't a bad thing esp since they gutted that league and revamped its whole mission.
What did they do? I'm not familiar with that situation.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 2:50 pm to GeauxColonels
quote:
What did they do? I'm not familiar with that situation.
Their FA made the clubs invest heavy into the youth system and tied it with the national team extremely well. Now we have their golden generation and the new crop might be even better.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 3:05 pm to JohnZeroQ
quote:
but I would like to know we are on par or better than counties like Portugal, Holland, and certainly Mexico.
The MLS is currently worse than all of them. Portugal has arguably the sixth best league in the world.
I think the MLS could certainly get into that 5-8 range of leagues. A big thing hurting it now and really more down the road is the lack of UCL. The best players will always want to play in that tourney.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 3:07 pm to Vicks Kennel Club
quote:
A big thing hurting it now and really more down the road is the lack of UCL. The best players will always want to play in that tourney.
Thats a big thing some MLS backers won't acknowledge. Kids over here grow up wanting to with the UCL not the MLS cup. That will never change for multiple reasons.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 3:09 pm to StraightCashHomey21
Worse for MLS is that the exposure American fans have to European games on a weekly basis lends itself to comparisons with the very best clubs in Europe, as opposed to the standard midtable European team. As ESPN soccer writer Doug McIntyre points out, "When you think about the Premier League, the Bundesliga and La Liga, you tend to think about the top teams. ... You don't think about West Brom vs. Cardiff City." These elite European clubs generally consist of the most expensive athletes that money can buy, and given this unfair comparison, there is a justification for why MLS fails to register as a top 10 league for most people.
Still, the rigid single-entity structure -- which ensures that all 19 teams are jointly owned and controlled by the league's investors -- does have its advantages. The biggest one is the league's ability to build a sound infrastructure through state-of-the-art stadiums and training facilities. The soccer-specific stadiums recently built for Sporting KC and the New York Red Bulls rival any facility in the top European leagues, and after recently speaking with officials at Liverpool and other clubs during the International Champions Cup, it's clear that they came away impressed with the ready-made training facilities that exist all over the United States and the overall momentum MLS is building.
Style of play, talent level, depth
While MLS teams do not always possess the deft touches and crisp passing of their European counterparts, the league does stand out worldwide for the level of fitness and physicality required. This trait manifested itself in the World Cup, where 10 MLS players were on the U.S. roster that averaged a combined 77.17 miles per game in distance covered (most of the 32 teams). Overall, 22 players from MLS competed in the World Cup, ranking 10th among the 61 leagues represented, so it is clear that there is enough quality for players to compete at a very high level.
Still, the rigid single-entity structure -- which ensures that all 19 teams are jointly owned and controlled by the league's investors -- does have its advantages. The biggest one is the league's ability to build a sound infrastructure through state-of-the-art stadiums and training facilities. The soccer-specific stadiums recently built for Sporting KC and the New York Red Bulls rival any facility in the top European leagues, and after recently speaking with officials at Liverpool and other clubs during the International Champions Cup, it's clear that they came away impressed with the ready-made training facilities that exist all over the United States and the overall momentum MLS is building.
Style of play, talent level, depth
While MLS teams do not always possess the deft touches and crisp passing of their European counterparts, the league does stand out worldwide for the level of fitness and physicality required. This trait manifested itself in the World Cup, where 10 MLS players were on the U.S. roster that averaged a combined 77.17 miles per game in distance covered (most of the 32 teams). Overall, 22 players from MLS competed in the World Cup, ranking 10th among the 61 leagues represented, so it is clear that there is enough quality for players to compete at a very high level.
Posted on 8/7/14 at 3:10 pm to LSUButt
The fitness level is an adjustment for both domestic and foreign players, and when speaking about his readjustment to MLS after six years in the Premier League, U.S. captain Clint Dempsey remarked in an interview that MLS "is a difficult league because it's a very athletic league, a very physical league." This sentiment has been echoed by a number of players who arrive in MLS from other professional leagues. The frantic pace that results from this physical emphasis would, for example, make it difficult for a service-oriented player like Jozy Altidore to find the same freedom to score at the pace in MLS that he did in the Dutch Eredivisie two years ago. Does that mean MLS offers stiffer competition than the Dutch league? Not necessarily, but it points to how it differs and where it can hold its own compared to upper-tier leagues.
The physical nature of MLS does not mean that its best players are not technically proficient enough to compete in the world's top leagues, but all parties I surveyed agreed that the average MLS roster lacks the technical depth that exists not just in Europe but also in nearby leagues like Liga MX in Mexico. MLS director of player programs Alfonso Mondelo suggests that in Liga MX, "They probably have 20 to 23 men that can step on the field, and that's not the case in MLS."
Indeed, MLS teams probably have 12 to 15 players per team who can truly compete at the level of a top-10 league. The recent additions of technical central midfielders like Frank Lampard at New York City FC and Kaka at Orlando City SC are examples of the talent joining the league, but again the salary restrictions make it difficult to fill out the back end of the roster with quality talent.
As far as importing and exporting top talent, it has largely been a one-way street from European leagues to MLS, though progress is being made in terms of MLS sending players, such as Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Fredy Montero (Sporting CP) and Roger Espinoza (Wigan), to top European leagues, which Mondelo sees as a developing trend.
"Early on, we [MLS] were a buying league," he said. "There weren't many players being developed in the country, so you took what was available from college systems. Now with all of the MLS academies starting to develop some players, you're going to see that we might become a bit of a seller's market as well."
Part of that talent development involves revenue, which, while on the upswing for MLS, has miles to go to compete with the big Euro leagues. The new television deal that MLS signed with Fox and ESPN is rumored to bring an extra $75 million annually (with additional money from Spanish-TV rights deals) yet represents a fraction of those in the Premier League and La Liga. The influx of cash has been linked to Prem clubs spending large sums -- far beyond their previous means -- to acquire big-name players.
"I think whenever you have an influx of revenue, you can see the impact it has in driving the top leagues," Mondelo said. "The Premier League in particular has grown tremendously because of the influx of TV money that has come in the last eight to 10 years, and I think you will see the same thing in MLS. The more money that comes in, the more you can invest in players, bringing in both those of higher caliber and higher recognition."
Competition level
As mentioned, many of the attempts to rank the strength of leagues involve results from intracontinental competitions, and MLS has an isolation issue in that its geographical location makes it difficult for teams to play meaningful games against opponents in the top five leagues (which are, in no particular order, the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1). While friendly games like the Seattle Sounders against Tottenham provide stretches of a high-intensity affair, those games are truly more of a showcase than anything.
This is why MLS is eager to produce its first CONCACAF Champions League winner and in the process prove that it can compete with and defeat teams from Liga MX on a regular basis. As Portland Timbers captain Will Johnson recently pointed out, "It's very important for MLS to keep taking strides toward winning that championship. ... It's something we're taking very seriously."
A CONCACAF Champions League title for an MLS team would also create a berth in the World Club Championship, where MLS teams can continue to measure themselves against the world's best clubs in an environment where there is something on the line.
"For us to grow as a league, we need to place more emphasis on these international competitions -- but without giving up the domestic calendar, so it has to be a combination of both," said Mondelo. "And in order to do both, you have to have deeper rosters and a greater number of impact players, so that will only come with time.
"We're still in the very young stages of development in this league, and we've seen that growth over the last five to seven years and will probably continue to see it over the next 10, and more sooner than later you are going to see an American team win the CONCACAF championship and go on to play in the World Club Championship and do a respectable job there."
The physical nature of MLS does not mean that its best players are not technically proficient enough to compete in the world's top leagues, but all parties I surveyed agreed that the average MLS roster lacks the technical depth that exists not just in Europe but also in nearby leagues like Liga MX in Mexico. MLS director of player programs Alfonso Mondelo suggests that in Liga MX, "They probably have 20 to 23 men that can step on the field, and that's not the case in MLS."
Indeed, MLS teams probably have 12 to 15 players per team who can truly compete at the level of a top-10 league. The recent additions of technical central midfielders like Frank Lampard at New York City FC and Kaka at Orlando City SC are examples of the talent joining the league, but again the salary restrictions make it difficult to fill out the back end of the roster with quality talent.
As far as importing and exporting top talent, it has largely been a one-way street from European leagues to MLS, though progress is being made in terms of MLS sending players, such as Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Fredy Montero (Sporting CP) and Roger Espinoza (Wigan), to top European leagues, which Mondelo sees as a developing trend.
"Early on, we [MLS] were a buying league," he said. "There weren't many players being developed in the country, so you took what was available from college systems. Now with all of the MLS academies starting to develop some players, you're going to see that we might become a bit of a seller's market as well."
Part of that talent development involves revenue, which, while on the upswing for MLS, has miles to go to compete with the big Euro leagues. The new television deal that MLS signed with Fox and ESPN is rumored to bring an extra $75 million annually (with additional money from Spanish-TV rights deals) yet represents a fraction of those in the Premier League and La Liga. The influx of cash has been linked to Prem clubs spending large sums -- far beyond their previous means -- to acquire big-name players.
"I think whenever you have an influx of revenue, you can see the impact it has in driving the top leagues," Mondelo said. "The Premier League in particular has grown tremendously because of the influx of TV money that has come in the last eight to 10 years, and I think you will see the same thing in MLS. The more money that comes in, the more you can invest in players, bringing in both those of higher caliber and higher recognition."
Competition level
As mentioned, many of the attempts to rank the strength of leagues involve results from intracontinental competitions, and MLS has an isolation issue in that its geographical location makes it difficult for teams to play meaningful games against opponents in the top five leagues (which are, in no particular order, the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1). While friendly games like the Seattle Sounders against Tottenham provide stretches of a high-intensity affair, those games are truly more of a showcase than anything.
This is why MLS is eager to produce its first CONCACAF Champions League winner and in the process prove that it can compete with and defeat teams from Liga MX on a regular basis. As Portland Timbers captain Will Johnson recently pointed out, "It's very important for MLS to keep taking strides toward winning that championship. ... It's something we're taking very seriously."
A CONCACAF Champions League title for an MLS team would also create a berth in the World Club Championship, where MLS teams can continue to measure themselves against the world's best clubs in an environment where there is something on the line.
"For us to grow as a league, we need to place more emphasis on these international competitions -- but without giving up the domestic calendar, so it has to be a combination of both," said Mondelo. "And in order to do both, you have to have deeper rosters and a greater number of impact players, so that will only come with time.
"We're still in the very young stages of development in this league, and we've seen that growth over the last five to seven years and will probably continue to see it over the next 10, and more sooner than later you are going to see an American team win the CONCACAF championship and go on to play in the World Club Championship and do a respectable job there."
Posted on 8/7/14 at 3:11 pm to LSUButt
Where does MLS rank?
All of this information leaves MLS in a nebulous area. It's not able to compete with the top five European leagues, but despite falling somewhere between Nos. 12 and 15 for all but one of the industry sources I polled, for me MLS is still credible enough to be considered one of the top 10 in the world. The athleticism on the field and first-class facilities are certainly advantages, while the salary-cap restrictions and lack of technical depth remain issues that the league works to improve on.
For me, MLS would rank just inside the top 10, below the Eredivisie and Liga MX but structurally above the likes of the Brasileirao and the Argentina Primera Division. Relatively speaking, that means the average domestic team would still struggle to survive if it were dropped into one of Europe's top five leagues for an entire season.
The stated goal is that MLS will supplant one of those top five leagues by 2022. By building its roster depth with more technical players, the league appears poised to close the gap sooner rather than later.
Adrian Melville joined ESPN in 2013 as a soccer Insider. He previously held roles at NBC, Major League Soccer and Opta. After college, Melville played with the New England Revolution for a season, followed by a season with Santo Andre, a second-division club in Brazil. Follow him on Twitter @adrianmelville.
There ya go, kids. Don't care about ESPN premium info with soccer. Enjoy mates
All of this information leaves MLS in a nebulous area. It's not able to compete with the top five European leagues, but despite falling somewhere between Nos. 12 and 15 for all but one of the industry sources I polled, for me MLS is still credible enough to be considered one of the top 10 in the world. The athleticism on the field and first-class facilities are certainly advantages, while the salary-cap restrictions and lack of technical depth remain issues that the league works to improve on.
For me, MLS would rank just inside the top 10, below the Eredivisie and Liga MX but structurally above the likes of the Brasileirao and the Argentina Primera Division. Relatively speaking, that means the average domestic team would still struggle to survive if it were dropped into one of Europe's top five leagues for an entire season.
The stated goal is that MLS will supplant one of those top five leagues by 2022. By building its roster depth with more technical players, the league appears poised to close the gap sooner rather than later.
Adrian Melville joined ESPN in 2013 as a soccer Insider. He previously held roles at NBC, Major League Soccer and Opta. After college, Melville played with the New England Revolution for a season, followed by a season with Santo Andre, a second-division club in Brazil. Follow him on Twitter @adrianmelville.
There ya go, kids. Don't care about ESPN premium info with soccer. Enjoy mates
Posted on 8/7/14 at 6:33 pm to LSUButt
LSUbutt 
Thanks brother
Makes me wonder what do high level players from USA want more of in Europe- money or competition.
I think given the route MLS and USA has taken the technique that is played with here should start to level up with the Euro teams etc... However far down the road that may be.
A world cup of the best pro teams? Did I read that right?
Thanks brother
Makes me wonder what do high level players from USA want more of in Europe- money or competition.
I think given the route MLS and USA has taken the technique that is played with here should start to level up with the Euro teams etc... However far down the road that may be.
A world cup of the best pro teams? Did I read that right?
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