U.S. eliminated from 2018 World Cup

I always slot top-end MLS teams about mid-table in the Championship. I could be wrong about that. Certainly ahead of Scotland's Premiership though.

 

I would love to see Toronto play Norwich or Fulham in a competitive game. I don't think it would be close, but it's a great debate.

 

Having watched some Championship teams on TV, I'd say MLS is low Championship level. The athleticism is above average for that league, but the skill is well below.

I've always thought that BWP being so dominant for the Red Bulls is an indictment of the level of the league. He was a very good League One striker, but nothing more.

 

A friend of mine who is an EPL /Man City fan had an interesting theory. He says that the MLS players are as good athletically as any of the top guys but do not have the technical skills. This makes MLS more exciting because the game is sloppier with more chances. This is a guy who knows the game pretty well and played/reffed at a decent level. Also says that the atmosphere for MLS games in Montreal was awesome and had season tickets but has never seen a CFL game live.

Soccer is one of the few sports I can watch with my wife, probably because all of our kids played and she knows the game. I still think eventually demographics win out and soccer will overtake some other sports in popularity in North America.

 

My daughter says maybe he'll teach the U.S. team to play dirty like he did.

 

Donovan is one of those guys who proves to me how deeply weird athletes are. When he scored the goal against Algeria in 2010, he said that he had no idea where the ball had come from. Tim Howard had thrown a perfect ball to Donovan's feet, and after, Donovan had no recollection of that having happened—he was so focussed on himself and the Algerian end. Obviously that's what you want in a goal scorer, but I'm not sure that's the same kind of brain that would work well with others in something as collaborative and politically thorny as US Soccer.

 

MLS as a whole? Yeah, I can see that. But I think the top four in the MLS could be mid-pack over there.

 

For as often as pop culture changes, it’s unbelievable how long the major team sports have been entrenched. Nothing says they have to be.

 

One of my favorite soccer writers constructs an ambitious way forward for US Soccer.

 

Hey fellow soccer fans, what's happening?

 

Greetings, YF! Wikipedia tells me there are at least six historical soccer players named John Kelly, although the youngest was born in 1960. Are you wearing your Tranmere Rovers jersey in his honor?

 

Politics thread gets locked and YF shows back up over here. Coincidence? I think not.