i really don't keep up with soccer, particularly MLS, even though i do enjoy it... but i have a feeling you have absolutely no clue what you're talking about. you just come off as some incredible homer who see's everything in orange-tinted glasses. just my uneducated opinion on the matter.
Close...except it's red and green tinted glasses. According to swoLy, no American player could possibly have success outside of the MLS.
Onstad is 41 years old, I don't think he has any desire to play anywhere else. Like everyone else has said Clark has already signed with Livorno. Holden is a rising star in American soccer, he surely will go to Europe soon. And they would not sit on the bench. Clark is a starter on the USA team. American soccer players as a whole are not as good, but our best players do get to play in Europe despite what you may think. Also, they get a shot load more money over there.
That was a sarcastic joke, rhino17. I know Onstad won't go anywhere. LOL! You're still bitter! Red and Green? What team is that? Casey Keller, Tim Howard, Claudio Reyna, and I can name a few others. Landon Donovan? Try again. FAIL. SWTsig, why am I going to be a homer about Jozy Altidore? He scored just this past weekend. Where? In the lower division. What happened to Freddy Adu? Awww... so sad. My point is: stop wishing EVERY U.S. player who does well for their team in MLS moves to European teams... to fail.
Kasey Keller had a long career in Europe. Tim Howard is considered one of the better keepers in the EPL. Claudio Reyna started for Bayern Leverkusen, Rangers, Sunderland, and Manchester City. I'll fully admit to being very disappointed that Donovan hasn't been able to stick in Europe. He would have probably done better not to go back to Germany last time and tried England or Spain. Why shouldn't fans of the USMNT hope for our players to go to the best leagues in the world? I'm excited for Clark. Italy is the best place he could go, being a defensive mid. I want to see Stuart Holden excel. Unfortunately, there's only so far he can go in the MLS before he plateaus. Your knowledge of the game is really pathetic when it doesn't involve mexico or mexican players.
Hate to break it to you sport, but Hull City plays in the premiership. Go back to watching superclasico reruns.
Don't you want STUART and RICARDO to stay in Houston and hope to continue to be able to see them play locally, be the best in the league here and having a chance to show the entire world that we have good players in the MLS, instead of shipping any sign of greatness? Sure, they will get paid more. Sure, they will be called by a "great team" in Europe... but... for what? It make$ no $en$e that the$e player$ only $ee an opportunity to leave, and they take it. You know they get home$ick. Damn it. I meant relegation group. leroy420, I should have said "the dudes in this here group were successful, but Landon failed." FAIL x2.
Mate, of course every MLS fan wants those players to stay and help grow MLS but we also have to be realistic and understand that if we were in their shows and we had any sort of ambition, we'd aim to play the game in the leagues in which it's played at the highest level and that'd be some of the European leagues. Hence the reason why no one's going to be vexed at Clark's decision or Stu's if he does decide to head back overseas. As was said before, a young player can only develop for so long in MLS. That's not a major slight on the league as once again you have to take into consideration the age of the league. Rome wasn't built in a day.
So... help me understand, please: what you're telling me is that you're agreeing the MLS, after 10+ years, is just a development league...? Or are you saying that we will "understand" if good players like Stu and Ricardo are shipped overseas and will say "yay!" because they leave instead of wishing they could stay... because we have no say so? Why not, as a fanbase, try to urge players to remain in MLS, keep the league in higher standards to bring everyone else up to speed, and continue to grow here... TOGETHER? Or are we just going to be wishing washed up European (yeah, I'll throw in some other ones in there like Argentineans, Mexicans, Salvadorians and Colombians) players to come to end their careers in MLS just to sell some tickets and garner interest? The NASL died because of those failed experiments... don't tell me the MLS is going that way, too... C'mon, now... let's learn from history, MLS.
You're smarter than that. The players are going not only look to play the best soccer, they're going to go where the $ is. You're going to see a mass exodus this offseason of players going overseas...especially ones that have a chance to make a World Cup roster. National team coaches are telling their players to stay sharp. They can't do that in the MLS when the season doesn't start until April. Of course we want the MLS to be a top league. Unfortunately, that isn't realistic right now. Players want to get better and they want to get paid as much as possible to do it. The MLS is on much firmer ground than the NASL ever was. I think they learned their lesson with the Lothar Matthaeus experiment. Beckham is clearly still at or close to the top of his game. Your boy, Blanco, has played very well for Chicago...as have many of the other bigger names that have come over. I don't see anything wrong in bringing these players over as long as the league and the individual teams are very selective with who it is. It's good for the league in regards to marketability. It's good for the teams in ticket sales. It's good for the players to learn from some of the best.
When Beckham came to the US he was washed up and on the bench. Henry is still top notch and would no doubt make a huge impact on his team because he is a striker.
I'm not sure David Beckham was benched because he was "washed up". He was injured for the majority of his first two MLS seasons. Do you honestly think the Galaxy would bench the face of not only their franchise, but entire league? Although he isn't as great as he once was, he's still a master at dead balls and precision passing. That's why he is still on one of the top national teams in the world.
Dude, I think he's talking about Beckham BEFORE arriving in MLS. If I'm correct, wasn't Becks on the bench at Real Madrid before signing with LA?
He was on the bench when he signed, then earned his starting role back and Madrid tried to keep him. The fact that Milan signed him on loan and tried to buy him is also a good sign that he's not completely washed up. The problem with NASL didn't wasn't bringing in big named older players, it was New York severly overpaying them and the rest of the league killing themselves trying to keep up. MLS has always been cautious when it comes to spending money because of that, which has led to the low salaries and difficulty in keeping players. That's slowly changing, but is going to take a while and in the end is a good thing. Now the "old guard" of ownership that was very cautious is being replaced as new teams and owners come into the league. The newer guys are more willing to spend money. But for now it's just a fact of reality that most of the best young players are going to leave. Hopefully the new CBA will make it easier to keep players here for longer, either by raising the cap or getting rid of the mandatory 4 year contract which scares a lot of young players.
It depends on what happens with the mayoral elections, if Parker wins it doesn't look to good for getting the stadium, if Locke wins the deal will probably move along. http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/2009/10/city_election_casts_cloud_over_dynamo_stadium.html
In other words... Mayor Gene Locke = Houston Dynamo playing at Dynamo Stadium (or whatever it ends up being called after the naming rights are sold) Mayor Annise Parker = ______ Dynamo (or whatever the team name is changed to when they move) VOTE FOR GENE LOCKE! [Disclaimer]: I don't live in Houston and have no idea what the differences between the 2 candidates are, regardless of the stadium issue.
it's as if you live in a fantasy world where money doesn't exist and everyone is paid in unicorn horns and rainbows
