The best football is played in Europe and South America. Japan used to be a hit, for several years China raced to create a boom by bringing in expensive stars, now Saudi Arabia, namely Al Nasrr from Riyadh, created a tsunami by signing Cristiano Ronaldo, and the USA is becoming more and more a promised country for football. Americans still prefer the “egg ball” and it has been nailed for “the ages”, but soccer, as the Americans call football, is gaining more and more popularity.
From its very beginning, the MLS seemed like a union of the incompatible, and it remains so today, regardless of its ever-increasing development. In 1996, when the ball started rolling in the huge stadiums for American football, few believed that MLS would see its fifth, let alone its 28th season. However, now we are where we are — the Americans have embraced football (soccer), they are massively building the so-called soccer-specific playgrounds, the popularity of the sport is growing, and from the initial ten teams we reached a record 29 franchises that are fighting for the MLS trophy this season, and it is confirmed that one more club will be added to the league.
The league this year has 29 clubs. St. Louis is a new member of the best US league, while Nashville is back in the Eastern Conference. The championship began on 25 February, and the league part is scheduled to end on October 21, when the playoffs for the title begin. The crown is defended by Los Angeles FC, which won the first title in MLS at the end of last year. Each team will play 34 matches in the first part of the championship. The competition system has not changed. The winners of the Eastern and Western Conferences will win direct placement in the semi-finals, while the teams from second to seventh positions will play from the first knockout phase. When betting on this league, it’s very important to compare MLS odds from different bookmakers.
What do new franchises mean for the league?
The continuous expansion of the number of franchises on the field is really felt — in the previous seasons, the records for the number of goals scored by the top scorers have fallen, New England Revolution achieved the highest number of points in the history of the regular season in 2021, and many believe that the general quality of the game is declining due to the constant entry new teams that have to undergo the necessary adjustment before they reach the level of already established teams.
Uncompetitiveness also arises as a problem, since weaker teams are not fighting for anything except draft picks, which in most cases do not really help them, so they have absolutely no competitive motive once it becomes clear that they will not be able to catch the playoffs. As a logical solution, a good, old European… relegation from the league.
Relegation in America? Unimaginable. To explain why, it is enough to look at the numbers — local media in Sacramento state that the Republic there had to pay more than 300 million dollars to secure a place in the league. Considering such costs, which franchise would be in the interest of changing the system? That is why the mentioned idea, at least as it seems at the moment, is out of the question.
Many talented American players leave the MLS for Europe very early and sometimes do not even play for the senior teams of its franchises, and domestic teams are increasingly turning to the acquisition of South American talents, who see the league as a stopover on the way to European turf. Also, with the mentioned ‘playing for nothing’, it is legitimate to ask whether this affects the development of the players themselves, and there will be more and more such matches as they continue to expand.
MLS has come a long way — from ridiculous innovations in the first seasons, through the “league for pensioners” to a springboard for Europe, but the question is how effective the current system is. The memories of the failed NASL from the seventies have already faded, MLS is getting bigger and bigger, but time will tell if it becomes better and more attractive.
Young talents from MLS
The wonderful talent Christian Pulisic, who plays for the US national team and Chelsea, has pulled the wave that a bunch of young talents from America are coming to Europe, mostly in Germany. After the incredible development of Christian Pulisic, an American of Croatian origin, who in Dortmund confirmed what a pearl he is and signed with Chelsea, German clubs are increasingly deciding on young talents from MLS.
In 2017, Josh Sargent became the second top scorer at the U-20 World Cup and the first American since Freddie Adu to play in two World Cups in one year (Josh also scored at the U-17 World Cup). In 2018, this than18-year-old football pearl from America started with the second team of Werder Bremen, but when he scored 7 goals in 12 matches and the manager Florian Kohfeldt reassigned him to the first team. Josh Sargent made his Werder debut with a goal just half a minute after coming on from the bench. Now he is one of the most important players in Norwich City in England. Even a giant like Bayern Munich was looking for reinforcements across the ocean. They bought 19-year-old Canadian Alphonso Davis in 2018 for 13 million dollars from Vancouver Whitecaps, and now he became one of the best players in the world in his position, left winger.
Players in MLS
Lorenzo Insigne, former Napoli ace, arrived in Toronto last summer. The Italian has the highest salary in the league at $14,000,000. Last season in MLS, he scored ten goals and had two assists, and announced that he will be the leader of the Canadian team this season as well. His compatriot, former Fiorentina and Juventus player Federico Bernardeschi, will keep him company in Toronto. The Azzurri have been the main stars of this team for years. Sebastian Giovinco left the biggest mark. Riki Puig wasn’t in Xavi’s plans in Barcelona, so the 23-year-old moved to the Los Angeles Galaxy and will be one of the most important players in the team from the City of Angels this year. In addition to Chicharito, Brazilian Douglas Costa, a former Bayern and Juventus player, remained in the club. On paper, Galaxy has perhaps one of the strongest teams in the league. We will no longer see Gareth Bale on the football field. The Welshman has decided to end his career, so he will play golf in the future.
DC United has the biggest number on the bench – former ace of Manchester United and former coach of Derby County, Wayne Rooney. The first star of the team is Belgian Christian Benteke.
It’s obvious that MLS is getting more and more attractive not only for old players who go there before they retire, but also for young talented players who are “made” in Europe and who also bring with them more fans and followers.
