Lalas & MLS vs. EPL & Eurosnobs ...
"The fact that a segment of the world worships an inferior product in the Premiership is their business ... In England, our league is considered second class, but I honestly believe if you took a helicopter and grabbed a bunch of MLS players and took them to the perceived best league in the world they wouldn't miss a beat and the fans wouldn't notice any drop in quality." - Alexi Lalas, The Guardian
Okay, okay, okay ... The EPL and MLS aren't exactly on par, but Alexi makes a huge point here that is worthy of consideration ... and that is that reputations need to be taken with a grain of salt. The EPL is not a great league because it is in England, it is a great league because rich owners have been able to purchase players from around the world to make it a cosmopolitan league.
The top English players when placed together - with all of their reputations - are rarely able to beat anyone better than Estonia or Andorra any more. It is simply that they are not as good as their reputations and the Eurosnobs think that they are. The England squad is loaded with names, names which just aren't the best players in the world.
MLS is preparing a steady stream of players to play for the USA and for European teams. I would love to see how well England would do in the CONCACAF qualifying playing road games in places like Mexico City, Tegucigalpa, San Jose, Kingston, and San Salvador. The MLS level of play is steadily improving. American players are on rosters all over Europe and the majority of them cut their professional teeth in MLS. No, MLS is not loaded with names and stars, but that hardly makes it significantly inferior to the EPL.
Alexi, you overshot the mark, but not by much.
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On that note I also get really sick of people bashing CONCACAF. Why is it that this group gets slammed so much? Is success in the World Cup all that matters? I really don't think so.
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