Sepp Blatter: MLS are "struggling."

Well the thing about the mls.... kidding.

No but seriously. How can someone not see the long term benefit of a relegation system?

It's the reasons for the lesser team to not let up despite playing poor and not getting the results early but lead to a much more entertaining match up towards the end of the season when it's neck and neck to see who's leaving.


That would be great for MLS. Oh and NCAA should change its system in term of getting more players into more teams.

A majority of players in NCAA get full ride scholarships to play for the school and never even get a sniff of MLS. So what's the point?

As I've previously mentioned, at the moment we're discussing how to help keep MLS growing. How can a relegation/promotion system be any good for a 19 club league? It takes decades and decades (and perhaps even centuries) to get the type of depth in clubs to make a relegation/promotion system working.

And given how moving away from a post-season play-off system would alienate much of the mass public that MLS is trying to currently attract at the moment it's a purely self-destructive idea for the foreseeable future.

I still hate the playoff system though

Are there not more cities from states that can compete?

So instead we maintain a system that without a doubt is growing. As previously mentioned.

So we hit a decade. We hit a century. Who's going to have the balls to change an established system that's been around for decade or even centuries?

If the system takes hold and grows into a sustainable and well supported league what's the need to change? MLS doesn't have to look exactly like it's European counterparts. Indeed, being a US sports league it makes sense that it would adopt some of the US systems. I'm not a huge fan of the postseason play-offs myself but it's not at all difficult to see why it's currently in place, will likely stay in place in the near future, and why it could be a permanent feature for MLS.

Once the League gets 20 teams it will be better. The New York Cosmos could be huge for the league.

Its the only team in the country with a real decorated history. The team they had in the late 70s/early 80s was ridiculous. Having a history can really help elevate a franchise, and being in a place like new york, can draw a lot of attention and talent and improve the league immensely

The League doesn't have any stadiums in the biggest sports markets in the country.

The Galaxy aren't in LA, The Red Bulls aren't in New York, they are in new jersey.. and not just like right over the border like the Giants and Jets, like, totally out of the way New Jersey. I don't even think FC Dallas is in Dallas.

But their plan is to build a stadium in Queens right near the Mets stadium, which is very easily accessable and could bring in people from all over.

Swanhends wrote:I still hate the playoff system though

Me neither. but I don't think America is willing to accept a league that doesn't really have playoffs.

At the very least I'd like to see them cut it down to two conferences and have one play off game that has the two teams with the most points from each play a final

The league is built to grow in it is sustainable way via a salary cap which is why it is growing slowly. The first professional league failed due to overspending like the China and Russian leagues are doing right now. Blame the New York Cosmos for signing Pele it set soccer back in the United States causing the rest of the league to overspend and collapse. As a result MLS is almost to cautious now because they don't want MLS to overspend and collapse like the last major league.

Promotion/Relegation won't work In the U.S. because owners don't want to invest money in a team just to have it get relegated.

As has been acknowledged soccer/ football is the most popular youth sport in the United States (despite the pay to play system) attendence and tv ratings will continue to grow as these kids become adults so they can go to games on their own.

Development in the United States will continue to increase in the United States as current 20-30 year olds have kids and teach them how to play soccer.
Many 25 year olds were taught soccer by parents / coaches who never played soccer because it wasn't popular in the United States when they were kids 40 years ago. Rather their parents played American football, basketball, baseball.

The United States produces good keepers now due to kids playing multiple sports(mainly basketball).
My coach always used basketball players such as the guards who do ball handeling or baseball catchers do to the hand eye coordination as our goalkeepers.

One thing to remember... all major sports in the US have salary caps. NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL have them. And you can only buy players through a draft system unless they qualify as free agents according to the league. In most of these leagues, you're only a free agent if 1) you declare for the draft and you are not drafted or 2) your contract has expired and you're not arbitration eligible.

What's draft? Teams pick players in reverse order of the standings of the previous year or based on a lottery.

Why a draft? In the US, the leagues want every team to be competitive as much as possible.

How does this affect the MLS? With the salary cap, they can only spend as much as it is economically feasible for the team and league.

So when people ask why there aren't huge signings in the MLS... it's not because some teams cannot. LA and NY surely could. But the idea is to build a league that gradually grows and has a solid and sustainable foundation.

VendettaRed07 wrote:

Swanhends wrote:I still hate the playoff system though

Me neither. but I don't think America is willing to accept a league that doesn't really have playoffs.

At the very least I'd like to see them cut it down to two conferences and have one play off game that has the two teams with the most points from each play a final

I'd much prefer it if the playoffs were just the winner of the east vs the winner of the west

Not sure why, but in soccer it just bothers me when a team has the most points throughout the whole season doesn't win the league because some team that slipped into the playoffs in 6th place or something nicks the title....That makes the championship more about form than anything else, and that really annoys me

For some reason that doesn't bother me as much with the other sports, I guess I'm just used to having it a specific way with soccer

lol if there was relegation and promotion Toronto FC would be in about division 3 by now one of the leagues richest teams, run by idiots tho


thank god there is no relegation promotion

Swanhends wrote:

VendettaRed07 wrote:

Swanhends wrote:I still hate the playoff system though

Me neither. but I don't think America is willing to accept a league that doesn't really have playoffs.

At the very least I'd like to see them cut it down to two conferences and have one play off game that has the two teams with the most points from each play a final

I'd much prefer it if the playoffs were just the winner of the east vs the winner of the west

Not sure why, but in soccer it just bothers me when a team has the most points throughout the whole season doesn't win the league because some team that slipped into the playoffs in 6th place or something nicks the title....That makes the championship more about form than anything else, and that really annoys me

For some reason that doesn't bother me as much with the other sports, I guess I'm just used to having it a specific way with soccer

You could just consider the Supporters' Shield to be the main title then.

RedOranje wrote:

Swanhends wrote:

VendettaRed07 wrote:
Me neither. but I don't think America is willing to accept a league that doesn't really have playoffs.

At the very least I'd like to see them cut it down to two conferences and have one play off game that has the two teams with the most points from each play a final

I'd much prefer it if the playoffs were just the winner of the east vs the winner of the west

Not sure why, but in soccer it just bothers me when a team has the most points throughout the whole season doesn't win the league because some team that slipped into the playoffs in 6th place or something nicks the title....That makes the championship more about form than anything else, and that really annoys me

For some reason that doesn't bother me as much with the other sports, I guess I'm just used to having it a specific way with soccer

You could just consider the Supporters' Shield to be the main title then.

I do consider the winners of SS to be the best teams of their given years, but my opinion isn't important...what's important is which trophy is seen as the main title by the majority of fans, and that ain't the supporters shield, sadly

Swanhends wrote:
I do consider the winners of SS to be the best teams of their given years, but my opinion isn't important...what's important is which trophy is seen as the main title by the majority of fans, and that ain't the supporters shield, sadly

It's important to me, bhends.

RedOranje wrote:

He has repeated calls for the league to adopt an August-May schedule, saying that the current March-October season was the overwhelming reason that the MLS cannot compete with Europe's top leagues.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1283006/blatter-chides-mls-as-'struggling'-to-take-hold?cc=5901

The irony of this part now that MLS's schedule will fit around his 2022 Winter World Cup is palpable.

Any watch the E:60 Report on Blatter last night?

E:60 ‏@E60 24h24 hours ago
Sources tell E:60 that Sepp Blatter has decided, due to the FBI investigation, that it would be unwise to set foot on American soil.

See my post in the other Blatter thread, bhends.
http://www.goallegacy.net/t13376p36-blatter-is-going-to-jail#1421665

Sepp clearly ain't seen Toronto or Montreal in the dead of winter

nobody would sign having to play in the conditions we have

-30 plus TFC stadium right on the lake, so windchill gets like -40

He doesn't understand North American sports...  you only have baseball to compete with in the summer.  The NBA, NFL, NHL, NCAA football and NCAA basketball seasons run from roughly September through June.  The March-October timeframe was chosen so that you're not rivaling those leagues in their peak timeframes (playoffs).

What a buffoon.