The MLS SuperDraft car wreck

• 

  Brian said,

  For someone who claims their blog is about intelligent soccer, you sure make a lot of mistakes.

  1. Steve Shak. Shak. Shak. Shak. Not Shack. If you’re going to make fun of someone – and Lord knows he and the MetroStars deserve it for this one – at least get the name right. Shak. And thank you for pointing out that MLS is the only American league that makes mistakes in the draft.

  2. It’s called the SuperDraft because they used to have seperate drafts for college players and other unattached players. Yes, it’s a silly name, but the explanation is right on the Wikipedia page. Seriously, do your fucking research.

  3. If you think Robbie Findlay is the best player on RSL, you should either stop watching soccer because you don’t get it or you should watch more so you understand better. He’s probably not even in the top five on that team.

  4. They don’t show all four rounds on TV. They only show the first. Why they only block an hour for it is beyond me, but that’s the deal. A lot of people went to see the draft. I have, and it’s fun because it’s at the NSCAA convention so there’s soccer all around you. But not everything is as picture perfect as your ideal EPL game so you probably wouldn’t like all those coaches and trainers and American professional soccer types ruining your day.

  5. It’s in Philly because they partner it with the convention. Strange thing, bringing together all levels of the game in one place. People won’t fly to Vegas for the event, but the convention brings in all kinds of people. One of the best parts of the draft I went to was seeing random people coming in to watch the draft.

  6. OMG! Don Garber said it was a great story. The commentary wasn’t always scintillating. The league must suck! This is where I roll my eyes because it’s obvious you just want to bitch about how superior your preferences are.

  You trot out all the old, tired memes too.

  -Why would I watch when there is better soccer on? Um, cause you’re a soccer fan and more soccer is probably better than less soccer. Um, because you never know when there can be a good game. Because some EPL games can be absolutely horrid.

  -Oh, the draft should be five hours so the million MLS fans can watch. Seriously, that’s the smack you have?

  -Garber didn’t say anything about the lockout. That’s because he’s smart, Einstein. He’s letting the players cut their own necks with grand public pronouncements (most of which have

  OK, you don’t like MLS. Fine. As a fan of soccer, I could really care less. But please, for the good of all that is sacred, at least get your facts straight and/or come up with something other than tired old arguments that really just serve as a way for you to pretend that you’re a better fan because you look down on MLS.

  Shak.

• 

  Bill said,

  Creavan, great post! The MLS is a microcosm of the issues with Soccer in the USA.

  With regard to Brian(Shak?)’s post, the views of MLS tend to run either hot or cold. For the MLS defenders, any criticism of MLS gets you labeled as a “hater”. On the other hand, there are the “eurosnobs” who love soccer, but can’t stand MLS. The “eurosnob” will simply ignore the MLS instead of working to make the MLS a product worth their attention. The result is lack of progress. I have seen a lot of content from the USA where any criticism of MLS is labeled hate.

  The result is an MLS that refuses to evolve quickly into serious professional league. They are also ruled by the fear of failure associated with the demise of NASL. They’re trying to avoid the kind of financial issues affecting some of the big English clubs. This isn’t bad, but does have some negative consequences. MLS isn’t changing as much as it needs to. It is not making changes that would help soccer in the USA evolve into a better product. Instead it holds on to a number of absurd traits associated with other American sports.

  The superdraft is one of these. The real problem is that the superdraft is related to college soccer, and the general lack of MLS driven youth development. Instead, we have a completely haphazard system with no coordination between youth, college, semi-pro and pro levels of play. Its only our size and wealth as a nation that provides us with as much success as we have. In a nutshell, our system is horribly inefficient, and MLS contributes to the problem. I would much rather see MLS act as part of the solution.

  So let’s be blunt, soccer around the world has problems, every league has different issues that could if addressed improve the product. MLS is not different in that it has problems that could be solved and improve the product. Like other leagues, the soccer establishment stands in the way of solving such problems because it would upset the status quo.

  So my opinion, the MLS is not very good compared with the leagues we see televised from Europe, which are the best in the World. Honestly its a mid-tier league, and would do well to try to raise the level of play to that of the better leagues in our hemisphere.

  One of the main reasons its not good is related to college soccer, which is absolutely terrible. College soccer is a thuggish, non-technical version of soccer that supplies MLS with most of its players. The MLS inherits the style of play seen at club, high school, and college because the style of play produces a certain class of player. The USA produces players who tend to be big, fast and physical compared with the rest of the world. They also tend to be less technically and tactically talented because those traits are less important to success in the USA.

  The problem for the MLS and USA is that technical and tactical sophistication is important to be competitive with the rest of the world, and produce a product that competes with European soccer.

  A big step in the right direction would be for the USA start to encourage more technical and tactical play at all levels. It would be a very hard transition for everyone, but it would lead rapidly to an improvement in the product. It would require game conditions that would allow a technically and tactically talented team to overcome a physically superior team. Current interpretations of the rules give the advantage to the physical style of play. This is why we see the sort of soccer, we see in the USA.

• 

  JC said,

  This is, perhaps, the dumbest soccer blog I’ve ever seen. The level of writing is sophomoric at best.

  Tell you what, genius – don’t be a fan. We don’t need you. That’s all.

• 

  Creaven said,

  Brian’s right, it’s Shak.

  Brian, I think you missed my point a little bit. I don’t hate MLS; I just don’t like it. The same way I don’t like country music and carrot cake. I don’t look down on people that do like it, I just like other soccer.

  I thought the SuperDraft was REALLY funny. I was having fun with it. That’s all.

  When it comes to facts:

  1. My bad on Shak’s name.
  2. The SuperDraft name thing was a joke.
  3. Maybe Findley is the fifth best player, or worse. I honestly don’t think I’ve seen him play a whole game. He was getting a lot publicity at the end of last year so I figured he was the best, or one of the best, players. I guess not.
  4. The five hour draft coverage thing was a joke.
  6. The league doesn’t suck because the commentary sucks. The commentary sucks because the commentary sucks.

  Bill,

  Thanks for reading and inserting your own commentary; I always appreciate it.

  JC,

  Sophomoric? Me? Noooooo waaaaaay.

• 

  Todd said,

  ha! not sure what is I enjoyed more the article and it’s sarcasm or the comments about it. Think I might have to link this article to big soccer just to get the MLS martyrs to write evil things about you.

  I do tend prefer a European league over MLS when I have a choice. I have other duties that I need to attend to on a weekend (wife, child, house)then watching 20 hours of soccer, so will choose to watch Messi over Shalrie Joseph. Torres over Alan Gordon, Not because i don’t think they love the game more i just enjoy Messi and Torres more.

• 

  Matt said,

  Hey, thanks for the 3 minutes I’ll never get back. You go watch Serie A, I’ll take my MLS.

  You go ahead and think of me as a fan of mediocrity and I’llthink of you as a poseur.

  One question though…all these late picks that ended up on the national team but had not signed overseas…could that mean that MLS does a good job developing players? Probably just luck….

• Tweets that mention The MLS SuperDraft car wreck » Intelligent Soccer -- Topsy.com said,

  [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by amersocc, XtheXlanternX and peter wilt, ASN PhillyUnion. ASN PhillyUnion said: Apparently not everybody is a fan of SuperDraft. Here is one hater's lament (IntelligentSoccer) http://ow.ly/WM79 [...]

• 

  Creaven said,

  Todd,

  I completely underestimated how protective MLS fans are of their league. I had no idea.

  Matt,

  I like Big West college basketball. It’s some of the most mediocre basketball on the face of the planet, but I like it because I went to a Big West school. I’m sure you have a reason why you like MLS. Maybe a high school buddy is on a team, maybe you live right next to a stadium, maybe you think the nicknames are cool, whatever. I don’t think it’s a check against your character that you’re an MLS fan. Personally, I’m not a fan and that’s OK too.

  But…the MLS SuperDraft is funny. Like REALLY FUNNY and I like things that are funny.

  When it comes to the MLS developing players, I’ll say this. I think the MLS has helped some talented young players get some playing time, which helped them develop into players that could play overseas. But, looking at the No. 1 picks over the last 10 years, I don’t think the MLS is “good” or even OK at developing players.

• 

  Bill said,

  I, too, underestimated the over-protective nature of MLS fans. Frankly, it reminds me of the sort of attitude fans of fringe indie bands have. The rabid fans of these indie bands don’t want the band to be popular because it would infringe on their exclusive love affair with the band. Having attended a number of MLS games and read the blogging on BigSoccer, this analogy seems to come close. The USMNT has the same sort of fans; they love the team and the coach without regard for the merits of their play, and attack anyone who has the audacity to critique them. Given the nature of this sort of fan, it would be a stretch to expect intelligent discourse on the shortcomings of the target of the love affair.

  The problems with MLS are relatively obvious, but quite complex to solve. Right now the presence of MLS is essential to the advancement of the game in the USA, but the quality of the league does little to serve this purpose. The game in the USA needs to grow up, and become more textured and subtle. The structure of the league, its schedule, and how it acquires players all impact the advancement of the game in the USA in profound ways. Taking each of these issues in turn ought to be a full on discussion of its own. The single entity status with its lack of relegation and promotion produces important collateral consequences on the way soccer is structured across the country. The failure to abide by the international schedule hurts both the league and the National team alike. Finally, the acquisition of players through mechanisms like the Superdraft allows to the continued stagnation of player development. College soccer ought to represent an advantage to the American system, but we manage to turn it into a disadvantage. In the final analysis, it would seem that the forces of the status quo fight to defend their entrenched mediocrity rather than accept the challenge of trying evolve to something great.

  I for one would rather see some in depth discussions about how player development ought to be improved. The USA desperately needs players with greater technical capacity, and game intelligence. The USA should be a crucible for tactical innovation with our wealth of sports culture. Instead, the USA is a veritable wasteland for anything resembling tactical experimentation. The USA can become a soccer power if we can develop players with greater technical and tactical fluency, and come at the rest of the world with innovative tactical schemes.

  As for JC, your criticism is completely off base. Like soccer, it’s easier to destroy than create, and you do nothing to create anything. It’s doubtful that you’ve written anything worth criticizing. So step up, and write something you’re proud of in defense of your beloved MLS. Otherwise, you come across as nothing but a bitter fanboy.

• 

  innah said,

  Вы абсолютно правы.

• 

  lbgc said,

  Great article.

• 

  Creaven said,

  Thanks Ibgc.

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