Major League Soccer (MLS, 1996) - North America's Professional Men's Soccer League

[Tweaked]

The Yanks have more than 1 bald keeper. 

A beat down will show how fraudulent and pathetic the U.S. team is.  I think it's mostly a lack of talent, and what talent we have refuses to play at the most competitive level (because MLS offers them big bucks to play with retirees).

That's the beauty of the Bald Goalkeeper...just insert the next one into the lineup. 

The talent is coming.  You need to remember that MLS is only 20 years old. Players that are only just now entering the pro-ranks will be the first generation of player that has had a domestic pro-league during their entire lifetime. And let's face it, MLS wasn't that great in its early years. In the next 5-10 years, I think you'll see an uptick in the level of play in the U.S. player (yeah, yeah, I know that's been promised before), as kids come up through the system who have been able to attend domestic games on a regular basis, train with pro-teams, go through pro-academies.  That's a big difference over pre-MLS, when basically you grew up playing for your school, a travel team, and attended soccer camp during the summer.    

 

[DonRocks]

1 hour ago, Tweaked said:

The talent is coming.  You need to remember that MLS is only 20 years old. 

I've read that the MLS was founded in 1993, but didn't play its inaugural season until 1996:

Dec 17, 2010 - "MLS Celebrates 17th Anniversary of Formal Debut" by Simon Borg on mlssoccer.com

[DanielK]

That's correct. I've had season tickets at RFK since 1996; this is the 21st season of the league.

[DaveO]

On 6/21/2016 at 1:36 PM, Tweaked said:

The talent is coming.  You need to remember that MLS is only 20 years old. Players that are only just now entering the pro-ranks will be the first generation of player that has had a domestic pro-league during their entire lifetime. And let's face it, MLS wasn't that great in its early years. In the next 5-10 years, I think you'll see an uptick in the level of play in the U.S. player (yeah, yeah, I know that's been promised before), as kids come up through the system who have been able to attend domestic games on a regular basis, train with pro-teams, go through pro-academies.  That's a big difference over pre-MLS, when basically you grew up playing for your school, a travel team, and attended soccer camp during the summer.    

This probably doesn't belong here but the other day I learned that my high school soccer coach passed away.  He was one of those fabled coaches with hundreds of victories and a winning record that probably was in the 75-80% range over his career.  I think the first 3 time native American All American was a graduate of this high school and played for this coach.  I discovered I played in the midst of a 19 year stretch of always winning records, and I know the streak lost about another 8-10 years as he kicked off the team virtually the entire senior class for some terrible rules violations a number of years before I started playing. 

Miscellaneous memories include that while I was there, before I got to high school and while I was in college there was always a post-season Thanksgiving weekend High School/Alumni game.  I probably played in it for 4-6 years.  It was probably the Friday after Thanksgiving and we would play for about 2 hours.  It would start out with the high school varsity competing against an alumni group, then players would start subbing in and out.  The coach would play.  He'd play for both teams.  Players would sub in for the high school or the alumni.  It was an amazing part of a long term bonding between players over the decades.  Regular seasons were in the Autumn but our town had a summer league, we entered a team of alumni against college teams, we'd play in then popular Euro-Ethnic leagues, etc.     I recall one of my first feelings of accomplishment was blocking a shot on goal during a summer league from the aforementioned local fabled 3 time All American.  (getting my body in the way)   

Another random memory was that 7 years after I graduated high school I was in NJ in the Autumn and learned that the home town team was rated first in the state and was playing some big time mid season tournament game.  When I got there I saw two old friends/teammates, brothers, who were respectively a year older and a year younger than me.  We were in awe.  That team was great.  The individual and team skills were so far beyond anything we ever approached while in high school (and we played on championship teams).   One of the two brothers had been a college all American.  We were stunned.  The players were so great and their overall skills and teamwork showed remarkable development beyond where we had been.  The team won that game and we congratulated our old coach who was happily responsive to us old (forgotten) alumni. 

All of that probably preceded in time that which was described above;   playing for a school, a travel team, and summer soccer camp.   And the skills just keep getting better and better and better.   Playing against increasingly more talented players begets better and better players. 

I agree with Tweaked above.  The talent is coming.