Soccer in America

MLS - Worthy or Worthless?

By Abigail Richards




In surfing the web these past few months, I've noticed numerous articles cropping up on football journalism websites about the impact of David Beckham on 'soccer' in America. Essentially you can split these articles right down the middle and divide them up into two categories. Those who think Beckham will do more for soccer than Pélé in the 1970s, and those who think he's a washed-up, overpaid moron.

Personally I'm not one for making judgments on someone so early. It's impossible to tell what kind of impact Beckham and the many others who have arrived in MLS (Major League Soccer) thanks to the 'Beckham rule' or more accurately, the designated player (DP) rule, until at the very earliest the end of the current season. Then and only then can any kind of conclusions be drawn.

Initial signs are at least fairly positive. A massive 66,237 crowd at the Giants Stadium saw Juan Pablo Angel (formerly of Aston Villa) and the rest of the New York Red Bulls overcome Beckham's LA Galaxy by 5 goals to 4. These are the kind of soccer matches the American fans like to see. High-scoring, high-tempo affairs. Let's not forget that in the majority of other sports involving a ball, scoring often reaches double figures for both sides. For fans brought up on American football and basketball, watching two soccer teams grind out a 0-0 draw is not what appeals.

The crowd, many of whom were no doubt attending their first MLS match, were highly entertained as Beckham played his part in three of Galaxy's four goals, but was overcome by the talented attacking pair of veteran Angel and 17-year-old sensation Jozy Altidore, both of whom grabbed a brace. This was the largest crowd for an MLS regular season game at the Giants Stadium, and proof that the Beckham factor is enough to get peoples' bums on seats, but this is an isolated incident. Giants Stadium (above) in East Rutherford,, N.J. is one of the largest stadiums used by MLS and is traditionally home to the New York Giants and the New York Jets, teams in the NFL. Many clubs now use soccer-specific stadiums with capacities of around 20,000. The Red Bulls themselves will move to Red Bull Park within the next year. With a capacity of 25,000, it's more on-par with an average English Championship ground, meaning that this could very well be one of the last 60,000-plus attendances for the forseeable future.

So what of the future of MLS? The 2007 season saw the expansion of the Eastern Conference to include a new franchise; Toronto FC, the first Canadian team to play in MLS. Despite their relative poor form (they won just 5 of their opening 22 matches) they've gained a large number of supporters in Toronto, leading to the suggestion that another Canadian team should join MLS, most likely to be the Vancouver Whitecaps (badge left); current champions of the USL First Division, the second tier of soccer in America and Canada. Next season will see the return of the San Jose Earthquakes, one of the teams that dominated MLS in its early years before the franchise was placed on hiatus and the team, players and all were moved to Houston to become the Dynamo. The expansion to 14 clubs may be seen as the way forward, but there are some pitfalls that need to be considered.

Firstly, over-expansion was one of the major contributing factors to the decline of the NASL (North American Soccer League). Following the success of the New York Cosmos with players in their team like Pélé and Beckenbauer, many businessmen saw soccer as a way to make a quick buck and started opening franchises all over the United States and Canada. At its highest, there were 24 teams competing in the NASL. This resulted in the overall talent being spread too thinly between the sides competing, leading to the clubs having to spend big on foreign aging stars. When the money dried up, businessmen dumped their franchises just as quickly as they'd set them up. The league folded in 1984.

While precautions have certainly been taken to assure that the same thing doesn't happen to MLS, the decision to expand to 14 teams in 2008, with future expansion in the works, has similar pitfalls. MLS teams don't have youth teams. They can't go out and scout the country looking for the best players to play for them. They rely on players gaining experience in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), usually while they work their way through college, before they're drafted to MLS teams once they come of age. This is the same way in which other American sports function, such as American football, baseball and basketball, where the most promising players coming out of college are snapped up on muli-million dollar deals.

The same cannot be said for young soccer players. It's nice work if you can get it, but you only get it if you're good enough. Every year, a certain amount of players are selected to be Generation Adidas players. The aim of this initiative is to encourage early entry (without college graduation) of American players into MLS. These players are few and far between. There were eight players who were awarded Generation Adidas status for 2007, not even enough to go around the present 13 teams. If the league continues to expand, it corresponds that the amount of young American/Canadian talent will have to increase at the same time. Otherwise MLS clubs will be forced to look outside of the US for talent, which as a by product will stifle youth progression further.

The MLS is unique in world football. It functions differently to any other league and in the ten years since its inception it has steadily developed into the entity we know it as now. The standard of football has improved, and with the arrival of Beckham (left) and his fellow DPs, crowds are seemingly on the rise too. But the most important factor for progression, as any football coach will tell you, is development at a grass roots level. If more teenagers opt to play soccer as opposed to football, basketball, hockey or baseball, then the standard of the MLS and in turn the US national team will continue to improve. Otherwise the league should not look to expand any further than it already has, lest we end up with another NASL situation.