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How Can MLS Be The Best League in the World?

By John P. O'Donnell Jr.

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What exactly is the best? Can it ever really be achieved in the world of soccer? You can be on top of the world one minute and down the next. It’s a question you hear raised so often but it can never be truly answered. Opinions are the tool of the critic in every sport in the United States and in the world. Some critics are nothing more than a fan of the game talking to friends at a local watering hole. Others are those that have made a career in their field and love to point out flaws as they know no one will ever hold them to their word. Right now in the world of soccer, MLS is at the front of the line when it comes to criticism. What can they do to get on top and why is it so important?

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For some reason it’s very important to be the best in the world and how you get there is closely debated along the way. Even MLS itself has set a goal to be one of the top five leagues by 2022 but has encountered many obstacles along the way. Granted some of its self-inflicted, while other circumstances are out of its control or just new territory. The past few weeks have been one of the most memorable off seasons in the league’s twenty year history. Along the way many a critic has ascended his soapbox and started pointing out the mistakes as they issue a decree of failure. Meanwhile fans of the league are now way more critical of their own team as they don’t think they’re keeping up with Joneses. Is this really that unusual when it comes to sports? In American football the term is “Monday Morning Quarterback”. It’s to be expected as its just part of the ride as MLS is growing at a rapid pace. The thing that shocks me is that at times the league and teams don’t learn from the mistakes of the past. Other times they fail to identify success and somehow sabotage it.

Just last week there was no better example of this then the situation with the two New York teams. NYCFC the new kids on the block with the really rich parents just moved into the neighborhood. How they got there was another of the bizarre situations of MLS. As the league had started to pick up momentum in the past four years the biggest thing critics would wag their finger at was Chivas USA. The team entered the league at a time when many wondered if it had a chance to survive. They came in with promises of teaching Americans how to run a team the Mexican way, in a huge Los Angeles market; one that already had the LA Galaxy as a built-in rival. They had a great advantage as they were linked to a club in Mexico that was one of the richest and most popular. The problem is they were also disliked by fans of every other team in Liga MX. It was hard to capture new fans when most had already had an opinion of the team back in Mexico.  Quickly Chivas USA was labeled a “B” team by the critics and although they had early success, they never could establish themselves in the market. Sound familiar?

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Chivas USA was the chance for MLS to learn from their mistakes when it comes to expansion but low and behold along comes NYCFC. Much of the past criticisms had surfaced again and once again MLS kept dropping the ball. Although it’s good to have some rich parents who can start you out right, one day you have to stand on your own.  NYCFC was going to be a team for New York and have its own identity, nothing like Chivas USA.  Although they were owned by that big club back in England, this was gone to be different. But that thought ended shortly when Frank Lampard turned a training session into an extended stay at the parent club. The critics seethed as stories came out that he might not have even had signed a contract with MLS. Surprisingly MLS has become so mainstream, that a soccer player was able to create a situation that they attached the fabled “Gate” to the end of his name. The problem is this is another instance of MLS just shooting itself in the foot, because you’re not in touch with the fan base. With the benefit of the doubt gone, NYCFC quickly was labeled a farm team and the focus of the coming season turned into disgruntled fans who felt cheated.

Meanwhile down the road the fans of Red Bull where just loving this. They had just come off a very good year in 2014 after starting off slow, the team had finished strong. They beat the defending champs at home in the first round of the playoffs and moved onto the second round to face their longtime rival DC United. Reports of over a thousand fans traveling to DC where eye-opening as the club was now enjoying strong support. In the return match in a packed Red Bull Arena the team found a way to advance with a late goal and take the series from their hated rival even though they had lost the game 2-1. In the next round the team couldn’t get past New England and well I’m sure you know the rest, but with Mike Petke at the helm the future looked promising. The team had found an identity finally and had the feel of a New York team. Although he wasn’t the first choice Petke was getting the most important thing done, giving the team a chance to win.

Oct 11, 2014; Harrison, NJ, USA; New York Red Bulls head coach Mike Petke looks on against the Toronto FC during the second half at Red Bull Arena. The Red Bulls defeated Toronto 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Red Bull fans were already huge critics of the new team as they had invaded their territory. Pointing to the fact that NYCFC is starting off in Yankee Stadium with no real stadium solution on the table, Red Bull fans revealed in their new-found glory. Their team played in a state of the art Soccer Specific Stadium, one of the gems of MLS. The team that had never won any silver was last season’s winner of the Supporters’ Shield. This year they were just one goal shy of making it to MLS Cup and the biggest reason for this recent success was Mike Petke, a guy who grew up in the area and played for the team going back to the MetroStars era. They even started to market themselves as the only team with history and a stadium in the area.

So what did Red Bull do with this new-found success? They fired Petke and started a firestorm of outrage. Two New York team’s in the same week showed that when it comes to history, why bother learning from your mistakes? The critics would point out this is why MLS will never be one of the best leagues in the world.  Look at the leagues of Europe and South America, this would never happen. Here’s the thing, it does and they’ve had a long time to make mistakes and learn from them. I’m sure if you asked a fan of a team that isn’t enjoying a great season what they think of their team, they would breakout a laundry list of problems. You see that’s what sports are for most fans, a form of entertainment. Some treat it like religion; others enjoy the athleticism displayed on the field, while some are just casual fans. But when it comes to someone else attacking their team, they turn into a momma bear protecting her cubs. Most sports have history, and in that history is things they did wrong and learned to fix. The more mistakes you fix, the better you get and the closer you get to being recognized as the best in the world. The other thing you get is lots of money to go along with it, which helps you, get better.

Has either of the teams learned from their mistakes? I’m sure everybody will be watching carefully to find out. In a way that’s a good thing as the soap opera draws in more fans to see what happens. It wasn’t that long ago that players coming to MLS was the only things that drew headlines. But times are changing and let’s hope the league can start learning from its past and correct its mistakes. Sure it still has a draft, no pro/rel, it plays in the summer and well I guess a laundry list of problems. But what it has done is now is history and what you should learn from that is how to fix mistakes. But in the end the way to make MLS the best league in the world is simple and the opinion is shared by critics, fans and myself, it’s blah blah blah.

Next: Cristian Roldan Falls to Sounders

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