Sunday, June 5, 2011

MLS vs. European soccer

With major European club soccer coming to a close last week with Barcelona beating Manchester United in the Champions League final, the offseason has started there.

In the United States, the summer means we're in the heart of Major League Soccer season. As much of a soccer fan as I am, I have to admit I'm slightly indifferent to the whole thing.

It's hard to put my finger on why. There's a theory about fans who are "Euro snobs" - in other words, they insist on watching Euro leagues and turn their nose up at MLS. I honestly don't think I fit in that category.

It's great to see the league succeed. It's great to have big names such as David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez plying their trade in the U.S. MLS should get more credit for its quality for play.

With all that said, I'm just not fired up to find an MLS match on TV this summer and watch.

That's part of the issue with MLS - galvanizing U.S. soccer fans beyond its current loyal fan base. You have the extreme of the Euro snobs who would rather run full-speed from a television than watch MLS, and then you have soccer fans like me who want to care but for some reason difficult to verbalize are simply indifferent.

It doesn't mean I won't watch. It's just that, chances are, I'll spend my time watching the U.S. in the Gold Cup than I will watching MLS. Hopefully this will change sooner rather than later, but I have a feeling I'm not the only one.

- Chris Lillstrung

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

EUROPEAN SOCCER IS, AND WILL ALWAYS BE FAR AND WAY SUPERIOR TO THE MLS IN EVERY WAY, SHAPE, AND FORM….

June 23, 2011 at 10:44 AM 

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