landon donovan

[gobears 0]

Here's a question for the soccer buffs out there - Is Landon not good enough to play for Bayer Leverkusen as it seems that he rode the bench most of the time? I thought that he was one of the better players around as he did well in the world cup in 2002.Now he's coming back to the U.S. albeit to play for the Galaxy, not the Earthquakes. In terms of comparing MLS to the world, using baseball as an analogy, would it be AAA, AA or A when compared to the MLB?

[KDawgCometh 2]

The MLS is a quality league but the Key is that Landon needs to play football for him to keep on growing. I also feel that Germany might not be the best place for him to play especially Leverkusen. DaMarcus Beasley has done great at PSV and now CoryGibbs is at Feynoord. Landon was supposed to go to Portsmouth a year or two ago but Leverkusen wouldn't let him. Pompey would've been great for him as he would've been starting and playing in a relegation dogfight. This is a situation that brings out the best in you as a player as you are fighting for your team's survival. A good place for him to play would be a club like Birmingham, Aston Villa, Middlesboro, or even Tottenham, or Everton. These are clubs that he would get in plenty of playing experience. Micheal Owen is one of the best strikers in teh world and he has a hard time finding a game at Madrid. Sometimes you just don't fit into a system

[The Dude 0]

The MLS is not a quality league. It is full of has beens and never will be's. The only quality leagues are played in Europe. Italian, Spanish, English and German, in that order. The majority of players plying their trade in MLS would not get a game in any of the top flights in these countries. Every top player in the world plays in Europe and the Champions League is the best competetion in the world. Technically no player in MLS can match players such as Zidane, Ronaldo, Rooney, Shevchenko, Henry and such. It will take many, many years before MLS comes even close to European standards. In fact the only decent player currently in MLS, Freddy Adu, will probably be playing in Europe within 3-4 years.

[MilesZS 0]

If Freddy is the only decent player, why are some Euro teams trying to buy some MLS players, like Johnson?You're right, the MLS is not as good as most of the European leagues, but that doesn't mean that everyone is trash.

[KDawgCometh 2]

The MLS is not a quality league. It is full of has beens and never will be's. The only quality leagues are played in Europe. Italian, Spanish, English and German, in that order. The majority of  players plying their trade in MLS would not get a game in any of the top flights in these countries. Every top player in the world plays in Europe and the Champions League is the best competetion in the world. Technically no player in MLS can match players such as Zidane, Ronaldo, Rooney, Shevchenko, Henry and such. It will take many, many years before MLS comes even close to European standards. In fact the only decent player currently in MLS, Freddy Adu, will probably be playing in Europe within 3-4 years.

ahhhh, ignorance. Never did I say that the MLS was on par with Italy, Spain, England, or France. I am an avid follower of all things football and the MLS is definetly the best league in Norht America and is slightly below Argentina, which is a very good league. MLS is very comparable to that of Belgium and is much better overall then Scotland. MLS is a better league then Japan and Japan has put a lot of money and had a few years head start on the MLS. MLS does have quality players, just look at some of the players that are doing well in Europe. CLint Mathis was doing great in Germany before he deicded to taunt his coach. I already noted Beasley. Carlos Bocanegra has been a starter for Fulham since he arrived there and Tim HOward's probelms have been from defensive errors(I can insert Mikcheal Silvestre rant here or a Wes Brown rant here). This will be the 10th season that MLS has been around and considering that MLS is doing great. Being all Euro-centric about football is just flat out ignorant and dumb, IMO. THere is plenty of quality outside of Europe and it deserves to be noted

[ahosang 0]

MLS is very comparable to that of Belgium and is much better overall then Scotland.

Not a good way to argue for MLSQuestion is, is it as good as this league? http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/4388/index.html

[KDawgCometh 2]

MLS is very comparable to that of Belgium and is much better overall then Scotland.

Not a good way to argue for MLSQuestion is, is it as good as this league?http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/4388/index.html

lol. Well at least the real Wimbledon is in it. I think the MLS could compete with almost all of the Dutch league teams and do well in Belgium. The MLS has teams that are better then the French teams that are low to mid table. For how long this league ahs been around and the fact that Football is the fourth sport right now, that isn't a bad thing

[The Dude 0]

OK apologies, I didn't mean to infer all MLS players are trash. I still believe it will be a long, long time before MLS teams can compete with teams from the top leagues of Europe. Every top player in the world aspires to play in Europe and will continue to do so. Until MLS can attract the best players and coaches, before they are coming to the end of their career, nobody outside of the U.S. will consider MLS a quality league. That's not meant to be ignorant or dumb it's what I consider to be the truth. You only have to take note of what happens to the best Brazilians and Argentinians, once they make a name for themselves they are bought by a European team. Nor is it a financially goldmine to play in Europe. The top teams may pay very high salaries to the very best players, but Japan and Qatar offer higher wages and can only attract players close to retirement age.