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View Full Version : MLS is the most competitive league in the world



Oldtimer
07-30-2013, 10:05 AM
That is one crowded thoroughfare: There are just five points separating the 1st-place team from the 10th-place club.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/07/29/monday-postgame-week-22-offers-more-proof-mls-most-competitive-league-world

Parity is certainly alive. I think it's good that half the teams have a realistic chance to win the Supporter's Shield.

Gilberto9
07-30-2013, 03:48 PM
I was going to point out the same thing. But, try telling any of your friends that are into European football and they will think you're crazy.

Eastend
07-30-2013, 04:28 PM
Maybe the title should be MLS League with most parity....

Which is a good thing and keeps everyone engaged and excited till the end....well, except TFC fans.

Dom

[NBF]
07-30-2013, 04:38 PM
Bundesliga. Maybe, Serie A or even Le Ligue 1.


The only reason MLS has so called "parity" its because there's a lot of shitty strikers. Every team in MLS struggles to score goals.

ag futbol
07-30-2013, 04:49 PM
I'd argue it's actually getting less competitive all the time. Salary cap is getting softer and you're starting to see teams repeatedly stay at the top / bottom.

Personally I like "balance" right in the middle. Like more balance than MLB, but less balance than the NFL which is just ridiculous. Too much equality makes for a boring league IMO, because you rarely get to see excellence.

Cashcleaner
07-31-2013, 12:35 AM
;1605079']Bundesliga. Maybe, Serie A or even Le Ligue 1.


The only reason MLS has so called "parity" its because there's a lot of shitty strikers. Every team in MLS struggles to score goals.

You're right. It's parity, but perhaps not really in a way we should view as a huge positive. Heck, one of the primary reasons for getting the DP rule in place and brining Beckham over was because the league as a whole needed more offensive dynamism to spark more interest.

brad
07-31-2013, 09:04 AM
MLS has so called parity because no one entity can spend enough to lock the league down. Sure, within the context some teams can and will spend more than other teams in the form of DP's, but they are limited in impact based on the the number allowed and the fact that the are more or less penalized in quality of the rest of the squad. Any team is only ever a shrewd manager/owner and maybe an owner willing to inject a few million/year on DP salaries away from being in contenion to win the league.

In contrast, look at what, say City spent to go from mid-table to Champions to get an idea of what it takes to upset the top teams England. No shrewd manager with a reasonable amount of money is going to win the EPL (or La Liga) for that matter.

I do agree that parity is boring on some levels (like ag mentioned above - no true greatness). Does make the entire league more interesting though.

mr k
08-01-2013, 08:44 PM
Parity doesn't mean diddly if the action on the field is boring and mediocre. And parity is a North American corporate marketing spin artificially engineered by leagues via salary caps, luxury tax, easier schedules and better draft picks as a reward for failure that has been lapped up by the unwashed masses.

Alonso
08-01-2013, 09:27 PM
I'd argue it's actually getting less competitive all the time. Salary cap is getting softer and you're starting to see teams repeatedly stay at the top / bottom.

Personally I like "balance" right in the middle. Like more balance than MLB, but less balance than the NFL which is just ridiculous. Too much equality makes for a boring league IMO, because you rarely get to see excellence.



Very much agreed.

More wiggle room is necessary to separate the good managers from the bad, and short term dynasties are always good for any league.

Fort York Redcoat
08-02-2013, 07:31 AM
Parity doesn't mean diddly if the action on the field is boring and mediocre. And parity is a North American corporate marketing spin artificially engineered by leagues via salary caps, luxury tax, easier schedules and better draft picks as a reward for failure that has been lapped up by the unwashed masses.

ooooooooooo!


:iagree:


Too often I hear "It's just the way it is.."

Doesn't mean it's good.

Super
08-02-2013, 09:31 AM
I find it quite random who wins in this league. No big clubs. No small clubs. Every club is pretty much the same. Soviet-style LOL. I'm definitely not a fan of it.

Thankfully the level of play has gotten a lot better, so that helps a lot. Would be a lot more fun though if they did away with the parity in my opinion, but then I was raised on European football - and the mentality that goes with it. It would be nice for the MLS to get more respect around the world, but it looks too Mickey Mouse with the parity and all the strange rules. Not sure why people always have to make football different here. At least we're not doing penalty shoot-outs at the end of games to avoid draws and other strange rules. Parity is the last thing that needs to go for the MLS to become respectable internationally.

Oldtimer
08-02-2013, 10:04 AM
I actually like some parity.

Imagine that you are not a foreign glory-hunter picking a perreniel contender, but you have a link to a mid-level club... that is your local club. Your club is never going to win anything, neither are they going to get relegated. Each year you look with baited breath wondering if they are going to finish 9th... or 11th. That takes away from some of the fun. It would be nice if they had maybe an outside chance of winning the title.

Of course MLS has gone a bit overboard in the parity, to the point where most teams not named Toronto FC could win, every year. Somehow a happy medium should be found.

Super
08-02-2013, 10:42 AM
I actually like some parity.

Imagine that you are not a foreign glory-hunter picking a perreniel contender, but you have a link to a mid-level club... that is your local club. Your club is never going to win anything, neither are they going to get relegated. Each year you look with baited breath wondering if they are going to finish 9th... or 11th. That takes away from some of the fun. It would be nice if they had maybe an outside chance of winning the title.

Of course MLS has gone a bit overboard in the parity, to the point where most teams not named Toronto FC could win, every year. Somehow a happy medium should be found.

LOL... That's true - we'll likely never win, even if allowed to outspend everybody. Still, not sure why you need parity to survive. Last time I checked the rest of the world is doing just fine without the parity. The issue there is more about the spending - but we're no different here, except we can only spend like crazy on 3 guys.

It's always better when BIG clubs supported by the masses win. It means more money, more exposure. Scunthorpe Utd should not have an equal chance of winning as Man Utd. It's better for the growth of the league to have big teams win. Dallas vs. Colorado in the MLS Cup final was NOT as great a final as LA vs. NYRB could have been. Parity just dulls everything down and gives a leg-up to the teams in markets where few people care. That hurts the league.

However, I understand that this is the way things are done in North America. But the rest of the world will never respect it. I guess we shouldn't care. But in a way I do. I'd like to see us more competitive - and parity DEFINITELY takes away the edge where every club is allowed to get as good as they can with the resources they have.

Oldtimer
08-02-2013, 10:44 AM
The biggest move away from parity was to give the CCL competing clubs extra allocation money. It actually is anti-parity.

Super
08-02-2013, 10:56 AM
The biggest move away from parity was to give the CCL competing clubs extra allocation money. It actually is anti-parity.

Oh absolutely. I'm not a fan of the whole allocation money thing either. Again, this is just North America wanting to change up football and make all sorts of strange rules.

Beach_Red
08-02-2013, 12:33 PM
Oh absolutely. I'm not a fan of the whole allocation money thing either. Again, this is just North America wanting to change up football and make all sorts of strange rules.

How many viable teams do you think north America would need in order to divide into divisions and have relegation? How many viable teams would there be now without the structure of MLS?

A few years ago I thought soccer would be able to compete for a spot among the top three team sport leagues in the USA but I'm more doubtful now. But maybe that will be better. If MLS hits a plateau and the investors realize it's never going to be a 'major league' in north America maybe they'll turn it into a more international-style league and accept it at that level.

Super
08-02-2013, 12:57 PM
How many viable teams do you think north America would need in order to divide into divisions and have relegation? How many viable teams would there be now without the structure of MLS?

A few years ago I thought soccer would be able to compete for a spot among the top three team sport leagues in the USA but I'm more doubtful now. But maybe that will be better. If MLS hits a plateau and the investors realize it's never going to be a 'major league' in north America maybe they'll turn it into a more international-style league and accept it at that level.

I think Americans will only truly accept the MLS when it's a top league in the world. Top 3 at least at minimum. For now it's just not seen as an elite league, so then it's always going to struggle against #1 leagues such as NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB. The upside is that the MLS enjoys a market unlike any other in the world - not counting China or India of course. You don't need a big slice of the US market to become a major financial player in the world.

Dreadlocks
08-02-2013, 01:20 PM
Parity is ok I guess as yes it does make things more interesting. However, if there was promotion and relegation things would be just as interesting - or even more imo. This is why the 'big leagues' don't need it.

By introducing meaningful competitions within competitions, parity becomes less important.

I know promotion/relegation will never happen in the MLS but the Canadian Championship, US Open Cup and CL mean that each team has a good chance of winning something. I also think that the importance of the Supporters Shield should be stressed.

TFC07
08-02-2013, 01:26 PM
Parity is ok I guess as yes it does make things more interesting. However, if there was promotion and relegation things would be just as interesting - or even more imo. This is why the 'big leagues' don't need it.

By introducing meaningful competitions within competitions, parity becomes less important.

I know promotion/relegation will never happen in the MLS but the Canadian Championship, US Open Cup and CL mean that each team has a good chance of winning something. I also think that the importance of the Supporters Shield should be stressed.

Problem with SS is unbalance schedule that we don't play teams equal amount of games (Example: we play Vancouver once, but we play Montreal three times in regular season). So it's not really fair to award a team who might be top standings because they played more weaker teams compare other teams.

Beach_Red
08-02-2013, 01:42 PM
I think Americans will only truly accept the MLS when it's a top league in the world. Top 3 at least at minimum. For now it's just not seen as an elite league, so then it's always going to struggle against #1 leagues such as NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB. The upside is that the MLS enjoys a market unlike any other in the world - not counting China or India of course. You don't need a big slice of the US market to become a major financial player in the world.

I used to feel this way, too, but now I'm not sure. I think Americans may only accept MLS when enough of them feel that it is "American." But there will always be too much pressure for it to be something else. I think it may be, for a long time, caught between these two sensibilities.

Super
08-02-2013, 01:47 PM
I used to feel this way, too, but now I'm not sure. I think Americans may only accept MLS when enough of them feel that it is "American." But there will always be too much pressure for it to be something else. I think it may be, for a long time, caught between these two sensibilities.

Maybe it's like asking why hockey is not big in England ;) Americans just don't like soccer, period. Thankfully a few do, and a few is still enough to keep a league going.