Most pressing issues for MLS to address

[Toronto_Bhoy]

1. Expansion
2. Cornering the right market
3. Designated player rule
4. Transfer market

The worldwide financial downturn has come at precisely the time when Major League Soccer was preparing to spread its wings.

The conundrum of whether to plow ahead with expansion, ambitious investment and development, or to tighten belts, will go a long way toward determining the league’s progress in the near future.


Complete article from Yahoo Sports

http://sports.yahoo.com/mls/news?slug=ro-mlsfuture120408&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[flatpicker]

I haven't read the article yet... I'm about to...
But I will just say, I think MLS is in a better position right now than a lot of leagues.
They are going into this global economic crisis already holding their purse strings tightly.
With all the salary restrictions and revenue sharing that they have, I think many other "big spender" leagues will be jealous of them.

[Hitcho]

I haven't read the article yet... I'm about to...
But I will just say, I think MLS is in a better position right now than a lot of leagues.
They are going into this global economic crisis already holding their purse strings tightly.
With all the salary restrictions and revenue sharing that they have, I think many other "big spender" leagues will be jealous of them.

agreed. and even in the face of the economic downturn there are still clubs queuing up to join as expansion sides.

we'll be playing in a 20 team, two tier league before you know it. MLS Elite League here we come...

[onemanbarmyarmy]

I haven't read the article yet... I'm about to...
But I will just say, I think MLS is in a better position right now than a lot of leagues.
They are going into this global economic crisis already holding their purse strings tightly.
With all the salary restrictions and revenue sharing that they have, I think many other "big spender" leagues will be jealous of them.

Don't mention purse strings around King "Handbag" Dave!

[CoachGT]

1a Officiating

[koryo]

1a Officiating

Exactly. Bugger the rest until the standard of officiating is drastically improved.

[Daveisonfire]

1a Officiating

1b Scheduling (international fixtures etc.)

[Boris]

Exactly. Bugger the rest until the standard of officiating is drastically improved.

agreed!
I believe with better officiating we'd get more entertaining games....

[CoachGT]

Officiating becomes a bigger problem than anything else, becoming even more evident in light of expansion. If there are too few qualified referees today, how is expanding the league going to do anything but make the problem even more unmanageable? The FA is pushing their "Respect" campaign for officials, and Sir Alex Ferguson has given a resounding veto, causing turmoil over there, where there is a larger contingent of high level referees. We have no such commodity.

Proper officiating will help everything else fall into line. Tell me how you can attract more fans when the calls made by officials cannot be understood by veteran players, much less a casual fan, someone that you want to attract to the sport. What big names want to come after they see second rate officiating. That applies to both DPs and other transfer players. And while you may be able to use schedules to advantage with fewer refs (by having fewer games on any given day and having the same officials do multiple games each week), the quality of officiating will fall if officials don't get the chance to recover from games (the same way players do - officials are on the move for the full 90 too).

We need a better system of encouraging, recruiting, and developing top notch officials, not only for MLS but for all of North American football!

Rant over.....

[Beach_Red]

We need a better system of encouraging, recruiting, and developing top notch officials, not only for MLS but for all of North American football!

Rant over.....

Is there a salary cap for refs? Where does MLS rank in ref salaries? Are we getting what we pay for?

[Toronto_Bhoy]

Quality of officials is a problem, even in top flight leagues.

I really don't understand this rule of refs having to retire at 45, if there still fit?

Why doesn't the MLS snap up the pensioners!!! Still good quality officials who can mentor the locals.

[I_AM_CANADIAN]

Yeah, bring Collina out of retirement!! :D

a) Increase roster sizes, even in an economic recession, this has to be the first step to improving the league's level of play. Players making under 100,000 are even alright for players coming off the bench when you have 9 international callups...

b) Acknowledge FIFA dates. Starting the season earlier would be the best solution.

c) Play at least 35 games in the regular season, in my opinion the season here isn't long enough.

[Yohan]

Yeah, bring Collina out of retirement!! :D

srsly. bringing in Collina and maybe retired refs like Urs Meier (is he still managing liechenstein?) would boost up the confidence in the refs, esp. if Collina is in charge of organizing, and training the refs

[Yohan]

a) Increase roster sizes, even in an economic recession, this has to be the first step to improving the league's level of play. Players making under 100,000 are even alright for players coming off the bench when you have 9 international callups...
This means increasing the cap, which MLS seems relunctant to do


b) Acknowledge FIFA dates. Starting the season earlier would be the best solution.

c) Play at least 35 games in the regular season, in my opinion the season here isn't long enough.
Means either lots of Wed night games, which MLS doesn't think profitable enough, and not enough roster depth for longer season and more games, as injuries and fatigue plus int call ups get piled up