DarkJourney Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 LONDON (AP) -- Alexi Lalas helped humiliate English soccer 14 years ago. It looks like he's trying to do it again.The Los Angeles Galaxy president, who scored when the United States beat England 2-0 in a friendly match in 1993, told British newspapers that Major League Soccer is on a par with the Premier League.Irked by suggestions that David Beckham is going into semiretirement by joining the Galaxy, Lalas said the only reason the English league is popular is because of American-style marketing."The fact that a segment of the world worships an inferior product in the Premiership is their business," Lalas said in an interview with The Guardian published Tuesday."In England, our league is considered second class, but I honestly believe if you took a helicopter and grabbed a bunch of MLS players and took them to the perceived best league in the world they wouldn't miss a beat and the fans wouldn't notice any drop in quality."Brian McBride and Clint Dempsey are among the American players in the Premier League, although they play for modest Fulham. None of the American players in England are stars of the caliber of those at teams such as Manchester United and Chelsea.McBride -- the third highest scorer in U.S. national team history with 30 goals -- scored nine times last season for Fulham, which finished 16th in the Premier League. His tally was 12 short of Didier Drogba's league-high 21 for Chelsea, and the same as Wigan's Emile Heskey and Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor.Despite criticizing the Premier League for sloganeering and over-marketing, Lalas claimed that, when he arrives, Beckham will have a higher profile in the United States than Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan."The U.S. will never have dealt with an athlete who has had this kind of international impact," Lalas told The Mirror. "Tiger Woods has that international appeal but, with due respect to Woods and Michael Jordan, David Beckham is at an entirely different level."Lalas, a 37-year-old former United States defender, said his country's record at the past four World Cups compared favorably with that of England -- England has two underwhelming quarterfinal appearances to one for the U.S. -- and suggested almost all those who criticize the MLS have yet to see the league.However, several British papers were unimpressed by the Galaxy's 3-2 win over Real Salt Lake on Sunday."The game was not without moments of quality ... (but) some of the defending from both sides was the type of stuff you watch through your fingers," according to The Mirror. "It was the football equivalent of a demolition derby."The use of possession was alarmingly careless and the concept of marking appeared not to have found its way across the Atlantic."Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFoA Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 God bless Alexi Lalas and the MLS, but he needs to be slapped. The MLS > EPL? I would love to have some of the sticky he's got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy B Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.You're going to get in trouble for posting this. This guy has to be out of his mind. There is no way that American soccer is even close to English soccer. Players come here to play baseball, football, and hockey. They go to Europe to play the best soccer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsox Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 He's wrong for saying that. You have to admire the balls it tool to say that though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAD! Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Better than the Premership? No way! Had he said the Championship, then he might have a case, but even that's a stretch. I saw, I came, I left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJTank Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 From what I understand MLS is to the Premiere league is like comparing the AHL to the NHL. www.sportsecyclopedia.com For the best in sports history go to the Sports E-Cyclopedia at http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAD! Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 From what I understand MLS is to the Premiere league is like comparing the AHL to the NHL.... I don't know... one can argue the Chicago Wolves are better than the Chicago Blackhawks.... I saw, I came, I left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breakwood Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 From what I read in the blog of the interviewer, Lalas didn't actually say that MLS is better than the EPL, he mearly said that MLS is better then the English media gives it credit for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred T. Jane Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 From what I read in the blog of the interviewer, Lalas didn't actually say that MLS is better than the EPL, he mearly said that MLS is better then the English media gives it credit for.Yes, and the comparison was between the English Premiership and Spanish la Liga. Hooray for reading comprehension, eh pundits? [Croatia National Team Manager Slavan] Bilic then went on to explain how Croatia's success can partially be put down to his progressive man-management techniques. "Sometimes I lie in the bed with my players. I go to the room of Vedran Corluka and Luka Modric when I see they have a problem and I lie in bed with them and we talk for 10 minutes." Maybe Capello could try getting through to his players this way too? Although how far he'd get with Joe Cole jumping up and down on the mattress and Rooney demanding to be read his favourite page from The Very Hungry Caterpillar is open to question. --The Guardian's Fiver, 08 September 2008 Attention: In order to obtain maximum enjoyment from your stay at the CCSLC, the reader is advised that the above post may contain large amounts of sarcasm, dry humour, or statements which should not be taken in any true sort of seriousness. As a result, the above poster absolves himself of any and all blame in the event that a forum user responds to the aforementioned post without taking the previous notice into account. Thank you for your cooperation, and enjoy your stay at the CCSLC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFoA Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Well La Liga is better anyways, at least in my opinion. Much more exciting brand of football going on in Spain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZzyzx41 Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 At the moment I'd put the MLS on league with the Championship level of Football in England. That still only makes it the 6th or 7th best league in Europe and some could argue that Argentina has a better league as well than the MLS. No MLS team has ever made an impact in ANY international competition. Until they do, Llalas and those like him should keep their mouths shut. OH and if they do it ONCE, that's not enough. I want to see the MLS outperform the rest of the Argentinean, Mexican, Brazilian teams and Deportivo Saprissa on a regular basis before we can start putting the MLS among the better leagues in the world.Oh and the USA also has to REACH the semifinals of the world cup from here on...at least once. -DanielCheck Out My Podcast! Latest Episode 273: The Color BlinkyLatest Photo Upload: January 7, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epiphanic Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 I don't follow soccer, but I agree that the MLS is better than people realize. MLS All-Stars have beaten Chelsea a couple of times. However, that doesn't make the entire league better than the EPL. It just makes the best of the league better than the best team of another league.I do find funny the claim that the main reason why the EPL is so popular is because of American-style marketing. First of all, how does that differ from European-style marketing? Second, if American marketing is so much better why the Europeanization of the MLS (e.g. Real Salt Lake, Chivas USA)? Bring back American names to American soccer! "In the arena of logic, I fight unarmed."I tweet & tumble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmackman Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Oh well, if EPL is inferior to MLS...I can beat Shaq 1-on-1 in basketball! "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running." - Unknown | Check out my articles on jerseys at Bacon Sports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsox Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Oh well, if EPL is inferior to MLS...I can beat Shaq 1-on-1 in basketball! biggrin.gifYeah, sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL FANATIC Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Mad props to Lalas.He might be wrong, but he's got his league and country's back, and he'll defend it (in a verbal sense obviously) right through.And you know what's more? I bet he believes it too. Because that's the only way he can really try and make it happen. I hope he does. JUSTIN STRIEBEL | PORTFOLIO | RESUME | CONTACT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcan'tseeme Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 ... I don't know... one can argue the Chicago Wolves are better than the Chicago Blackhawks.... WHAMMY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtthasportfreak Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 If Lalas takes one step onto British soil, they will stuff his bloody carcas full of crumpets.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabet Man Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 I don't follow soccer, but I agree that the MLS is better than people realize. MLS All-Stars have beaten Chelsea a couple of times. However, that doesn't make the entire league better than the EPL. It just makes the best of the league better than the best team of another league.Chelsea was in the middle of its pre-season i think. They wouldn't have played as well as they would have in the real season.I reckon the MLS should play the A-League in a match or two. I think the two are about on par with eachother. Out of curiosity, whats the ratio of US national team players in Europe to MLS? twitter.com/thebrainofMatt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrAsterisk Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Chelsea was in the middle of its pre-season i think. They wouldn't have played as well as they would have in the real season.It was towards the end of their preseason, but they surely didn't care very much.Out of curiosity, whats the ratio of US national team players in Europe to MLS?On the current CONCACAF Gold Cup squad, just a little under half of the players (11 of 23) are based in Europe. Only one European-based player does not play in the top flight: Frank Simek for Sheffield Wednesday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rams80 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 I don't follow soccer, but I agree that the MLS is better than people realize. MLS All-Stars have beaten Chelsea a couple of times. However, that doesn't make the entire league better than the EPL. It just makes the best of the league better than the best team of another league.I'd hope your league-wide all star team could beat a non-all star team. (Even one as good as Chelsea) On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said: You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now. On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said: Today, we are all otaku. "The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010 The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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