Major League Soccer

MLS All-Stars Need a New Challenge: Other MLS All-Stars

After several years of importing mid-level European Sides, it's time for MLS to return to an All Star Game featuring MLS-only talent

Apr 30, 2009 12:08:23 AM

Lucas Neill (West Ham), Dwayne De Rosario (MLS), MLS All-Stars v. West Ham, July 2008 (ISI)

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Lucas Neill (West Ham), Dwayne De Rosario (MLS), MLS All-Stars v. West Ham, July 2008 (ISI)

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By Seth Vertelney

The results are finally in, and after months of speculation, rumors, and intense negotiations, it's......Everton!

The blue Liverpudlians are the latest in a line of foreign opponents imported to take on the best of MLS in the All-Star Game, and the question fans and the league should be asking, especially after this year's long and arduous process of finding a challenger, is why?

Why is it still seen as necessary to bring in a European team on summer holiday to play a completely meaningless game against MLSers in midseason form? Why does the league continue to devote time, money and resources to finding an opponent, when both teams could easily be culled from the league itself? Why does anybody think this "look, we can beat somebody from a top league" show holds any water in the world soccer forum?

I shudder to think how much time was spent in the preceding weeks and months as one by one, Valencia, Villarreal and possibly Atletico Madrid were in discussions with the league to be the All-Star opponent. The eventual decision to bring in Everton just means the mid-to-upper table opponent is now English instead of Spanish.

It seems that while the league is attempting to promote itself by showing its ability to defeat top-caliber opponents, it's missing the opportunity to promote itself by simply fielding two teams of its own best players.

The quality of this league is improving--as anybody who has watched over the years can attest--so the time is right to eliminate the headache of searching for foreign opposition and simply field two teams from MLS.

The format isn't the issue here. It could be East vs. West, or U.S. vs. Internationals, Vets vs. Young Players, High Salaries vs. Low Salaries, Democrats vs. Republicans, whatever. This is not about how the league gets 22 of its own on the field, just that they do put 22 of its own on the field. There is more than enough quality within the ranks of MLS to put together two solid squads. The format could even rotate each year, or be decided by a fan vote. This match is for them, after all.

And it's not like MLS has provided an especially appetizing list of opponents either. Foreign clubs that have faced the MLS All-Stars include Chivas (the Mexican version), Fulham, Chelsea, Celtic, West Ham, and now Everton. Which of those teams, save for Chelsea, is really going to generate a ton of interest that wouldn't be there already? The fact that the MLS All-Stars have won all of these games doesn't mean much either. If anything, it would be downright embarrassing for a team consisting of the league's best in the middle of their season to lose to a team playing a preseason match, subbing liberally to allow untested players to try and prove they belong.

The league justifiably desires to test itself against top competition from abroad. Thing is, with some of the biggest European clubs now annually touring North America in the summer, this already happens. This summer, as part of their preseason tour, A.C. Milan will face the L.A. Galaxy, Chelsea will play the Seattle Sounders and Real Madrid is currently engaged in serious discussions with Toronto F.C. and D.C. United. Not only is this a more realistic barometer of the league's competitiveness, since these friendlies involve actual MLS sides rather than a hastily assembled All-Star team, but these matches truly feature some of Europe's best sides, a label that Everton, West Ham, Fulham and Celtic can only aspire to obtain.

Doubling the amount of players from the league would also provide a showcase for some younger or more unknown talent to shine. With just one All-Star team, there are always going to be the usual suspects, guys who make it each year based on a sometimes uneven combination of talent and reputation. Why not open it up to some new blood? The next couple years would be an especially good time to do so, considering the stellar performance of this year's rookie class.

Even in a down economy, the future looks bright for Major League Soccer. Over the span of four years, five new teams will enter the league. New stadiums are being built, expansion fees are rising and, oh yeah, the planet's biggest soccer star graced the league with his presence over the course of three seasons. Imagine writing that last sentence in 1996.

In that very same year, the league's inaugural season, MLS staged its first ever All-Star Game at Giants Stadium. The match pitted West vs. East, with the East prevailing 3-2 in front of a sellout crowd of 78,416. Now, 13 years on, the league finds itself in much better shape, but its All-Star Game has yet to return to the dizzying heights of that inaugural game. The attendance might never come close to 80,000 again, but a return to the format of that 1996 match would certainly be a step in the right direction.

Seth Vertelney is a regular contributor to Goal.com

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