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Comment: Mixed Bag For MLS In All-Star Loss
A great night marred by a horrible result for MLS.
Jul 29, 2010 12:17:00 AM
By Allen Ramsey
HOUSTON -- It was a great night of soccer in Houston on Wednesday. Over 70,000 fans packed Reliant Stadium: some there to watch the best Major League Soccer has to offer, some there to watch one of the best teams in world, and some there just to see young Javier Hernandez take the field for Manchester United.
It was a glorious spectacle of soccer in the United States. The crowd rung in as the fourth largest to ever witness an All-Star game. And not just any MLS All-Star game, any All-Star game for any American professional sport.
That's the upside.
The downside is simple. The best players in Major League Soccer were soundly drummed by a Manchester United squad that will likely have more players feature in the reserve league next year than in the EPL.
The 5-2 scoreline and the manner with which the English giants dismantled the All-Stars leaves plenty of material for MLS bashers.
After the match, MLS coach Bruce Arena was quick to point out that this was merely an exhibition, but one that could still serve a purpose.
"These are exhibitions and they’re for the fans as well as the players and I think for the most part everybody went away satisfied tonight," he said in his post match press conference.
Brain Ching, who scored in front of his hometown fans, echoed the coach's sentiment, and dispelled any thoughts that Major League Soccer could be judged from just one game.
"I don’t think you look at one game to judge the growth of the league or anything like that," the Dynamo striker said. "I think you look at the crowds, how knowledgeable people are nowadays about soccer in America and the U.S. team and the MLS teams. You see where this league has gone in such a short time compared to other major league sports franchises.
"I think there’s only upsides to soccer and tonight was clearly an indication of the talent. The game didn’t turn out the way we wanted, but you got to see some talented players out there on the field for the MLS side. I think soccer is the number one youth sport in the country and it’s only going to grow and grow. I’m looking forward to seeing that growth here in the next 10 years and I think it’s finding its right footing, especially the MLS franchises."
Arena also pointed to the positives that could be taken from a night like this for some of the up and coming stars of American soccer.
"Some of our young players are going to walk away from this experience and benefit from it," the manager said. "I think a player like Kevin Alston, although he made a mistake in the opening seconds of the game, I thought he played quite well, defended superbly, and really had a good game. I think this is something Kevin is going to benefit from. This is the first time for some of our players to play in this kind of environment and I think they’ll benefit from it."
But there is always two sides to the story.
While the massive crowd and the talent on display made for an extremely entertaining game, some will still feel that the MLS All-Stars should've been able to compete on a higher level.
Part of the problem could have stemmed from having such a congested schedule. With CONCACAF Champions League matches involving some of MLS's best players having taken place on Tuesday night, and a midweek All-Star game with regular season matches on either side of it, there was little time for the MLS players to prepare.
"It’s extremely difficult," defender Chad Marshall said. "We only had a few days to really get to know each other and even the training we don’t train that hard. It’s not like we worked on formation or anything like that. It’s extremely tough, they’re one of the best teams in the world and you saw what happened."
Despite all of the issues surrounding the team, Marshall still felt as though the team should have performed better.
"It’s just tough coming together and trying to learn how everyone plays against a team like this," he said. "It would have been nice to have Landon and Edson out there, obviously they’re the two hottest players in MLS right now, so it would’ve been nice to have them. But it still should have been better."
While Marshall seemed disappointed, fellow defender Kevin Alston took the other side of the coin. The New England Revolution youngster was just excited to play against Manchester United.
"It was really fun to be on the field with them," he said. "Any time you play a world class team like that, that’s what any player hopes for. To step on the field with a team like that, it’s a special game so it’s fun. And after that mistake I think I fared alright. I just tried to compete and play good defense."
With MLS, and on a grander scale with soccer in America, it's almost always a mixed bag. Wednesday night was no different. There was some good things, some bad, and some things that you rarely see from a soccer match in America.
In the long run it will go down as a loss for the MLS All-Stars, but on the grander scale it may have been another victory for soccer in America.
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
It was a glorious spectacle of soccer in the United States. The crowd rung in as the fourth largest to ever witness an All-Star game. And not just any MLS All-Star game, any All-Star game for any American professional sport.
That's the upside.
The downside is simple. The best players in Major League Soccer were soundly drummed by a Manchester United squad that will likely have more players feature in the reserve league next year than in the EPL.
The 5-2 scoreline and the manner with which the English giants dismantled the All-Stars leaves plenty of material for MLS bashers.
After the match, MLS coach Bruce Arena was quick to point out that this was merely an exhibition, but one that could still serve a purpose.
"These are exhibitions and they’re for the fans as well as the players and I think for the most part everybody went away satisfied tonight," he said in his post match press conference.
Brain Ching, who scored in front of his hometown fans, echoed the coach's sentiment, and dispelled any thoughts that Major League Soccer could be judged from just one game.
"I don’t think you look at one game to judge the growth of the league or anything like that," the Dynamo striker said. "I think you look at the crowds, how knowledgeable people are nowadays about soccer in America and the U.S. team and the MLS teams. You see where this league has gone in such a short time compared to other major league sports franchises.
"I think there’s only upsides to soccer and tonight was clearly an indication of the talent. The game didn’t turn out the way we wanted, but you got to see some talented players out there on the field for the MLS side. I think soccer is the number one youth sport in the country and it’s only going to grow and grow. I’m looking forward to seeing that growth here in the next 10 years and I think it’s finding its right footing, especially the MLS franchises."
Arena also pointed to the positives that could be taken from a night like this for some of the up and coming stars of American soccer.
"Some of our young players are going to walk away from this experience and benefit from it," the manager said. "I think a player like Kevin Alston, although he made a mistake in the opening seconds of the game, I thought he played quite well, defended superbly, and really had a good game. I think this is something Kevin is going to benefit from. This is the first time for some of our players to play in this kind of environment and I think they’ll benefit from it."
But there is always two sides to the story.
While the massive crowd and the talent on display made for an extremely entertaining game, some will still feel that the MLS All-Stars should've been able to compete on a higher level.
Part of the problem could have stemmed from having such a congested schedule. With CONCACAF Champions League matches involving some of MLS's best players having taken place on Tuesday night, and a midweek All-Star game with regular season matches on either side of it, there was little time for the MLS players to prepare.
"It’s extremely difficult," defender Chad Marshall said. "We only had a few days to really get to know each other and even the training we don’t train that hard. It’s not like we worked on formation or anything like that. It’s extremely tough, they’re one of the best teams in the world and you saw what happened."
Despite all of the issues surrounding the team, Marshall still felt as though the team should have performed better.
"It’s just tough coming together and trying to learn how everyone plays against a team like this," he said. "It would have been nice to have Landon and Edson out there, obviously they’re the two hottest players in MLS right now, so it would’ve been nice to have them. But it still should have been better."
While Marshall seemed disappointed, fellow defender Kevin Alston took the other side of the coin. The New England Revolution youngster was just excited to play against Manchester United.
"It was really fun to be on the field with them," he said. "Any time you play a world class team like that, that’s what any player hopes for. To step on the field with a team like that, it’s a special game so it’s fun. And after that mistake I think I fared alright. I just tried to compete and play good defense."
With MLS, and on a grander scale with soccer in America, it's almost always a mixed bag. Wednesday night was no different. There was some good things, some bad, and some things that you rarely see from a soccer match in America.
In the long run it will go down as a loss for the MLS All-Stars, but on the grander scale it may have been another victory for soccer in America.
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
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