March 28, 2024, 04:20:20 AM

Author Topic: English Premier League (EPL) Thread  (Read 256410 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Mr Mc

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 1863
  • Take pride in yuh side!! Vibes it Up!!!
    • View Profile
    • Trini Jungle Juice
Lalas is NOT comparing MLS to the EPL..so all who getting worked up about that just wasting their time. You might still diasgree with him..but please read and comprehend. Man saying the EPL doh live up to its own hype....fullstop

This may be true that was not holding up the MLS to the EPL, but my point as a representative of the MLS he is the last person to talk.
Leave them kinda aruguments for men from Spain and Italy.

Offline grskywalker

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2948
  • WARRIORS BUSS THE NET AGAIN!
    • View Profile
I don't think Beckham would appreciate LALASS  saying his EPL is inferior

Offline Bakes

  • Promethean...
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 21980
    • View Profile

Way boy BAKE, YUH ON MEH CASE TODAY BOY!

Nah fella...it ent that serious and no offense, bu you ent dat important, lol.  I actually posted this waayy before I read yuh post in de other thread...the two are independent of each other.

Question? When last did Freddy make the news since the season start? Where is he anyway?. At least in the EPL they wait till you have accomplished on the field before throwing out the big bucks.

Yeah because the EPL already has marketable stars and don't really have to worry about young talent being poached away overseas...because they have plenty.  Also the EPL has a much better way of guaging talent than MLS...via the Coca Cola League, Division One etc. 

Again my point is the quality of the product being sold/marketed, you remember them teams in England were born out of the communities they represented, not by any big shot company. Back in the day when liverpool and them use to come out it was just the red jersey and red pants and the number on the back and club crest no visible sponsors and the stadiums packed to capacity. They came to see good competitive football, now fast foward to MLS and it is clear everything else is in place and the football is mediocre.

My argument has never been about the quality of the game...my arguments are specific to your assault on MLS for paying Freddy something arung $1M to keep him here.  Americans aren't going to rally around a marketing campaign based on a foreigner (David Beckham being the exception)...so that is why the deal to lock up Freddy was smart.  It didn't pan out the way anybody hoped...but hindsight is always 20/20...doesn't mean that they were silly for signing him...unless you claim to know more than the good marketing folks at Nike and Inter Milan as well.
« Last Edit: June 19, 2007, 12:29:15 PM by Bake n Shark »

Offline Bakes

  • Promethean...
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 21980
    • View Profile
Some very good comments from whatever that forum is that Royal post...but these two really stand out in my mind:

Quote
Steve (NYC): Juan Pablo Angel has a MLS record 9 goals in his first 7 games. This is a guy who was on the Aston Villa reserve side at the end of his EPL league. I wonder if all the people that are working their butts off to grow the league just cringe everytime this idiot opens his mouth.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Toby (Baltimore): How many MLS players have moved to the EPL and achieved even a modest level of success? Three or four? The fact that EPL teams aren't scouring the MLS for young talent, and the fact that the MLS is scouring the EPL and other Euro leagues for old talent speaks volumes. MLS players lack the class, pace, and talent of their counterparts in Europe. It's not a knock on them, but rather a testament to the superiority of the EPL. Lalas is the PT Barnum of the MLS and I commend his efforts. However, a dumb statement made with best intentions is still a dumb statement.

Offline Bakes

  • Promethean...
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 21980
    • View Profile
Lalas is NOT comparing MLS to the EPL..so all who getting worked up about that just wasting their time. You might still diasgree with him..but please read and comprehend. Man saying the EPL doh live up to its own hype....fullstop
I know he ent schupid enough to compare MLS to the EPL...but he did say that it is an inferior product...not 'disappointing'...inferior.

The question then becomes...inferior compared to what?

Offline Tongue

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 1892
  • Blue is the Colour.....Chelsea Chelsea Chelsea
    • View Profile
Lalas was a no show on the program..hmmmmmm ah wonda why....but Ray Hudson(sp) will be on tomorrow.

Offline ribbit

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 4294
  • T & T We Want A Goal !
    • View Profile
lalas is approaching this from a business point of view not a footballing point of view. the word "inferior" preceeded the word "product".

Offline Mr Mc

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 1863
  • Take pride in yuh side!! Vibes it Up!!!
    • View Profile
    • Trini Jungle Juice
lalas is approaching this from a business point of view not a footballing point of view. the word "inferior" preceeded the word "product".

 ???  ???

Offline kicker

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 8902
    • View Profile
Their MLS stars struggle in EPL badly..

Not true.....

From the time an AMERICAN begins making critical comments about the EPL, yuh know such will be taken with a pound of salt on a TRINI message board because:

For some strange reason, Trinis fail to respect the U.S. acheivement in football and hence disregard any American perspective about football (pure bad mind)

   
There's a lot of truth in what you write here...but I don't think you address Ponnoxx' point...MLS/American players struggle badly in England.  John Harkes had a decent career at Sheffield Wednesday, and Keller, Friedel, Hahnemann and Howard have had stellar GK careers.  Outside of Brian McBride who is an absolute stud...no other American position player has really distinguished himself.  Reyna...please.  Beasely likely won't be back with Man. City, Onweyu was supposed to be the next best thing at defender....he's out of a club right now...Bobby Convey is playing so-so ball...Bocanegra, Dempsey (Fullham) and Corey Gibbs (Charlton), DeMerit (Watford) are all up and down.  The list goes on.


Now...

That said, it's a credit to the direction in which the USSF has been going, and to MLS itself that they have so many young players with an opportunity to play in the EPL.  Contrast that with TnT...we now will have three in one fell swoop as of August.  Yet Trinis love cry down the Americans as you say.  Obviously they're doing something right.

Only the first line of that post was in response to Ponnoxx's point- the rest was just my take on it.....and I wouldn't yet generalize that MLS stars struggle badly in the EPL.....not proven over a long enough time period to be branded as a trend in my opinion. 
« Last Edit: June 19, 2007, 01:01:56 PM by kicker »
Live life 90 minutes at a time....Football is life.......

Offline Bakes

  • Promethean...
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 21980
    • View Profile
Their MLS stars struggle in EPL badly..

Not true.....

From the time an AMERICAN begins making critical comments about the EPL, yuh know such will be taken with a pound of salt on a TRINI message board because:

For some strange reason, Trinis fail to respect the U.S. acheivement in football and hence disregard any American perspective about football (pure bad mind)

   
There's a lot of truth in what you write here...but I don't think you address Ponnoxx' point...MLS/American players struggle badly in England.  John Harkes had a decent career at Sheffield Wednesday, and Keller, Friedel, Hahnemann and Howard have had stellar GK careers.  Outside of Brian McBride who is an absolute stud...no other American position player has really distinguished himself.  Reyna...please.  Beasely likely won't be back with Man. City, Onweyu was supposed to be the next best thing at defender....he's out of a club right now...Bobby Convey is playing so-so ball...Bocanegra, Dempsey (Fullham) and Corey Gibbs (Charlton), DeMerit (Watford) are all up and down.  The list goes on.


Now...

That said, it's a credit to the direction in which the USSF has been going, and to MLS itself that they have so many young players with an opportunity to play in the EPL.  Contrast that with TnT...we now will have three in one fell swoop as of August.  Yet Trinis love cry down the Americans as you say.  Obviously they're doing something right.

Only the first line of that post was in response to Ponnoxx's point- the rest was just my take on it...

which is why I disagreed on the first line...and concurred on the rest that I quoted...

Offline Bakes

  • Promethean...
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 21980
    • View Profile
lalas is approaching this from a business point of view not a footballing point of view. the word "inferior" preceeded the word "product".

 ???  ???
I think he means that Lalas isn't so much criticizing the quality of the EPL game, but moreso the quality of the EPL as a marketable entity.

Six on one hand...half dozen on the other if you ask me though.  The EPL is in great financial shape...so obviously they're doing a bang up job with marketing to sponsors and fans.

Offline kicker

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 8902
    • View Profile
Their MLS stars struggle in EPL badly..

Not true.....

From the time an AMERICAN begins making critical comments about the EPL, yuh know such will be taken with a pound of salt on a TRINI message board because:

For some strange reason, Trinis fail to respect the U.S. acheivement in football and hence disregard any American perspective about football (pure bad mind)

   
There's a lot of truth in what you write here...but I don't think you address Ponnoxx' point...MLS/American players struggle badly in England.  John Harkes had a decent career at Sheffield Wednesday, and Keller, Friedel, Hahnemann and Howard have had stellar GK careers.  Outside of Brian McBride who is an absolute stud...no other American position player has really distinguished himself.  Reyna...please.  Beasely likely won't be back with Man. City, Onweyu was supposed to be the next best thing at defender....he's out of a club right now...Bobby Convey is playing so-so ball...Bocanegra, Dempsey (Fullham) and Corey Gibbs (Charlton), DeMerit (Watford) are all up and down.  The list goes on.


Now...

That said, it's a credit to the direction in which the USSF has been going, and to MLS itself that they have so many young players with an opportunity to play in the EPL.  Contrast that with TnT...we now will have three in one fell swoop as of August.  Yet Trinis love cry down the Americans as you say.  Obviously they're doing something right.

Only the first line of that post was in response to Ponnoxx's point- the rest was just my take on it...

which is why I disagreed on the first line...and concurred on the rest that I quoted...

hard luck boy Bakes....laawwd yuh quick on the draw...I was just expanding on meh point, (prematurely hit "send")...and yuh hit meh b4 ah could modify.....hear meh out again- above... :beermug:
Live life 90 minutes at a time....Football is life.......

Offline Bakes

  • Promethean...
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 21980
    • View Profile


hard luck boy Bakes....laawwd yuh quick on the draw...I was just expanding on meh point, (prematurely hit "send")...and yuh hit meh b4 ah could modify.....hear meh out again- above... :beermug:
lol...ah juss doing ah quick run thru before ah breeze out...


If they cyah stick long enuf to prove theyself what that tell yuh  8)

Offline kicker

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 8902
    • View Profile


hard luck boy Bakes....laawwd yuh quick on the draw...I was just expanding on meh point, (prematurely hit "send")...and yuh hit meh b4 ah could modify.....hear meh out again- above... :beermug:
lol...ah juss doing ah quick run thru before ah breeze out...


If they cyah stick long enuf to prove theyself what that tell yuh  8)

Point taken...IMHO though for a country that only got its act together (football-wise) in the last decade and a half, their players have done their cause no major harm in England (and Europe in general)- Now if yuh want to talk about players who traditionally (long enough to call a trend) struggle badly outside of their home------ Mexico !!!!!!!!!!!!


Live life 90 minutes at a time....Football is life.......

Offline elan

  • Go On ......Get In There!!!!!!!!
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 11629
  • WaRRioR fOr LiFe!!!!!
    • View Profile
The commentators during T&T game vs USA, one of them (Caliguiri I believe)  said that not even the Mexicans in the Mexican league is playing at a high standard; that the MLS was better then the Mexican League. I could not understand how he come up with that, but now here is another "great" American saying that the EPL is inferior.


Look at the standings. The supposedly best team is just that supposedly.
http://web.mlsnet.com/standings/index.jsp

http://web.mlsnet.com/stats/index.jsp

All this amount to is nothing.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/blUSVALW_Z4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/blUSVALW_Z4</a>

Offline ribbit

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 4294
  • T & T We Want A Goal !
    • View Profile
lalas is approaching this from a business point of view not a footballing point of view. the word "inferior" preceeded the word "product".

 ???  ???
I think he means that Lalas isn't so much criticizing the quality of the EPL game, but moreso the quality of the EPL as a marketable entity.

Six on one hand...half dozen on the other if you ask me though.  The EPL is in great financial shape...so obviously they're doing a bang up job with marketing to sponsors and fans.

thanks bake n' shark - that's exactly what i meant.

Offline Filho

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5368
    • View Profile
Lalas is NOT comparing MLS to the EPL..so all who getting worked up about that just wasting their time. You might still diasgree with him..but please read and comprehend. Man saying the EPL doh live up to its own hype....fullstop
I know he ent schupid enough to compare MLS to the EPL...but he did say that it is an inferior product...not 'disappointing'...inferior.

The question then becomes...inferior compared to what?

As I said in my first post....he used some poor words and definitely has an axe to grind. His words came across as defensive and a lil' bit angry. He lost his credibility even more so when he used the word inferior. Now most people are losing their heads and comparing MLS to EPL and saying Lalas is insane (well..OK..he insane, but for entirely different reasons). He should take some speech writing lessons from Shaka. Anyhow..when I read Lalas comments, what I got is someone saying that the product is inferior to perception. The EPL has sold itself successfully as the best league in Europe, and Lalas believes that it isn't. He is not alone. His way of expressing that though is unfortunate. ironically, I am 100% sure that MLS wishes it could do the same thing. They not chasing fellas like Becks purely for sporting reasons..marketing and hype are part of the mix. He is just vex that the English call the MLS a mickey mouse league..so he's taking a shot back at the EPL as an overrated, overhyped league. That's my take.

This may be true that was not holding up the MLS to the EPL, but my point as a representative of the MLS he is the last person to talk.
Leave them kinda aruguments for men from Spain and Italy.

Sorry boss..but if the man want to call it how he sees it, he free to do so. Doh matter what we think of MLS. No matter if he wrong. The man patriotic and standing behind his league after a set of outsiders decide to denigrate it. If the English press come round PFL and start to talk shite..I want Skeene to stand up behind it and pelt some hand too. Even if he know he out of his weight class. That kinda 'know yuh place' attitude done. When T&T play England in the World Cup, we was bullish..we talk about all the weaknesses England had, how we go take them. By your logic, we shoulda hush and take we licks lying down. Lalas didn't pull it off right..he lacking the skills. But I like him for standing up for his. We should take note.



Offline Toppa

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5518
    • View Profile
Lalas is NOT comparing MLS to the EPL..so all who getting worked up about that just wasting their time. You might still diasgree with him..but please read and comprehend. Man saying the EPL doh live up to its own hype....fullstop

Don't you think that his saying that if MLS players were put into the Premeireship they wouldn't miss a beat...isn't that insinuating that the MLS is at least on par with the EPL? That seems to be a comparison to me.

Lalas:
“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.”
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20070619-0611-soc-galaxy-beckham.html
« Last Edit: June 19, 2007, 02:05:35 PM by Toppa »
www.westindiantube.com

Check it out - it real bad!

Offline kicker

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 8902
    • View Profile
Lalas is NOT comparing MLS to the EPL..so all who getting worked up about that just wasting their time. You might still diasgree with him..but please read and comprehend. Man saying the EPL doh live up to its own hype....fullstop

Maybe not directly, but he did refer to the MLS as "one of the world's most competitive leagues". Yes it was made in a different point, but if in the same discussion you refer to the EPL as inferior (relatively or absolutely), and then refer to the MLS as one of the world most competitive leagues- there might be some sorta indirect comparison there...either that or some sort of self-contradiction

Like you say, he has an axe to grind, and he's on a bit of a pro-American tirade.....understandably so...and oh well....

I stand by the notion that the majority of fuss on this thread is about Trinis fighting down the U.S./MLS & at the same time worshipping the EPL.....if Rafa Benitez came out and said that there are a handful of PFL players that could walk on to Liverpool and not miss a beat, we woulda quote it as the gospel, even though the absurdity of such a statement is exponentially greater than anything that Lalas said....plain talk eh no bad manners....
« Last Edit: June 19, 2007, 02:14:59 PM by kicker »
Live life 90 minutes at a time....Football is life.......

Offline Toppa

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5518
    • View Profile
A more comprehensive article. Sorry bout the Guardian one.

LONDON – 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.”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20070619-0611-soc-galaxy-beckham.html
« Last Edit: June 19, 2007, 02:21:01 PM by Toppa »
www.westindiantube.com

Check it out - it real bad!

Offline daryn

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 1783
    • View Profile
Lalas is NOT comparing MLS to the EPL..so all who getting worked up about that just wasting their time. You might still diasgree with him..but please read and comprehend. Man saying the EPL doh live up to its own hype....fullstop

Maybe not directly, but he did refer to the MLS as "one of the world's most competitive leagues".

competitiveness and quality are not the same thing.  I think he was comparing the competitiveness of the two leagues as opposed to their quality.
 

Offline Toppa

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5518
    • View Profile
Lalas is NOT comparing MLS to the EPL..so all who getting worked up about that just wasting their time. You might still diasgree with him..but please read and comprehend. Man saying the EPL doh live up to its own hype....fullstop

Maybe not directly, but he did refer to the MLS as "one of the world's most competitive leagues".

competitiveness and quality are not the same thing.  I think he was comparing the competitiveness of the two leagues as opposed to their quality.
 

No, he was comparing quality. He actually said that if MLS players were taken to the Premeireship, the fans wouldn't notice any drop in quality. Dis man mad oui. I doh even rate the EPL out of rivalry buh he have to be on some serious drugs.
www.westindiantube.com

Check it out - it real bad!

Offline Pointman

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 4700
  • T&T football: win or lose, we still fetein'
    • View Profile
It had a list or something on this forum a time...Anyhow...Toppa...MLS seperating itself from PFL in my book because of fitness and a better marketing plan(understandable)...The skill of the league that distinguishable in my opinion...If you look at the Mexican league or the Argentine league you could see that all the players are at a higher level...I get vex when Beenie and Wim bad talk the PFL because , I mean what they expect ...PFL big issue is to get people out their houses to go to games....Generally Trinbagonians very polar and (this is not a word eh what the hell) waggonistical that they don't support anything until other people take notice...America has made tremendous strides in football but they remain stagnant for all the progress they gained...I say this simply because Football from top to bottom is the same...Good basic Football...I mean you can't ask for anything more but I think that is the reason why they are not respected as much...You go to MLS, USL, PDL and Super-Y and they all play alike....Just who more athletic makes it to the top...This is a good thing because it shows that all American players  on a decent technical level...Until you see an American player born in AMerica with American grandparents hitting man body dancie-like fakes, cheeky shots, no look pass, executing serious control  and even just beating for the hell of it, They will never be respected....Well I guess you could say unless you see PFL players develop the kind of fitness needed at the highest level they will never be respected either...which is true....Football is cultural....We too lazy to emphasize superior fitness and them to methodical to step out the square that they are in...Technique and Athleticism alone can't win World Cups...African players grow up with less resources than our players but they are not lazy and push their athletic potential to the max....Why you think Foreign clubs does take our players? Cheap, something different because a man with good technique could always be found(think about it), and does usually look athletic(not always the case)...They does think if they get the player fit enough...with his skill he would be a big player and plus he cheap....We players lazy and don't usually push themselves....Football is cultural...tell a Trini reach 1'oclock and he reaching 15 minutes pass....Go T&T

Both true statements, fortunately these can be corrected in the PFL. That correction has to start from the top down and the clubs have to establish a club specific culture. Professionalism must be established at the clubs, if they let players know that playing football is their"jobs" and that they can be replaced or benched and that there are expectations that come with playing for the various clubs the whole business of fitness levels, fighting to the end, leaving everything on the pitch etc would be passe.
Trini to de bone; Pointman to de bone.

Offline daryn

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 1783
    • View Profile

No, he was comparing quality. He actually said that if MLS players were taken to the Premeireship, the fans wouldn't notice any drop in quality. Dis man mad oui. I doh even rate the EPL out of rivalry buh he have to be on some serious drugs.

I'm just referring to the one line "one of the world's most competitive leagues".  Kicker was right to point out that by using that line he was implicitly making a comparison.  In fact he is implicitly comparing the mls to every other league in the world with that statement.  However, at least in that statement, he is comparing competitiveness as opposed to quality.

apparently he is of the mindset that a competitive football is a better "product" than good football (not that the two are mutually exclusive).  maybe there is some merit in that.

Offline Toppa

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5518
    • View Profile

No, he was comparing quality. He actually said that if MLS players were taken to the Premeireship, the fans wouldn't notice any drop in quality. Dis man mad oui. I doh even rate the EPL out of rivalry buh he have to be on some serious drugs.

I'm just referring to the one line "one of the world's most competitive leagues".  Kicker was right to point out that by using that line he was implicitly making a comparison.  In fact he is implicitly comparing the mls to every other league in the world with that statement.  However, at least in that statement, he is comparing competitiveness as opposed to quality.

apparently he is of the mindset that a competitive football is a better "product" than good football (not that the two are mutually exclusive).  maybe there is some merit in that.

Yeah but he's not only comparing competitiveness. He also compared sheer quality by his other statements. Sorry for not posting a better article initially.
www.westindiantube.com

Check it out - it real bad!

Offline MEP

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2402
    • View Profile
HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: and allyuh chupid enough to listen to lalas when stray dog barking ah good big stone go usually shut it up....

Offline Pointman

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 4700
  • T&T football: win or lose, we still fetein'
    • View Profile
A more comprehensive article. Sorry bout the Guardian one.

LONDON – 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.”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20070619-0611-soc-galaxy-beckham.html


Talk about using some good old American marketing ::)
Trini to de bone; Pointman to de bone.

Offline Pointman

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 4700
  • T&T football: win or lose, we still fetein'
    • View Profile
Lalas is NOT comparing MLS to the EPL..so all who getting worked up about that just wasting their time. You might still diasgree with him..but please read and comprehend. Man saying the EPL doh live up to its own hype....fullstop

Maybe not directly, but he did refer to the MLS as "one of the world's most competitive leagues".

competitiveness and quality are not the same thing.  I think he was comparing the competitiveness of the two leagues as opposed to their quality.
 

what's the difference?
Trini to de bone; Pointman to de bone.

Offline daryn

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 1783
    • View Profile
Lalas is NOT comparing MLS to the EPL..so all who getting worked up about that just wasting their time. You might still diasgree with him..but please read and comprehend. Man saying the EPL doh live up to its own hype....fullstop

Maybe not directly, but he did refer to the MLS as "one of the world's most competitive leagues".

competitiveness and quality are not the same thing.  I think he was comparing the competitiveness of the two leagues as opposed to their quality.
 

what's the difference?

competitiveness is a measure of how evenly matched the teams in the league are.  It's not as big of a surprise for a team at/near the bottom of the table of the mls to beat a team at/near the top of the table.  there is a bigger sense of uncertainty going into such a game in the mls.  this is why he also used the "haves and have-nots" when referring to the EPL.

as for the claim that you could carry a bunch of mls players to england, the question is: how would an average mls team do against fulham or reading or wigan.  more than a few mls players have moved to the EPL with relatively smooth transitions.  Of course these guys were above average in the mls and none of them is playing for the top handful of teams.
« Last Edit: June 19, 2007, 03:10:06 PM by daryn »

Offline Mr Mc

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 1863
  • Take pride in yuh side!! Vibes it Up!!!
    • View Profile
    • Trini Jungle Juice
lalas is approaching this from a business point of view not a footballing point of view. the word "inferior" preceeded the word "product".

 ???  ???
I think he means that Lalas isn't so much criticizing the quality of the EPL game, but moreso the quality of the EPL as a marketable entity.

Six on one hand...half dozen on the other if you ask me though.  The EPL is in great financial shape...so obviously they're doing a bang up job with marketing to sponsors and fans.

thanks bake n' shark - that's exactly what i meant.

Forgive me if I am putting words in your mouth but i dont think that is what you meant to say at all, just that BnS put a good spin on it so you like that.

Quote
Alexi Lalas, the president of LA Galaxy and the man responsible for taking David Beckham to Major League Soccer in the United States next month, has suggested that the Premiership is an "inferior product" whose global success is largely down to American marketing techniques.
"There's no accounting for bad taste," Lalas said in an exclusive interview with the Guardian. "That a segment of the world worships an inferior product in the Premiership is their business. English football now has the haves and the have-nots. It's just that the Premiership have become so skilled in presentation. They took a page out of American football and so now they have Saturday Showdowns and Super Sundays. I love it. This is high-calibre marketing - taking an inferior product and improving it through packaging."

yuh see all them bolded lines, is the football the man talking about, the so called quality of the EPL as a marketable entity is the quality of its football.

 

1]; } ?>