Excuses, Excuses

Written by: Gabe

image borrowed from The Kansas City Star, because we are super gangster.

Yesterday, Manchester United and Manchester City both fell to MLS teams on their pre-season tours. Given the circumstances, it’s time to stop making excuses for big-name competition and grant MLS the respect it deserves.

In the early game, New York Red Bulls (5th place in MLS) found victory over Manchester City, 2-1. This was a game that saw neo-star Thierry Henry for only 45 minutes and almost a complete lineup change for New York over the course of the match. Jamaican Red Bull Dane Richards’ winning goal was perfection and should capture the attention of clubs shopping for a goal-scorer.

The later game saw Kansas City Wizards (12th place in MLS) defeat Manchester United 2-1, even after playing the entire second half with ten men. In fact, United’s only goal came from the penalty that begot the red card. It was a patchwork game but a deserved win for the home team, in front of 50,000+ fans.

American teams defeating European teams isn’t exactly news. The MLS All-Star spectacle may be a joke to some, but no foreign team has defeated the All-Stars in regular time, ever. That includes current EPL champions Chelsea, as well as stand-outs Celtic, Everton, and Fulham.

Yes, these European teams are in their pre-season. Yes, they bring their B-teams. But ask yourself this long and winding question: “Two days ago, if I was asked to place a bet on a game between Kansas City Wizards, a team which ranks 12th among 16 teams in the American league, and a pre-season Manchester United squad consisting of Ryan Giggs, Nani, and Dimitar Berbatov, with the caveat that Kansas City would be forced to play down a man for 50 minutes, on which team would I place my money?”

If you answered “Kansas City Wizards,” you’re probably rich or a liar.

14 years ago Americans planted the seeds of an inferiority complex when we created a domestic league with big hopes in the shadows of giants, about 100 years late to the party. It grew into a tree of self-deprecation and bore the fruit of apologism. We have been told so often MLS is inferior to European leagues (and witnessed the inferiority first-hand in the league’s early days), that most not only believe it today, but never bother to consider otherwise. If MLS was really that bad, could its teams defeat any incarnation of mighty Manchester United?

Has MLS arrived as a world-class league? No. We have to assume a prime Manchester United would have far less trouble with Kansas City than yesterday’s game indicated. Unfortunately, we’ll probably never witness a definite “arrival,” but instead a continued gradual increase in recognition. We may never truly get to compare MLS with European leagues on even terms, save a future FIFA Club World Cup or seismic shift in season scheduling, so we have to draw conclusions from available data. My conclusion is that MLS deserves credit for its continued improvement, respect for its ability to compete, and attention for what it can accomplish. So, watch the All-Star game Wednesday and help cut down that tree.