MLS All-Star game is useless

Like it or not, this game will not disapppear. It is ingrained into how MLS does business on two levels. 1. At the fan level where for $500 you can buy the right to purchase tickets to MLS Cup and the all-star game for life. 2. At the franchise level where MLS has used the All-Star game as a reward to franchises who have built their own stadium. I'm guessing I won't see you in Salt Lake next year. This game is great if MLS plays a top level team, but you have to believe that the Field Turf is the reason the league couldn't hook a big fish this year.

What is your problem? You sound petulant, more like a pouty two-year-old who needs a nap than a professional sports columnist. Did someone stop you at the gate and make you buy a ticket instead of recognizing your press credentials? Did covering the SuperLiga or the All Star game interfere with your social life? Did your editor order you to write a scathing anti-soccer piece in hopes of freeing future space for baseball? Or are you one of the new breed of so-called journalists who believes that the only good journalism is vicious negative hyper-criticism?(When I was a working journalist, accuracy was more important than competing with the tabloids which has become the norm now.) You must have some writing skills to hold your post - and portions of this article indicate some ability. Surely you can do better than this kindergarten-style temper tantrum rant!

I like the MLS All Star game. To me, it doesn't matter if they don't have the equivalent in Europe. Perhaps they should. However, you have a few valid points. I would rather see the MLS All Stars matched up with either the top team or second top team of whichever league they are playing against. The Superliga is actually a very exciting tournament which has introduced me (a MLS fan) with some of the top Mexican league teams. They have been exciting with passion from the fans of MLS and the Mexican League. I do wish the matches were simulcast in English. I agree that the quality of the pitch for some of these international matches was embarrassing . This should have been unacceptable for regular MLS play much less an international tournament such as Superliga.

any allstar game is special.

The author sounds like a Eurosnob. It figures.
Only a Eurosnob would write such an article.

Your an idiot the mls is growing big time.

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of All Star games either but more leagues do it than you think. While the leagues in Europe who have been around for a hundred years and only have to compete with cricket or bike racing don't need to do it, newer leagues like the J League and K League in asia have chosen to do these games. This year will be J League versus K League killing 2 birds with one stone.

It's a friendly....it makes money for the league. "Knowledgabe" fans who watch skysports and wear their genuine Man U jerseys aren't gonna follow MLS anyway. They always find excuses not to, from football lines on the field to bad nicknames. They aren't gonna buy and they aren't the market MLS is looking for.

Soccer sucks it is boring....I say take it back to europe where it belongs!

I don't even know where they get all that money to pay these washed up players!

"This year we get stunningly mediocre West Ham United."

Yes. That's because you're the stultifyingly meaningless and even more mediocre MLS. Who on earth do you think you are?

West Ham is the best you can get for your "showpiece game". That says far more about the MLS than it does about West Ham.

The Hammers will be playing the match just a couple of weeks into their pre-season. At this stage they would normally be playing friendlies against 3rd tier English sides. Again, what does this say about your...ahem... all stars?

If you and your fellow "knowledgeable fans" (****) knew anything, you'd also know that West Ham has a sizable following all over the world - more than can be said for the MLS.

MLS is a joke league, reduced to paying West Ham pots of cash to provide a bit of glamour and increased profile. Laughable.

Don't you know it's unamerican not to have an all-star game. All the other sports have all-star games. It would only hurt the MLS'es reputation not to have one. Granted playing West Ham is a big waste. Especially coming of wins against Celtic and Chelsea. Nobody really knows or cares about West Ham. At least when the MLS played Fulham, they had a quite a few Americans on that team.

This is a horrible article. Obviously the author is knowledgeable about the game, but like most "knowledgable fans", he needs to remain elitist by attacking MLS.****?

"SuperLiga is a completely manufactured tournament devoted to winning over Mexican-Americans who look down their noses at MLS."

As opposed to the tournaments that spring up naturally from the ground? Or the tournaments that fall out of a clear-blue sky? SuperLiga is cool, guess what I've actually started following the Mexican league because of it. I'm sure it has helped for Mexican-Americans to have more interest in MLS. It's not a matter of "looking down their noses". It's a matter of having a reason to take an interest. You are the one looking down your nose at MLS.

"MLS has an All-Star Game because, well, all major North American leagues have one, so soccer must, too. Never mind that virtually no foreign league has a similar event and it hasn't seemed to hurt them."

Oh, so MLS can only do what has been done in foreign leagues? Why? This is America. We are used to All-Star games. We invented them. We can have all-star games if we want to. When else do you get to see David Beckham and Cuatemoc Blanco playing on the same team? This is the point of an all-star game. Maybe you can't see the value in that, but some of us can. The rest of the world will catch on.

Also, I have to question your "knowledgable" status... insinuating that Chivas is somehow superior to West Ham? Please. As for supporting the US national team, the best way to do that is to support MLS. Until we have a strong domestic league our national team will always struggle.

"Then MLS would stop cheating the paying public by serving up substandard games - including the All-Star Game - that is no way attractive to knowledgeable fans that eschew American soccer. "

Knowledgeable fan == eschew American soccer? Nice. Move to England and revel in your superiority please.

as an American who appreciates soccer i find the MLS an embarrassment.
not because the quality of play, the league is quite young and only a few teams have started youth programs. without a farm system of sorts its hard to get a lot of talent on the pitch and come in under budget.
which brings up another problem with the MLS, how its run. the assistant manager in most European leagues makes more than any MLS player not covered by the franchise exemption. how does anyone expect to retain any talent and attract foreign talent with such a poorly paid league. Honestly it would be funny if it wasn't true. a rookie policeman in a large american city, right out of the academy with a college degree makes more money than the average MLS player. now i'm all for police getting decent pay, but more than a pro athlete?
another problem with the league is the playoff format. while i do enjoy playoff's in certain settings (march madness is one of the greatest, and ncaa football needs a playoff). in MLS almost half the teams in the league can make the playoff's negating the meaning of the season for half the teams.
most other leagues have a single table and relegation, every game counts and if your team is one of the bottom 2 or 3 teams you get kicked out of the league to give other teams a shot at big money and glory. but that messes with owners money so we can't have that.
MLS's schedule is almost the opposite of every other league on earth, why? doesn't want to compete with other American sports for airtime. why does this matter? and why does this mess with the quality of American soccer? firstly international qualification, and international tournaments. scheduling is definitely problematic, the part of the US team that doesn't play in a foreign league is not in mid season form, so they arn't playing at their best.
speaking of form MLS hold's their farce of a All-star game in the middle of july, half the world superstars are on vacation and arn't interested in playing in a 2nd tier leagues allstar game. why west ham? cause that was the best team that MLS could get. and even 10th place west ham, do you think if they were in mid season form the score would have been the same? if you think so, then you don't know much about soccer.
what really needs to happen is the MLS needs to re organize, and to be run in a manner that is helpful to the game, and helpful to improving America's presence in the worlds most popular game.

Dagenham, eh? Quite the hotbed of footballing talent. Say what you want about MLS, but I rather fancy that my hometown (MLS) club could put quite a beating on yours.

Voice of Reason wrote:

"This year we get stunningly mediocre West Ham United."
Yes. That's because you're the stultifyingly meaningless and even more mediocre MLS. Who on earth do you think you are?
West Ham is the best you can get for your "showpiece game". That says far more about the MLS than it does about West Ham.
The Hammers will be playing the match just a couple of weeks into their pre-season. At this stage they would normally be playing friendlies against 3rd tier English sides. Again, what does this say about your...ahem... all stars?
If you and your fellow "knowledgeable fans" (****) knew anything, you'd also know that West Ham has a sizable following all over the world - more than can be said for the MLS.
MLS is a joke league, reduced to paying West Ham pots of cash to provide a bit of glamour and increased profile. Laughable.