MLS 2022

[Billy Dean]

I've been starting to watch a little bit of MLS on DAZN in the off season. Despite the lower quality I find it all quite interesting with it being a nascent league with all these new teams.

I think I'll watch Atlanta v Orlando and then the NY derby tomorrow night.

New York City have probably been the most entertaining side I've watched so far, but I really don't know anything about any of the teams really.

Any MLS fans around here?

 

[wm02]

Not a diehard fan by any means but I tend to go to a couple DC United games each year. Will be interesting to see how Wayne fares.
Some interesting signings for the MLS over the past couple weeks.
Bernardeschi from Juve signed for Toronto yesterday

 

[Billy Dean]

Not a diehard fan by any means but I tend to go to a couple DC United games each year. Will be interesting to see how Wayne fares.
Some interesting signings for the MLS over the past couple weeks.
Bernardeschi from Juve signed for Toronto yesterday

Yeah it will definitely be interesting to see how Rooney gets on. Ex-Blues Phil Neville and Adrian Heath are also coaching in MLS.

Didn't Toronto get Insigne recently too?

 

[wm02]

Yeah it will definitely be interesting to see how Rooney gets on. Ex-Blues Phil Neville and Adrian Heath are also coaching in MLS.

Didn't Toronto get Insigne recently too?

Yes, they did. They’ve made some high profile DP signings over the years

 

[Billy Dean]

Pereyra puts Orlando one up. Beautiful free kick

 

[Billy Dean]

Seems Atlanta are a poor outfit at the moment, after they burst onto the scene a few years ago

 

[Billy Dean]

Atlanta have been dominating and their fans are generating a good atmosphere

 

[Billy Dean]

Atlanta deservedly level

 

[Billy Dean]

1-1. Very entertaining game in the end. Atlanta probably should’ve won

 

[TheBigIguana]

Cucho Hernandez is way too good for this league

 

[mmmmsnouts]

MLS is a pretty good product now. No one’s going to confuse it for the Premier League but it’s come a long way just in the last 5-10 years. But it has a bit of a pump and dump habit, getting new markets all fired up and excited about the sport and then moving on to another market to do it all over again. Atlanta was the 2018 flavor of the year, followed by LAFC in 2019, Cincinnati last year, and Austin this year.

There are also far too many teams and they need to figure out some kind of promotion and relegation. Even if it’s like Mexico where you have to be awful for a long time to go down.

 

[TheBigIguana]

MLS is a pretty good product now. No one’s going to confuse it for the Premier League but it’s come a long way just in the last 5-10 years. But it has a bit of a pump and dump habit, getting new markets all fired up and excited about the sport and then moving on to another market to do it all over again. Atlanta was the 2018 flavor of the year, followed by LAFC in 2019, Cincinnati last year, and Austin this year.

There are also far too many teams and they need to figure out some kind of promotion and relegation. Even if it’s like Mexico where you have to be awful for a long time to go down.

My guess is they're going to get to the 32 team number that all the other major sports are trying to hit. Once they hit that I think they have to think about some kind of relegation system.

But it is also a league made to enrich already obscenely rich people so I doubt they'll ever actually go there.

 

[Billy Dean]

MLS is a pretty good product now. No one’s going to confuse it for the Premier League but it’s come a long way just in the last 5-10 years. But it has a bit of a pump and dump habit, getting new markets all fired up and excited about the sport and then moving on to another market to do it all over again. Atlanta was the 2018 flavor of the year, followed by LAFC in 2019, Cincinnati last year, and Austin this year.

There are also far too many teams and they need to figure out some kind of promotion and relegation. Even if it’s like Mexico where you have to be awful for a long time to go down.

Yes I wanted to ask this. With the constant expansion at some point they’ll have to do something about too many fixtures. It seems there are still some big cities that could easily have a team.

Another question I had was what is considered more prestigious to win, the MLS cup or the supporters shield?

 

[Billy Dean]

NY Derby was quite a good game. Red Bull started brightest but City were the better side in the end. Shame both of these clubs are a little bit soulless

 

[mmmmsnouts]

NY Derby was quite a good game. Red Bull started brightest but City were the better side in the end. Shame both of these clubs are a little bit soulless

NYCFC is the most plastic club in the entire league and it infuriates me they won an MLS Cup.

Nearly every other local or regional derby is better than that one. Portland-Seattle has the history, the LA derby has some proper hate and a genius nickname (El Trafico), and even a new matchup like Cincinnati-Columbus is intense. That one is named "Hell Is Real" after a billboard on the motorway between the two cities.