Sir Landon Of Donovan

[Kurt.]

USA on a par with Belgium.

ok.

 

[Kay20]

MLS is pretty much on par at this point with the second tier leagues such as Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, etc.... Those knocking MLS have either:

A) Watched only a handful of matches and chosen to use a small sample size to draw conclusions about the overall quality of the league or:

B) Haven't watched it at all and heard from a mate of theirs that it's "****e" and that isn't even League Two standard.

Either way, both options are dead wrong. Take it from someone who watches:

A) 95% of all Everton matches each season (soon to be 100% due to new NBC deal) and quite a few non-Everton Premier League matches and:

B) 40-60 MLS matches a year (30 of which are my Houston Dynamo)

I'll tell you the truth. The rest are just pretenders.

Ditto. And our assessment matches.

 

[Thuck ma Baws]

Good god no. A friendly is not the time to judge this. By the end of the game LA will have their third string on. Starting XI to starting XI is a very different story. Everton should be winning this game if we play one another.

If it was starting XI vs starting XI when both teams were fit and sharp then Everton would win very, very comfortably. This game may be different because LA are mid season and we're still preparing for the start of ours.

 

[Elong]

Ditto. And our assessment matches.

I'm option C) I've watched a lot of it, don't need mates to tell me their opinion of it, and has decided that they're super fit athletes that can't trap and pass a ball at Championship Level.

We all have our opinions on quality, but I'm not being bracketed by someone who hasn't watched a single Championship game.

 

[Kay20]

MLS is great attendance wise and it's growing stature and the players are good athletes but my god the technical skills are atrocious and worst than the A league in that sense

Wut. No.

I watch a wee bit of MLS because it's on ESPN a lot over here, and what I've seen, the fitness levels are defo on a par with the EPL, the speed of the game isn't far off either, the problem is the skill level, they're so fit and energetic because of the excellence of the USA's fitness programs that the technical side of the game can't keep up.

It's like they try stuff they're not quite capable of yet. Beckham played wonderfully for LA Galaxy over there because he had so many willing runners to get onto his balls (I'm sure there's a joke there).

Agree with that Bill? They are nearly there, just lacking a bit of technique.

Not Bill, but spot on. I'd say we're still lacking a fair chunk of technique in fact, willing to be honest. But we are definitely better than the A league. We have better players on average than them because we continue to suck up a good amount of players from up and coming nations in CONCACAF plus some of the smaller nations in CONMEBOL (with the occasional Argentinian and Brazilian making their way).

Those of you that are starting to watch on ESPN UK - enjoy it. I swear you'll see it get better before your eyes. Very competitive this year too.

 

[Elong]

It genuinely baffles me why American Evertonians are so defensive about the MLS.

Surely the only league they should be caring and defending is the EPL, because that's the league that Everton play in?

I live in New Zealand, I don't try to even discuss the A League, let alone defend it, it has minimal interest for me, the EPL is my league and Everton is my team, despite living as far as physically can be from my home team.

Maybe it's the patriotism, I don't know. This isn't a wind up post, I genuinely don't understand if people are Donovan fans, MLS fans, or Everton fans sometimes. If this post offends anyone I apologise, but for me it's Everton and that's it.

 

[Kay20]

If it was starting XI vs starting XI when both teams were fit and sharp then Everton would win very, very comfortably. This game may be different because LA are mid season and we're still preparing for the start of ours.

Not disagreeing. The starting XI would just give more of a fight. Would be a closer game than the blow out against the rookies that will be on for LA at the end.

Let me put it to you this way: currently LA has to occasionally start a teenager that just came back from the U20 world championships, another 18 year old, and a guy that is literally out of college. To be clear, that is NOT starting XI, but deep on the roster that comes out with injuries.

When Everton is facing that at the end, we should be winning 4-1. The only way it's not that is if we are in pre-season and rusty.

 

[Kay20]

No, I watch plenty, and I'm saying straight up that the skill level simply isn't there. The players are super fit, and go all out at it at 200%, but they can't put 5 passes together. It's entertaining for sure, but it's not constructive.

Vast majority of teams have beat that passing ratio easily this year. LA has strung 400+ passing games together easily, as have RSL, Portland, and others. Technical skill isn't there, passing has improved tremendously. Vast majority of teams no longer play lump ball.

There's a plan and strategy and the ball is played on the ground. Sometimes not well, but can't put 5 passes together is no longer accurate.

 

[Kay20]

It genuinely baffles me why American Evertonians are so defensive about the MLS.

Surely the only league they should be caring and defending is the EPL, because that's the league that Everton play in?

I live in New Zealand, I don't try to even discuss the A League, let alone defend it, it has minimal interest for me, the EPL is my league and Everton is my team, despite living as far as physically can be from my home team.

Maybe it's the patriotism, I don't know. This isn't a wind up post, I genuinely don't understand if people are Donovan fans, MLS fans, or Everton fans sometimes. If this post offends anyone I apologise, but for me it's Everton and that's it.

I answered only because it was brought up in the thread, and it gets pooped on a ton. We wouldn't be "defensive" about it if people actually were accurate about it. And no one has really brought up the A league except for one random reference.

You call it defensive, I call it uninformed.

Move this into the World Football thread where people won't get so offended.

EDIT: I love Everton, and I love LA. The two normally don't intermix, so it's usually not a problem until someone brings it up. Just like when my Arsenal/Spurs/Man U friends bag on Everton, I rage at them in the same manner.

 

[Kurt.]

Landon only in here please.

so far off topic

 

[Goat]

Move this thread to RAWK.

 

[Phenom]

I agree with Elong, sometimes you read this thread and you feel you aren't talking with Evertonians.

 

[Kurt.]

Move this thread to RAWK.

ha ha

 

[Phenom]

Move this thread to RAWK.

Hahaha

 

[Kay20]

I love how you guys get upset when we talk about the stuff Evertonians actually bring up in here.

EDIT: The LA stuff is relevant since we may be playing one another, I should have put that stuff in the ICC thread. Sorry about that.