Earlier this week USA mens manager Jurgen Klinsmann had some harsh words about a couple of his stars Michael Bradley and team captain Clint Dempsey. He has been critical of their moves from Europe back to MLS last season and thinks these moves were a “step backwards”. JK comments were that Bradley had “something to prove” when it comes to how his move has affected his international form. Seen as a key player in that lineup, Michael Bradley didn’t have a very good World Cup. And given his current age of 27, he was just entering the prime of his career. Clint Dempsey, who is 4 years older at 31, could still be playing in Europe, maybe not on his last club team (Tottenham Spurs) but still somewhere in Europe.
Today MLS commissioner Dawn Garber defended his league again against JK, saying JK’s comments were “incredibly damaging to our league” and “personally infuriating.” He also went on to say his comments “send the wrong message” to players. It is no secret JK is not a big fan of his star players playing in MLS. This will again reignite the debate over how good MLS is and how competitive it is. He has criticized the college system here in America, saying it slows development of young players. By the time these kids leave at 21, or 22, their colleagues in Europe might already have years of top level competitive experience. And I agree with him.
Personally I like the MLS. I also know MLS will NEVER be a top 10 league in the World, and I am ok with this!! To me the MLS should be a stepping stone for Americans and for our regional rivals to come here also as a stepping stone. But if you want to do better in the World Cup and be able to compete, your players do have to move to a better league. That is just reality. There will always be a few players playing in MLS that will be in the USA squad. This is no different than what we see with other countries like Portugal, Argentina, Mexico, Greece just to name a few. So the question that needs to be asked is what do we want as fans? Do we want our home grown players to stay and maybe stall their development, or do we want to encourage our home grown players to go overseas and hopefully improve as individuals and possibly the national team?
