Debunking the myth that the MLS is just a “retirement league”.
Written by Ahmed (Twitter @BtecWenger)
In terms of popularity sports-wise worldwide, quite evidently football statistically and logically gets the upper edge in that department, with over 3.5 billion fans internationally, compared to runners-up cricket which averages 2–3 billion fans worldwide. In the continent of North America, however (more specifically the United States of America and Canada), it’s a different story, with American football, basketball, ice hockey and baseball being more popular than football. Football in America is considered to be more of a women's’ sport, hence why the US women's team has been more successful than the men’s team overall.
Over the last couple of decades or so, football has surged in numbers in America, due to a couple reasons-the first reason being the US hosting the 1994 World Cup and the second reason is due to the establishment of the MLS in 1993, which was part of the United States federation’s bid to host the 1994 World Cup, which turned out to be an accomplished bid. The MLS stands for “Major League Soccer”, and consists of 27 teams, 24 in the US and 3 in Canada. Despite this, in most parts of the world, the MLS isn’t admired as much as notable leagues like the Premier League, Bundesliga or La Liga. Over the years the MLS has bought many well-known icons like Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Nani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kaka, David Villa, Wayne Rooney and Andrea Pirlo. However, a recurring theme is that these players were signed when they were way past their prime and beginning to get old and less effective. The signings of these famous players in their old age has given the MLS a surprisingly bad look, and it is now considered to be a “retirement league”- this gives American soccer a negative viewing and conceals the young talent produced and currently playing in the MLS. Today, we’ll be looking at some young talents based in the MLS, which will hopefully give light and insight to more talent in North America.
The first on the list is New York City’s James Sands. Sands is a 20-year-old central defender who made history and became New York City FC’s first ever homegrown player in July 2017. He is gradually becoming a regular starter, starting in 18 out of 23 MLS games for the New York based side, who are currently sitting in 5th place at the time of this being written. James Sands has only managed to rack up one assist so far this season, however he has a pass success rate of 87.4% and has won an average of 0.9 aerial battle per game. On top of that, he shows himself to be rather defensively adequate as the median number of tackles and clearances per game are 2.2 each. Sands gets approximately 2.1 interceptions each game and 0.5 blocks per game. In terms of passing, James Sands gets roughly 57.4 average passes, which is stirring for someone who plays as a centre-back for the most part. In addition, he is also relatively versatile, and can operate as a defensive midfielder, playing the role of an anchor.
Another player in this list is LAFC’s Diego Rossi. Despite Caros Vela being the best player for the Los Angeles based club, Diego Rossi has been a star player for them. The Uruguayan plays as a wide forward, playing the role of an unorthodox attacker however he is slightly versatile and can operate as a centre forward. Rossi has had a superb season so far, with 20 goal contributions in 21 matches and is the MLS top-scorer with 16 goals-bearing in mind he is only 22 years of age. Also, Diego Rossi averages five shots per game and 1.6 key passes into the bargain. Rossi is fouled in the region of 1.8 times per game on average, indicating that Rossi is extraordinary at dribbling and defenders struggle to tackle the ball off him. Rossi averages around 29.8 passes per game, with a pass success rate of 82%, which is alright for a forward. Being 5ft7, this gives Rossi the advantage in terms of agility. Rossi is probably the best talent in the league at the moment with his goals, assists, agility, and immense dribbling.
The last person in this list goes to FC Dallas’ Paxton Pomykal. Pomykal is a standout youngster for FC Dallas, and primarily plays as an attacking midfielder, or in the number 10 role. Pomykal has suffered injuries this season, meaning he has only played five games this season, 80% of those appearances coming off the bench. Despite a total of only 150 minutes so far this season, Paxton Pomykal already has a goal. The 21-year-old has a pass success rate of 85.4%, and averaging 17.8 passes this season. On top of that, he has a mode of 0.6 key passes, which is not awful, taking into account how little he has played. The Texas-born midfielder is the second youngest homegrown player for Dallas, and has captained the US national team in the U20s World Cup tournament in Poland, including a 3–2 win against tournament favourites France. Pomykal has a number of creative attributes, such as good passing, vision, dribbling, finishing and agility.
Honourable mentions: Some honourable mentions include the highly rated Cincinnati Brazillian striker Brenner, who was wanted by Arsenal at some point last year. Argentinian wide midfielder Ezequiel Barco is another star among the honourable mentions, who has been a consistent starter for Georgia-based club Atlanta United. Lastly, another mention is Philadelphia’s Mark McKenzie, who although has suffered many injuries, is a promising defender within Major League Soccer, and has the potential to “be a key figure in the Olympic qualifiers for the United States”, according to the official MLS website.
There has been a significant and evident rise in youthful talent within MLS, whether they were produced in America or elsewhere in the globe. America has seen a rise in their young players coming to Europe, examples are Christian Pulisic, Alphonso Davies and Giovanni Reyna. More of these talents reaching Europe should see more attraction towards American football from the rest of the world, which would be a beneficial and major stepping stone for US sports.
