TThe MLS continues to get better but it isn't better than the English Premier League yet. I had a look at the Global Football Rankings and the Premier League is the strongest league in the world but the MLS is ranked only 16th strongest league.
Based off that, if the MLS's best squad New York City FC were to play in the Premier League last season they would have finished 19th and got relegated. Only Norwich had a worst squad than New York City FC so that shows the gulf in class that exists between the MLS and the Premier League.
In terms of European competition MLS teams would have NO chance in the Champions League. They would be competitive in the Europa League however which is a good thing. The better teams in the MLS are also comparable with sides in the Championship, England's second tier of soccer. The weaker MLS teams would be able to compete in England's third tier, and the second tiers of France and Italy's domestic leagues. Promising for the MLS is that many teams in the league could compete in some of the top European leagues such as the Portuguese Liga and Dutch Eredivisie.
There's a long way to go for Major League Soccer to get anywhere near the English Premier League but there are already five ways in which the MLS is already better than the Premier League:
- Most stadiums are more modern and technologically advanced than English stadiums.
- The MLS salary cap gives the league more parity whereas EPL teams have a greater wealth divide to the top teams.
- A league championship decider means the MLS reaches a climax each season.
- There's no relegation in the MLS and teams are guaranteed survival at the top level.
- The league has the ability to grow with the addition of franchise expansion teams.
Every MLS expansion/rebrand since 2015: New York City FC Orlando City SC Atlanta United FC Minnesota United FC Los Angeles FC FC Cincinnati Nashville SC Inter Miami CF Austin FC Charlotte FC St Louis City SC Impact → CF Montreal Crew → Columbus SC Just a trend or a directive?
— D.J. Switzer (@wrongsideofpond) May 10, 2021
Major League Soccer continues to get better, and here are 5 ways the MLS can continue t improve to complete with the top teams in Europe and get within striking distance of the Premier League:
- Improve on it’s $90 million per season TV rights deal. The EPL is currently on a deal worth more than $2.2 billion annually.
- Many MLS stadiums although technologically superior, are multi-use. Teams need to continue building soccer-specific stadiums.
- The average Manchester City player annual salary is over $8m. The salary cap for an entire MLS team is currently around $5 million per season.
- Youth system needs restructuring. College seniors are 21 or 22 years old and rookies are far too old by the time they join the MLS.
- Continued expansion into large markets, such as Detroit, Pittsburgh and Phoenix.
47 teenagers featured in the first 8 gameweeks of the MLS.
To compare - only 39 teenagers featured over the whole Premier League season. Professionalism, work with youth & scouting are getting better & better in the US. Extremely interesting times coming for all USMNT fans. 🇺🇸 <a href="https: — Football Talent Scout - Jacek Kulig (@FTalentScout) June 2, 2021
At this point in time there is no way that the MLS is even within touching distance of the Premier League. If we had this discussion a decade ago however, it would be a question that wouldn't even come up!
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Wolfgang Sport started in 2017 as a way to connect my passion for American and British sports. Today it's evolved into a blockchain sports blog pushing the boundaries into the crypto world and embracing Web3 technologies.