MAGAZINE WWW.LMDMAG.COM b AUGUST 2018 WEEK 32 MLS ALL-STARS vs JUVENTUS
WWW.LMDMAG.COM MLS All-Star Game: After embarrassing spectacle, change is needed On a day meant to celebrate the best players the MLS has to offer, the All-Star Game proved to be anything but in an embarrassing loss to Juventus. Change is needed. Another MLS All-Star game has come and gone with another challenger, this time Juventus, walking away victorious on penalty kicks. On a day meant to celebrate the best the league has to offer, the game proved to be anything but. At SpringHill Suites, we live by the #GoldenRule Treating others like we d like to be treated has always been our guiding principle. Join us. Ad by SpringHill Suites by Marriott It was an embarrassing night for the league as its best 23 players were unable to squeak past a team of Juventus reserves. There was little skill, barely any finesse, and a startling lack of any showmanship for the 70,000+ fans in Atlanta. A remark from one of the commentators talking about the fans of both teams sitting together as one. Isn t that the point of an All-Star game? Most of the people in Juventus jerseys were likely Americans, and a lack of segregation among the two fanbases summed up how little emphasis was placed on the game. Even in victory, Juventus couldn t have cared less. The game was a joke to begin with. The fan vote by biased home fans selected a few players who probably didn t deserve to be there, and left a couple of players feeling snubbed. Can t really blame Atlanta fans for voting in their entire starting XI, but the system itself should be stat-oriented. For a league like MLS that is growing rapidly and helping to develop tomorrow s superstars, fielding a team of 23 All-Stars 23 players who are supposed to be the best in the league that were unable to beat a Juventus team without its best players is a step backwards. Business perspective You re trying to grow a new league. Yes, 23 is still new for world leagues. And to do so, the All-Star game is the perfect avenue. It allows people who aren t typically fans to see what the league has to offer. Instead of pitting the best players in the league against each other, you take the top players and those voted in by fans and make them face a top European club without any of its best players. A dominating win would have done wonders for MLS. Instead, the loss/draw was humiliating and proved the league still can t be taken seriously. It s one thing to draw interest by bringing in teams like Barcelona or Arsenal. But to bring a team like Juventus from the Italian Serie A, a defense-first league, to play a game where you re trying to show as much skill as possible just doesn t make sense. If MLS fans want their hearts broken in a penalty shootout, it should be by a player with more pedigree than Mattia De Sciglio. Time for a change I get why the All-Star game was played against a big European club. When there were only 18-20 teams in the league its tough to field two All-Star teams with so few players. But now, nearing 27 teams, the league has outgrown its old traditions and is ready to begin a new one. Small, lesser-known leagues, like the Thailand top division, have been known to field All-Star teams against global giants and usually get beaten. The MLS is no longer a small league. It s almost the equivalent of forcing the Belgian league All-Stars into a friendly against Bayern Munich. An NCAA comparison for the MLS would be the second-five, just outside of the power five leagues. It ll be a while before MLS is that popular or skilled, but in terms of leagues across the world, you have to feel MLS has entered some credibility. With this being the case, why is MLS still treating itself like a small league? The MLS must change with the times or it risks becoming stale, pushing new viewers away. 3
MLS ALL STAR GAME continued.. Plan for 2019 The MLS needs to separate itself from other leagues as well as attract new fans. It will never be Serie A, La Liga, or the Premier League. There s not the same history. And that s perfectly fine. When next year s mid-summer classic roles around, the MLS would be best suited to format the All-Star game in an East vs West style with a skills competition and both rising stars and alumni games included. There is history in MLS, just not a lot. And there is tons of skill to showcase a weekend-long event instead of holding it on a Wednesday night at 8 p.m. Host an alumni game with some players from the past. It could be even included on the night of the skills challenge. Bring back guys like Etcheverry, Dwayne de Rosario, Carlos Ruiz, Preki, and more blasts from the past. Heck, even shorten the field or the length of the game. It would be a fun night to rekindle old friendships and honor those who have helped build a foundation for the league today. A skills competition would be easy, too. It could be similar to the way it used to be held back in the dawn of the league. Speed, skill shots, hardest shot, even an old-school shootout to have the All-Star players compete. For the game, instead of a 23-man team, make it the best 18 from each conference, with one player from each position decided via a fan vote and one from each side chosen by the commissioner. This would allow the fans to get who they want in the game without watering down the lineup for one team. The rest would be selected statistically. NEXT: MLS All-Star Game: Carlos Bocanegra interview Sounds like a much more interesting weekend than having 23 players face Juventus reserves, huh? The MLS All-Star game was an embarrassment. Change is needed. CREDIT: Daniel Shulman FANSIDED https://mlsmultiplex.com/2018/08/03/mls-star-game-embarrassing-spectacle-change-needed/
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