DISQUS

The football people need to chill out.

As nateskinner says. Go to Rivals or Scout.

This was Miami's biggest win EVER over a Top 10 team.

We now get Duke. If we can beat them we'll be dancing again this year.

BTW, I think Dews played well tonight for a change.

great win!

AT is da man!

Actually Suazo is the best player from CONCACAF and probably one of the top 10-15 players anywhere. No he is not Ronaldo or Messi but the fact he's Honduran should not inhibit his reputation. He is easily better than any other player from this region.

Those who believe MLS is in the 20-25 range or even higher are deluding themselves. The struggles of the MLS in CONCACAF competitions is nothing new. In fact in the 2003-2006 period the MLS fared even worse than today and contrary to Kartik's claim that MLS must be better than the Guatemalan and Honduran leagues, those teams actually beat MLS teams when they faced off.

The MLS teams who advanced in CONCACAF would generally draw a Panamanian, Salvadorian, Nicaraguan or Caribbean based team. I hear all the blabber from MLS fans about how the league is so competitive and has so many strong teams compared to 2-3 in all of Central American leagues but this is plain wishful thinking. Homer thinking I believe is what American sports fans call it. MLS teams who miss the playoffs would struggle in the Mexican second division. When I watch Mexican football the quality of play and lack of defensive breakdowns are so evident that even though MLS teams can get the results in Superliga playing at home with biased officiating, they'd simply die in Mexico. I include the top MLS teams in this. I do not believe a single MLS team would make the Mexican first division playoffs and would more often than not be fighting relegation.

I actually think MLS is realistically about 50th or 60th best league in the world. That is nothing to be ashamed of but just some cold reality. You can bash the IFFHS all you want but for many worldwide football watchers like myself it is a credible resource fo football information.

I too find fault with this article and Kartik's biases. But my issue is that he automatically without any reasonable explanation says MLS should be higher than two leagues believe it may not be better than < Guatemala and Honduras> and that he can attribute a rough number to MLS standing, saying it should be in the top 50 without analyzing the 27 or so leagues MLS would have to jump from this list to get into the top 50. I can guarantee you without doing the research that MLS is NOT better than every league listed from 50 to 76 here.

Enrique, as for the Costa Rican league, do you know how poorly MLS has traditionally done against that league? Do you realize that MLS has won a total of two games all time against Costa Rican competition against six losses and four draws in legitimate competitions? Yet the second flight USL Puerto Rico Islanders won once and drew once against Costa Rican opposition.

The posters here are drinking the MLS kool aid. I watch football from all over the world and do support MLS. But pretending the quality is top 25 or even top 50 caliber is just plain wrong.

It has always been obvious Randy wanted a conservative offense. All you had to do is listen or read what he has been saying since he took over the job. I saw more improvement from Nix than i've seen from Shannon. The team still comes out flat every game. There is still dumb suspension. There is still dumb play calling on both sides of the ball. There is still questionable starters. There is still players wasting away eligiblity instead of redshirting. Instead of just watching the games, maybe Randy should have told Nix to line up with 3TE's and 2RB's and run it on 3rd and short. You know tell the coordinator what type of play you would like to see.

Posted by: BigSarge | January 01, 2009 at 10:24 PM

i get a kick out of the people on here calling marve a quitter because he is transferring. im not gonna try and defend marve, hes made some bonehead decisions... but hes still a kid. i think he can be a really good QB, and i wish him the best. but heres what pisses me off about some of you on here saying he should put the U above his own interests. lets look at damien berry. he was a beast on special teams in 07, and in line to possibly become the next great safety at miami. then randy moves him to RB as nothing more than an insurance policy. does anyone really think that berry will ever carry the ball for miami? with coop, JJ, and chambers, as well as our top recruits... damien berry will never play running back. randy has basically wasted a promising carreer for his own selfish reasons. now granted, thats what a head coach is supposed to do... look out for the best interests of his team. but where does that leave berry? he wasnt recruited to be a RB, hes a better safety. but randy moved him because of depth issues, even if it hurts damien in the long run. so if these kids and their families dont look out for themselves, who will? sure as hell not randy.

Actually Miami is the largest metro area in either the US or Canada without an MLS team once Philadelphia begins play in 2010. Hurricano, check your facts.

Nix's play calling towards the end of the year when Marve played was spread based to take advantage of his running and to give him some quick, easy reads. Bottom line is that he cannot play in a pro style offense.

Malcolm Grant is a point guard.

Why would we take in two transfers as PGs the same year?

Also is the staff giving up on Eddie Rios if they are pursuing all these transfers?

For all his bravado I think MLS is scare S$%^&less about USL's success in the Champions League.

USL isn't charging $50 million to join the league, doesn't have a TV contract and must buy time on FSC and often times plays in tiny facilities. Yet that hasn't stopped the league from developing arguably a superior product and without a doubt a more honest, community driven product. If an investor is given a choice of putting $50 million in a league where they have little control over the team they run and spending $15 million on a team they have full control over which will they choose? The Open Cup spot for the CCL gives USL teams based in the US a route right into the CCL and thus should create some opportunities as we go forward for the league.

Oh yeah and Nike bought Umbro who owned USL. Nike is PISSED royally at MLS for selling them down the river so look out.

The Islanders will win it. What a complete, impressive team they have.

Arsenal's academy is not to be trusted with him. If he goes to England, West Ham, Man City or Watford would be better. Renkin is a special talent and will likely be good wherever, but may not be as good as he can be if he goes to the wrong place.

I guess K was wrong. 1-9 then, versus 1-0, still not a good record. Alaujense has traditionally trashed MLS teams when they played them and now we have further evidence of the two sides that eliminated MLS teams losing to USL this week.

MLS teams have generally been embarrassed against Costa Rican sides. That's bottom line. But on to this awful posting.......

I don't like this piece at all. It seems all the criticism of your viewpoint on USL has gotten to you and this piece subtly bashes USL teams as simply winning the CL because they play route one football which we know from your other blatantly anti English views, you hate.

So basically anything that resembles English football is to bashed and perhaps the MLS gods have hunted you down and found you claiming they'll finish if you don't start glorifying their two bit product and ripping USL which you had been one of the few responsible people who did not dismiss the second division and act like an MLS snob.

Now it looks like Garber/Gazidis and S(c)UM got to you. A real pity. This was the best footy site on the web. Hopefully my fears are not justified and this is a one time off the mark post.

Sam Shields is a good bet to be a game breaker also.

He caught a bomb versus Nevada in the bowl game from Freeman and also made some other big plays Coker's last year.

Shannon has dogged the kid and ruined him but by default he is starting again.

MLS is garbage. Honestly for all the flash and flair and big TV contracts its trash. USL is a better game. True its slower and lack the star power but the on the ball skill and team game is better. The results in a meaningful competition speak for itself. Montreal, a mid table USL team beat a team 2-0 that crushed MLS' second highest rated side in the table 4-0 in their last outing.

Bradley is horrible. Bring back Arena and call Freddy in and build the team around him for heavens sake!

Cannot argue with anything in this piece other than perhaps the title.

Arena may be the right choice but my thinking is Beckham has a veto and may opt to try and bring in some foreign manager. Just my hunch. That's why it has not been formally announced yet.

Blanco is still playing at a very high level and really earned this call back to the national side. Besides, Mexico hasn't exactly been impressive lately as much as you may like Vela and Dos Santos since you've represented their own personal cheerleading squad on the web.

NJ maybe it was from me on Big Soccer?

I'm tired of MLS making its own rules. It's time FIFA stepped in.

After Arena screwed up the entire squad for World Cup 2006 you really believe he is compotent enough to handle David Beckham?

The ties are worrying and not proper in football.

I can understand the desire for MLS to survive in a climate hostile to football, but FIFA must have something to say about this. It is inproper for two domestic leagues to have such a close association with one another independent of the governing confederation, in this case CONCACAF.

Good post with some great ideas.

Surprisingly enough, Howard Webb showed his skill as an official making sure the flow of the game wasn't interrupted. From my vantage point Webb's bad reputation was created by whining Fergie anyhow. He really isn't a bad official and since he officiated the final of Superliga, the event looks more legit.

Good post but honestly the tournament is now becoming too much in the way of violence and fighting. It needs to go away.

Huckerby looked good yesterday. A goal and several other chances.