DISQUS

Superliga is a sham. No question about it. When a Champions League exists the idea of having a tournament that is around simply to make money for two entities: MLS and the Mexican Federation should be viewed as a tournament outside the rules or setup of FIFA. Both leagues should be sanctioned for creating and participating in the event. I understand it was made for TV, so that MLS and Mexico could take TVC money away from CONCACAF. The whole Superliga fiasco is all you need to know about MLS' business practices.

I would consider Bobby Convey also.

I like the event, and disagree because DC didn't get any breaks this year from the officials.

when the hell are DC going to make the moves need to?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

This is what you get for scheduling West Ham!

New England plays a strong disciplined European game as opposed to the other teams in this tournament that play a latin, unathletic style or no distinct style at all.

For all the brit bashing that goes on around here when comparing a British football background to a Mexican or American one you are comparing a BMW to a Hyundai.

Great piece.

I'd prefer a strong red contingent in the US, but City is certainly preferable to United.

DC could have signed Huckerby and moved Fred into the middle and Burch to the bench. But instead Soehn and Payne didn't bother.

Sorry, I am still smarting from last night and DC taking a tournament we expected to win and probably placing last.

A cracking match with an unfair final scoreline in Guadalajara's favor.

The expectation in Washington and the surrounding area was that with all the player moves and then giving Emilio the DP that United would win either the Champions Cup or Superliga.

These sorts of performances are not acceptable.

This wonderful line of yours sums it up:

Prior to Saturday DC United had never once lost at RFK Stadium to a team from the Mexican League. Now in three days they have lost twice.

Need a greater case be made that Soehn is over his head and the offseason was essentially wasted?

Simms and Namoff were both terrible.

A must win looms tonight for us.

A loss means Soehn is back on the hot seat.

Everyone around here wants to win Superliga worse than the MLS Cup. We want to win an international competition.

Huckerby if motivated will do well in San Jose.

Pachuca looked lively and entertaining in this match. They did not look old at all!

This is a thought provoking post of some merit.

I think Kartik's point is well taken as is Soccer Guru's.

One point though, Kartik. Mexico is very much reared in American thought even though obviously futbol is their national sport. As far as I know they have always had playoffs. The Dutch example however maybe more valid in comparison to England.

You are right Kartik about the WSD crowd forcing MLS to make changes. Either MLS should like Mexico make their playoffs all binding or dump them completely. Right now the MLS system of dual champions is confusing. While the MLS Cup winner is technically the champion, the regular season, supporters shield winner gets all the same perks, so again they are trying to satisfy both the WSD listeners and the American press and doing a bad job of both.

As a Liverpool supporter I'd love to see a one off to determine a champion. Maybe then we'd actually have a chance!

This is an outstanding post. One of the best you've ever written, and a real case for why many like me who previously watched football because of our love of a European club, in my case Liverpool FC need to embrace the culture of MLS.

Claudio Lopez isn't as good as advertised either, Kartik. I cannot believe that guy was a World Cup star for Argentina. The same for Gallardo.

MLS as I am discovering as a English fan who has just gotten into the league is a different animal. Some guys who dominated abroad cannot hack it and others who struggled dominate. Travel, Altitude, Weather are all understated factors in who suceeds in MLS.

So did DC make a mistake dumping Gomez?

It isw amazing that one of the nation's top soccer commentators who has possibly the most popular show about MLS would be called someone who knows nothiong about Football.

And I a Red believe too that Chelsea is better than Man United at least at this point in the season.

A good weekend of football.

Chelsea earned the victory and is now back in the title race, if they can handle newcastle at St James.

A superclassico to remember last night as Landon Donovan scorched Chivas in front of an electric crowd.

Barcelona out in Spain.

Bayern wins the German title with Bremen's draw.

Now the Champions League midweek.

This is the best time of the year.

Now if Barca can finish off the SCUM we'll be doing just fine!

I used to be on the other side of this argument, but I now realize the error of my former ways.

DC United is massive in metro area and created a soccer culture. I'm vactioning right now in Florida and found that DC United is a brand name down here. The English league by comparison is only followed in a very specific subgroup because of lack of access to FSC and Setanta. Kartik forgot to mention the weekly spanish broadcast on Univision of MLS games whicfh reaches that Latin audience he described as well as offering another option if you have cable or even old fashioned doggy ears!

Truthfully I discovered other leagues in the past few months and believe the Premier League top to bottom uis vastly over rated. Not only the points about techical ability and touch mentioned above but also from sheer competitiveness and excitement.

Serie A too is over hyped: Besides Reds matches in England I have now discovered the French and German leagues which are exicitng and DC United as well. United was ripped off the other night and should be playing the North American Champions League final next week.

Gaffer,

You are the one out of touch on this one. Soccer America is a niche magazine with a niche audience. They don't cover English Football. I read Soccer America from time to time to find out if their is a local camp or soccer related show. That's the purpose of the publication not to cover Liverpool or Ireland.

Your most recent podcast that I downloaded just now was nice. Good work, but keep some of these things in context for the future and don't resort to Sun or Daily Mail type hyperbole and it will serve you better. Just a little constructive criticism.