BY ADAM SERRANO
LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena has never been a man that bites his tongue, and on Wednesday he launched a rant about results in recent friendly matches between MLS and European sides.
On the heels of a 7-0 defeat for the Seattle Sounders to Manchester United, Arena launched into a scathing review of these types of friendlies. Many have criticized MLS teams for their poor performances despite the fact that the American teams are currently in mid-season while the Europeans are in many cases just starting their preseason.
However, after Wednesday's 1-0 victory for Arena's LA Galaxy, the manager stated that the odds that MLS teams face during these summer friendlies — in particular the World Football Challenge — are stacked against them.
"It's a lot more difficult in these games, the way they're set up in this format for the MLS clubs then it is for the visiting teams because the whole tournament is set up to accomdate them," said Arena on Wednesday evening. "Our needs are not addressed at all."
During the summer, MLS teams have fallen to European teams like United, Real Madrid, West Brom and Bolton. The Sounders defeat on Wednesday sticks out in particular after Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid labeled the match an "embarassment" when speaking to reporters after the seven-goal loss. Results like these have led to wide spread criticism of validity of such friendlies during MLS' congested regular season calendar.
The Galaxy went through their own difficulties with a friendly last weekend as the league leaders were soundly beaten 4-1 by Real Madrid. The gulf in class was apparent even though Madrid had been in preseason training for less than a week. While the European teams are much deeper than MLS squads, Arena believed that with the game format, it made it near impossible for MLS teams to compete.
"It's worst when you play an elite club that can play more players. When you're down 0-2 at half and you step onto the field and Ronaldo is there. If you tell these guys that they only have to play 45 minutes, then it's 45 minutes of hell," said Arena. "It's an advantage to these clubs when they can play all of their players because they obviously have better players, deeper rosters so it's difficult.
"Listen, I'm not betting the house on the fact that if we play regular rules and there are 3 subs that we're in much better shape, but I'd rather play in those conditions."
The Galaxy complete their run of friendlies on Sunday when Los Angeles face FA Cup winners Manchester City at the Home Depot Center.It is a match that will be Los Angeles' fifth in two weeks and one that will likely feature a heavily reserve line up for the Galaxy due to roster congestion as well as a series of injuries that have plagued the club recently.
Although Arena was critical of the friendlies, the Galaxy head coach admitted that it was valuable experience for young players to face off against some of the best players in the world. As Arena and the Galaxy now turn their attention to Manchester City, the Galaxy boss understands that team will face the gauntlet, but regardless of the result, positives can be found.
"I love any game that I can watch or coach in that I don't have to win and I don't get that many of them in my life and I enjoy that," said Arena. "I think [friendlies] are fun to play in and I think that's how the players should approach it and give their best effort. I enjoy them, I just wish they were spaced a little bit better.
"I know Man City is going to be eager to play because they had a bit of a fiasco in Vancouver with the field conditions so they're going to have their players ready to get 90 minutes on a field that's pretty good to show what they can do."
that stadium blows
most people like who? the eurosnobs? who cares
your mom sux
I would much rather see games like Real v Chivas from last night. MLS sux. Washed up Euros and No Name Lations. MLS sux.
The Man u v Barca match will bring monster ratings and a massive crowd. Lets have more of those.
Our starters genuinely gave ManU a run for their money in the first half. But most people are only gonna see the score. That’s why this situation is so crappy.
If TFC has done one thing right, it’s the elimination of these friendlies. The coach and fan don’t care and they listened for once.
I will not listen to anything Arena says until he finally realizes that Barrett, Magee, Birtchall, Kirovski, Jordan etc are not MLS caliber starters and draft picks are not transfers.
The Asian teams are using the All Stars of their country, not 11 C squad players. They have yet to face a Man U or Madrid either. You could only put Barca up there with these 2 teams.
These are guys fighting for playing time, I dont blame them. MLS should have saved a team like Man U or Madrid for the All-Star Game. Even a Chelsea or Arsenal doesnt have the depth of a Man U or Madrid.
So you do what they do and use some straters in the 2nd Half…sigi has to take some blame for the final tally
True, but if you just watched the 1st Half…Seattle outplayed Man United. Seattle isn’t that far off from legitimately having a chance at Champions League or MLS Cup.
Sigi has to know he needs a replacement for Nkufo and a Center Back like Baudet for depth. The defense always seems to fall apart when Hurtado goes down.
Last night was a total catastrophe for us here in Seattle. People who didn’t watch the game are only gonna see the score, and not be aware of the first half. I’m also concerned that our confidence has been damaged somewhat.
Having said that, I DONT blame Sigi. It would have been irresponsible to run all our starters for 90 minutes in a meaningless game. Wouldn’t be surprised if the FO doesn’t schedule any friendlies next year.
Last night sucked:(
+100000 This is why CCL is awesome. Both a good test of MLS and actually meaningful competition.
or the excitement of a relegation playoff.
Well put, sir!!!
Do these Asian teams play B and C reserves? Am I supposed to believe that you’re a so-called expert on Asian football too? Let’s get some perspective.
Man U ran up the score on MLS reserves and embarrassed their hosts who rolled out the red carpet for them. Man U can stay home next year.
Comparing MLS teams to the Man U, Barca, Real Madrid’s, et al., is unfair and impractical at this point. And so is panicking just because Man U and Real pasted MLS reserves. Most neutrals will quickly move on and the Eurosnobs and Man U fan boys who make a big deal of it are being disingenuous.
Instead I’m more interested in how MLS teams do against mid-table EPL or teams from other countries like Mexico, Argentina, etc.
Yeah, I mean he must have done such a terrible job because he got the U.S. Nats the furthest they’ve gone in the modern era, right? Clearly a clown.
By your logic no one should watch college football or college basketball (or Women’s World Cup or any leasge outside of the big 4 in Europe) because they don’t represent the best performances in their respective domains. So whether or not there is a large talent gap is sort of irrelevant to people’s interest. People who cite that as a reason for not watching MLS are looking for reasons not to watch it.
On a separate note, the reason the drubbings happen is that MLS clubs are subbing in their second and third stringers in the second half. Look at the first half performances in the games you’re bitching about. The MLS clubs do reasonably well. So ultimately what you’re saying is “there’s a huge gap” between Man U/Man City/Real Madrid’s second stringers and MLS second stringers. That shouldn’t surprise anyone.
The point of the league is that I get to watch and support a soccer club that I can see in person on a regular basis that plays half way decent soccer. On a personal note, I also like that the champion of the league isn’t already determined at the halfway point of the season. I guess it doesn’t compare to the excitement the past few years of Man U, Chelsea, Man U, Man U, Man U, Chelsea, Chelsea… but I guess I’ll just have to live with that.
There’s a half-built stadium in Valencia available for cheap.
+ 1,000,000
no man the only way mls should play these teams is if there is som kind of tournament with meaning behind it who the f cares if sounders play man u in a friendly? friendlies r like nfl and nba preseason (crap)
and the gold cup and concafcaf league crap and confiderations cup the only tournament players should be allowed to play in is world cup if the nba let players play in the fiba crap during the season u think the fans would like tha?
Double would be just fine
Of course, but when you have devoted fans like the MLS now has, you have to loosen the purse straps a bit more
until it blows up and then you can blame it on somebody else, right?
If MLS B & C sqauds are hanging with mid-level EPL squads like Everton, NUFC, and Man City…then Garber is doing something right. Man U and Real Madrid are completely different beasts. Funny how American coaches havent realized that they should put some of their starters in in the 2nd Half against the super-clubs
so scatter the starter like the foreigners do….it would help.
+1000000000000000000000
Ah, yes…
PHI 1, Everton 0
2-1-5
Please increase the salary cap a bit so there is actually some kind of depth to compete against other countries
One big problem…Arena doesn’t utilize the transfer market. He only goes for old US nationals looking to retire.
philly won too
eurodouchy
Again, remember the NASL? It had a superclub. What ever happened to that league?
The EPL has superclubs. What ever happened to their competition like Leeds and Portsmouth? What would have happened to Liverpool if it wasn’t bailed out by the Boston Red Sox owners? What would have happened to Real Madrid if the friggin’ city of Madrid didn’t bail them out.
Now do you get why we don’t want superclubs? American soccer fans want soccer. Only a few Eurosnobs on message boards want superclubs. Then they’d make up a reason not to watch a hypothetical MLS superclub so they could bask in their Eurosnobbery. It’s a losing proposition. Ignore it.
Personally, I don’t care much about these friendlies, but I used to get annoyed when these big-name teams came to the US only to play each other rather than MLS teams. I’d much rather see a game between ManU and an MLS team than ManU and Real Madrid, for example.
I have zero interest in exhibition games between 2 big-name European teams.
You know, I have mixed feelings on these MLS games. On one hand, the embarrassment of losing 7-0 cannot be understated and while I’m very critical of the talent in the MLS, I understand that MLS teams have a responsibility to win meaningful games and thus they have to sub out starters at half time. By that same token, the top teams in the Premiership and La Liga tour all over Asia and you just don’t see results like this. Fans of the MLS (which I am not) have to realize that the gap in talent is large. When Ives goes on Twitter and does his typical “You fans don’t know anything!” rant, he thinks the joke is on everyone else. Sorry Ives, the jokes on you and anyone else who likes to take on MLS hater saying they don’t watch the game.
I want the MLS to succeed, but what is the point of the league? Has that been established yet? Garber wants it to be one of the top leagues in the world, but how exactly does he see that happening? No one has explained that to me yet.
We get that. But until United can get out of RFK, they will bleed money. The factors you mentioned make United a wonderful long-term investment. In the near term, it’s a money sink due to paying big rent on a too-big stadium that’s outdated.
I think your problem lies more in the playoff format. I don’t see how anyone could argue that parity is bad for a league. Greater competition breeds higher standards and constant improvement.
Not to mention Philadelphia, Washington DC, Columbus, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, Denver, and Montreal. Our winters are much worse in DC than they are in northern England! Not even close. We get much more snow and And we’re the least cold of the cold-weather teams.
If we move to a winter schedule, we’d reschedule every game in those cities because the field is buried in snow or it’s frozen solid and unsafe. More importantly, they’d lose their fanbase as no one wants to sit outside in sub-freezing temperatures at night multiple times a year.
the American born ones are the most annoying people anywhere…if you support the national team, then you should support your league. They go hand in hand regardless of what they might tell you.
I doubt Man U players get any benefit from steamrolling Seattle’s reserves.
I think moving the USOC could work, but it’s not without its issues.
If MLS wants to see better results in these friendlies, they need to clear some calendar space so teams can face the European powerhouses at full strength.
This is a great way to find out your areas of weakness to prepare for transfer market signings.
LA has no offensive depth because Arena hangs on to marginal players that can only provide defensive pressure. Once again, they will get knocked out of competitions by younger, quicker offensive talent. Arena is a kidding himself if he thinks he doesn’t have to improve the roster because he is in 1st Place.
Seattle should realize that they need to get another finisher and central defensive depth.
NE 1, Man U 4
SJ 2, WBA 1
VAN 1, Man City 2
SKC 0, NUFC 0
HOU 0, Bolton 2
SEA 0, Man U 7
POR 2, WBA 3
MLS against EPL, this season, is more like 1-1-5
+ 1000. The mystique is gone. Dont need ’em Dont want ’em.
@Dale
Would you attend a game in Chicago, Toronto, Boston or Harrison in mid January after a snow storm?
Would players have fun running around in shorts and trying to kick a ball around on a frozen surface?
We’re not the only country to play this schedule. My only beef is not honoring FIFA dates. This is a great disservice the the league and fans.
+1,000,000
Does it make sense for Sigi to run his starting 11 ragged for 90 minutes in a mid-season game that doesn’t count for anything??