MLS players touched on some of American soccer’s biggest topics in ESPN’s recent anonymous survey.
A total of 75 percent of those polled said a combination of players, coaches and U.S. Soccer are to blame for the U.S. Men’s National Team’s failure to qualify for the World Cup. The players and coaches each received nine percent of the vote as individual entities while the coaching situation received seven percent.
Meanwhile, 63 percent of players said they’d be in favor of promotion and relegation, up from 54 percent in the 2017 survey. Unsurprisingly, 82 percent said they are not happy with the league’s salary structure while an additional 44 percent said they struggle to understand MLS roster rules.
Giovani dos Santos of the LA Galaxy was named the most overrated player in ESPN’s annual confidential player survey. Dos Santos received 11 percent of the votes from 104 current players spanning 22 of the 23 teams in Major League Soccer. Michael Bradley came in second in the overrated category, as he earned 10 percent of the vote.
Montreal’s Ignacio Piatti received the tag of most underrated player, as he took seven percent of the votes in that category.
New York City’s FC Patrick Vieira was voted the coach players would most like to play for, while Houston’s Wilmer Cabrera received the opposite honor, as he was mentioned as the coach players would least like to play for.
This survey ( or at least what this sit focused on ) just sums up US soccer.
Let’s ask questions about WCup failure, Pro/Rel ( which will never happen, but we will whine about it for rest of my life ), overrated players, etc.
Meanwhile, every team in MLS that has played 3 games has points. Only won team has 3 wins and the season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting in the history of soccer.,……like last year and the year before and the year before and the year before.
Quit Whining.
I don’t understand how Bradley and Jozy can be overrated at this point. They are both top-20 players in the league overall, they took TFC to the treble and CCL semis. They are hated by 80% or more. If anything, they are underrated now.
I think most people confuse overpaid (which they are to a degree) with overrated.
If you read my reply to Bizzy above only 104 players even responded which is about 5 per team since NYCFC did not participate. It would be interesting to know how many international players responded. You can understand Gio because he was bad on a bad team last year, even Nagbe makes sense he doesn’t score or assist but got wined and dined before his transfer to Atlanta. You would think Jordan Morris would get some votes after last season, but largely Jozy produced. Bradley as DM is harder to quantify but he was the captain of the team that just had the greatest season in MLS history and is in the CCL semis. My guess is guys don’t like their personality or are jealous of their contracts or Nat playing time.
Jealousy would be the answer.
I think many players look at their very high salaries, national team appearances, success with Toronto and think “they’re really not THAT good” “They don’t deserve to make 10x more than me” “I could do the same if I played with Giovinco” etc etc.
Not saying they are wrong to think any of those things, but players are jealous of the money/recognition they’re getting.
Most interesting for me:
-Both Trapp and Roldan were near the top of the underrated category, and yet their picks for USMNT have been universally panned.
-Berhalter ranked as the same % want to play for as Tata but gets very little buzz as a potential USMNT manager.
In my team I’ll pay Bradley no more than $ 250.000.00 a year , Altidore $ 150.000.00 and i’ll let Gio Dos Santos in the bench with a rookie’s salary , if so..
150,000 for Jozy, that’s half of Sapong or Ramirez’s salary and Jozy is equally productive. Picault makes 130,000 and only scored 7 goals.
You probably wouldn’t have the best MLS team ever, then… It’s gonna be great when TFC wins the CCL this year.
The hatred on here is pretty childish.
Agreed. I get that people wanted the US to succeed and for that to happen the players we have had to perform well. Simply put, they did not. However to trash players because of your personal disappointment is childish.
There was ample time for multiple coaching staff members to have chosen different players, but they did not. There is no way to know what would have happened if different players had been selected; that sort of exercise is pure speculation.
Going forward, every team that tried to qualify for the 2018 World Cup will have a vastly different roster for 2022, the US will be no different in that regard. Will Bradley and Altidore be among those who return, I dunno, ask the new general manager and the new coach whoever that may be. I am pretty confident the fans opinions will matter little in their choices.
I still lurk around here, but I moved on to MLSsoccer.com
Where I don’t need the same name.
My whole life I have been waiting for soccer to get to this and be on this pace to greatness and in spite of that…..all they can do it whine about it.
Oh wait, here comes another guy making fun of Freddie Adu……
Michael Bradley is still an excellent jogger. We should not underestimate his superiority in this regard. Please reconsider your votes and understand that it may be based on envy, rather than quality. He also has an outstanding beard.
” Michael Bradley came in second in the overrated category…”
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lol…Not news to a few of us on here =D
Yeah, and you have a bunch of guys who have no business in conversation rated ahead of him just because they play in a certain league. You are on record as saying any player playing in 2 Bundesliga is better than every player in MLS, so everything you say has to be taken with a grain of salt…
“You are on record as saying any player playing in 2 Bundesliga is better than every player in MLS…”
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In regards to US players…..absolutely. They are playing at a higher level both technically and tactically. I know it’s hard for you to comprehend, but I can’t help you with that 😀
Oh and Don Lamb,
Other answers:
Michael Bradley came in Second as the most overrated MLS player but take a wild guess who came in third?
Yup you guessed right…..”shut the door Jozy Altidore”!!!!! hahahahaha, This MLS Confidential: Players polled on U.S. failure, salaries, pro/rel, overrated, underrated players seems pretty accurate to me =-)
17% percent of the 104 MLS players who responded (which is roughly 16% of total players) view Bradley or Altidore as the most overrated. Bradley is tough to quantify because he isn’t a goal scorer or assist man. Altidore was 10th in the league in goals scored and 8th in goals per 90 minutes, he’s the 8th highest paid player. Those don’t seem to add up to numbers that would qualify someone as overrated. Giovinco was voted the toughest player to face, and yet he and Altidore had almost identical numbers last season. People don’t like his attitude because he acts like a whiney child, so perhaps that’s why 7 out of 650 or 1% of the total players in the league felt he was overrated.
Typical blind MLS hater! It makes no sense to be certain that Bundesliga 2 is higher level than MLS right now. There are no players of the DP quality in B2 and not that many TAM quality either. Recent transfers in both directions between B2 and MLS suggest that MLS is at least even.
I mean at what point will the haters realize that if you have 250 players in the league with NT caps and up to 100 current internationals that the level is pretty decent? It’s like you can dress up Werder in MLS uniforms and you will say that suck because they are in MLS
Bizzy I’m with ya but don’t waste your time arguing with them anymore its a lost cause. I’m not getting my hopes up anymore.