Don’t Robert Green This One and Let it Slip Away

(619sports) Landon Donovan moments after he scored the biggest goal in U.S. soccer history

Soccer in the United States is as popular now as it has ever been. It has the opportunity to build on that popularity in an attempt to make the entire sport relevant as opposed to a passing fad every four years. As the only “major” professional league in this country the MLS has a responsibility to take this opportunity and make the most out of it. The best way that they can do this is to let go and make sure that their best American born players aren’t playing in their league.

Obviously this seems contradictory but if it is thought out, this really is the best course of action if the league and the state of the sport in general wish to grow. Sometimes you have to take one step back to take two steps forward but it appears that the MLS doesn’t understand that as they are only concerned about selling a few extra tickets as opposed to putting out a good national product. Following the U.S. advancement into the second round of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa led by Landon Donovan; the time to build towards the future is now. Several English Premier League teams have courted Donovan this transfer season including Manchester City, which has grown to one of the bigger and better teams in what is widely considered the best league in the world. However, Donovan is under contract with the L.A. Galaxy of the MLS until 2014, and even though he has an outstanding opportunity it appears as if the Galaxy and the league as a whole is not willing to part ways with their star.

I understand the league wanting to keep the little popularity it has and that Donovan is it’s best commodity. Other then the occasional transfer from international stars such as Pele` or Beckham in the past and Thierry Henry presently, they really don’t have much in the way of star power to offer fans. What the league has to realize is that there are soccer fans in this country that are going to be MLS fans because that is the closest thing to high level soccer they can get. They aren’t going to raise their fan base dramatically by hanging onto their top players. The MLS and U.S. soccer in general is going to increase its fan base by doing two things:

First and foremost is winning on the international stage and they can only do that by developing their players. They need to send their top players to Europe at a young age to develop them the best they can. If these young talents are stuck playing in the MLS they are only going to get as good as there opponents can allow them to get and at its current stage, frankly, that isn’t very good.

The second thing that they can do, and that they have the opportunity to do, is to continue to expand globally. If they send their players to Europe, not only are they going to improve as players but also they are going to improve as global icons. Building up to and following the conclusion of the World Cup I often saw people in Soccer Jerseys and other apparel. However, despite being in America most of those Jerseys say things like “F.C. Barcelona” with Messi on the back, or “Brazil” with Kaka’s name and number eight printed on the back. Rarely if ever do I see a Landon Donovan “Galaxy” Jersey or a “United States” Clint Dempsey jersey. Clearly the U.S. players are not on the level of these international super giants but there is no reason that they can’t be marketed on a global stage and the way to do that is to raise awareness of their talents by once again, allowing them to play in Europe.

Now there are a lot of U.S. players that are currently on European rosters and that is clearly a good thing. The aforementioned Dempsey as well as Howard, Davies, Altidore, and Bradley as well as a few more all took their talents abroad. So if the MLS has no problems letting these players go, why would they not want to let Donovan get one more chance at A.) Proving he can play on that level. And more importantly B.) Proving that Americans as a whole are capable at putting out a good product when it comes to soccer. He is currently 28 years old, which would put him towards the latter stages of his career in terms of appeal to European teams. Why not allow him to go play in Europe for two or three seasons and to gain prominence for himself as well as credibility for U.S. soccer and have him return to the MLS to finish out his career. He would be as popular as ever, if not more popular at that point and he would still be capable at playing as high a level as necessary to be a star in the MLS.

The only example that I can think of with similarities to this situation is in Japan with baseball. The best league in the world is clearly Major League Baseball however the Japanese leagues are very good as well. Over the past decade or so the top players in Japan have been coming over to play in America with great frequency. Ichiro, Matsuzaka, and Matsui are the three most prominent names and it has done wonders not just for their careers but also for the American awareness of the talent that Japanese baseball has to offer. This example has one major flaw in it as compared to the soccer situation. While those teams did allow the buying of their top players, they did it with an outstanding support system already in place for their league. The MLS’ concern is that if they lose Donovan they will lose a lot of fans whereas in Japan, baseball is one of if not their most popular sports.

As I previously stated I don’t believe losing Donovan would be catastrophic to ticket sales. While fans want to see the best players playing, the fans that are going to MLS games are going because they are soccer fans, and not solely because they want to see Donovan play. If the MLS is serious about advancing soccer in this country, which it would be wise to do, then it should be serious about entertaining offers for Donovan. Don’t lose out on a great opportunity because you are being selfish, be realistic about the current state you are in and about where you want to ultimately end up.

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