The Premiership is Inferior

Filed in archive US Soccer on June 19, 2007

Footballer/rock star turned suit and tie wearer Alexi Lalas showed some of his old spunk yesterday, with some harsh words for the Premiership, which - without a trace of irony - he branded "an inferior product."

"There's no accounting for bad taste," Lalas said. "That a segment of the world worships an inferior product in the Premiership is their business. English football now has the haves and the have-nots. It's just that the Premiership have become so skilled in presentation. They took a page out of american football and so now they have Saturday Showdowns and Super Sundays. I love it. This is high-calibre marketing - taking an inferior product and improving it through packaging."

He has a point about the marketing, but it's tough to see the Premiership as an inferior product. It does produce some genuinely exhilarating football, and a much higher standard than MLS. And it's English comments about the state of MLS that shave provoked Lalas' outburst. But what about this next claim:

"The experts in England talk about David Beckham as if he's going into semi-retirement. It's insulting to say Beckham is on his way to Hollywood when he's coming to play in one of the most competitive leagues in the world. There are a lot of stars who would struggle here."

Again, he's right that English pundits are underestimating MLS, but only just. I watch plenty of MLS, and fully support the league. But it's not "one of the most competitive leagues in the world" and there are not "a lot of stars who would struggle here." I think the competitiveness Lalas refers to is the evenish balance of the team, which is kept in check by the draft system and single entity ownership. But the fact that Juan Pablo Angel was decent in the Premiership but looks unstoppable in MLS suggests any star who takes MLS seriously will can expect to do well. The fact that Premiership (or even Championship) flops like Terry Cooke, Paul Dalglish, Carl Robinson and Danny Dicho are prospering says it all really.