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Originally Posted by Addick
I actually believe this is a step in the wrong direction and goes to show you the lack of knowledge on the part of the CSA. They are going about this thinking that somehow getting a professional team will help create a fan base and increase the country's ability to develop quality players. However, these two things, skilled players and a fan base, are prereqs for a professional league. What the CSA needs to do is, create a better development system and focus on creating amateur and development leagues rather than a professional league.
What I mean by a better development system is youth systems and minor leagues that focus on developing children's skill and abilities rather than winning games, why try to teach a kid the 4-3-3 formation when he can't even pass the bloody football? Development leagues will provide a place for talented older youth players to play and develop their skills further, think of the academy system and leagues for European clubs. Amateur leagues would be where players that aren't skilled enough to make the jump to Europe would stay and play. It would also provide a place for "late-bloomers' to further develop their game. These amateur teams would be local clubs that would have local support. Similar to how pretty much every top flight professional European league started, these leagues and clubs would mature and grow into professional leagues and clubs. As they grow so will their initial fan base...
In addition, I don’t expect the MLS to be around much longer. They are going down the same path the NASL travelled and they no longer have their wealthy father (Lamar Hunt) to bail them out…
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Actually, I'd say the opposite is true. The MLS is rather strong (and ranks amongst the NHL in the US in viewership), due to its strong ownership base. (The league owns the franchises essentially, to ensure no fly-by-night ownership). Instead of Lamar Hunt, they have the likes of Adidas, Gillette, Coca-Cola and others keeping them afloat.
Toronto FC is a step in the right direction, but a very small one. The huge advantage is when I turn on the TV, I see soccer... and actually, pretty decent soccer. For MLS to actually be a boon to Canadian soccer (as well as American soccer, since the two are very intertwined), the MLS will someday have to be a 20-24 team league, with at least 4 Canadian franchises (BC, AB, ON, QC... I don't care if Calgary and Edmonton have to share a team), luring aging superstars like Beckham and Shevchenko, and cultivating young North American talent with deeply rooted community involvement in youth development. This is a 10-20 year plan obviously, but that is what must happen. A-League and AMSL won't cut it. Too much talent slips through the cracks, and what doesn't will resent the CSA and go elsewhere. Canada needs the MLS brand name, cause its big enough to seem legitimate, and get people watching and buying into pro soccer.
Left to its own devices, the CSA will languish, and being a 50th place team or lower will be the best case scenario, and talented youth like Hargreaves and De Guzman will always opt to do the right thing for their careers and play for a different country. Holger Osieck resigned because of the CSA's stupidity and refusal to act.