As an American Gooner, I like the fact that Henry is in the MLS, even if it's 2010 Henry and not 2004 Henry. As a fan of the Fire, however, it kind of blows goats that he went to New York.

yes i did pay attention. he didn't even start. but it is a recognizable name and might bring some more fans out to the games.

hey the fire still have a designated player yet to name maybe they will make a move on someone. who knows

He is a cheat. You are welcome to him. He ruined football for a lot of people with his antics in the France/Ireland game.

And yet, he is now complaining about how much suffering he had to go through after that game; how hard it was to be alone. He belongs in Hollywood.

not saying i like the guy (personally i was one of those who wanted ireland in for a change in scenery.) but i sure hope it gets people somewhat excited for soccer

And, if you are interested in football: watch the European Leagues. You will see football at its best - sometimes, at least.

I actually read a rumor that Ronaldinho might wind up in the MLS. Without a real academy system, I worry that MLS is just going to turn into the world's dumping ground of has been and second-rate Mexican and American players. Then the optomistic side of me figures, eh, what the hell; I can still subscribe to see every Arsenal game if I want to see legends at their peak. It's kind of cool to see aging legends as well.

The MLS will never be legitimate, just as South American leagues willnever be legitimate.

thats what i don't want either a dumping ground but its looking like it is what will be happening for the next few years of the MLS. I just wish i could actually watch world class football but alas its never on here. only rarely when i come home from school on foxsports

Barcelona must have spent the last two years regretting paying £16m for him. Henry has gone for a final payoff before retiring, so don't expect too much from him in the MLS.

Aren't the Beckham and Henry moves very different though? Henry has announced his retirement from international football but Beckham never has and 'fought' his way back into England team after the move to LA Galaxy (albeit via Milan, but he is still on Galaxy books).

@Countess: not really. Both players have left the big leagues and moved to a smaller one for another pay day & an easier time (sorry MLS fans, I hope the position changes for you). Beckham had to leave the MLS, temporarily, to earn his England place back.

@ Rlumley
Boca Juniors forever! I have no idea what you mean about South American leagues no being legit. The league in Argentina is healthy with good standards of play and strong crowds with similar attitudes to the fans you find in England. Indeed, outside of England, Germany and Spain the European leagues don't look all that special in comparison.

The US has traditionally been a place for aging footballers to end their careers. Pele, Beckenbauer, Beckham etc. This is not, at least in recent times, a bad thing. It pulls in a few more punters, and allows the new American talent to learn from some experienced heads. We should not make the mistake of underestimating MLS. It is a strong league with attendences far higher than those found in Portugal, Russia, Poland, Greece and anything in Scandinavia. If current trends continue it could easily overtake attendence figures of France and Italy by the end of the decade. If it wasn't for the idiotic draft system and weirdly timed seasons I dare say it already would have.

The South American leagues are alright, but they're not La Liga or the EPL.

The best leagues will always be found in Europe.

i agree with the weird draft system. i do not like the draft at all its nonsense. Henry has signed a four year deal though so its not like he is going to play one season and then retire.

@Octavious

There's no relegation or promotion in the MLS, and the clubs don't have juvenile academies really developed. That's why we have a draft system in place. I actually prefer a draft system to completely free signing, in tandem with a salary cap, because that way you avoid Portsmouth-style franchise implosions. Seriously, where do you think Pompey will stop at? League 2?

@DJEcc: If Henry plays 4 years then I am a Dutchman.

MLS will be a second rate league as long as you have the salary cap. Really good players can earn more in Europe so that is where they will go. A few ageing stars looking for a final payday won't be enough. Plus the Champions League is a pretty big draw for most players.

As for Pompey, it all depends on when a real buyer turns up. Southampton went down to League 1 despite a far better position and a decent stadium. My guess is L2 but I won't acknowledge that in front of my wife or son who are Saints fans. I tell them Pompey will be back in the Premiership soon.

Henry to the MLS is a good thing for US Soccer; it generates interest and generally raises the level of play just that much more. I think there are a number of younger players that will benefit from training with him or playing against him.

As a league I don't think anyone over here would claim it's comparable to the top 6 leagues in the world; however, it's good enough as a place to develop decent players. I think the goal of MLS should be to get to the level of second tier European leagues (Dutch, Danes, Swiss, Portugal etc), which it's not that far away from.

@ Bob

With any luck they will die a death and never return, leaving the likes of Plymouth Argyle or Exeter City to dominate the south coast. Grecians for the Cup! Seriously though, how is the experience of Pompey a problem? One club over exerts itself and suffers for it. So what?? There are dozens of other clubs desperate to take their place and prove themselves worthy. It's healthy competition.

The trouble with the draft system is that it encourages higher levels of competition within a league at the expense of reducing your ability to compete with teams from other leagues. The elite are punished and the incompitent rewarded, and because of that the top European teams will always walk all over you.

@Yayager:
I think second level European leagues is a reasonable standard to aim at and there is nothing wrong with being at that level. But it means that the best players will be elsewhere where they can earn more money. If you guys are happy with that, fine.

As for promotion & relegation vs. the draft. The owners are the ones who benefit from the no relegation. If US fans are OK with it then again, fine by me, but it seems really un-American. It is great watching a team like Blackpool or Hull get to the Premier League. Sure, they usually go down again the next season but their fans love it.

The advantage of a salary cap is that it makes for a more interesting league. I think we all can agree the Premiership is the most interesting elite national league in the world. To me, this is a result of two factors: they attract players as good as any league in the world, and of the elite national leagues, the Premiership has the largest number of reasonable competitors for the league title.

La Liga sucks because in any given year, you know Barca or Real will win the league. There's only two intrinsically critical games per season in the league. Serie A is slightly better, because Juve, AC, and Inter can win the title in any given year, but no one else has threatened that aristocracy since what, the Maradona Napoli squads? In the Premiership, even in a top heavy season, four squads have a reasonable shot of winning the league. This year, I'd say seven squads can have dreams of winning the title that don't depend upon icy runways: the big four, plus Spurs, City, and possibly Everton.

In a draft league, every team will, over a relatively small period of time, have a shot at winning the league. To me, that makes for a more interesting league. If that comes at the cost of knowing the Arsenals and Inters of the world will always be better than the MLS champion in any given year, so be it.

Or, to put it another way, in the MLS, it doesn't much matter if your franchise owner is a family that's owned the squad since the league started playing, and don't really have a ton of assets other than the squad, or a Russian mob multibillionaire who treats his team as a hobby rather than a business. That is a good thing, I think.

The MLS will not begin to get better until fans actually care. If no one goes to watch then of course non of the starts will come over because the clubs are getting no money or support. The MLS i think are playing it smart getting old big names now to generate interest.

It could be said Bob that the rich Russian has kept his club in good shape whereas the lying bastardos who bought Liverpool and Man Utd with disguised debt have done the game serious harm. The indebted ones are not Russian...

And, the iced runway nod: not one to gain respect in this part of the world. That was a tragedy for the game, the supporters and, most of all, the families.

Most younger followers of football will think of Liverpool and Man Utd as rivals. However, after Munich, Liverpool loaned out sufficient players to Utd to enable them to maintain a viable team for the following few seasons. The game came before rivalry.

@Flash
You make a very good point. As a supporter of Chelsea for over 40 years I have seen a few ups and downs. When RA took over I was somewhat bothered by the source of his money and worried that he would bore of his new toy. I am sure that one day it will all come to a nasty end but I have decided to enjoy the party while it lasts. The extortion going on at Anfield and Old Trafford is a very different kettle of fish.

@BobG
Everton! Are you serious? Moyes has done good work there but I don't think his squad is deep enough to sustain a challenge over a season.

@Flash
Where do you stand on sharing a stadium? As an outsider it looks such a bleeding obvious thing to do I just don't get the depth of objection.

I am all for it actually, but then I do not come from or live in Liverpool. I really think some of the nastiness would be removed if a single ground - big enough for the aspirations of the teams and the city, together with common development programmes (such as contributing to the community), were established.

A nice 100,000 seater would do - retractable roof etc: a stadium for the future and one for he North to be proud of as well as annoy the Mancs... ; )

@Flash: that's pretty much my position too. I have spoken to a couple of scousers from both sides who agree with us but then say "it will never happen" without really being able to explain why.

After the stadiums in SA, a World Cup in England is going to look very shabby apart from Wembley and The Emirates.

That would probably match out team though: old and inadequate...

out = our (I'm old and shabby as well)

I am now reading reports of an organised 'Irish' boycott of the Red Bulls over the Henry signing... Welcome to the world of football New York.

Henry is dead wood.

They would be better off protesting because he will be useless rather than that handball.

@diplomat

I'm not completely serious about Everton winning the Premiership. I do think, if things broke exactly right for them, a Champions League berth is possible for them. I'm not a fanatical backer of Everton, though, with all of the self-delusion that implies (note: I'm not picking on Everton fans particularly, more pointing out that any fanbase includes a certain number of people who can convince themselves that their squad is much better than empirical observation would suggest), and don't think it's at all likely. I'm just pointing out that it's far more likely that Everton will be amongst the leaders of the Premier League and thus reasonable for a fan to hope for a title, than it is for Wigan or Fulham.

I also suppose I have to include Villa amongst this tier that, if absolutely everything broke right, could conceivably compete for the Premiership. They have been quality the past couple of years, even if they're completely boring.

@flashman

I agree that the plane crash was a disaster, and a tragedy for the game as a whole. I was using that to indicate the scope of the problem that would have to happen several times over in order for Sunderland to have a shot at winning the Premiership or qualifying for the Champions League.

As to Abramovich, he's actually not a bad owner. That's not my issue with him. My issue with him is that during his establishment of the Chelsea brand, he decided to imitate Real's spending habits. So be it, that's his choice. Man City certainly seems to be following that prescription for competition. But it does mean that unless your squad has had an incredible global following for years (Arsenal, Liverpool, Man U), pretty much you have to luck into having a multi-billionaire buy your squad in order to compete on a sustained basis.

@BobG
I agree with your assessment of Everton & Villa's chances of a CL place, and wish them both well with it as I think both are examples of well run clubs, with a good manager and a responsible owner.

I am very lucky that RA landed at my club and not another. In the 40 years I have been following football Div1/EPL has become far less even which does make me wonder about the benefits of a draft system.

BTW when whining about Chelsea buying success MU fans forget the millions they raised when the club went public.

Fortunately, as I'm not a fourteen year old girl, I'm not a ManUre fan. But yes, they are a bunch of bitches.