Roma's Gervinho And Chelsea's Ramires Off To China

Yes, I think the MLS has to offer what European teams won't, or else we won't get any decent players.

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I think MLS's primary concern should be development of American and Canadian players to surround or be the star players on a team.

I mean if you divorce yourself from the big numbers the Chinese have paid for these guys...

How much more does Martinez, Ramires, and Teixeira actually make you want to watch the Chinese Super League? I think the financial figures are creating more buzz than the actual players they're buying.
 
I think MLS's primary concern should be development of American and Canadian players to surround or be the star players on a team.

I mean if you divorce yourself from the big numbers the Chinese have paid for these guys...

How much more does Martinez, Ramires, and Teixeira actually make you want to watch the Chinese Super League? I think the financial figures are creating more buzz than the actual players they're buying.

eh, im a soccer nerd so ill take a peek here and there ( cant really watch it due to time difference) i already follow English blogs for Japanese and Korean footy.
 
I think MLS's primary concern should be development of American and Canadian players to surround or be the star players on a team.

I mean if you divorce yourself from the big numbers the Chinese have paid for these guys...

How much more does Martinez, Ramires, and Teixeira actually make you want to watch the Chinese Super League? I think the financial figures are creating more buzz than the actual players they're buying.
For fans watching on tv I'm not sure how much of a difference it'll make, I imagine some. But I bet it'll put a lot more people in the seats.
 
How much more does Martinez, Ramires, and Teixeira actually make you want to watch the Chinese Super League?
I guess a comparable question is, "Would you be more likely to watch a Chinese team if they had Villa, Pirlo and Lampard playing for them?"

For some people the answer is probably yes. For me, no. Between MLS and the Euro leagues I already have more than enough to watch. The talent in China (or Korea, Belgium, South Africa, Argentina, etc, etc) would have to pass the big 5 in Europe to compete for my attention.

Honestly, and I hate saying this because I don't want to push anyone away, but I don't really understand the appeal of MLS to people living in Europe. You already have all of your leagues with lots of talent. What is it that makes MLS worth your time? Is it the allure of American culture? Is it following something from the early stages? Why do you do it?
 
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I guess a comparable question is, "Would you be more likely to watch a Chinese team if they had Villa, Pirlo and Lampard playing for them?"

For some people the answer is probably yes. For me, no. Between MLS and the Euro leagues I already have more than enough to watch. The talent in China (or Korea, Belgium, South Africa, Argentina, etc, etc) would have to pass the big 5 in Europe to compete for my attention.

Honestly, and I hate saying this because I don't want to push anyone away, but I don't really understand the appeal of MLS to people living in Europe. You already have all of your leagues with lots of talent. What is it that makes MLS worth your time? Is it the allure of American culture? Is it following something from the early stages? Why do you do it?

As an Australian of italian parents, I really enjoy american sports and culture. I also understand how tough it is being a soccer fan in a country that doesn't like the sport, so i really like supporting MLS for that reason. I hope the sport and MLS continues its upward trajectory
 
I guess a comparable question is, "Would you be more likely to watch a Chinese team if they had Villa, Pirlo and Lampard playing for them?"

For some people the answer is probably yes. For me, no. Between MLS and the Euro leagues I already have more than enough to watch. The talent in China (or Korea, Belgium, South Africa, Argentina, etc, etc) would have to pass the big 5 in Europe to compete for my attention.

Honestly, and I hate saying this because I don't want to push anyone away, but I don't really understand the appeal of MLS to people living in Europe. You already have all of your leagues with lots of talent. What is it that makes MLS worth your time? Is it the allure of American culture? Is it following something from the early stages? Why do you do it?

It's the time slot and the Euro dead period of late May to mid August. If you are in Europe and want to watch a game at night or in the summer time when there are no Euro games going on, MLS is available. For similar reasons that's why I watch a lot of Italy games - they play at times where there is little competition from other leagues.
 
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I'm not sure if this is just me, but for some reason I think others might feel the same, but I enjoy watching familiar players.

I grew up watching the premier league because it's the only channel I had. Recently, I've gained access to La Liga and the Bundesliga and other than the top teams I don't really pay attention, even though I have no problem watching teams like Stoke or West Ham. I think it's because I'm familiar with the teams, players, and the league.

MLS could have a similar problem, for some people at least, and that is one way star players may help.
 
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I'm not sure if this is just me, but for some reason I think others might feel the same, but I enjoy watching familiar players.

I grew up watching the premier league because it's the only channel I had. Recently, I've gained access to La Liga and the Bundesliga and other than the top teams I don't really pay attention, even though I have no problem watching teams like Stoke or West Ham. I think it's because I'm familiar with the teams, players, and the league.

MLS could have a similar problem, for some people at least, and that is one way star players may help.
I think this may be an interesting additional barrier for CSL. When an english speaker watches MLS, it doesn't take long to get comfortable with names (if not playing style) like Grabavoy, velasquez, Macnamara, etc. At an unconscious level it is just more comfortable to deal with names like Ned.

If the CSL requires a significant number of Chinese players they may face this as a psychological barrier. Xuan, Xi, Zoeng, etc are just less comfortable to western brains.

Not saying this is conscious dislike, but these subtle comforts/discomforts do influence our interests and decisions without our realizing it.
 
I'm just not convinced about the money, their economy is up and down all the time I don't see how the heck they spill out so much cash in a matter of months.

I'll try and keep up with some blogs and Twitter feeds I have for that league and see how it goes
It's not just the money. At a certain point players are going to say the putrid air conditions in China are so bad that no amount of money will get them to play in it. These players want to get rich, but they also don't want game-induced lung cancer.
 
It's not just the money. At a certain point players are going to say the putrid air conditions in China are so bad that no amount of money will get them to play in it. These players want to get rich, but they also don't want game-induced lung cancer.

health is a valid point. but yet people are still going there so for some its a non issue or they are oblivious to it
 
Reports stating that the CSL LEAGUE is buying Falcao and will be loaning him out to a club.

Pretty interesting move for a league that features promotion and relegation. I guess if some of your teams can't afford a player and you want him in your league anyway, this is the way forward with that.
 
It's the time slot and the Euro dead period of late May to mid August. If you are in Europe and want to watch a game at night or in the summer time when there are no Euro games going on, MLS is available. For similar reasons that's why I watch a lot of Italy games - they play at times where there is little competition from other leagues.
Yep, MLS has a few advantages over the CSL. One being in the "offseason" and the other that MLS plays out across 4 times zones. We can have games in time slots ranging from Noon ET to 11PM ET. So pretty much wherever you are on Earth, we can have live games at watchable hours morning and night. Not to mention our league's massive size will give the league a larger inventory of games that we can sell to TV channels around the world. If we get to 32 teams with a 34 game season, that will be 1,088 games in a season. European leagues with 20 teams only feature 760 games.

The Chinese Super League only has 1 team in one time zone different from the others. So they can't be as flexible with the scheduling of their games. Their league, currently, only features 16 clubs and a 30 game season and only 240 games inventory. I'm sure that will expand to 18 and 20 teams someday but even then they'll still have fewer games to sell.
 
Yep, MLS has a few advantages over the CSL. One being in the "offseason" and the other that MLS plays out across 4 times zones. We can have games in time slots ranging from Noon ET to 11PM ET. So pretty much wherever you are on Earth, we can have live games at watchable hours morning and night. Not to mention our league's massive size will give the league a larger inventory of games that we can sell to TV channels around the world. If we get to 32 teams with a 34 game season, that will be 1,088 games in a season. European leagues with 20 teams only feature 760 games.

The Chinese Super League only has 1 team in one time zone different from the others. So they can't be as flexible with the scheduling of their games. Their league, currently, only features 16 clubs and a 30 game season and only 240 games inventory. I'm sure that will expand to 18 and 20 teams someday but even then they'll still have fewer games to sell.
I think the time zone thing is a weakness of the league, not a strength.
 
The Chinese Super League only has 1 team in one time zone different from the others. So they can't be as flexible with the scheduling of their games. Their league, currently, only features 16 clubs and a 30 game season and only 240 games inventory. I'm sure that will expand to 18 and 20 teams someday but even then they'll still have fewer games to sell.

Doesn't the whole of China have only 1 (Beijing) time zone? GMT + 8?