The schadenfreude here is largely because the Cosmos of the 1970s and the current reboot are both victims of their own self-importance, ideological stubbornness, and fiscal irresponsibility. If you look at how they relaunched the team, and what they focused on, they were insanely overconfident in the ability of the brand legacy to keep them afloat.
No one wants to see American soccer leagues fail, but the NASL and *especially* the Cosmos and their fans have been very smug how the league is somehow morally superior to MLS because the single entity structure with salary caps is evil/stupid and won't lead to better US performance. That last position isn't *necessarily* wrong, but MLS emerged as it did because of a pragmatic assessment that it was the only way to build a sustainable 1st tier soccer league in the US given the current popularity of the sport. Is it the "right" way to build a soccer league according to purists? Who the fuck cares?
I am not happy to see another space for pro-soccer in the US fail, but I do feel a sense of satisfaction watching them be hoisted by their own petard.
(edit for grammar)
No one wants to see American soccer leagues fail, but the NASL and *especially* the Cosmos and their fans have been very smug how the league is somehow morally superior to MLS because the single entity structure with salary caps is evil/stupid and won't lead to better US performance. That last position isn't *necessarily* wrong, but MLS emerged as it did because of a pragmatic assessment that it was the only way to build a sustainable 1st tier soccer league in the US given the current popularity of the sport. Is it the "right" way to build a soccer league according to purists? Who the fuck cares?
I am not happy to see another space for pro-soccer in the US fail, but I do feel a sense of satisfaction watching them be hoisted by their own petard.
I'll add that because I don't live in New York maybe I can't relate to NYCFC fans seemingly blindly hating every other New York team.
*I hate the Red Bulls but not the Cosmos
(edit for grammar)
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