I agree. Although I think the Serie A is actually better than people give it credit for.I think of it like tiers, where teams within a tier would be able to compete in a Champions league type format and have a chance to win. You've got the top 4( or 3, is Italy still in there?). Second you have leagues like France, Portugal, then a third tier with liga MX, but since we consistently lose to them in CCL, we are fourth tier.
All comes down to salary to me.
Money attracts the best talent in the world (and talent will attract more sponsors).
MLS needs free agency. Eliminate the salary cap (or at least use a "soft" salary cap and can penalize teams with a luxury tax like in the NBA).
Once you have free agency, there's no need for this idiotic Designated Player system.