David Who? Beckham When? MLS Now.

I am taking a break from football coverage in England this week to talk more about our home grown league, the MLS. Yes, the United States has a soccer league…

MLS has officially started, and there have been a lot of headlines regarding Major League Soccer this week. The first big announcement came from the new expansion team, the Seattle Sounders. Comedian Drew Carey became a part owner of the Seattle Sounders, and is the celebrity face for the organization. His team went on to win their opener against the New York Red Bull. The opening game was praised by many experts. They went on to say that the game had a feel much like matches similar to European football…a great complement. The MLS has struggled to retain talent and attract new foreign players because of the perceived as having poor competition. Looking at the new U.S. Men’s National Team would support this feeling. Of the 22 men listed, only 5 of them play in the MLS, while 9 play in the United Kingdom, and 8 play in various European leagues. This is staggering. The MLS was founded to prepare the United States for the World Cup tournaments, yet most of the American players do not even play within our borders.

Thursday’s game was a signal that maybe, just maybe, that the MLS may survive in America. Seattle, a brand new market, has already set the record in attendance for a regular season game. The Sounders’ offensive focused style of play makes the game more exciting and allows for more scoring opportunities. Seattle could be the club that changes soccer in America.

In addition to Seattle’s celebrity presence, style and popularity, the Sounders also have one of the biggest sponsors in the business: Microsoft. All of these factors can lead to a very successful club, and hopefully attract more talent to the MLS.

In other MLS news, Vancouver, British Columbia, and Portland were all selected to join MLS in 2011, bringing the total number of teams to 18. David Beckham is still in Italy, and has recently come out and stated that he would like to win a Champions League title with AC Milan. Do we really want/need him? LA opens up their season today without Beckham. The whole situation seems to be more comical as it progresses. ESPN’s MLS page even has a “Beckham Watch” so fans can get up to date information about everything going on in the saga. After this week of impressive matches, maybe the MLS can find another star. Seattle’s Freddy Montero netted 2 goals and had an assist in their electrifying opener win. There is a lot of new talent in the MLS that can help the league establish them in the U.S.