Is the MLS Expansion 'Un-American'?

• Big Soccer, Monday, September 17, 2007 4 PM

A BigSoccer blogger who goes by the name VioletCrown wonders if Major League Soccer is becoming "un-American" in its quest for on-field quality and commercial success. He writes: "With all the talk on expansion threads of 'MLS is becoming like the NASL, expanding too fast.  I find it interesting that no-one has expressed any concern about how few Yanks play in MLS."

Another blogger, who goes by the name scaryice, compiles a list of the number of foreign players each MLS team is able to have on its roster containing the names of senior international and young international players, plus green-card holders (who don't count as internationals).

Excluding Toronto, the only Canadian team, each MLS team has an average of 7.75 foreign players they can field per team. Of course, young internationals only feature in rare circumstances, so the average is overblown. That said, it is getting harder and harder for Americans to make MLS teams, a problem that leagues across Europe face with their domestic players. The bigger question though is: does it matter? With so many of America's top young players seeking (and ascertaining) moves abroad, the answer is "no." If the quality of MLS increases and more of our better players want to stay for longer, that's a very good thing, indeed.

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