DC United has recently hired the services of Argentine, Marcelo “El Muñeco” Gallardo. I find this move to be very interesting, not only do I believe Gallardo to be a very good player but I think this is the latest in the line of interesting acquisitions for the MLS. Last year we saw all the hype about Beckham, who may or may not be overrated but still is in a class that nobody in the MLS is very near.
Beckham must finally prove himself the season, to be worth the enormous amount of money spent on him. But I find a couple other things interesting, last year we also saw the advent of more South American players, and younger ones at that. It seemed that before the MLS was a retirement home for some international stars, but now they have seemingly opted for a younger breed of players that add to the competitiveness of this league. The addition of Juan Pablo Angel to the Red Bulls last season really surprised me, and I believe him to be an amazing signing, which many other leagues in the America’s would have dreamed of. The caliber of foreign players is rising I believe, albeit slowly, with Angel, Gallardo, Beckham, Xavier. The internationalization is occurring, and a couple of teams seem to be gaining their own personality and fan base, which is essential for any league.
The MLS has also created the Superliga along with Mexico, and the Pan Pacific Championship with Japan and Australia. It is an interesting experiment which may or may not work but is a good effort to give their players more international experience. I believe interesting things are happening in the MLS it is just a question of them being able to rally up enough fan support to justify it, and this season may provide some answers.
