MLS following Europe’s lead

Now, arguably North America’s best player — Mexico’s Giovanni Dos Santos — appears headed to MLS in the prime of his career, leaving Europe for the United States at 26 years old. It’s a change the league hopes signals to the rest of the world MLS is now a destination for players, not just those big-name stars who are looking for one last fat paycheck.

The move could be good for MLS as a whole but, the reality is, it’s really just a coup for the Los Angeles Galaxy, the team who signed Dos Santos. It makes sense. Given Los Angeles’ heavy Mexican population, Dos Santos could give the Galaxy a big boost.

Dos Santos joins a Galaxy squad that is shaping up to be this century’s version of the 1970s New York Cosmos — a team that featured Pele, Giorgio Chinaglia, Franz Beckenbauer and Hubert Birkenmeier. Dos Santos joins Keane and another recent acquisition in Gerrard to give the Galaxy one of the most recognizable teams not only in MLS, but the world.

But how does that really help the rest of MLS? Sure, it’ll fill the owners’ coffers, but what about the rest of the teams in the league? While the “glamor” cities like L.A., New York and Miami have aging superstars flocking to them, the San Jose Earthquakes and Sporting Kansas Citys of the league continue to shop the shallow end of the foreign free-agent pool.

Who was the last big-name foreign player to suit up for the Earthquakes? George Best during the 1970s? I’m not denigrating the foreign talent San Jose does have. Heck, they may even have some players with more talent than the big-name free agents coming into the league, but superstars get the attention.

There is a lesson to be learned from that Cosmos’ team. New York was the North American Soccer League’s marquee franchise. When the rest of the teams could not keep up with the arms race, the league folded.

I’m not saying MLS is facing any such impending doom. Besides, it has done a good job of splitting up the marquee players fairly equally on each coast’s major market: Los Angeles and New York. Of course, there are marquee names sprinkled throughout the league. American star Clint Dempsey returned from England and is playing in Seattle. Toronto FC has assembled a nice package of talent, highlighted by U.S. national team captain Michael Bradley.

It’s not as if the rest of the league is barren of world-class talent, but the league certainly could do more to try and spread out the riches. Granted, as essentially free agents, these players can call the shot on where they want to play, with Los Angeles and New York obvious target cities. This is exactly what you see in the top leagues in Europe, leagues with a handful of elite teams and the rest scrambling trying to find lightning in a bottle. In Spain, it’s Barcelona, Real Madrid and the rest. In Italy, it’s Juventus, Inter Milan, A.C. Milan and the rest. In England, there are four core teams— Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United — that dominate the standings year in and year out.

While the addition of Dos Santos may be the first of many international stars coming to America in the prime of their careers, MLS has already set up the system to mirror those used in Europe: create a handful of glamor teams and let the rest fight over the scraps.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com. You can follow him on Twitter @CheckkThissOutt.