The 14th season of MLS starts tomorrow night with the league's newest entrant facing the losing MLS Cup finalist. It will be the start of an exciting weekend before everyone settles down for the long march through a very big year for the MLS sides and the US national team. There will be some intriguing storylines to follow during the season -- how will Drew Carey's dreams for the Sounders club work in practice? Will the college draftees make an immediate impact (or any impact at all!)? Is this the year we see Academy graduates break into the first teams of MLS clubs? Will there be more meaningful games now that almost half the league will not make the playoffs? Will David Beckham be booed? And I'm sure you can think of some others.
What I want to know if whether MLS, through its clubs and their players, can give me some sugar. Something sweet. A beautiful pirouette, an improvised feint and pass, a moment of audacity and daring, something to break through the tedium of hard charging runs to the end line and centering passes to some center forward's head. Someone who can perform with the ball, or a team that loves the ball and can do something with it as well. MLS is a physical league, and a hard-working league. As I've said before, it's harder than it looks -- that would make a great promo line, by the way. There are a few performers in the league, but not nearly enough. My desire for this season is to see more performers and a few more teams that set out to play the kind of soccer that fans and supporters long to watch.
Give me some moments to savor in 2009, MLS. Come on, gimme some sugar.
Comments