10 Reasons You Shouldn't Ignore the MLS This Season

Image via Complex Original

For over a decade now, the path for development and achievement for American players was clear: spend formative years in the MLS, and then make the career jump to Europe for a serious "sink or swim" type of challenge. Now, for the first time in recent memory, the United States' best players are playing in the MLS.

On the surface, that should speak to the lack of American quality-the best Americans aren't in Europe? They're back with the MLS? What's wrong with American soccer? But Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, and even Maurice Edu could all start for a Champions League-quality sides in Europe, and have all been active first team squad members for top sides in England, Germany, Italy, Scotland, and Spain. Donovan's prerogative has been with the MLS for years now, but Dempsey, Bradley, and Edu are all back together for their first full American soccer campaigns since 2005.

Bradley and Dempsey were starters on Top 4 quality sides in Italy and England not too long ago, and Donovan's played for Bayern Munich and Everton in the past. Finally, the MLS has the American international star power it's always craved, which is a testament to A) How much better the quality of the league is as opposed to five, or even two years ago, and B) How committed American stars are to growing the game at home with the lure of top flight European competition and potentially heftier paychecks awaiting overseas. Donovan, Dempsey, and Bradley are the three best players the United States has to offer, and all three are in the primes of their careers—now it's up to the league and the players themselves to take advantage and provide real progression to the MLS.

If OVO Sports isn't launched by 2015, Complex readers reserve the right to riot. After all, Drake reportedly got England international Jermain Defoe to sign with Toronto FC with just one phone call. Now that's persuasion, breh. Following Jay Z's lead after Hov's brilliant partnership/ownership marketing with the Brooklyn Nets, Drake already has a formal partnership with the Toronto Raptors, has released Toronto Blue Jays x OVO merch, and now he's taking his well-documented passion for soccer and putting on TFC.

Speaking to Complex during a media conference call, MLS Commissioner Don Garber was fucking with Drizzy's work too: "There is an incredible integration between sports and entertainment. You can't operate in the sports business and not recognize that you're in the entertainment business. Drake's relationship is not just with TFC—it's really with Maple Leaf Sports and entertainment... It just adds to a little bit of our credibility, and ties into our demographic, which we are strongest in, which is that young college millennial. That 18 to 30ish year old person, who cares about sports, music, what's hip, and what's hot." Clearly, Garber's excited about the prospect of not only Drake, but other celebrities who love soccer getting involved. It's a World Cup year, which instantly makes the sport, and obstensibly the MLS, one of the more publicized sporting properties in the world. Celebrities crave attention (think about celebrity row at Knicks or Lakers game), and if the public's attention is set on soccer, that can only aide the MLS.

Keep yourself posted to Drake's various social media channels though—once the season begins, they should be hip and hot with organic Toronto FC promo posts. Drake is pretty good at making lame things (at the time) seem cool (see: his entire 808s & Heartbreak inspired discography), and Toronto FC should be another knot on his velour rope belt.

Toronto FC sucked last season. With a first year head coach at the helm, they scavanged up 29 points through a 6-11-17 record, recorded the third worst goal difference in the league, and only managed 7 goals in 17 away matches. Awful. USL worthy, really. The Toronto FC the MLS will see this season, however, will be much different, and it's come through a top-down approach to squad changeover. They have three new designated players in Michael Bradley (the best American soccer player alive), Jermain Defoe (former first choice striker on a string of good, but never great Tottenham sides AKA the perennial "Smells Like Europa League Spirit" team), and Gilberto (a Brazilian forward worth DP money). They also snatched up former treble-winning Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar from QPR, and 2011 MLS MVP Dwayne De Rosario from D.C. United.

This latest crop of Toronto FC signings is a tried and true collection of quality internationals who know what the highest levels of global soccer competition are like, and it'll ultimately come down to sophomore head coach Ryan Nelsen to bring these currently disparate parts together. Bradley and Defoe alone will raise expectations to unreasonable levels, but there's no sense in making title-worthy signings and not externally shooting for the moon. Ambition only has its faults when it's not intelligently directed, and these all feel like no-brainer moves. Like the L.A. Galaxy or Sporting Kansas City are ever going to say, "Oh no, please don't make us sign Michael Bradley, Jermain Defoe, and Julio Cesar! Pleaaasssee no!" Bullshit.

If all fails though, they'll always have Drake/Papi FC.

Want international legitimacy, MLS? Prove that your teams are the best in North America by winning the CONCACAF Champions League for the first time. Granted, other North American clubs have a slight advantage over MLS clubs in the later stages of the tournament—Mexican Primera Division teams are in the middle of their season right now, will once again relish the annual opportunity of feasting on MLS clubs just starting theirs. The L.A. Galaxy showed the most intent with the tournament this offseason, not allowing Landon Donovan and Omar Gonzalez to go on offseason loans overseas-they wanted the pair to stay, train with the Galaxy, and keep up with their CCL campaign. Sporting KC and the San Jose Earthquakes are the other two MLS clubs still alive in the competition, and each is certainly capable (moreso defending MLS Cup champs Sporting KC) of winning the CCL.

Three years ago, Eddie Johnson was lost. He was wandering throughout Greece, the English coast, and even Mexico, struggling for form and minutes. He failed to score in an entire half season with English side Preston North End, and was released from his next contract in Mexico after getting into a spat with the coaching staff before even taking the pitch. Johnson even thought about quitting the game at age 26. He wasn't close to deserving a leading role with any professional side, much less an MLS one.

He came back to the MLS in 2012, linked up with the Sounders, and won the MLS Comeback Player of the Year award after an efficient (19% shot conversion) 15 goal season. He had another banner campaign for the Sounders in 2013, and even played himself back into the USMNT picture.

Pressed up against the cap, the Sounders decided against paying him this past offseason, and he was shipped off to D.C. United. His break-up from the Sounders went less than smoothly, and he invoked hints of socioeconomic and racial animosity in response to the critical backlash to his departure from the Sounders. Johnson's now the man in D.C., and rightly so. He's been given his billionth fresh start, albeit this time, he's taking a leading role for the first time, and he's in the prime of his career. Watch out for EJ.

If Chivas USA was a country, they'd be under Martial Law right now. Last month, the MLS purchased Chivas USA from Jorge Vergara, the man who launched the club in 2004 as a little brother club to Mexican side C.D. Guadalajara. On-field play began crumbling in 2010, however, and they've been through four head coaches since. While the play fail apart, Chivas were also sent into organizational disarray. A Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel report last summer revealed serious allegations of racial discrimination throughout the club. Fired youth coaches Dan Calichman and Ted Chronopoulos alleged that Vergara, after becoming the principal owner of Chivas in 2012, demanded the firing of all non-Spanish speaking staff, and for a list of all Mexican and Mexican American Chivas players to be presented to him.

In the face of the lawsuit, the MLS bought the club, appointed former MLS executive Nelson Rodriguez as the new Chivas president, and started work on rebranding the club to distance it from C.D. Guadalajara. The league has shown courage and a progressive idealism to swoop in and save Chivas from itself, and its search for new L.A. based owners will likely go deep into 2014. Of all MLS franchises that'll undergo any sort of evolution in 2014, Chivas will see the most drastic change occur, making it a captivating story to track throughout the season—there are social justice and workplace discrimination issues to sort out here, making Chivas not just a sports team, but an important national news story.

Talk to any MLS rep about the overall state of the league, and they'll glowingly point to the Portland Timbers-Seattle Sounders rivalry as one of the strengths of the league. It's not just because the teams are good-the fans are absolutely mental. This Seattle Sounders banner unveiling before a Sounders-Timbers match is some shit that's on par with the craziest European home fans, and quite honestly, puts American fandom across all sports to shame. Thought the atmosphere was nuts at a Seahawks or Thunder game? That's nothing compared to what Sounders fans pull. The Sounders hold the record for average attendance in across one season (44,038) and the second highest single game attendance figure in MLS history (67,385). Playing Captain Obvious here, it's safe to say that soccer is thriving in the Pacific Northwest.

On the actual pitch, each team made major improvements in the offseason, and are amongst the favorites to come out of the Western Conference. The Sounders' acquisition of Clint Dempsey is obviously huge, but striker Kenny Cooper, midfielder Marco Pappa, and defender Chad Marshall are three instant upgrades to the XI, even with the loss of Eddie Johnson. The Timbers finished last season with the best point total in the Western Conference, but flamed out against Real Salt Lake in the conference finals. They were aggressive in scouting international talent in the offseason, and imported South American duo Gaston Fernandez and Norberto Paparatto to insure a longer playoff run in 2014. This is THE rivalry in American soccer today, and it's only getting nastier.

"Soccer is growing in America" sounds and feels like a tired adage in 2014. Of course it's growing. It's growing everywhere. The MLS, however, is making that adage translate into hardcore dollars. The MLS is working to own that key 18-34 demographic, and they're making tremendous strides in gaining a teen audience too—according to an ESPN poll, the MLS is equally as popular with 12-17 year olds as Major League Baseball. After setting an attendance record in 2012, 2013 saw the league post it's second-best attendance figures ever, thanks in large part to the increasing abundance of soccer specific stadiums throughout the United States.

Of the 19 MLS teams, 13 will kick-off the season in soccer specific stadiums, with that number increasing to 15 in 2015, and 16 in 2016 or 2017 when NYC FC gets their own stadium. The league is set to sign a $70 million TV deal with ESPN and FOX—more than double their previous contract with NBC Sports. Those MLS cats are getting that LONG money now, folks. No more minor league paper.

2015 will be a massive year for the MLS in New York City. NYC FC will begin its maiden voyage, and the Red Bulls may or may not be celebrating an MLS Cup title.But what does that have to do with the MLS this season? Have you no foresight? Everything that'll make New York City soccer relevant-or irrelevant-in 2015 will be planned out, laid out, and executed in 2014.

Let's start with NYC FC. The 20th MLS franchise, founded in 2013 through a joint-venture between Manchester City and the New York Yankees, plans on beginning play for the 2015 season. As the new club in town—a club that actually plans to play in New York City as opposed to god-forsaken Harrison, NJ—they'll have all the buzz, organizational momentum, and an embarrassment of financial, player development, and marketing resources via Manchester City and the Yankees. They're primed for a takeover.

NYC FC has begun to shape their organization through the hires of American soccer legend Claudio Reyna as Sporting Director, and former Real Salt Lake gaffer Jason Kreis to their head coach position. That's an inspired start, but that's about all they've done so far, bar some inventive social media work and like one billboard. NYC FC has no logo, no players, no place to play as of yet, no approved stadium plan beyond whatever they find for the 2015 season, and have yet to unleash a full-scale marketing campaign to eviscerate some New York team named the Red Bulls.

Ah! Speaking of the Red Bulls, they're under tremendous pressure this season for two seasons: 1) see above and 2) Thierry Henry is entering the final season of his contract, and at 37 years old, may choose to retire and return to Arsenal in some role. This, in theory, gives the Red Bulls one final season to win the oh-so elusive MLS Cup with Henry leading the way. Should Henry retire, a designated player slot would be open, which would put the Red Bulls in direct competition with NYC FC for any past-his-prime Euro star looking to live in SoHo and occasionally eat Artichoke Pizza for the next four years. Would Euro star X pick the Red Bulls, who have a penchant for choking in the playoffs and BASICALLY PLAY IN NEWARK, or NYC FC, who are backed by two of the most powerful professional sports franchises in the world?

Hold on though man. Just chill out for a minute. Put the Red Bull down (see what I did there). Let's not overreact before NYC FC hires a senior accountant, sells any tickets, or signs one player, much less put together an entire XI. Are the Red Bulls fucked? Not by any means. Years of actually being an MLS club won't be suddenly undone by a new predator joining the ecosystem. But they are under threat, no matter what any team representative for either club would hypothetically say about the two "working and growing together."

Every four years, players who would otherwise be comfortable with sitting on the bench and collecting a nice paycheck in the "unused substitute" role perk up, demand either playing time or change of scenery. That's the affect the World Cup has on international soccer. It's why Juan Mata traded in a potential 2013-2014 Premier League winner's medal with Chelsea for a spot in 7th placed Manchester United's starting XI. It's arguably one of the seasons why Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, and Maurice Edu all came back to the MLS's the comfy confines and the near guarantees of a starting XI spot.

Around the MLS, there are plenty of stand-out players who will seek to get off to flying starts—World Cup rosters are expected to be finalized towards the end of May, giving MLS internationals just over two months to force their way to Brazil based on form alone.

Toronto FC's Julio Cesar started earlier this week for Brazil, and was their rock during the 2013 Confederations Cup, but Victor's also received playing time in recent friendlies. Obafemi Martins is a star for the Seattle Sounders, but he's only been capped once in the past two years. A year ago, Toronto FC's Jermain Defoe would've been a real possibility for England's XI. Seriously! Yet Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck, and Rickie Lambert have all leapfrogged him in club and country terms. MLS commodities Giancarlo González, Roy Miller, Álvaro Saborío are all cogs for Costa Rica, and New England Revolution forward Jerry Bengston was Honduras's leading scorer in Qualifying, but their situations are more tenuous, as one month of iffy club form could see their roles change for the worst. It's time to play up or shut up.