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As MLS continues to rise in popularity across the United States, one of the biggest concerns is the lack of parity across the league. The teams that get the stars win. That is how it has been in the past, and that is the reason why whenever someone says Ronaldinho or Cristiano Ronaldo might come to MLS, everyone jokes about how the L.A. Galaxy will end up with them.
But that seemed to change last season, as the New York Red Bulls without Thierry Henry (arguably the greatest French player of all time) and Tim Cahill (arguably the greatest Australian player of all time) won the Supporters’ Shield.
Fast-forward to early in the 2016 MLS season, and the Colorado Rapids and Philadelphia Union are both sitting pretty in the No. 2 position in both the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively. These were two teams that most had finishing somewhere near the bottom of the MLS standings, and they have looked really solid so far this season.
It should be noted that the imminent arrival of Tim Howard and the presence of Jermaine Jones might have many saying Colorado is a star-led team; however, until recently with Jones, neither has had any sort of impact on the Rapids’ success.
Has parity finally arrived with these expected bad teams taking a step forward? Of course not, but it is a step in the right direction. If teams like FC Dallas, Colorado, New York and Philadelphia continue to have success without a plethora of former European superstars, everyone will benefit – none more than the fans.
Who knows, 10 years down the road people may see MLS as a league with stars rather than a league run by stars, because isn’t that what we all want?
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