How MLS Stacks up in the Foreign Players Department

By: Bob | September 19th, 2007

Some new numbers are out that might give further ammunition to those who would like to limit the number of foreign players playing in domestic leagues in Europe. At the end of last season, more than half the players on English Premier League roster were born outside the UK. The sky is falling, the sky is falling! The numbers got me thinking about MLS and how it compares in terms of the percentage of foreign players.

Based on the figures provided by the league at the beginning of the 2007 season, it turns out that MLS is about average when compared with the top leagues in Europe in the percentage of foreign players playing in the league.

England – 55.4%
Germany – 44.8%
Spain – 34.3%
MLS – 33%
France – 32.2%
Italy – 28.9%

I haven’t been able to track down the historical numbers in MLS to determine whether the percentage of foreign-born players has increased or decreased over time. One thing I do know is that the quality of American-born players has increased since the league began. According to the report, the country whose number of expatriates playing in the top leagues that has most increased is the United States. That is in no small part due to the development of MLS over the past decade and the league’s efforts to make it a vehicle for player development in the country.

What are your thoughts on this? Should MLS be more aggressive in trying to attract foreign talent, should it be a development league for US players, should it try to be both or do you not give a crap about where the players were born?

Some Related Stories:

Category: MLS, World Football

« Top 25 Most Valuable European soccer clubs | Home | Champions League Matchday 1: Kick up your heels »

The Offside RSS Feeds

joejoejoe

MLS makes a lot of it's money appealing to Latin-American fans in the U.S.. 30% of the 33% foreign players are from Latin America. Why you say 'foreign' player it's a generic term. Are American players who play for Toronto in MLS considered foreign? Mexican players who play for Chivas?

MLS should focus on North American players first, U.S. players second, then limit the number of "foreign" players per side to something in the range of 4-6 players. That's a healthy mix for the league.

Also, remember that many of the foreign players in European leagues are Americans. Last time I checked Yanks Abroad there were 50+ U.S. players playing overseas. It's very good for the development of the sport to have those players abroad so it's only sporting to welcome the foreign players who choose to play in the MLS.
Matt Johnston

While I think that bringing foriegn players into the MLS will increase the quality of play, I don't think we need to be looking at EPL level of foriegn players. I think a reasonable cap of say 40% league wide should be something that MLS should be looking to create.

The way to increase the quality of play in American clubs is to push for more international friendlies or mini-tournaments like Superliga or even a larger Americas Champions league or something similar.

The Eurpoean leagues have been long established and their lower divisions create opportunities for native players to improve and feed into international leagues. Teh U.S. does not have the same integrated multi-level leagues, although USL does a pretty good job. If we want the sport to be solid enough economically, we need to be putting American players before the American public a bit more.
BOHICA

While I recognize the business needs of a league, do you note the parallel of the International Performances of France & Italy and then note their corresponding ranking on the table?

It would be interesting to see how the South American leagues (specifically Argentina & Brazil) would place in that table.

The point I am trying to make is that for American Soccer to improve at the top level, the development of the American player must continue to be from MLS.
Ioan

Was just talking about this with a friend who was working on assignment in school for MLS and making it popular. My idea was more foreign players to raise quality play, but not just Beckhams. Bring quality players from sides in Romania, Czech, UKR, other Bloc countries, and other good football countries. Will improve play of Americans in MLS and bring more people.