If this part of some trend that the best we have to offer come back to the MLS or stagnate here, then it is not great for the national team.
Spot on, there are many of us who love the MLS and support it because it is ultimately the pipeline for American talent. But it will be an inferior league for a long time to come. Players like Dempsey and Bradley are not going to transform the national landscape and move the ratings needle. Success at a World Cup is and you don't get that if as a player you see MLS as the pinnacle.
And all this talk about good for the league in the long run. I don't give a rat's ass about what's good for the league in the long run. MLS will be perfectly fine with or without Michael Bradley. The World Cup is looming, I'm thinking about the NOW, for the national team.
Spot on, there are many of us who love the MLS and support it because it is ultimately the pipeline for American talent. But it will be an inferior league for a long time to come. Players like Dempsey and Bradley are not going to transform the national landscape and move the ratings needle. Success at a World Cup is and you don't get that if as a player you see MLS as the pinnacle.