Thierry Henry, David Beckham, David Villa, supposedly Frank Lampard, and now Steven Gerrard: the MLS was/is/is going to be home to each and every one of them. They are all legends in their own right. Any soccer fan in the world could sit down for hours at a time, and simply watch the great feats of those players. The time would fly by.
As we all know, greatness does end at some point, no matter what heights a player reaches. Perhaps that is why the end of a player’s career is judged just as harshly as their peak, and maybe even to a greater extent. Players, especially great ones, are expected to go out with style and grace, never loosing that veneer of class and exceptionality.
The easy way to do this is to go out while you are on top, like Philip Lahm ending his international career once he won the World Cup, or, in the realm of basketball, Michael Jordan’s second retirement with the Bulls after his last championship.
This is not always that appealing, as it often involves the player retiring at an age at which they still believe they have more to give to the game that they love. Just ask “His Airness.”
Which brings us to the second option: Playing your way down the leagues of the world as your game declines until you can no longer play. This can last for quite a while, and has many advantages. The player earns more money, their star is allowed to burn that much longer, and the quality of play of whichever league they go to is raised for an extended period of time.
Allessandro Del Piero, one of the greatest Italian players of all time, is 40-years-old and plying his trade in the Hero Indian Super League. He has done things on a soccer pitch in his life that few in that league will ever be able to touch. The gulf in class between him and the field means that he will probably be able to play until he is 45, if he so sees fit, and fans of the Indian Super League will love him all the more if he does so.
When it comes to the player, there is nothing inherently wrong with either of those paths towards retirement. A player deserves to be able to end their career the way they want.
Problems arise when the leagues themselves come into question. The Indian Super League is essentially providing the professional soccer equivalent of assisted living for Allessandro Del Piero. The MLS is no different when it caters in a similar way to David Backham, Theirry Henry, David Villa, and (whenever they finally cross the pond), Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.
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If the MLS ever wants to become one of the top leagues in the world, it needs to become known as more than where top European players come to collect a paycheck and put on a show, all while satisfying their need for a competitive outlet.
The arrival of Steven Gerrard will raise the quality of the MLS, but it will not progress the league’s reputation. And when it comes to quality and reputation, there is a difference.
Quality allows a league to put on a good show, to entertain the fans. Reputation allows a league to grow. Reputation attracts quality, and keeps it there. There is a symbiosis between quality and reputation, but it is highly reliant upon the latter.
Take the Dutch Eredivisie, one of the most exciting leagues on the planet. Year after year, great goals are scored and exciting young players make a name for themselves. The Eredivisie is a league of high quality, but its reputation is comparatively lacking. That is why those exciting young players eventually leave for the EPL, La Liga, or the Bundesliga, and, like the MLS, aging Dutch greats often go back to the Eredivisie at the tail end of their careers.
The Eredivisie, like the MLS but to a lesser extent, needs to raise its reputation if it is ever to retain its talent. Progression is the only way both leagues can become the best in the world.
The arrival of David Beckham was a moment of progress for the MLS, because he was the first player big, brand-name player to grace the league. Theirry Henry could have been that, as well, but he was too late. Beckham's arrival forged a new frontier. Henry’s only cemented the status quo after Beckham had established it.
The MLS needs more progress, and that means it needs to keep on reinventing itself. Of course, the quality of the league must improve, and the arrival of Gerrard will help that, but if the league never progresses its reputation beyond “Retirement Home For The Stars,” a retirement home is all it ever will be.
The MLS provides an option that many players, good players, would look upon as an enticing way to end their careers. However, just because the fading legends of the world have found a home in the MLS does not mean that it must settle for always being second best. In the pursuit of progression, the MLS needs to look itself in the mirror and ask: what have you done lately?
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