[washingtonismoney]

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/glo...-rankings/

According to this ranking system Horvath... is not there.  The highest MLS club (Toronto FC) is 171st in the world.  Atlanta is next at 281.

BC

Yeah, 538's club ranking system is a classic example of "some data: better or worse than no data?" You can maybe compare North American teams to South American ones because Mexican clubs play in both North and South American competitions. European teams play each other all the time. Asian teams, the same. But the only times American teams play Asian ones in a competitive format is during the Club World Cup, a horrendously small sample size.

538 tries to make up with it with its use of Transfermarkt, a German site which somehow assigns market values to virtually every player in the world. I'm not sure how it determines its market values...but it's not a mark-to-market system. I can think of several examples of MLS players (either transferring in or out) being valued below the actual factual transfer fees paid for them.

So basically I have no idea what to make of the system. I can say with a lot of confidence that MLS is improving relative to its North American competitors. Mexican teams are probably improving relative to South American competitors. Aside from that? Shruggie.

Now, what does that mean for the eternal unsolveable Europe v. MLS debate? Not much. Like most debates it's probably more posturing about overly broad categories than anything else. It doesn't make much sense to head to a bad club in MLS...or Europe. The question is so situationally dependent that (IMO) the debate is a bit silly.

I don't think "American players playing in MLS" has much to do with the failure to qualify. The U.S. trotted out three players who are excelling in European squads currently, and left one on the bench. T&T trotted out...zero. As a pure question of talent the U.S. is top three at worst, and that's being conservative. Talent isn't a qualification problem. (It is a "win the World Cup" problem, if that's your jam.)

[washingtonismoney]

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/glo...-rankings/

According to this ranking system Horvath... is not there.  The highest MLS club (Toronto FC) is 171st in the world.  Atlanta is next at 281.

BC

Yeah, 538's club ranking system is a classic example of "some data: better or worse than no data?" You can maybe compare North American teams to South American ones because Mexican clubs play in both North and South American competitions. European teams play each other all the time. Asian teams, the same. But the only times American teams play Asian ones in a competitive format is during the Club World Cup, a horrendously small sample size.

538 tries to make up with it with its use of Transfermarkt, a German site which somehow assigns market values to virtually every player in the world. I'm not sure how it determines its market values...but it's not a mark-to-market system. I can think of several examples of MLS players (either transferring in or out) being valued below the actual factual transfer fees paid for them.

So basically I have no idea what to make of the system. I can say with a lot of confidence that MLS is improving relative to its North American competitors. Mexican teams are probably improving relative to South American competitors. Aside from that? Shruggie.

Now, what does that mean for the eternal unsolveable Europe v. MLS debate? Not much. Like most debates it's probably more posturing about overly broad categories than anything else. It doesn't make much sense to head to a bad club in MLS...or Europe. The question is so situationally dependent that (IMO) the debate is a bit silly.

I don't think "American players playing in MLS" has much to do with the failure to qualify. The U.S. trotted out three players who are excelling in European squads currently, and left one on the bench. T&T trotted out...zero. As a pure question of talent the U.S. is top three at worst, and that's being conservative. Talent isn't a qualification problem. (It is a "win the World Cup" problem, if that's your jam.)