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I think the Revolution are better than the Dynamo even if they have lost 2 years in a row to them. They match up better with a euro style of play

There are great teams other then the european teams.

For example Usa and Mexico both have teams overlooked when it is compared to Euro

For USA- Dynamo and Revolution

For Mexico- Chivas and America`

Those four teams that i named can beat several of the lower european teams

Real Salt Lake beat somebody good last year I just can't remember who

Real Salt Lake no doubt beat a team who didn't care if they won or lost. That's the problem with friendlies, American's get confused about real talent.

If you are going to vote, comment!

It is on a neutral field, it's one game. Talent wise the Dynamo aren't as good as they were in 06 but they still can compete. Like I said before I think NEw England would match up better but it is one game not a series.

If you are going to vote, comment!

withknivesout | 04/11/08, 05:56 PM
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I agree with that. But people vote without reading the arguments sometimes, so they have nothing to say.

Vote ------->

Well, I don't watch very much EPL, so I have to base my vote solely on the arguments. Toonami makes his point better and his rebuttals to knives points are stronger. So vote
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If Derby had something to play for in this (eg, not a friendly) then they would wipe the floor with Houston. If it were a friendly, then Houston would have much more to play for (something resembling credibility) and I would take them to win.

Derby made HUGE strides in the Championship last season, and was arguably one of the most improved teams in Europe in that time (year before they finished 20th). Despite their performance this season, they have a lot of talent, and a couple of their players would be the best in the MLS were they to ever play there (Miller, Jones, maybe Savage).

If this game could somehow be given some serious importance to Derby, they'd win it in a walk.

Also, talent-wise the MLS is clearly around the fourth tier (coefficient wise) of European leagues (Austria, Sweden, Israel, etc).

Collective ownership and salary caps have much more to do with this than attendance.

Gotta go with Dynamo

cowace, how would you place the four top tiers of English football? I'm curious as to whether the "Coca-Cola League Two" (the fourth tier of English football) is comparable to fourth-tier European leagues, or if it's lower (or higher) than that.

I agree with your point about collective ownership, but salary caps are beginning to fall with the designated player ("Beckham") rule. The "richer" clubs (L.A., N.Y., Chicago) are going for bigger-budget players, while some of the other teams are choosing less expensive players who won't "break the bank".

I also agree on the point about attendance.. after all, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest are former top-tier teams with large average attendances (comparable to many Premier League clubs) who--because of relegation--find themselves in the *third* tier of English football!

Before its promotion last year (06/07), Derby finished 20th in the second tier the year before (05/06), 4th the year before that (04/05) but was not promoted, and 20th the year before that (03/04). It's not a given that Derby will be able to bounce straight back up after this year. In fact, Derby will probably lose some (if not most) of its promising players during the summer, as the remaining Premier League teams (and newly-promoted teams) attempt to cherry-pick the best from the Derby roster.

It is a lot more difficult to rate lower leagues in European football than it is to compare top leagues, as UEFA provides us with fairly useful coefficients among the top leagues. In the most general terms, I'd rate England and Spain's second leagues the highest, Italy and Germany slightly below them, and France a bit futher behind. That doesn't include outliers like Zaragoza, for instance, who would clearly be the top team in Europe not competing in a top flight league (in the event they do end up getting relegated).

There is a giant drop off after the big 5 nations, as most of the smaller football nations really can't support a second league the way that (for example) England can.

I am going to have to say Derbyshire would win. If this game was played with the roster Houson had last year, that would be a different story. Losing Joseph Ngwenya and Nate Jaqua has hurt Houston pretty bad so far. De Rosario has not looked comfortable playing this season yet and the injury to Pat Onstad has hurt them as well. Rico Clark will definately be welcomed back with open arms when he can play again.

I think one thing that would help the Dynamo is if they were to play this game in mid to late season form. That is the only reason I can see why they haven't been playing well, that and all the preseason touring they did. I watch a lot of BPL and MLS soccer. Having seen Houston over the past couple years and seeing Derby so far this year, I believe Derby's quality of play s leaps and bounds better than Houston. I see the Dynamo score a lot of goals on quick breaks that come off of turnovers. The problem I see here is that like most teams in the BPL, Derby CAN play possesion pretty well, so they wouldn't be turning it over as much as Houston would like.

That being said I don't even think Houston is the best team in the MLS any longer. If I had to make a pick right now, I would have to go with Chicago. They finished very strong last season and that has carried into this season. The Revs will also be better once they get Twellman and Ralston back. What happened to the Red Bulls?.........................

Oh, how could I forget the defense of Houston. VERY sloppy and loose play in the back.

crap, its close!

well, its a flip of the coin here.... but i like derby. its all about probabaility and i would give that edge to derby. but if your arguing that its possible, then u can go dynamo. its ll how u look at the TD

"Since the 2008 MLS season has just begun, Houston seems the logical choice for best MLS team at the current time, with two straight championships. Likewise, Derby County is clearly the worst team in the current (2007-08) EPL season."

And a few weeks from now another team may be playing better--neither Chicago nor Houston nor New York might be considered the "best" a few months from now. This is why I made sure to add the specifics to the initial throwdown topic, because there would be disagreement otherwise as to the best MLS team.

There are legitimate arguments for other MLS teams as the "best", but taking the end of the 2007 season as the "end point" it would be difficult to argue against Houston, with two consecutive championships. As I stated in the initial post, the 2008 MLS season has just begun, so that's why I specified Houston.

For clarity's sake, since the 2008 MLS season is *not* being taken into account, let's also assume (per JMG84's supposition) that it *is* last season's Houston roster, with the "friendly" taking place in January or February (when some English teams take "training holidays" to Spain, Saudi Arabia, etc.).

Oh man, if this td had only gone on a little longer.