USMNT players in MLS is a good thing. There I said it!

USMNT players in MLS is a good thing. There I said it!

by Robert Burns, USMNT Correspondent

For better or for worse, U.S. Soccer fans are going to have to get used to the idea that many of our players will be calling Major League Soccer home for the foreseeable future.

Of course most would prefer to see our stars shining on the grandest stages in Europe, but the truth is simple – if they could be, they would be. Blame, amongst many factors, geography. It’s often easy to forget that Americans, as non-EU members, take up foreign player roster spots that are limited, and highly coveted.

For those that do make the grade without the aid of an Irish grandfather or a German Grossmutter, the ambition to keep climbing the ranks can often lead to dead ends. Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley were both key figures with their clubs Fulham and Chievo Verona, respectively, then found the playing time harder to come by when they made their big moves to Tottenham and Roma.

Success can cut both ways.

Fortunately the game has made big strides at home, and most importantly in the financial arena. Sound harsh? Unromantic? Grow up. Money buys talent. Talent creates magic. Magic sells. That’s the circle.

Make no illusions – MLS is still a long way from unabashedly loosening the purse strings, as evidenced by a relatively meager rise in the salary cap after this month’s new CBA agreement, but it’s miles ahead of where the league was just ten years ago. With most clubs now occupying (and profiting from) their own venues, a lucrative (yet still secretive) new TV deal, and new sponsors including German powerhouse Audi, the financial spine of American club soccer is finally looking more like that of a healthy young adult than an awkward teenager with scoliosis.

And with that new spring in its step, the league has not only been able to attract some of its finest sons back to American shores, but also a number of talented foreign players, as well as hybrids of both, such as Jermaine Jones and Mix Diskerud. In light of the new found optimism and solid financial forecasts, league owners/investors are becoming more and more willing to take the plunge and buy talent – especially the kind that will move merchandise.

So goes the circle.

When it comes to the USMNT though, the arguments against the MLS 3.0 wave are vociferous and not without merit. Yes, European football is still far ahead of the U.S. domestic game.

Even the most passionate MLS supporters must concede that. An even sadder truth is that we’re still not even the top dog in our own cul-de-sac. But the gap is closing, just like it did at the national team level with our southern neighbors. There’s no reason to believe the pattern won’t repeat itself.

There is also the fear that U.S. internationals playing in the States will lose the edge that comes with fighting for places in Europe.

Here comes a cold, hard fact – for some that’s exactly what will happen.

But for others, the opportunity to lead, to shoulder responsibility, and to be expected to perform every week will steel them and breed the confidence needed by our players as a collective to defeat nations far more skilled as individuals.

We think far too often in absolutes when it comes to football – there are few. Football is contradiction. ‘Sure things’ rarely are. The simple fact is that we just don’t know. We never have. We never will.

Hopefully the signs will be somewhat clear for Juergen Klinsmann and it will be easy for him to determine which are the former, and which are the latter. It’s the German’s job to decipher that code. And while Klinsmann has made it clear he would prefer his squad to be toughing it out across the pond, he has never turned his back on MLS players (with the one notable exception of its best ever).

He may be an idealist, but he’s also pragmatic enough to realize he can’t ignore the movement back home.

It also goes without saying that Americans who are still plying their trade abroad will offer great value to Klinsmann – at least the ones with the right club situations. Players like Brad Guzan, Geoff Cameron and Alejandro Bedoya are regular starters for their clubs – and the importance of that cannot be understated. But does anyone really think that Brek Shea was going to get any better just by breathing European air while getting zero playing time at Stoke or any of the clubs he was loaned to?

Clearly in Shea’s case, coming back to the U.S. with new expansion club Orlando City, and playing alongside the brilliant Kaka, is the best move he could have possibly made. And while only one matchday is in the books this new season, it would appear that putting the passport away could be doing wonders for Jozy Altidore as well. Even Sacha Kljestan cut a more mature and calming presence in the Red Bulls midfield at Sporting Park on Sunday.

The math is actually pretty simple. If more of our best players are coming back to play in the U.S., then the collective standard of MLS rises. Our internationals also sell shirts and tickets, which helps ambitious owners get deals done for players like Keane, Giovinco, Kaka and Steven Gerrard. On top of that, a young generation of kids who grew up watching and idolizing Donovan and McBride are now coming of age and ready to take their places in the rank and file – a necessary part of any league.

Fear not worry mongers – plenty of young American players are still going to follow in the footsteps of players like Reyna, Bocanegra and Cherundolo, and test the European waters. And that’s fantastic. Even vital. We can also cheer on our naturalized contingent that began their careers abroad. Who isn’t excited about the prospect of seeing Fabian Johnson in the Champions League next season with Moenchengladbach?

It’s easy to imagine the likes of Perry Kitchen, Wil Trapp or Gyasi Zardes eventually raising their games to a level that will get noticed in Europe. And who would begrudge them a (likely) more lucrative deal and the chance to play for a famous European club? But luckily it’s no longer the only way to realize potential.

We can fantasize all we want about our players starting for big clubs in Europe and competing for trophies, but the reality is that more of them will be fighting for scraps than a chance to hoist the Big Ears. Thankfully there will be some exceptions to that rule.

But the good news is that with each passing year, and every new step U.S. Soccer and MLS take to improve the domestic game, our players gain options to find the right environment to bring out their very best. And being in a favorable club situation can go a very long way towards better results for the national team.