I've been thinking about this for awhile now. As an American soccer fan, it seems that you are constantly being told what a bad state American soccer is in. At best, people might say that it's not where it should be. At worst, people say that American soccer is bad to the point of being unwatchable. You are told on a regular basis that it's all garbage and you should be following European football instead.
The most recent example of this, of course, is FIFA president Sepp Blatter's comments in his Al Jazeera interview. Basically this amounted to "C'mon, you've had 18 years since the '94 World Cup in the US, you should be at the same point as other countries where professional leagues were started hundreds of years ago and football/soccer has always been more popular than it is in the US." Now, the president of FIFA saying this takes it to a new level, but I've heard it all before. Online, in person, at soccer games, you name it. I've been at a Union game with a "fan" nearby saying the Union sucks and singing "Glory, glory, Man United." Sure, the Union is by no means the best team in the MLS, and sure they gave up 4 goals in that game but they also came back to tie the game in probably the most exciting game I've ever watched live. When Real Madrid came to play the Union at Lincoln Financial Field, I was sitting directly in front of a girl who felt the need to talk about how terrible the Union was every 2 seconds. The Union lost that game 2-1, which I thought was pretty impressive - even though it was not Real Madrid in top form, they're still one of the top teams in the world and I see no shame in losing by 1 goal to the team they put out there. Not to mention that the Union's one goal was this golazo by Michael Farfan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTDhv7cakEA
My point here is, I've gotten very used to these types of comments, as probably most American soccer fans have. I'm sure there are some fans out there who have a whole diatribe memorized that they can rattle off to anyone who makes any derogatory comments about American soccer: Attendance in MLS is growing steadily, games are selling out, we're building more and more soccer-specific stadiums, seeing more home grown player signings, etc. etc. All of that makes for a perfectly valid response, but to me I think we should also be asking the question: Why do we need to compare American soccer to British football or Spanish football or any other country for that matter? It seems ridiculous to me, given that these other countries have had successful professional leagues for a much longer time, and the soccer/football culture is so much more prevalent in these other countries. To me, I'd rather look at American soccer as its own entity, rather than an attempt to re-create the European football leagues in America.
This doesn't mean that I think American soccer is just fine the way it is right now. I still expect the game in America to continue to improve and to see more American talent develop. But I don't think it needs to strive to be the EPL or La Liga or Bundesliga or Serie A, or any other league you might choose. By those measures, we would probably fail to be honest, even given many more years. Although many American children grow up playing soccer, you don't hear a whole lot of them say they want to be a professional soccer player when they grow up. And you hear even less say it as they get in to high school and college. One reason for this is that other sports like baseball and football are just more popular, especially among American boys in high school and college. Another reason is that there's not much comparison between the salary for a professional baseball or football player and a professional soccer player in America. There are plenty of MLS players who make less than I do. Look over to the UK, Spain, Italy, etc and it's a very different story in terms of the popularity, number of children growing up wanting to be a professional soccer/football player, and the salary the professionals are paid. We can't expect to get the same results in America when the game is developing under completely different circumstances compared to other countries. We do have to keep working, but I would argue that we should be working toward the best version of the American game, not just another version of European football.
What's more, I kind of like the soccer culture we have in America right now. Yes, there's a part of me that's wants to see soccer continue to get more popular. But there's another part of me that likes that it has kind of an underground feeling. You feel a sense of kinship when you meet another soccer fan. When you go to an MLS game, it's a much more intimate setting compared to a football or baseball game. It all feels like you're part of an exclusive club - except for the fact that no one is excluded. But as much as I enjoy that and as much as I'd rather not see soccer enjoy widespread popularity in America for several reasons, I do want people to see that American soccer is not a lesser version of European soccer. It is a work in progress, but one that has many merits of its own even in its developing phase. I want people to see that we may not be all the way there yet, but we're moving in the right direction, and more importantly, in our own direction.
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