Where Would you Rank Certain Things in the MLS if put in the English Football System?

A little debate day here at Armchair. If you could put certain things in the MLS in the English Football System, where would it be?

In case you're wondering, here is the system in order:

Premier League
Championship
League 1
League 2
Conference National
Conference North/South
Northern/Southern/Isthmian Premier League Division
A ton of lower local leagues from numbers 9-24.

So base your rankings on the following things (please explain your rankings in the comments section):

How players would fare in international competition (don't give me that "We beat them in a friendly" crap)
Quality of players.
Attendance
Overall league

Here's where I would rank those 4 criterias:

How players would fare in international competition (don't give me that "We beat them in a friendly" crap): Championship. The quality is marginally improving, but it's still not close to top notch. These players aren't ready for the international (club level) stage.

Quality of players: League 1. Brian McBride and Clint Dempsey are in the Premier League, but rarely are there any quality Americans in the Premier League.

Attendance: League 1. It's getting there, but without Beckham's face (not his skills), the attendance is garbage.

Overall League: League 1 to bottom Championship. Based on those 3 criterias, that's just about where they belong for now. Anything can change.

Your turn now.

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ThecrookedcapAll-Star

806 days ago

Score 3

MLS's average attendance last year was over 15,500. It's a lot closer to Championship (18,200) than League One (7,500 - less than half). Overall, I'd put them mid-table Championship.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

806 days ago

Score 1

I agree on attendance entirely.

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TyduffyRed-Shirting

806 days ago

Score 1

Its an interesting topic...I think you are being a bit harsh. The best players in MLS are probably mid-level Premier League players. The standard isn't great, but it is at least rising, particularly with Dempsey starting to preform well.

I think the attendance issue is difficult to judge by English standards. Partly because you have huge clubs like Leeds in League 1 who draw extraordinarily well and then clubs like Wigan in the Premier League who get outdrawn by MLS clubs. England also has an extraordinarily high level of attendance compared to other European leagues. If compared to Serie A, the average attendance there is about 20,000, and MLS is about 10-15,000 on average.

I would say that overall MLS is probably upper Championship- lower Premier League.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

806 days ago

Score 1

No, your top players as a whole, I think are Championship players. Or very bottom Premier League... More likely in the Championship.

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IbeargRed-Shirting

806 days ago

Score 0

I'm not sure what exactly you mean by international competition since you seen to be focusing on the club level not national team. so i won't rate that.

Quality of players i'd put at bottom of the Premier League. Dempsey never really lit up the MLS. He was a very quality player, and showed his talent, but he was one of several good players on New England. He's now the best player on Fulham. They're no where near the level of the top 4 (chelsea, arsenal, man u, liverpool) but i don't think they would do poorly against the likes of Derby, Fulham, Bolton or Reading.

Attendence I'll refer to Thecrookedcap's stats and go with the championship.

Overall league I'll again go bottom of the table premiership or top of the championship.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

806 days ago

Score 0

If Team USA played in the Football League, you'd be a strong Championship team. Maybe top 6.

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

806 days ago

Score 1

Keep in mind that Tottenham's in the Premier League, that doesn't exactly say much about the quality of the EPL.

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Pittsburgh GunnyMajor Leaguer

806 days ago

Score 0

I think if you put together the MLS All-Stars and made a team and took them to England they would beat every team, except the great and wonderful Arsenal Football Club. GO ARSENAL!

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

806 days ago

Score 0

I don;t know about that. In 2006, the MLS All-Stars ebat Chelsea 1-0, but that was in Chicago, and that was a pre-season game for Chelsea.

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Pittsburgh GunnyMajor Leaguer

806 days ago

Score 0

just having a bit of fun don't take my previous comment seriously ;)

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer