Michael Page

Soccer Coach and Author of, The Open Field - How MLS Can Lead the American Soccer Revolution and Win. Available now on Amazon

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

My book, The Open Field, isn’t an anti-MLS book.

MLS owners took the risk and built the foundation — stadiums, academies, real infrastructure.

But if we want to compete for a World Cup, have domestic games where something’s genuinely on the line, and develop world-class (maybe transcendent) players — the structure has to match that ambition.

An open ecosystem fully connected from youth to pro with promotion and relegation is how we get there. It also happens to be the greatest opportunity in American sports today.

The Open Field is about what it takes to meet that ambition.

Out now on Amazon. Link in bio.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

E pluribus unum. Out of many, one.

It's one of the ideas America was built on. It may also be the missing idea in American soccer.

We've built a lot worth crediting. A first division that survived and grew. Youth clubs with real resources. Lower divisions and amateur leagues full of people who love the game.

But we're not yet an elite soccer nation. And in a global game where the best have been building for over a century, we won't get there as separate pieces.

Most coaches will tell you eleven connected players beat eleven great individuals. The power isn't in the parts. It's in the relationships between them.

That's synergy. Connected parts make each other stronger, and the whole becomes far more than the sum.

American soccer has great parts. What it mostly lacks are the connections.

And without them, competition happens in the wrong place. Leagues compete with leagues, for players, for status, for territory. In most of the soccer world, it's clubs competing with clubs, on the field, that pushes everyone to get better.

Connected as a system. Competitive as clubs. That's when the parts start magnifying each other instead of each one only adding up to itself.

Five commitments would get us there:

1. We earn our place. Players and clubs rise on performance, so every level is chasing the same thing: getting better.

2. We compete at every level. Real stakes from youth to the top, so development never stalls.

3. We build for communities. Every town has a stake in the whole game, not just its own club.

4. We grow one game. Leagues feed one pathway instead of competing for players. Clubs do the competing, on the field.

5. We measure ourselves against the world. Every decision faces one test: does this help us compete there?

None of this means tearing anything down. It means connecting what we've built.

Many pieces. One game.

[Benno Nagel @benno_nagel]

I’ve been seriously exploring the potential for a new California-based professional soccer project—market TBD—built around the @USL_HQ pathway.

Could a California community without professional soccer rally behind a truly family-first, soccer-focused club—one committed to affordability, traditional values, and putting the sport itself at the center of everything it does?

I’d value honest feedback from my community here on @X. Is this a vision you believe people would support?

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

Thanks for sharing this info.

There are two primary elements to developing world class players: finding the vast majority of the talent, and forging that talent. We’re falling way short in both areas.

The biggest obstacle to doing either well, and to building national teams that can actually compete to win World Cups, is closed leagues from youth to pro. These closed leagues are entrenched and unwilling to give up what they have.

I truly hope there’s real focus and discussions on this happening behind the scenes. Because if it’s dismissed, twenty years from now we’ll be looking at a slightly better version of the same ceiling.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

That could very well be true. I just happen to believe that there is a financial, competitive and legacy case to made as to why MLS should lead this transformation. By taking the lead, they have a chance to unify the ecosystem and, in turn, grow their business domestically and globally. That said, I’m not naive and understand they are more likely to stay with their closed model. But in making the case, we can at least better educate people on why the closed leagues at every level are so damaging to the game in this country.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

I honestly don’t know the details and I just acknowledged what Dan posted in my comment. See post #5. I am particularly encouraged by post #3. We need aligned, connected and merit based pathways for players (and coaches, referees, etc.) instead of competing closed leagues that are disconnected and completely self interested.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

@IHateSoccerPod We need it from youth to pro. An open, connected, clear and merit based pathway. What that structure produces is more powerful than most people have yet fully imagined.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

We are incredibly good at development in the US. Unfortunately, it’s club and league development as that is where the incentives currently lie. Developer coaches and clubs are commercially vulnerable in our current set up. Until we have a system the incentivizes and rewards developer coaches and clubs and makes them commercially essential, we can expect more of the same.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

@DamianF76240454 @MarioALNG @TigsTown I think we’re using “competitive” differently. You mean quality, driven by spending, and you’re right about that. I mean effort, intensity the temperature on the field. MLS playoffs vs. regular season. Same players. Nothing changes except the stakes. That’s the whole argument.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

One of the most common objections to an open ecosystem in America isn't financial. It's cultural. "Promotion and relegation works in England because soccer is woven into the fabric of English life. You can't import the structure and expect to import the passion. Fix the culture first."

I don't think that's quite right. It assumes the arrow only runs one way, culture first, structure second. In practice, they reinforce each other, continuously. The arrows go both ways.

And it's usually American soccer fans themselves who say we don't have the culture yet. But we do. Millions of fans from soccer-first countries live in this country right now, they grew up on real stakes, promotion, relegation, consequences that mattered. MLS just hasn't captured this audience yet, and that's why most of them are still watching somewhere else.

Combine that passion with the passion MLS fans already bring, and you're looking at one of the biggest untapped opportunities in American sports. Build a structure with real stakes, and both audiences finally have the same thing to rally around.

And that's just the fan side. Layer in everything else a real open ecosystem brings, more money flowing throughout the entire system, genuine meritocracy, a system that actually finds a huge chunk of the talent in this country we're currently missing, and real help solving pay to play.

No other country on earth has the sheer cultural mix we do, all in one nation, all carrying the game with them. That's not a weakness to work around. It's the single largest reservoir of soccer culture and talent on the planet, sitting inside one country. Give it the right structure, and it might just become the most powerful engine in world soccer.

If all of this comes together, the potential is enormous. I believe we start producing world-class players, maybe even a transcendent one, and our national team raises its ceiling and gets into the conversation to actually compete for a World Cup.

And a domestic league here has the potential to become one of the top three leagues on the planet.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

@MarioALNG @DamianF76240454 @TigsTown Yes. Manufactured parity is not what determines competitive levels. It’s stakes and consequences that raise the temperature. You’re talking about competitive equilibrium which just artificially balances the competition.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

You’re conflating talent with competitiveness, and they aren’t the same thing. MLS has better players because of budget, not because the league is more competitive. And a bigger combined player pool with a fraction of the money is exactly why those leagues fight harder despite having worse players.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

So you don’t think the implementation of p/r in Brazil influenced or changed their football culture to where it is today? I’m pretty sure it did. But I understand your point that they needed a structural change and you don’t believe MLS does at this point. That’s fair and I actually agree. I just happen to believe we do need it though for the greater good of the entire US soccer ecosystem and I also believe it has huge potential upside for MLS.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

@MarioALNG @DamianF76240454 @TigsTown Nice try. Very small player pools and poor infrastructure etc. there but plenty of Costa Rican players head to Europe. Some of those awful Central American players go to MLS. 😂

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

@DamianF76240454 @TigsTown Ask Grok

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

@AlamoCitySC So the pro/rel structure influenced the football culture in Brazil. All I’m saying is the build the culture first argument is not a roadblock to pro/rel.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

@AntiSoccerHype I agree with this. Which is why I believe either MLS leads this (and controls the terms) or the USL implements their version. I understand why MLS would not want to do it now but I happen to believe it’s a huge opportunity if they do.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

@DamianF76240454 @TigsTown It’s not about how many teams have something to play for, it’s about what’s actually at stake. I mean, even American players who leave and go overseas as well as foreign players who come MLS confirm this.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

@AlamoCitySC Probably true. Which means what?

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

@DamianF76240454 @TigsTown Of course they do and there are.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

It's not fair or accurate to say MLS isn't competitive. It has real stakes, especially in the playoffs. Anyone who says otherwise is just trying to knock down MLS and isn't being intellectually honest.

But MLS supporters need to be just as honest, because there's still something real underneath the criticism, and it's worth putting in proper context.

Here's how I look at it. Put an MLS team in Bundesliga 2, with real promotion and relegation on the line. Could they compete at that level? I think so. But would they have to perform differently, game to game, than they do now? You bet they would. Would a high salaried name player still start over a younger player who's actually outperforming him, week after week? Probably not. And if MLS fans were sitting in that stadium every week, would their tension and energy be higher, knowing what a bad run of games could actually cost? Of course it would.

MLS has genuinely high level players, some who'd start for good sides anywhere in the world. What's different is that MLS games simply don't carry the same magnitude of consequence that an open league carries every week. That's not a knock on the players. It's a fact about the structure they're playing inside of. That structure was originally built for survival and stability, not maximum stakes.

Both leagues are in the sports entertainment business. But maximum stakes produce better decisions, more drama, more stories, and a more intense connection between fans and their club. It's simply a better product, and a better product is one that could command higher global broadcast rights than the current version of MLS.

That's the case I make in The Open Field for MLS taking the lead to transition to an open ecosystem. Not tearing down what's been built, but unlocking it. And if it does, it has the potential to be the greatest opportunity in American sports today.

[Michael Page @MichaelPageFB]

@DamianF76240454 @TigsTown Have you ever played a high level soccer game against foreign teams or players? Real consequences is what creates better competition. Which is why the MLS games get more competitive when the playoffs start.