Home   >   Opinion   >   Gerrard debut offers glimpse of the new MLS in 5-2 San Jose win

Gerrard debut offers glimpse of the new MLS in 5-2 San Jose win

By on July 18, 2015

Oh to wonder what Steven Gerrard must have been thinking when he found his L.A. Galaxy team down 0-2 not twenty minutes into his MLS debut. Trailing at home to the San Jose Earthquakes, a mid-table team at its best, one further handicapped by the absence of leading scorer Chris Wondolowski, Gerrard may have sensed some of the famed MLS parity. Steven Gerrard, meet the MLS.

Coming into the Galaxy match, the Earthquakes season this year has been a prime example of the parity that some view as an MLS strength but others see as a weakness: beating the Seattle Sounders and the Galaxy in the space of a week, followed by a loss to the Portland Timbers and a comprehensive home defeat to the Houston Dynamo in their next two matches. As MLS’s critics are quick to point out, the impact of losing Wondo was amplified by the league’s salary cap, as the club’s sole other DP, Innocent Emeghara, has also been ruled out of the rest of the season with injury.

Fast forward to the Quakes’ away visit to Stubhub Center a week later, as they stampeded to a convincing 2-0 lead against the reigning champions. That is, until Gerrard, Robbie Keane and the rest of the Galaxy clicked into gear. By halftime it was level after Gerrard won a penalty and scored a goal, for which he started the move.

L.A. then utterly dominated the second half. Gerrard got an assist as well and LA won 5-2, after hitting the crossbar for good measure. Gerrard, meet the new MLS. As clubs like L.A., NYCFC, and Toronto sign big-name European stars, the league’s famed parity may be fading in the rear view mirror. For L.A., their three MLS titles in the past four years are perhaps a harbinger of things to come, with the club replacing Landon Donovan with both Gerrand and soon Giovanni dos Santos.

Gerrard himself makes more than the entire squad of the San Jose Earthquakes team he faced and more in a day than some of his markers will earn in a year. L.A. attract new star players whenever they want more, as MLS simply alters the rules. David Beckham’s move to LA prompted the addition of Designated Players slots and, in part, the capture of Robbie Keane heralded two more DP slots. Just this past summer, the league’s solution to Giovani Dos Santos’ move to L.A. was a “Core Player” roster spot, essentially a fourth designated player.

The fact that L.A. struggled in the wake of Landon Donovan’s departure — until Gerrard’s arrival, that is — shows the importance of every designated player in on the field return. MLS, meet Steven Gerrard, the man a head or two above the rest. The man who joins the movement of MLS’ dominant “superclubs,” like the Seattle Sounders and in the future, potentially Orlando City and New York City FC; the movement that challenges MLS’ parity. The New York Red Bulls’ loss of Tim Cahill and Theirry Henry also explains their recent fall from grace. It has become increasingly clear that, in fact, money does matter in MLS, as the competitiveness of the league begins to resemble its European counterparts.

Homepage photo credit: Noah Salzman, via Wikipedia Commons

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.