FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said U.S. soccer is making major strides and MLS franchises were ready to give English Premier League (EPL) clubs a stiff challenge, Sky Sports reported Tuesday.
The EPL champions tackle the New England Revolution in a pre-season clash Wednesday and Ferguson knows his team faces a tough examination.
“There is evidence now that they [the franchises] are starting to produce their own players,” he said. “They have advanced their game because of the coaching and their sports science. Their preparation is first class. That has put them to a different level in terms of my appreciation of them and also my understanding that you are not going to get an easy game.”
Montreal enters MLS as its 19th team next season, and in two years’ time many top the rebranded New York Cosmos for a return as team No. 20. And if growth continues, the veteran Scottish coach said the sky was the limit for the sport in the US.
“I always thought the problem would be the size of the country,” Ferguson said. “Traveling from Boston to Los Angeles is a long haul.”
He added, “But in Brazil they have two leagues. They could easily do that in the United States if it takes off and they got more clubs involved. In fact, you could have four leagues because of the size of the country and the population base. There are unbelievable possibilities for the United States.”
