After avoiding a players strike at the last minute, the MLS season gets underway this weekend.
And it’s a landmark season for the league in the US, as they celebrate their 20th season.
With that in mind, Sports Illustrated gathered their soccer writer together for a roundtable discussion to debate over the best and worst of MLS seasons past.
Grant Wahl, Brian Straus, Jeff Bradley and Alexander Abnos all sat down to debate their selections, and a certain Dubliner featured quite heavily.
Our own Robbie Keane was picked as MLS’s greatest ever foreign signing by Abnos, who said that the striker’s seamless transition to the league pipped David Beckham to the accolade his his eyes.
Abnos said: “Where other big-name signings have been aloof or disinterested (hello, Lothar Matthaus), Keane has been a consummate professional from Day 1. For a league that is constantly seeking to improve its quality on the field, that is the best advertisement of all.”
Two of SI’s other experts mentioned Robbie in this category, with Grant Wahl saying that Keane and Bolivian Jaime Moreno shared the honour, adding that Keane was the best foreign “Designated Player” signing.
And Straus said that while Keane and Thierry Henry were probably the two best foreign signings on the pitch, he was giving Beckham the nod for the profile he gave to the MLS.
“Let’s not complicate things. Robbie Keane and Thierry Henry probably were/are better players, but neither comes to MLS unless David Beckham comes first. His impact was massive.”
Keane was also picked by Grant Wahl in his best XI in MLS history, alongside MLS legend Landon Donovan, while Wahl chose the pair’s recent MLS Cup winning side as the best champions the league has seen.
Straus also picked a Galaxy side featuring Keane as the best he’s seen, saying: “If I had to win one game, I’d send out the 2011 LA Galaxy. Donovan, Robbie Keane, David Beckham and Mike Magee were as clutch as they come.”
Keane says he has plans to keep playing past 40-years-of-age, but whenever he does retire, it’s clear he’ll be leaving quite the legacy in the US.
You can read the full article here.
