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For a long time now, Major League Soccer has been laughed out of the room by every European football fan for either being a retirement league or being called “soccer.” This negative connotation put on the league has led to some exciting football being highly underrated, especially in EA Sports’ FIFA series.
From time to time, if someone enters any form of an Ultimate Team match, they will see either a Squad Building Challenge Sebastian Giovinco or an MLS MVP David Villa, but that is typically the extent of MLS that a casual FUT player will see.
So why is the league so undermined in FIFA?
The short answer is that the MLS isn’t undermined in FIFA, it’s undermined in Ultimate Team.
With EA Sports offices being held in Vancouver, MLS is given the opportunity to play in the same region as the company’s studio. This close proximity gives a slight bias to the MLS that may result in minor rating spikes.
Why is the MLS never used in FUT?
Here is the million dollar question.
MLS has a huge database of well-known stars, who in the right hands, could be useful to any FUT member. But in the age of FIFA 17, these “well-known” stars don’t get you anywhere.
Why?
Because every MLS star is slow.
For a brief period in FUT, speed was not the only huge factor. Strength and heading ability were desired by every player as well.
As the landscape shifted, pace has become the be-all and end-all. If a player travels over to a list of every Gold MLS player, they will see massive names such as Steven Gerrard, Didier Drogba, and Andrea Pirlo.
At first glance, these players are terrific. Gerrard and Pirlo’s passing ability are some of the top ratings in the game and Drogba’s shot is something worth salivating over.
That’s where the excitement ends.
Every MLS Gold has no pace and sadly that is why the league is massively overlooked. If players looked at the league’s silver players, they would see a plethora of speedy youngsters; however, it is rare to see someone in FUT use silver players.
How can we resolve the issue?
At the end of the day, EA Sports can do two things to make Major League Soccer more relevant in the FIFA. Either create an online MLS tournament or make silver leagues more prevalent.
But what are your thoughts on MLS’ inability to be used in FUT? Is there any way we could fix it? Start the conversation below.