LOL YJ...
Believe me it is big!!! Futbol (soccer) in Europe is bigger than baseball and football combined here....a lot of these club players were signed by the club and trained from age 10-12, as well as educated, fed, and housed on the clubs money...
Then you have a stadium full of fans who bleed the club colors who also know the tactical side of the game very well, and you can get booed off the field for making 3 bad passes as easily as a standing ovation for making 3 good passes, little things most US fans don't even notice in any of our sports....
A lower division team that gets promoted to the big show in some cases is only 1-2 good players from giving a very good show of themselves in some cases, imagine what would happen to our minor league champion team if they were promoted to the big show...LOL...it's that competitive...
Last time I looked I believe only 4 Americans were playing in the 1st division in Europe, Michael Bradley plays in Italy I think, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, and J. Altador play in the EPL(England)....Dempsey signed a full time contract with MSL so make that 3...
The owner of the St. Louis Rams, Stan Kroenke(married into the Walmart fortune) is the owner, or major shareholder of Arsenal FC, a well respected top EPL club for many years...