MLS is too physical.

Now let’s talk about how you feel. Are you mad at that stereotype? Frustrated that I used it? Think of me as lazy for leaning on it? Agree? Disagree? Partly, that trope – the league as a pendulous hatchet – has become so Narrativeized that it’s hard to look at without cringing in some way. So it’s a somewhat ridiculous way to start the conversation, but it proves a point. Yes, the league has its physical moments, but a simple comparison with the MLS of its first era (1996-2007) reveals a sea change in the way the league approaches physicality.

So yes, MLS is too physical. But maybe not in the way you’re thinking. Simply put, league defenses need to remove the collective boot from the throats of the league’s best attacking players. It’s cramping the league’s style.

This came to the fore again over the weekend when Jermaine Jones was routinely and dangerously accosted by Montreal Impact assassin Calum Mallace. Notably, this weird thing happened.

For anyone who’s watched these international “names” storm into MLS to face occasionally less skilled opposition who make incredible fractions of their salaries, this isn’t much of a surprise. Nor was it a surprise for those who’ve seen Darlington Nagbe and Javi Morales bashed out of games throughout their careers. It’s been happening for years, albeit at a slowing pace. The more we can accelerate it, the better.

Let’s look abroad. During the 2013-14 season Leo Messi was fouled 49 times in 29 La Liga appearances, a rate of 1.6 fouls per match. He was 38th in the league in that category. It’s convenient to chalk at least some of that up to Messi’s elusiveness, and that wouldn’t be entirely incorrect, but fancy footwork can hardly prevent a defender from slicing through your ankles. Cristiano Ronaldo was 25th. Luka Modric? A cool 73rd. Angel Di Maria, a slight player who likes to run at defenders, was fouled less than once per game. He was 151st in this statistical column. Neymar was fourth. Because Neymar.

The Premier League draws more direct MLS comparisons in terms of playing style (though they are loose), but even the EPL targets its stars – who are worth exponentially more on the market and possess considerably more on-field danger – less than MLS. Nobody in the EPL during the 2013-14 season was fouled more than Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, which follows. Hazard’s quick-twitch speed, fast feet and propensity to go down easy all contribute. But he seems to be a relative exception among his world class peers.

Mesut Ozil was actually fouled less in the EPL during the ’13-14 season than he was during ’12-13 in a similar amount of games with Real Madrid in La Liga. Wayne Rooney was 91st, Oscar 118th, Robin van Persie 193rd, Jesus Navas 213th, Andre Schurrle 220th (!). As for the Bundesliga in ‘13-14, Marco Reus was not in the top 25, Arjen Robben was (shockingly) 96th and Julian Draxler, one of the league’s brightest young assist-makers, drew 21 fouls in 26 games. No part of the world is completely immune to hatchetmen – Nigel de Jong and Pepe exist, after all – but it’s clear skill rules the roost in Europe.

This is not to say that all attack-minded MLS stars are summarily hacked and all European stars are given red carpets. As Hazard proves, there is precedent in other leagues for hard challenges in tactical spaces. And MLS has its slightly-built technical superiors who’ve largely avoided contact in relation to their peers, Fabian Castillo and Diego Fagundez among them statistically (though they’ve both been hit plenty hard in spots). But it’s far rarer in MLS, with its relative lack of technical on-ball specialists, to see a compact, mazy creator not rooted out and cut down, and it’s hard to miss in the moment.

The trouble MLS has is not mere volume but in severity. At season’s end last year, the three most fouled players in the league were Javier Morales, David Ferreira and Darlington Nagbe, in that order. The first two have already suffered catastrophic leg injuries resulting from horror challenges, and through last weekend, Darlington Nagbe’s been fouled an astonishing 161 times over the past two seasons. There are few players in the world who’ve gotten that kind of attention, and the unspoken worry in many circles in Portland (and among neutrals across the country) is that Nagbe’s Big Injury is around the corner. There’s a cautionary tale in his own locker room, and his name is Steve Zakuani.

As for this year, here’s the league’s current top 15 most fouled players.

I’ve never been particularly bullish on the notion that MLS is simply an ogre that slashes to ribbons whatever cashmere or silk its presented. It isn’t. There is beauty in this league, and occasionally you’ll see build-ups like these, which happen in larger quantities every year. And it’s possible to scheme out top players without crushing their vertebrae and burying their ankles below an avalanche of spiteful challenges, but it’s easier to go in hard systematically if you don’t have the horses to match up.

That said, it is a strategy, a distant cousin to parking the bus. Hacking players out of games can work – indeed, it’s helped push Nagbe out of a few games this year with dazzling results – but after a certain time we have to start talking about how we want to play and then pushing that style at all costs. It can be scary, but it’s progress. You hear all the time about being the change you want to see. If that means scheming Nagbe at the expense of unleashing your hellbeasts, then so be it. If a coach actively wants to play that style, then he will, but I won’t support it. There’s a way to be physical without being malicious.

So why this style? I think the historical scarcity of more skilled on-ball attacking No. 10 types in MLS makes them oddities in a way that intensifies the attention. Like a purple-haired Spanish hipster at an NRA convention in Alabama, it’s impossible not to notice. For defenders and nails-minded midfielders, the next step is action. This is slowly becoming less and less novel as players like Diego Valeri become less of a novelty (and players like Oswaldo Minda go away forever and ever), but a league’s quality is ultimately judged against its peers on its depth, not the beauty of its summit. And MLS’ depth contains a lot of steel.

Tommy Thompson, a 5-foot-7, 147-pound playmaker for San Jose who likes to jump between the midfield and forward lines to facilitate, often in blindingly entertaining fashion, has already been fouled 18 times in his first eight MLS games. He hasn’t yet accumulated the experience to make the league’s most-fouled list, but on pure average he’d be sitting at No. 6 in MLS. As a 19-year-old. Thompson’s build and whimsical ability set him apart from a more typically styled American facilitator – the pinnacle of which is Landon Donovan in so many ways – which makes him a squeaky wheel.

Ultimately, MLS wants to be an attractive league. By wooing more technically proficient players and propagating a more fluid style, you’re not only talking more interest, but at that point it reflects back the strides made at younger ages. It also goes a long way toward fighting (and gradually winning) the league’s ever-present battle for perception. A 19-year-old student in Oviedo sees a YouTube video of Fabian Castillo hopping through tackles and the word spreads. He sees Jermaine Jones being assaulted less than a month into his tenure and he says something else.

MLS is improving, but it’s important to continually examine how it’s improving and guide the discussion in productive ways. Putting ever more emphasis on allowing skill to breathe will help the league as it strives toward brighter horizons. Let’s keep striving.

Wil Trapp is just the best

We love Wil Trapp around these parts. He’s pretty dreamy. What we love about this is that Trapp legitimately punishes Houston for failing to close in on the space he used to craft this beauty. This is not unlike a power forward being given too much space behind the arc and just flushing a 3-pointer before the defense rotates. You don’t expect it from him, but skilled players do this. Trapp for president? Maybe. Probably. Definitely.

The East is very MLS-y

Next week’s Grinder will focus exclusively on the MLS playoff race, but in the meantime, look at this madness in the East. While the main intrigue in the West is whether or not Portland can supplant Vancouver for No. 5, the East is a terrifying melee. Stay tuned. This should get interesting.