Today I want to talk about a problem faced among many American soccer fans — the “Eurosnob.”

Urban Dictionary defines Eurosnobs as fake soccer fans from the United States that only hop on the bandwagon and support European powerhouses rather than their local or domestic soccer clubs.

Eurosnobs came about from people who just started watching soccer during the last World Cup and hopped on the bandwagon only to find out that international teams don’t play each other very often.

So they choose their favorite player and follow their club team like Lionel Messi and Barcelona.

I have never understood the hype of supporting European teams. Why would I want to wake up early Saturday mornings to watch a game between two teams from somewhere I have never been before.

I could support European teams if my family was from there, or if I studied abroad, but that’s not the case for me.

I prefer to stay loyal to the country where I grew up and its league. I am a supporter of Major League Soccer.

I’ve had people come up to talk to me about soccer. They’d tell me that some European team is their favorite, and I’d tell them I’m an Earthquakes fan.

When people ask me why I watch MLS, I just turn it around on them and say that this is America — why would I watch European teams play?

I have dealt with my fair share of Eurosnobs. Some things I’ve heard from them include:

“MLS sucks,” says the person who has never seen an MLS game.

“MLS play style is way too slow,” says the person who has only seen games that involved Barcelona.

I’ve met several people before who thought they were “real” soccer fans because their favorite team was European. But they would fail to know how their “team” is doing, like Manchester United “fans” last year.

The truth is European leagues are overrated. Most leagues usually have the same three or four teams fighting for the championship every year.

There are only a few good teams to watch, and the rest are just OK. With MLS, at least there is some balance.

I’m not telling people who don’t like soccer to like it. But those who do like soccer should follow their local team and leagues.

People who want to support soccer in the U.S. are not just limited to the 20 MLS teams. There are other professional leagues.

There are the North American Soccer League and the United Soccer League. Beyond that, there amateur leagues with teams fighting to get their professional status.

MLS has two options for people looking to support a California team: the San Jose Earthquakes for Northern California fans and the Los Angeles Galaxy in Southern California.

There is also the Sacramento Republic FC, which plays in the United Soccer League. But the team has been making huge strides and could be making it way into MLS within the next few years.

Every year around summer, these European teams come and play in the U.S. I’ve been tempted to go see a game but between the overpriced tickets and the fact that the star players won’t be playing, I think my money is better spent at a MLS game.

This summer, the San Jose Earthquakes will take on Manchester United somewhere in the Bay Area. If I do end up going to that game, I will be wearing my blue and black proudly.

Dariush Azmoudeh can be reached at [email protected] or @dari_d on Twitter.