So, a TFC season that began in hope of Winter's promise of Dutch Orange football, ends with a win by an Orange team from Texas......symmetry!
Sure you're not a closet Sporting KC fan? Mo is our hero! Among fans, this is known as "the moment" - our golden goal in the minigame at the end of Game 3 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals http://www.ibiblio.org/footy/images/the_moment.mpg
Seattle's win over Chivas means that San Jose has clinched a playoff spot. Here are all of the updated numbers; corrections are always welcome. Code: EASTERN CONFERENCE Rank Team Pts GR MP MN TN SS 1 SKC 50 7 71 11 31 25 2 NYR 46 7 67 15 27 29 3 HOU 45 6 63 16 23 30 4 CHI 44 8 68 17 28 31 5 CLB 42 7 63 19 23 33 6 DCU 41 7 62 21 20 34 7 MON 39 5 54 25 12 36 8 NER 28 6 46 36 4 -- 9 PHL 26 9 53 38 11 -- 10 TOR 21 7 42 -- -- -- WESTERN CONFERENCE Rank Team Pts GR MP MN TN SS 1 SJE 53 7 74 ** ** 19 2 SEA 47 7 68 6 36 28 3 RSL 46 5 61 7 29 29 4 LAG 43 6 61 10 29 32 5 VAN 37 6 55 16 23 38 6 FCD 33 5 48 23 12 -- 7 COL 29 6 47 27 11 -- 8 CHV 28 8 52 26 16 -- 9 POR 27 7 48 27 12 --
So I'm not doing my usual table thread, but I did finally dust off and update my old spreadsheet. And I'm discussing this stuff on the DCU board -- with a DCU focus. I'll keep it up until that race is settled. https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/...od-the-bad-and-the-playoff-situation.1974653/ Thought you folks might be interested, especially since the DCU, MTL and CMB race is really the only playoff race there is.
Colorado ain't going to end the season with 42 or more points. And that's the minimum it's likely to take in the West. Could be worse: it'll probably take around 52 points in the East. This new playoff systems was supposed to make things more exciting. But this year's playoff race is shaping up to be a complete dud.
Knave, I really liked your rolling 5 game chart. Gives a nice visual how a team is trending. Here's hoping the SportsClubStats folks get on that.
Agreed on all points. You don't make things more exciting by limiting competition. Now, if Vancouver had to worry not just about Dallas, but also CLB, DCU and MON? And it would basically turn LA and RSL from a virtual lock for the playoffs at this point, to teams who still had to be looking over their shoulder and thinking about positioning, too. Goofy as it was for the West teams to win the Eastern conference, the crossover system was way better. Just change the conference names to, say, Hunt and Logan, or something non-geographical, and you get the best of both worlds.
Unfortunately, no American leagues really work this way. Though, inside of conferences (inside the NBA East for example), it is basically single conference. Honestly, MLS aiming to be "more American" generally blows up in their face.
I'm sorry, but I'm just not buying it. If I remember my early season comments this season (and of many of you guys as well), I'm pretty sure that we all said the West was the dominant force in North American soccer, and that the East were all washed up (except for maybe SKC). It seems pretty late in the game to stray from that party line.
Speak for yourself only, please. I never claimed to be a part of that "party". Unfortunately, the thread in which the changes were discussed seems to have disappeared in the migration to the new forum software, but I've been against the changes since day 1.
This is correct up to the point where they get knocked out by Vancouver in the playoffs. Then, not so much. And there was some talk of holding it elsewhere if the above said scenario doesn't hold true.
I didn't think that the playoffs had any bearing on it though. As I understood it the SS winner hosted the cup regardless if they were playing in it or not.
I can't wait for the scenario where MLS Cup is between two teams that were the same seed, finished the regular season tied on points, goals for, and goal differential, so that the host is determined by which team has the better disciplinary record for the season. And god forbid they tie on that, then it goes to a coin flip. I can imagine the outrage-filled posts already. It'll be beautiful. I'm assuming the breakdown for that is: 1) Seeding (W2 would host E3, even if E3 has a higher point total) 2) Point total (E2 hosts W2 if E2 has higher points) 3) Regular season tie-breaker list
The point was really that conferences will vary by strength so why not have a playoff system that does not punish some teams each year for being in a different conference. (The conferences are actually equal this year for the most part, however the east seems to have less draws in intra-conference matches).
It is determined by regular season record, not seeding, so if E1 and W3 are the MLS Cup finalists, but W3 had a better regular season record, then the MLS Cup would be hosted at W3.
I would assume that the Cup Final hosting order is the same as the SS order, which is here: http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/supporters-shield Could make the last few games interesting for a team like Seattle, who might not have a chance to alter their seed, but might have a shot at passing SKC and increasing their chances of hosting the Final.
sj could host the final in another of its 'home venues.' stanford wouldn't be so bad, if available. oakland coliseum would be a bit of a bummer. can't remember if they also have played in the other baseball stadium, but i imagine that'd be pretty lousy too.