Playoff tiebreaker to the higher seed after 180 minutes of play

HOLY SHIT ... it was closed for a reason fcktard.

 

What this thread needs is a gif from Hot Fuzz... conversation goes something like

"I feel I should say something clever."
"You don't need to say anything at all..."

 

HELL no that is so tupid you play to have a winner... Duh why given the win before you play??

 

How about you, y'know, don't discuss an issue that's already been deemed too dumb to discuss?

 

How is a random skills contest (emphasis NOT on skills) not a tiebreaker after two teams finish level after 210 minutes of actually playing soccer? At least the higher seed tiebreaker acknowledges the work of the regular season and isn't affected by a butterfly fart pushing the keeper left instead of right.

 

Long term, i want MLS to progress towards (1) deeper teams, (2) better, more meaningful, less deteriorated by injuries and national call ups regular season, (3) and more gas during the NACL. Which is all related.

A major stepping stone in that direction would be simple natural cap growth. But you'd also need some changes in how teams are built (roster rules), and ideas like OP's idea in this thread could help as well.

I wouldn't want higher seed tiebreakers in the finals. And I'm 50-50 on the conference finals. But first round - sure. This would add legit reward for finishing top 2 in the conference. Much more meaningful reward than gimmicky stuff like Supporters Shield.

Maybe do something about the bottom of the table, too. Make the final games more meaningful. But there's another thread that deals with that.

 

Gimmicky? You are aware of what the Shield is and where it comes from? It's about the least-gimmicky silverware in US soccer...

 

Shield was created by fans who want to pretend this is the EPL.

Team awards in a playoffs based league should be decided during the playoffs, in my view. All the CL slots should be distributed based on the playoffs, too. In my view, the Shield is a gimmicky, wannabe-Euro award, and unnecessary.

No need to have regular season "champions" as if it was some separate tournament. To the opposite, if anything, I'd love a stronger connection between the regular season and the playoffs, whether it's in the form of a tiebreaker in round 1 or some other form.

 

It's just an award for the greatest regular-season record. That isn't Euro-posing... happens in plenty of other sports too.

 

It is a Euro-posing award, in my view. Fans were upset with MLS using "impure" "Americanized" rules in its early days, and part of those frustrations materialized as the Shield.

Even as a Euro-posing award, the Shield doesn't make much sense going forward because of the uneven schedule.

If MLS doesn't keep giving it relevance with the CL slot, it should eventually disappear or at least become irrelevant a la NBA's Division Champion banners.

I'd love for the regular season to maintain / increase relevancy, just not through measures like the Shield.

 

Shit-storm starts in 3...2...1

 

So what's it called in Hockey then ?

The USSF would like you to research before posting next time ..

Why ? Playoffs are an equalizer .... the regular season point total has merit in discussing the "best" team (and thus representative of) of the league. How is getting a CCL spot not relevant ? Other than being awarded the cup, what could be more relevant ?

 

I don't understand you. I said the opposite, CCL spot is what gives the Shield relevance.

Btw, if you have something to explain, explain. I willl be grateful for it and I'll enjoy the discussion. Reading your posts feels like talking to a cocky teenager.

 

Well ok, but this is a play on words. I never disputed that this is a fan award.

 

Well, I wasn't going for a play on words. I think, at its core, MLS "embracing" the idea of the Supporters' Shield is less just that and more the fact that the CCL spot and the Shield are awarded for the same achievement on the table.

 

Fair enough. I guess we can't know their thinking for sure, unless we read the notes of the federation meeting when they first attached the CL slot to the Shield.

Either way, I suspect if there was no CL slot, fans would care less and less about it in time.

In the end, back to the main topic, it's a matter of preference. What's more fun. I'd love a more streamlined playoff based structure. Everything's at stake during the playoffs. Including CL spots. That's more fun to me, but I can see why someone might prefer the status quo (or some - even a non playoff system).

 

Didn't the League just start awarding the Shield winner a place in the CCL in like, 2008? Didn't the monetary bit happen much later, like 2 or 3 years ago?

Yeah, fans still cared before that.

 

Of course. But clearly, I'm not arguing otherwise, and you actually quoted my earlier post where I explained that, in my view, the times are changing.

 

If we have to have 2-legged series, this would be the best tiebreak, imo.

The real problem is 2-legged series. They need to be eliminated.

 

What should they be replaced with?

Group stages? Three games series? One game crap shoots? Three teams playing each other in a round robin of minigames on one day?