Group Stage

[Rjbatzler]

So the groups are set:

Group A:
Arabe Unido
Houston Dynamo
Metapan
Pachuca

Group B:
DC United
Marathon
San Juan Jabloteh
Toluca

Group C:
Columbus Crew
Cruz Azul
Puerto Rico Islanders
Saprissa

Group D:
Comunicaciones
Real España
UNAM
W Connection

Who will make it through to the knockout round? Group stage discussion here...

[Rjbatzler]

My picks are:

Group A:
1) Pachuca
2) Houston
3) Arabe Unido
4) Metapan

Pachuca will probably dominate, but Houston has a good chance to advance. They are one of the best clubs in MLS, with good balance and talent (Ching, Holden, and Clark are all USMNTers), and they have shown that they care about the tournament. I don't know much about the other two teams, but I was impressed that Arabe Unido beat Olimpia.

Group B:
1) Toluca
2) DC
3) Marathon
4) San Juan Jabloteh

Again, a very good Mexican team should dominate this group. Aside from that, it'll be a good battle between DC United and Marathon for the second spot. IMO DC is the better team if they want it, but if they play scrubs like in the home leg against Firpo, Marathon will smoke them. I don't want to underestimate a Caribbean team again, but I just don't see Jabloteh as good enough to beat Marathon or DC.

Group C:
1) Cruz Azul
2) Puerto Rico
3) Saprissa
4) Columbus

Clearly the most interesting group. There should be some great games here. Once again, in their opening round game against Herediano, Cruz Azul proved all of the other federations have to play catch up. Puerto Rico is good, experienced, and take the tournament extremely seriously. I don't think Columbus is deep enough to be able to stay atop the league and do well in the toughest champions league group. They have a good team but I don't think we'll see much of the full first team because they'll value league play more highly. As for Saprissa they are a good team and I could see them making a run, but Puerto Rico wants it more IMO. Also I wouldn't be surprised if Columbus plays like DC did last year, total scrubs and thus a bad record, but I could also see them doing well.

Group D:
1) Pumas
2) Real España
3) W Connection
4) Communicaciones

Weakest group IMO. Mexican team runs train. Behind them, Real España looked good against Liberia. W Connection is decent but I don't think they're better than a Honduran team. I don't know much about Guatamalan teams but Guaramalan past preformances seem to indicate Communicaciones won't do too well.

[Moises]

Group A:
Pachuca
Houston Dynamo



Group B:
Toluca
Marathon

Group C:
Cruz Azul
Puerto Rico Islanders


Group D:
UNAM
Real España

[ponte_la_naranja]

Group A: 1) Pachuca 2) Houston Dynamo 3) Arabe Unido 4) Metapan
Group B: 1) Marathon 2) Toluca3) DC United 4) San Juan Jabloteh
Group C: 1) Cruz Azul 2) Saprissa 3) Columbus 4) Puerto Rico Islanders
Group D: 1) Pumas UNAM 2) Real España 3) Communicaciones 4) W Connection

Top 5 Best: 1) Pachuca 2) Pumas UNAM 3) Marathon 4) Houston Dynamo 5) Toluca
5 Worst: 1) W Connection 2) Communicaciones 3) Metapan 4) San Juan Jabloteh 5) Arabe Unido

[tolucafan]

Group A: 1) Pachuca 2) Houston Dynamo 3) Arabe Unido 4) Metapan
Group B: 1) Marathon 2) Toluca


http://jamie-online.com/random-jamz/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/facepalm.jpg


you have got to be kidding.

[Intru]

http://jamie-online.com/random-jamz/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/facepalm.jpg


you have got to be kidding.

I dont get it? They seem like solid picks to me:confused:

[tolucafan]

oops, i shouldnt of quoted group 1, because that looks fine. but having Marathon end up 1st ahead of Toluca is just an insult. And its hilarious that people would rank Toluca as low as 5th. i mean c'mon, they are clearly the best team in here (maybe 2nd, because of Pachuca).

[jared9999]

oops, i shouldnt of quoted group 1, because that looks fine. but having Marathon end up 1st ahead of Toluca is just an insult. And its hilarious that people would rank Toluca as low as 5th. i mean c'mon, they are clearly the best team in here (maybe 2nd, because of Pachuca).

yes ranking the Dynamo ahead of Toluca is a big


LOL

[jared9999]

Group A:
Pachuca
Houston Dynamo

Group B:
Toluca
Marathon

Group C:
Cruz Azul
Saprissa


Group D:
UNAM
Real España

[usafan12]

Hey everyone,

Just to let you know, along with this thread, I'll make separate ones for talking about each particular group like we had last time.