Random Thoughts On the Gold Cup

Discussion in 'Gold Cup' started by gremio1903, Dec 18, 2014.

  1. gremio1903

    gremio1903 Member+

    Aug 10, 2011
    Uruguaiana, RS (BRA) [last: Rockville, MD]
    Club:
    Gremio Porto Alegre
    Toronto was included as a Host City, which made me wonder if Concacaf could spread the competition out. This lead to a bunch of ideas I will list below. Feel free to comment, add more ideas, etc.

    - 16 teams: 3 N.Am., 7 C.Am., 6 Caribbean
    - 4 groups of 4, each group with 3 venues each (12 stadia, 2 games each)
    - Knock-out stages with different venues (4 stadia, 2 games each)
    - 16 stadia in total: 3 from Mexico (Tijuana, Monterrey and Torreón); 3 from Canada (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal); 10 from the US.
    - One group could be held at Tijuana, LA and Sacramento/San Jose; another at Torreón, Monterrey and Dallas; a third on Vancouver, Seattle and Portland; a fourth in Toronto, Montreal and Foxborough.
    - The other 4 venues would be all American, I know, but perhaps: New York, Foxborough, Chicago and Miami.
    - The venues could rotate, although I believe Northern Mexico would be mandatory.

    What do you think?
     
    edcalvi repped this.
  2. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Belize and Nicaragua don't deserve automatic entry, and giving UNCAF 7 spots for 7 teams would leave there no reason to have the Copa Centroamericana. I wish the countries in CONCACAF were better, but given their quality I don't want the Gold Cup to expand to 16.
     
    Paul Calixte and gremio1903 repped this.
  3. Paul Calixte

    Paul Calixte Moderator
    Staff Member

    Orlando City SC
    Apr 30, 2009
    Miami, FL
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Ditto. For now, giving the Caribbean a shot at a fifth berth (given how Guadeloupe and Martinique have acquitted themselves in the Gold Cup beyond the Caribbean's typical Big 4) was the only adjustment that needed to be made. But looking at how the likes of Belize, Nicaragua and Grenada have fared, 12 is the correct size for now.
     
    gremio1903 repped this.
  4. gremio1903

    gremio1903 Member+

    Aug 10, 2011
    Uruguaiana, RS (BRA) [last: Rockville, MD]
    Club:
    Gremio Porto Alegre
    There is no reason for the CCA, regarding the Gold Cup, currently. After all, for Nicaragua or Belize to win a spot is extremely rare.
     
  5. gremio1903

    gremio1903 Member+

    Aug 10, 2011
    Uruguaiana, RS (BRA) [last: Rockville, MD]
    Club:
    Gremio Porto Alegre
    #5 gremio1903, Jan 12, 2015
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2015
    But I agree pushing to 16 would make quality go down. The biggest idea was not increasing the number of teams, but spreading the Gold Cup throughout North America.

    One thing that could be done to increase perceived quality is to add a second group stage with eight teams. Then, group winners would go to the final, runners-up to 3rd place match (like the 1978 World Cup).

    ---

    Another way would be dividing the 16 teams in two pools of eight, and those pools into two groups of 4 each. It works similarly, but allows semifinals with 7 matchdays.

    a. First round, group stage (3 games): round robin within the group, top-2 advance.
    b. Second round, pool stage (2 games): teams from one group play against teams from the other within the pool. The points from the match played in group stage between qualified teams is maintained. Top-2 from the pool advance.
    c. Semifinals: Winner Pool A v. Runner-Up Pool B; Winner Pool B v. Runner-Up Pool A.
     
  6. gremio1903

    gremio1903 Member+

    Aug 10, 2011
    Uruguaiana, RS (BRA) [last: Rockville, MD]
    Club:
    Gremio Porto Alegre
    On the Copa Centroamericana, I would suggest transform it into a league, and make it round robin.
     
  7. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Nicaragua qualified for Gold cup 2009, and now that Central American went down from 5 to 4.5 Gold Cup spots there's no guarantee that all of Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador will qualify. The Copa Centroamericana also provides bragging rights and FIFA Ranking points.

    Considering it's during the MLS season, MLS clubs wouldn't want to lose players for a tournament that requires 7 games to win which is as many as the World Cup. If the Gold Cup expanded to 16 I would rather it have same Group Stage-Quarterfinals-Semifinals-Final format as the Euro.

    If there were 6 countries I might agree with you, but with 7 countries it would take 7 matchdays with each country having 1 matchday off, and that's an increase of 2 matchdays over the current format. Your Gold Cup and Copa Centroamericana ideas might work for basketball which requires less rest between games, but I think they would make soccer tournaments take too long.
     
    gremio1903 repped this.
  8. gremio1903

    gremio1903 Member+

    Aug 10, 2011
    Uruguaiana, RS (BRA) [last: Rockville, MD]
    Club:
    Gremio Porto Alegre
    It could be spread out during the year, using FIFA dates currently for friendlies. That could not be necessary an issue.
     
  9. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    FIFA dates are in pairs, so 7 matchdays would require four months of FIFA dates or having teams play three times close together to do it in three months. If it was entirely in the USA, each country would have to make three or four trips to the USA. Alternatively, it could be done round-robin with each country having three home games and three away games. If Central America was going to do Gold Cup qualifying like that I would rather them just do qualifying groups of four teams mixed between Central America and the Caribbean.
     
  10. gremio1903

    gremio1903 Member+

    Aug 10, 2011
    Uruguaiana, RS (BRA) [last: Rockville, MD]
    Club:
    Gremio Porto Alegre
    I prefer not to mix. I still dream to turn CFU into the Caribbean Football Confederation, but that is another subject entirely. :)
     
  11. BKR inC

    BKR inC Member+

    Feb 9, 2007
    Australia
    I do agree that Nicaragua and Belize should not warrant automatic birth, however Nicaragua and Belize are slowly picking up there games...In this CCA there was no flogging or easy victories as it was in previous editions
     
    gremio1903 repped this.
  12. SoccerPapi

    SoccerPapi New Member

    Jul 4, 2019
    Mexico will destroy US on Sunday!
     

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