2018 CONCACAF Champions League Thread

Well to be fair, they found the loophole and drove right through it on that one. They, self-admittedly, said any student in the college could take the paper courses they ere offering. Because they were available to any student, there was no improper benefits to athletes, and as such, no NCAA violation.

Now the fact that UNC was willing to sell out its academic integrity for a basketball team is not a good look for them, but the NCAA doesn't give a damn about academic integrity (and as much as I like picking on the Cougs and the Zeros, I won't stoop to making a joke about a lack of academic integrity at those schools. They're not that bad.)

 

You’re delusional if you think our sports media is gonna start reporting on these games regularly if an MLS team wins it. March madness about to begin and baseball in April? Yeah sure they’ll cover the CCL when some teams hardly promote the games that they themselves are playing.
As for rooting for other MLS teams. I’m a Redbulls fan. If I have a choice of facing a Mexican team or an MLS team on the road, I’d rather face the MLS team because it would be the easier road to travel.

 

That is to laugh lol.. nah bro you getting way ahead of yourself. Mexican teams have dominated this tournament and you win a couple away games and the gap is closing? lol not even. Win the tournament a couple times then maybe yes, mex league is also improving bringing in more European players and in no way is going down. The MLS will grow and will win the tournament eventually, but to say they will surpass the mex league or be on par is waaay out there lol. Give it time eventually we will have some kick ass games that will be back to back.

 

Ok first of all Liga MX isn't head and shoulders better on slightly better. The results from the previous weeks showed that no matter what insecure Liga MX fans believe. Soccer is played in the now. Liga MX has gotten it's prop but the breast feeding of it should stop. Liga MX has done enough to just get by in years.

Most Liga MX fans would would want you to believe they've won every game the past 10 years 4-0 when in reality there have been alot of 1-2 aggregate wins by them. Usually pulling out enough goals at times to win. So this round isn't anything new MLS teams have beaten Liga MX teams it just got magnified by the way the CCL games got scheduled b2b.

 

This is how "closing the gap" works: you go from getting drilled, to being competitive, to winning a couple of games. Undoubtedly, the next step is going to be the hardest - winning the tournament.

We simply see the gap closing - at least judging by the results of this tournament. That's all.

 

It wasn’t that long ago, when I was told I was delusional if I thought MLS would ever average 20,000 fans “any time soon,” by a BS poster. I will gladly play the delusional nutcase on Big Soccer. We will only know which of us is correct whenever that day comes when an MLS team wins the CCL. If that happens and it’s not covered well in the national sports media (particularly ESPN. I will eat my words. I am very confident in my prediction.

 

You're either trolling, don't understand English or don't understand logic. "Gap closing" does not mean "on par".

 

1 in the old format, MLS vs LMX would play in 6-10 games in the group phase and then a few more in the elimination round.

with the new format the head to head games are lower overall, so making statistical comparisons is more difficult.

By goal differential, it does not look like a trend of closing, I am not sure, perhaps by minutes played by LigaMX starters, but I have no clue if anyone has compiled those numbers.

 

And most of us who pay attention also know it goes in fits and starts. We in MLS see it in our LHUSOC with USL/NASL. Every time some D2/D3 teams do well against MLS teams, people use it as evidence of parity or MLS sucking. In reality, after periods of dominance, MLS teams begin to mail it in and use the games to play scrubs for experience. After getting burned, they generally take it more seriously and come back with the big guns and wipe out the D2 teams.

In the MLS vs US D2 case, the gap really has been growing steadily despite the fact that the recent D2 is best D2 we've ever had - and it's improving.

In the CCL case, it's really too early to say if the gap is closing. MLS is better than MLS has ever been. But I'd say the same about LigaMX, too.

I think it is clear that as time goes on, we'll see LigaMX and MLS teams pull away from the rest of CONCACAF. There'll still be non-LMX/MLS teams that get through. One advantage the smaller leagues that don't have parity have is that their top teams are full of players with tons of international experience. Either playing for their lower ranked national teams, or the fact that Tauro or Estrelli or Municipal plays in CCL pretty much every year - whereas teams in larger more parity based leagues like MLS and LigaMX tend to cycle through in waves with many role players having little to know international experience. (The one caveat being the Canadian MLS teams - that might be the most likely place to have an MLS team break through come from with most of the players getting the opportunity to gain international experience).

I think it is inevitable that the gap will close. I do not think it is inevitable that the gap will close all the way, nor that MLS will inevitably surpass LigaMX.

MLS has more room to grow. It's a lot easier for MLS teams to get better just by spending more money on wages. Last time I saw reliable wage figures for LigaMX clubs, the average expenditure was more than double what the average MLS team current spends (and 4-5 times what it was five years ago). I don't have current LigaMX wage figures, but it's a lot easier for MLS teams to go from $5m to $15m team than it is for LigaMX teams to go from $20m to $30m. And that extra $10m/team should have a greater impact in MLS.

I don't think the gap closing should be in the least shocking or anything to get too braggy (or defensive) about.

And if the LigaMX teams all win 5-0 games this week, I wouldn't take it as anything more than what we all know -> LigaMX teams are better, they're better funded, they have better players, and when they really take it serious, it's really going to be hard, but not impossible, for MLS teams to win. On the other hand, if all three MLS teams advance, it certainly won't be a sign that MLS has achieved parity. Far from it. As we've seen in the CCC/CCL in the past, not to mention between MLS teams and US D2 teams in the USOC, there's usually hell to pay in the future when this shit happens.

But, yes, the gap is steadily closing. But LigaMX is a moving target. Which is good. Increasingly the two leagues will need each other more and more. The rest of CONCACAF is trash by and large. And the fact that both leagues are more parity based than the more common super club(s) and relegation bait leagues, gives them even more reason to move closer.

Just like the 18 year-old dominates his 8 year-old kid brother, the next ten years are going to see the gap closed. The experience and wisdom will likely keep the 28 year-old ahead of the 18 year-old, but the gap will close.

LigaMX fans should root for MLS (as a league) and vice-versa. Because, ******** Saprissa.

 

I agree both leagues have gotten better, the thing will be to see how much Liga MX turns it up because many Liga MX fans on BS MX feel like the league has stagnated for numerous reasons. I will disagree about never catching Liga MX because while any honest MLS fan will tell you that Liga MX is better right now MLS is relatively in it's infancy. Liga MX is an older more established mature league. MLS will one day reach maturity but it isn't near fulfilling it's potential so its too early to make such statements of never being able to do this or that.

I think these games the last 10 yrs or so has been good for both leagues in the short term it was good for MLS it got the league moving in player investments. In the long term it will be good not just for MLS but Liga MX who will be forced just like they forced MLS. Even with the sweeping leg wins last week I still give Liga MX props and think they are slightly better. Liga MX fans should give MLS props and not be jingoistic/xenophobic and just hate on MLS for being a American league. I like talking soccer on here with some of BSMX guys. I wish we could do more of it without most of them feeling threatened and needing to lash out. Non trolling aside this place could be really kick ass if we talked more instead of thrashing each others leagues.

 

That's not what I said (or meant to say). I said it's not inevitable that MLS will surpass LigaMX.

Personally, I suspect it will at least catch up to, and probably become the higher level league. (time frame to be determined)

But a lot of that depends on where professional sports go once the broadcast rights fee bubble bursts.

 

We've yet to see where we are in comparison with LMX but one of the big MLS trouble spots may no longer be a weakness. For years the consensus has been that MLS depth was really bad and were often exposed. This weekend NYRB repeated only two starters from CCL yet still routed Portland 4-0.

 

Quantify this prediction. If it doesn't close all the way, that means LMX still wins majority of CCLs. So are you saying your league will win some here and there, but most will still be won by us?

I say all will be won by us for perpetuity, but we will see. When these threads lose control is when someone says they know for sure what the future brings. And that's insulting because no one is clairvoyant. Hopefully we don't get that this year, it's gotten these threads closed in past years.

 

There you have it, comrades. "It's called football" insults us with lack of clairvoyance. What to say, except:" Es Insolting & Unnaceptobal"...........

 

Getting two teams to the semis and maybe one to the final will barely splinter the chip on our collective shoulders.

 

I mean that MLS will definitely get closer to LigaMX's level, but there's no guarantee it'll surpass it. And I stated no timeframe.

 

"Quantify your prediction ..."

What the hell dude - you want someone else to put up some goalposts just so you can push them over? Are you really that lazy?

 

This thread is pretty decent when you have one person on ignore.

 

Right. In all honesty, the only one's who would care about this tournament are niche groups of soccerheads like ours.

It would take nothing less than beating Barcelona at the CWC for mainstream sports media to take a long look at an MLS result. (BTW, It would be damn right fascinating to see the usual talking heads try to give their takes a sport they care and know little about)

Although, I'm sure the winner of the tournament final result will be displayed on ESPN's bottom line ticker for a few seconds right before the American League scores. So there's that.

 

The day our academy’s start consistently producing LigaMX quality players or better, is the day we can say MLS has passed LigaMX.

By then, I expect we’ll be bringing in more talent similar to Carlos Vela.

 

I imagine ESPN will jump in should 2 American teams make the semis in the same way they covered Cincinnati's Open Cup games.

 

It depends on what else is on television. Having that game during the summer when the only content was a replay of Poker probably helps.

 

Coincidentally, Tuesday the 13th is considered bad luck in Mexico.