2018 CONCACAF Champions League Thread

American teams have historically outperformed Canadian ones. I bet the Cosmos would have won it had the NASL been let in though.

heavy emphasis on sarcasm toward the Cosmos here

 

Recently Canadian teams have been much better including Toronto this year. Yes the Cosmos would've done better than MLS sides because they're not bound by restrictive rules and have more freedom in squad building. Say what you want about the Cosmos, but they're more passionate about soccer and improving the sport in the US than anything MLS has done.

 

lmao this tournament has had one set of matches. Guess the Allsvenskan is better than the Premier League because Ostersunds won today.

The Cosmos were so free to build their team to the fullest extent that they got wiped out in the Round of 16 of the Open Cup by MLS reserve teams three years running before losing to a PDL side this year, and then subsequently drove their league into the ground.

 

Goalposts.

And there nothing at all stopping the Cosmos from signing a team full of international stars. Nothing. At. All.

Thx,

Jay!

 

Every single year I see this built in excuse.

But sure, let's pretend it's interfering with their stacked league schedule where it's just one game after another. Sea must be exhausted from fixture congestion. If Morris, Lodeiro and Roldan represent their C team, I look forward to their A team.

 

Honestly who believes the bullshit that MLS is improving? I guess El Salvador's league is also "improving" and consider Santa Tecla has only a fraction of Seattle's budget they made Seattle look like amateurs.

 

Is that an "excuse?" I see it as a damning indictment of the organizations, the players, and their collective mentality.

 

Let's say the US had an open league system which allows the Cosmos to rise to the top. Don't you think they would be a bigger club in that environment? Commisso is just as wealthy or even wealthier than MLS owners and he's more committed to quality and building a club than most MLS teams are. So if Cosmos had been given more freedom in an open league they would invest a lot more with their new owner and be more competitive than anything we've seen in the CCL.

 

Dempsey, Torres, Leerdam, Alonso, Rodriguez all didn't make the trip. 5 Starters.
New TAM signing Magnus Wolff Eikrem didn't make the trip either. He is the new expensive depth coming in... And they are still working on signing their CB depth.
Svenson wasn't ready to start because of some injuries.

 

Still an MLS B team should beat someone from El Salvador consider the differences in spending.

 

Put it this way, generally, leagues are judged by their success vs other leagues. Liga MX is apparently the target.


Longest win streaks in confederation competition, historically.

CONCACAF:
12 – Mexico (ongoing)

OFC:
7 – New Zealand (ongoing)

UEFA:
6 – England (end of streak 1982)

CONMEBOL:
4 – Argentina (end of streak 1970 and 1975); Brazil (end of streak 2013)

AFC:
3 – South Korea (end of streak 1998)

CAF:
3 – Cameroon (end of streak 1980)


Liga MX is so dominant in this region its never been seen before in the history of the sport, globally. Yet we are supposed to be a top league only four years from now and the MLS runner-ups just lost to an El Salvador club. FCD lost to a Panamanian club.

Anyhow, a tiny club in Bulgaria can beat PSV, Lazio, and draw vs both Liverpool and PSG. There are no excuses most of the time. You're either good or you aren't.

 

They played Santa Tecla.

Santa. Tecla.

 

Seems like excuses to me.

When Romanian or Serbian or Guatemalan clubs don't do well in their region's competition, do people over-analyze it or just say....they aren't that good.

The CCL champs regularly lose to the likes of Evergrande, Kashiwa Reysol, Auckland City and TP Mazembe, which really speaks quite poorly of the level of play here.

MLS as of now hasn't proven it's good enough to lose to Kashiwa Reysol, or Raja Casablanca for that matter, both of which have beaten the CCL champs in recent years.

 

How does Australia end up with a better league than MLS despite starting 10 years later and having only 1/10 of US population?

 

Tigres only tied Herediano?

Lets wait till the return legs before spazzing out shall we?

 

I also watched AFC's champions league the past week. MLS would lose to Thai league and Middle Eastern ones.

 

MLS teams lack depth? Shocking news. Someone get me my fainting couch.

 

Listen, I'm all for freaking out, but the shit in here is just silly. Mls would lose to thai league? Get the heck out of here, it would take a Thai league all Star team to even deserve to be in the same field.

Troll elsewhere chumps. And get better at it. Get a role model, watch how it's done and maybe we'll let you back in here one day. Bye bye for now.

 

I could be wrong, but wasn't it the NASL that refused to participate in CONCACAF competitions?

I would rate the A-League as still clearly behind MLS. Western Sydney Wanderers' AFC Champions League victory in 2014 was a true shocker with all stars perfectly aligned. Since then the A-League has struggled tremendously. Brisbane Roar just got eliminated by a Filipino club this month.

Thailand's flagship club - Buriram United - was quite competitive with Japanese and Korean clubs just a few years ago. Even reached the quarterfinals of the 2013 AFC CL. Since then their strength has faded a bit but I know who I would put my money on in a Buriram United - Santa Tecla match.

(Hint: it's not Santa Tecla)

 

Jaysus lads, save the freak out until the Liga MX sides wipe the floor in the QF's

 

The CPL teams would first have to beat Toronto, Montreal and/or Vancouver in the Canadian Championship to win a place in CCL.

 

Judging by WCQ results, no. To be fair, we have improved but rapid expansion dilutes things somewhat and other nations/leagues have improved more.

 

I thought the teams did alright in the first leg. They’re still in preseason forum and they where all on the road.

 

The plan is to have the CSA work out something with CONCACAF where Canada is awarded a 2nd CCL spot: 1 for Voyageurs Cup winner and 1 for CPL winner.

Honestly after watching the first round I feel CPL teams would at least make it competitive and be able to hang with the non-mexican teams. With the exception of the 2-2 tie between Tigres and Herediano and the drama of the coldest game in CCL history in Colorado, these first round games have not exactly been a showcase of the best of CONCACAF soccer.

What? are you saying that CPL teams might even be able to play competitively with MLS teams? It is certainly a possibility. At this point in the year MLS teams are in pre-season form and it showed in most first round games involving an MLS team this week. Under those types of circumstances anything could happen.