Care to re-think this one yet, since “the same coach who WON THE CCL last year” has played two home games and lost them both, getting outscored 5-1 in the process?
they changed the tournament format in part to reduce CCL lag. Really though, I'd like to see CCL in the fall, wrapped up before MLS hits its playoffs. If Mexico has two half seasons anyway, what does it matter whether the CCL is in one or the other? Meanwhile MLS wouldn't be stuck in preseason, and as a plus the CWC entrant would have the same roster they won with
Then MLS will prioritize the season over CCL specially if its during the final weeks before the regular season is over.
So then play it in the late summer instead of the rumoured MLS-Liga MX Cup they're talking about... I mean there's gotta be a better solution than now, one that can work for both MLS and the split season leagues
It's not the schedule and TFC proved it last year already. You need depth for International tournaments which none of the MLS teams have. Someone gets hurt and out of the 8 or 9 good players you have, you will not have anyone equal to replace them with. With the season staring earlier next year, MLS will have more time to prepare compared to this year. But as you will see results will be the same. Schedule is not the issue.
In World Cup years other than 2022, and maybe in Gold Cup years also, there's not enough time in between national team tournaments and national team matchdays in September for four rounds that take eight weeks. Furthermore, some of those midweeks have U.S. Open Cup games. If you finish the CCL in between the September and October national team games, players on northern teams like the Red Bulls and a national team could have to make three or four trips to other Concacaf countries in six weeks between the CCL and national team games. I don't think MLS clubs care enough about the CCL to want it to be a different time of year. Most MLS clubs probably feel like even if MLS finally wins one, it won't be them. In terms of there not being national team and U.S. Open Cup games, early in the season has the midweeks available more. Clubs not bring their best players, and I think not even head coach Bruce Arena once, to Group Stage away games show that clubs wouldn't want the CCL then. No matter what time of year you pick, there are reasons not to have the CCL then.
Fair points. I'd settle for spreading it out a bit, maybe play the early rounds now and then the semis and/or finals later in the season when they can squeeze in a spare week. Can market it to fans in the US as if it appears to "line up" with the MLS season in the way the UEFA CL does
Very late to this party but I started thinking about this since Kansas City got drubbed at Monterrey. My thinking's somewhat similar to themodelcitizen's... I honestly don't know if it would make any difference in results, but I'd be very curious to see what would happen if you ran CCL in two phases. I have to think it makes some kind of a difference when you're playing a tournament in your preseason/early season against a team that's been gelling for eight months. Wouldn't it be a bit more judicious to ensure the tournament format forces all participants to play a couple rounds under those conditions? So... Round of 16 and quarterfinals would take place right around when they already do, say start of March. That's MLS preseason, on into its opening month, and it's right in the middle of the Liga MX Clausura. Advantage: Liga MX to my thinking. Semis and Final would instead be in August. Late MLS regular season, but still almost two months to go before the playoffs. Early Apertura for Liga MX. For reference, in 2018 the CCL semis started on April 3 and the last leg of the finals was on April 25 - you can do these legs in a month. Advantage: MLS. Or you could flip it, and have the opening rounds in August and then the semis and final in March. Either way you're spanning two seasons for either Liga MX or MLS. There's simply no avoiding that given the vast season differences.
If you kept one midweek off between the Semifinals and Final, the second leg of the Final would be four weeks after the first leg of the Semifinals. Given the national team games in September (with players released in August), it would be impossible to play four CCL games before the national team games unless the Semifinals started in July, and it can't start too early in July because of Gold Cups and World Cups (even if no players were in the CCL and the later rounds of the World Cup, I wouldn't want them to be played at the same time), not to mention the USOC and All-Star game. If Concacaf has several clubs in a 24 team Club World Cup played in June and July, the CCL can't be played then.
This tournament has to work for all the countries in CONCACAF. Many of them play split seasons. Playing part of it in the fall and part in the spring means that most of them would be playing it during two different league seasons. That is a problem. When CONCACAF went to the current knockout format MLS was asked when they preferred to have the tournament spring or fall. MLS chose the spring because they didn't want it to conflict with the playoff push in the MLS season. No one ever proposed spreading it out the way that you are suggesting. It is very unlikely that it would happen.
I suppose it can't overlap with the CONCACAF League either, as it's now effectively qualifying for the big show. At the very least, it's starting way too early... and I'm not just saying that as a jilted TFC fan