2020 CONCACAF League and 2021 Champions League

Discussion in 'MLS: News & Analysis' started by newtex, Sep 29, 2020.

  1. Robert Borden

    Robert Borden Member+

    Chelsea
    Canada
    Apr 19, 2017
    Toronto, Ontario
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    Toronto was a penalty away from winning it - so you might want to rephrase this
     
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  2. Salvadanish

    Salvadanish Member

    Sep 14, 2014
    Vancouver, WA
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    That's not the part we're tired of ...
     
  3. Mr_curious123

    Mr_curious123 Member

    United States
    May 13, 2021
    Toronto was an exception, considering the year after that MLS teams did really badly vs Liga MX and none made the final. Too bad TFC followed that performance w/ getting knocked out by a Panamanian side.
     
  4. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Just a point of notice here.. No one said MLS was closely competitive. In fact, you seem to be the only instance of using this phrase despite your use of quotes.. So.. Yeah... Don't be saying things that no one is saying. The closest you'll find here is that MLS is closing the gap, but that Liga MX is still ahead and are the favorites whenever teams from the two leagues meet..
     
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  5. Mr_curious123

    Mr_curious123 Member

    United States
    May 13, 2021
    Sorry, I might have misspoke by saying closely competitive. What I meant was past few years' results are not showing MLS closing the gap when Liga MX teams can still easily sleepwalk over MLS ones like the examples I listed.
     
  6. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    An MLS team just beat a Liga MX team in a home and home series.. But, as noted before, you need to look at who the Liga MX teams are fielding. A decade ago, they'd run out their B squads and either outright beat the MLS team, or they'd put on their star striker for the last 10 minutes and get 2-3 goals. Now, a decade later, they are fielding mostly A-teams in order to get the same results. That's what we call "closing the gap".

    That doesn't mean that MLS is going to start winning CCL on a regular basis in the next few years, but MLS is getting closer and we could see the first wins in the next 5-10 years.

    It's also going to depend on how Liga MX teams respond. They aren't going to sit around and wait for MLS teams to catch up to them and I'm sure they'll try to keep ahead. That'll certainly delay MLS catching up, but how much that ends up delaying things? Who knows.
     
  7. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    There was a time the Galaxy got knocked out by a Puerto Rican side.
     
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  8. RafaLarios

    RafaLarios Member+

    Oct 2, 2009
    Medellín
    Club:
    Atletico Nacional
    Nat'l Team:
    Colombia
    Red Bull fans fondly remember W connection too
     
  9. Paul Calixte

    Paul Calixte Moderator
    Staff Member

    Orlando City SC
    Apr 30, 2009
    Miami, FL
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Mind you, a lot of the MLS vs. Liga MX debate features as little nuance as the Europe vs. ROW arguments when the World Cup rolls around.

    On one hand, a certain group of Liga MX teams (most notably Monterrey, Tigres and América) rule Concacaf with an iron fist.

    On the other, MLS has eliminated MEX4 from the CCL three years in a row. Before Seattle sensationally knocked out Tigres, the closest any MLS sides got to eliminating anyone from Liga MX was RSL's group in the 2010-11 edition (RSL and Toronto jointly got 7 pts off of Cruz Azul... only TFC getting super deluxe Concacaf'd in Panama allowed Cruz Azul to sneak through). So there is measurable progress.
     
  10. STR1

    STR1 Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    May 29, 2010
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    I always see or hear of the times when Liga MX beats MLS but never hear from those same people when MLS beats Liga MX. You talk of excuses but you also ignore the excuses given when a Liga MX loses. I hear such things as "they didn't take it seriously", "it's only Tijuana or Toluca or Leon or etc it doesn't count until they beat xxxx", "they beat a team that was placed in xxx place in Liga MX", "the team was playing badly" etc. There are excuses on both sides. Check closer next time.
     
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  11. Nico Limmat

    Nico Limmat Member+

    Oct 24, 1999
    Dubai, UAE
    Club:
    Grasshopper Club Zürich
    Nat'l Team:
    Switzerland
    20 years ago?

    You mean when the LA Galaxy had just won the Concacaf Champions Cup? :D

    (And although it's now called a "League" we are essentially back in "Cup" territory with the current format that has no group stage)
     
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  12. Nico Limmat

    Nico Limmat Member+

    Oct 24, 1999
    Dubai, UAE
    Club:
    Grasshopper Club Zürich
    Nat'l Team:
    Switzerland
    The fortunes changed for MLS before 2009 when the "Champions League" rebrand took place. Precisely, it was in 2002 when the concept of home and away series was introduced. MLS teams really struggled with that change (i.e. the away leg).
     
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  13. AlbertCamus

    AlbertCamus Member+

    Colorado Rapids
    Sep 2, 2005
    Colorado, USA
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Seria A teams seem further from winning the UEFA Champions League than a decade team ago, but I bet they are not going to relinquish their spots. Also, I don't root for the "league" and all it's representatives, just as I bet many Italians don't root for Juventus in the Champions League. So, no, I'm not tired of the excuses because the tournament is competitive and entertaining. While I'm open to debate regarding how many teams each league "deserves", they are a lot of small countries in CONCACAF and low budget (although probably entertaining) leagues. I'd be interesting in a discussion about that if it was a mildly serious one, but I don't think 8 Liga MX sides would be entertaining.
     
  14. An Unpaved Road

    An Unpaved Road Member+

    Mar 22, 2006
    Club:
    --other--
    As a current MLS neutral I can understand “rooting for the league”, but if my local team joined MLS no way would I be rooting for weekly league competition to get international glory before my team.
     
  15. harrylee773

    harrylee773 Member+

    Jul 28, 2004
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Everyone is going to handle that differently. I cheer for country over league, so when there are US teams in the tourney I cheer for them, even if I’m rooting against them come the weekend. I don’t know that there’s a right or a wrong way to cheer when it comes to tourneys like this, other than the obvious of cheer for your own team when they make. Plenty of folk watch with no rooting interest at all, I’m sure.
     
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  16. crookeddy

    crookeddy Member+

    Apr 27, 2004
    For me, international competition elevates MLS. ANY team winning it is good for the league, and thus my team.
     
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  17. JoePanther2001

    JoePanther2001 New Member

    Portland Timbers
    United States
    Apr 7, 2018
    For me, I root for my teams first Timbers and Tottenham. I think it looks good for the MLS if a team like Atlanta United or Columbus Crew goes deep in the CONCACAF, but I'm not going to go all out rooting for them. I just think the MLS just needs to continue pressing forward. The CONCACAF certainly looks good, when teams go far, but not the end of the world if it doesn't. Continue growing the game here, and good things will happen later. 2027 is the make or break year for soccer (football) in the US. If popularity maintains the momentum from the '26 World Cup, then the sky is the limit.
     
  18. Paul Calixte

    Paul Calixte Moderator
    Staff Member

    Orlando City SC
    Apr 30, 2009
    Miami, FL
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My opinion: everyone except a team's immediate rivals should Kumbaya it (like Ecuador when LDQ Quito won the Libertadores in 2008) until one of us finally breaks the mould - then, we can be selfish and just cheer for our team in the CCL.

    ...ngl tho: if ATL had been the last ones standing instead of Philly this year, I'd have gone Liga MX or bust :D
     
  19. An Unpaved Road

    An Unpaved Road Member+

    Mar 22, 2006
    Club:
    --other--
    Obviously there's no right way. U.S. soccer fandom especially is filled with different ways of consuming the sport. For some the entire club game is little more than an extended training session for national team play. Myself, I guess I'm just too engrained in the manner of the traditional U.S. sports scene where winning the league is pretty much the singular everything. Even though there's an entire global landscape/hierarchy in soccer (and the sport gives people more chances to indulge in nationalistic posturing than you see with other sports), "root for the league" doesn't quite work for me. I forgot who it was, but it's kind of like when people were making fun of this one celebrity for wearing an NFL logo hat to the Super Bowl. :p
     
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  20. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Anyone who's been here long enough to remember #MLS4RSL knows where I stand on rooting for our rivals just because they're in CCL. I take each team as they come, some I'll root for, some I hope go out in a trash fire.
     
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  21. harrylee773

    harrylee773 Member+

    Jul 28, 2004
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, yeah, root for the league doesn’t make sense to me when we’re discussing a national tournament. I will root for a Mexican League team over an MLS team if it’s a team from Canada, because I have more ties to Mexico. And to be clear, when I say rooting, I’m simply referring to the act of watching a game and cheering, definitely not going out and buying merch or anything like that. The thought of dropping $40 for a hat with the MLS logo makes zero sense at all to me
     
  22. Paul Calixte

    Paul Calixte Moderator
    Staff Member

    Orlando City SC
    Apr 30, 2009
    Miami, FL
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    A decade later and you still refuse to answer whether or not you got a voodoo doll of Espíndola for that day :D
     
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  23. sitruc

    sitruc Member+

    Jul 25, 2006
    Virginia
    I keep it simple. Half of the equation is country to me so ******** Canada. The other half of the equation is ******** your team.
     
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  24. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I looked at NYCFC hats. The cheapest is $4.39 and the most expensive $31.19.

    Most are between $19.59 and $25.59.

    That's with code 20MLS, which is shown at the top of the page.
     
  25. morrissey

    morrissey Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 18, 2000
    West Los Angeles, Calif
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I bought this hat because we have a Chihuahua and it is damn cool - if any MLS team made anything close to this cool they would get more sales.

    [​IMG]

    LAFC actually has crossed over into non-soccer fan everyday clothing in LA - so many people wear the black hat.

    [​IMG]
     

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