Looks like we will have a pretty tough road this year. IF we get past the first round, we will most likely face Monterrey, then Olympia or Tigres. http://www.concacaf.com/page/CL/NewsDetail/0,,12813~2798152,00.html
I'm probably confused, but I thought that whichever team has the best record in the group stage will face the group winner with the worst record, and so forth? If so, we have no idea who we will face in the quarters, if we get through. It all depends on how well we do in the group stage. Right?
I think Ivensor is right. You're ranked 1-8 not by group but by qualifying record. So you WANT to earn the 12 points if you're to win your group. They've created an excellent incentive for really kicking ass in the first round, which I applaud. Digging a little I see Herediano got eliminated by Cruz Azul 6-2 on aggregate last time they were in CCL in 2009-2010.
not necessarily true at all, it all depends on how we finish in the group stage. quite frankly Jason needs to throw those MLS results away during the CCL run, we absolutely MUST get the best results we possibly can in CCL. as for our group, my quick research: Herediano will be a BEAST, we got really unlucky on this one. They won the Costa Rican Primera division Clausura this year and were runners up in the fall 2011 Apertura. They play in a relatively small stadium (~8,000 capacity) and have won the third most Costa Rican titles behind Saprissa and Alajuelense. I just hope Sabo is absolutely FIRED up to play them, no more being a bitch having to face a former team, I dont know if Sabo ever had something of a rivalry with this team during his Saprissa time, but he should set those countrymen allegiances aside. They last qualified for the CCL in 2009-2010 and got crushed by Cruz Azul in the preliminary round, 6-2 on aggregate. Tauro won the Panamanian 2012 Clausura and has won the most championships and runners-up in that league's history. Tauro finished last in their group of last years CCL: TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts UNAM 6 3 2 1 8 2 +6 11 Toronto FC 6 3 1 2 7 7 0 10 FC Dallas 6 2 1 3 6 11 −5 7 Tauro 6 1 2 3 7 8 −1 5 so take that for what its worth. It certainly wont be a walk through the park with this group, but I think we stand a good chance if we are healthy. IMO we should whip Tauro, they finished 6th in the 2011 apertura and 4th in the 2012 clausura but won the clausura playoff to qualify for the CCL. They actually finished behind Arabe Unido Clausura table and aggregate table for this season. edit: here is something INSANELY random, anyone remember Jafet Soto? Dude scored a pretty cool half bike/side volley for RSL against Chivas I believe it was in 2006. He is now an "administrative manager" (some kind of coach?) for Herediano.
Tauro is fairly legit. They've been in several previous versions of the CCL, and they beat good teams at home. link1 link2 In 08-09, they were edged out in the group round by Puerto Rico -- ending with the same points, goal differential and number of goals, and losing on head to head results. That was their best showing so far.
So does anyone know much about Herediano and Tauro? Herediano kept out Saprissa — can we attribute that to the former's rise or the latter's decline? Tauro can't be scummier than Arabe Unido…right? Would Panama City make a better away trip than San Jose? Also, if the group is tight, whichever club sits out the last match could be at a huge disadvantage. Has CONCACAF addressed this at all? EDIT: I guess since only one club can go through, we at least shouldn't have to worry about two teams kicking the ball around for a draw. BUT if one team knows it only needs a draw to win the group and/or the other knows that it's eliminated, it could still be trouble.
meh, quite frankly if we dont crush Tauro than we wont be advancing in this tournament. last year Tauro finished last in their group and the only reason their group stage line even looked half way decent was because of that crazy 5-3 win over FCD. otherwise they scored 2 goals in their other games, total. and that's in a group with toronto. Tauro didnt have that great of a panama liga season either, they finished 6th in the apertura and didnt qualify for those playoffs. then they finished 4th and barely qualified for the clausura playoffs which they did win (but it's even worse than the MLS playoffs, only 3 games total). overall they finished 5th for the whole season with a 15-9-12 record. the game in panama city will be difficult, no doubt, but we should beat them at home.
I'm not an expert at all, but from what the other posters have said in the season news thread, Herediano seems to be a very good side. I wouldn't forget about Tauro, because we know what happens when RSL underestimates their opponents. I'm really looking forward to this competition now that the draw has taken place.
My bad...I should have read the whole thing. I just read that last section. In the semifinals, the winner of 1-vs-8 will face the winner of 4-vs-5 (with the 1-vs-8 winner hosting the second leg), and likewise 3-vs-6 will play 4-vs-5 (with the survivor of 3-vs-6 hosting the second leg). In the finals, the team that prevails out of the upper bracket of 1-vs-8_4-vs-5 will host the second leg.[/quote]
pretty middle of the path in terms of difficulty with this group. Echo what UP said in that we better kill Tauro but Herediano will be a huge test. Getting a win here will be key and then doing our best to get a result there will be the key.
Um, I'm kind of confused. Since we only have three teams in our group, why does the CONCACAF website show six rounds for the group stages? Playing a home and away series would only give us four games. Where are the other two games coming from? Each team plays a home and away series against it's reserves?
The CONCACAF website has the schedule for 6 rounds, which seems like two round too many for three team groups. Playing a home and away series would only give us four games. Where are the other two games coming from? Each team plays a home and away series against it's reserves?
maybe everyone doesn't play on each day they have set out? Or are they having the quarters and semis before the winter break? (Now that would be retarded)
Two of the rounds RSL won't be playing in, because Tauro and Herediano need to have their home and away series too. I'm really just guessing, but this seems right to me. with a group of only 3 teams, one team is left out each round.
Oh, duh! I guess I wasn't at school the day they discussed how round-robin tournaments work with non-even numbers. Duh!
According to RSL's twitter, we'll learn our schedule in 2 weeks once all the other leagues in CONCACAF are finished.
The ideal time for RSL to get games, given when they have to be and our schedule, would be: 7/31 @ Home 8/28 @ Away 9/18 @ Home 10/23 @ Away Will this happen? Probably not but if we could pick, this is how I'd want it. It makes the games happen at times when we aren't having a thick schedule and keeps travel to a minimum. Also, know what sucks, how close Panama and Costa Rica are to each other vs how far away they are for us. Going from Panama to Costa Rica is essentially like going from Salt Lake to Phoenix (if not less) Match fixing, in this format, is way too easy I might add. With the groups having odd number teams it will mean one team finishes their group play sooner than the other 2. This could setup huge issues if one of the teams playing could jump them and the other has absolutely nothing to play for and is located in an area that is known to have match fixing issues (read pretty much anywhere not in the US and Mexico)...
I suppose that this can be addressed by having the top 2 seeded teams in the group play on that final day. This way, even if there's an advantage, the team benefiting from it can be seen as having earned it by being a higher seeded club.
I am afraid we will have a really hard time getting through far. If we don't fix our defense and we happen to make it past the first round, then don't expect us to have a higher seed.
seeding will be interesting, but that's the last thing we should be worrying about. As you said, our defense is an issue. And, with this format, you can't have issues. One game dropped, and you're ********ed. Lucky for us I think Tauro won't be a complete pushover so Alajuense will struggle to get the full 3 points there as well, but you have to win your home games and get at least 2 if not 4 points from your road matches.
If I may... Don't worry about Herediano. They did win the most recent Costa Rican tournament...but their owners (Roxie Blen and her son, Mario Sotela), are mismanaging the team into the ground. Biweekly fights over unpaid salaries finally exploded in the offseason: the players had to participate in a postseason friendly just so that the ticket revenue would cover the bonuses the club had promised them before, and a number of their best players have jumped ship (including ex-Rev José Carlos Cancela). Blen has also talked about "cutting costs" for next season, so Herediano are deliberately making themselves as harmless as possible.
you know, this team named Toronto FC is very poorly managed. Yet, somehow, they found a way to not only get through their group above a decent side in FC Dallas, but then they beat LA (though that doesn't look anywhere near as impressive as first thought). You don't qualify for this tournament if you aren't a decent side. I don't care what is going on with the club, nobody can be taken lightly.