The way I see it is that if we want the region to be more competitive, we have to include more clubs and nations in this competition. Exposing them to higher tier of competition is the best way for them to improve, learn, adjust and come back stronger. We see it in CONCACAF League and CCL when some of the weaker teams are starting to settle in and adapt. That's valuable experience that should be recurring. A stronger region is also a good thing for the stronger clubs
Assuming it is an expanded CCL with group stage again I wouldn't doubt it CONCACAF will schedule it to interfere with Leagues Cup just to mess with Liga MX and MLS. CONCACAF wants to "improve" the area yet has no incentives for MLS and Liga MX. It is my understanding that Leagues Cup will pay four times more than winning CCL. (4 million?)
Most people dont care about the League Cup The opportunity to make the CCL a big thing in this region is there, just need to commit to it and stick with it.
Seems like an endless loop--we need a bigger continental competition, so let's add a group stage. Wow, all of these group games are hard to manage and interfere with domestic league schedules, so let's cut it down to a shorter knockout tournament. This knockout tournament sure is fun, but wouldn't it be more fun if we expanded it and added a group stage?
Most people probably don't but then again they won't care about playing against more amateur teams in an expanded CCL either. Looking from the POV of owners of teams competing in Leagues Cup or CCL, Leagues Cup brings more financial benefits than CCL if you win it. Not saying LC is better but if CONCACAF really wants to improve it then improve the prizes too. Maybe match what Leagues Cup is giving out.
By "they" you mean who? Perhaps Montagliani decided that building the tournament up and grow its scope would attract more US fans over time. It's the right decision. Doesn't stop the League Cup from happening but make no mistake about which competition Liga MX will prioritize. I totally agree with you there, hence a longer tournament would be a first step for higher money prize for clubs.
In a word, yes. Montreal was not a top MLS team at that time. The gap has been rapidly closing, but MLS had a lot less depth and top end talent then. Heros Dilly Duka and Cameron Porter demonstrate a lack of talent combined with good fortune. Montreal advanced twice on tiebreakers and had an easy draw. That said, hats off to that team.
By "they" I was referring to the same people you were referring to. How well does CONCACAF promote CCL for people to care? Is CCL the most talked about competition in this area by fans or even Central America? I wonder if people in the Caribbean even care about it too. And just by looking at attendance everywhere for CCL, not many people care about it as much as some people believe they do. And by Liga MX prioritizing CCL in a group stage, it'll be the same as before where they send their B teams to play in it. It already happened, it'll happen again. As a matter of fact it is still happening. If we had a CCL of 32 teams now it will be the 10 that qualify directly (4 MLS, 4 MX, 1 Canada and 1 Caribbean) plus the 22 teams in CONCACAF League. There are a bunch of bad teams in those 22. Only way to make CCL better is by other leagues spending the same as Liga MX and MLS. Even that, it's taken MLS years with its salary cap to catch up. But it is no mystery that money does buy talent. Unfortunately for our area (CONCACAF) we don't produce the talent at the rate countries like Brazil and Argentina do. And whatever good or decent talent that may pop up in Central America or the Caribbean they won't last long their bringing them back to square one. In order to improve those leagues you need money, it's that simple.
And? Results speak for themselves in CCL against tougher teams than in MLS. They simply prioritized CCL over their 2014 season and made adjustments in the off season which helped them deeper in the Knockout stages. As many pointed out to me, they ended up having a great 2015 season. Or the team just found better options? They advanced on tiebreakers because they got the job done in tough away matches in the heart of CONCACAF, even at Azteca of all places. Might want to acknowledge the hard work that was put in to get those results. You don't see me saying that this weeks away results were "flukes". They worked hard for those results and worked for it.
Yes and no. If you look at the games this year MLS teams were leading 6-0 in the first 15 minutes of each half. If you look at the first 35 minutes of the first and the first 15 of the second half MLS teams were up 9-2. If you look at the last 10 minutes of the first and last 30 of the second half they were outscored 8-1. A clear pattern in every game demonstrating the impact of the lack of fitness from being in preseason form (let alone obvious lack of sharpness). With that in mind the fact that last year 4 of the 5 MLS teams were essentially knocked out before they played their second league game of the season doesn't quite look as bad. Look at difference of Atlanta vs Herediano, then Monterrey, then América. Now we'd need to see them play in Mexico to get a good sample. But again their result doesn't suggest a huge gap. Now KC is the glaring exception to the above, but they were a clear outlier. They went crazy trying to get in shape on their own, sleeping in altitude tents etc. and destroyed Toluca 5-0 in the first round. However, the rush getting in shape appeared to hit them later as the were decimated by injuries, got hammered by 10-2 by Monterrey and limped to the near the bottom of MLS. In general, you did not have very many strong MLS teams in the competition last year.
I don't disagree. But when you are counting on Cameron Porter and Dilly Duka to put up 3 against Pachuca, I think most would agree their run had a very strong element of very good fortune - something many might call a fluke. Both of those players should be theoretically in their prime and neither are near the caliber of players that currently get on the field in MLS games. The difference between now and 5 years ago is stark. Liga Mx might have improved as well. But if so, the difference is much, much smaller.
Because they weren't. Except, in a hilarious coincidence, Montreal's draw, in which they were outpossessed 71-29 and outshot 22-7.
Well, they not only accommodated the league that "they" followed the most but that league was even offered "choices" for the knockout stage. MLS didn't want it's end of season and playoff time interrupted so opted for the heart of winter. CONCACAF sold the right to CCL so it's being broadcasted, whether all the games are indeed broadcasted is another debate (we have the same problem here fyi). Sure, the prize money should be significantly higher but what else CONCACAF supposed to do? If clubs and league aren't hyping the tournament, then this is what you get (fyi, the rest of the reason makes it a bigger deal than in the US, promoted also by clubs & leagues) Football is number #1 in the region (except US who have 4 bigger leagues, Canada with Hockey, Cuba & Dominican Republic with Baseball perhaps). Low attendance doesn't mean the interest isn't there. Disposable income matters and CCL can be watched on TV and social media (which I've done quite easily when traveling in the Caribbeans) My Mexican friends can correct me if I'm wrong, but they are "expected" to advance in Mexico. They see the bigger picture, which is going to the Club World Club and making the likes of Liverpool sweat like Monterrey did this year which grows their brand beyond their borders. Depending on the opponents, they might send a B team vs. A team from Belize, sure...but Belize will benefit from playing a club much stronger while younger Mexicans see minutes...what's wrong with that? So? By exposing them to better competition, they improve. Look at Europa and Sudamericana (10 nations sending LOTS of clubs). Why do you think CONCACAF is still a joke confederation? Because of that foolish mentality that it should be US vs. Mexico only and screw the rest. Well...if the rest stays mediocre, the regions stays mediocre Expending is absolutely the way to go. They obviously can't but cash isn't everything. We see it yearly how modest clubs can be really competitive to clubs spending much more than they are. The only way to make CCL better is to go through the process of more clubs facing elites and be patient. Overtime, they'll improve and make the competition much tougher even for elites. MLS has improved, but so are Liga MX. Catch up is a massive stretch. For which you have to overpay for... It takes time. MLS need rules making team having to give a minimum of minutes to young Americans eligible to the USMNT mandatory. Mexico is doing it, so should MLS. Well, you're leaving our that those parts are scouted by Europe and South America. Haiti has always been very closely watched by France. Football being #1 in those parts, how can there not being talent? If you watched CONCACAF League, the Nation League qualifiers you'd see it. There's good players out there and it took those competition including the Gold Cup for some of them to be found out. From that good Haitien squad, Seba signed at Montreal Impact, Geffard at Halifax and others in Europe. A larger champions league & CONCACAF league would just help uncover even more by involving more clubs.* *Copa Sudamericana = 10 nations sending 44 clubs meeting 10 clubs eliminated from Libertadores. We're the last Confederations that should have this "elitist" thinking
Porter had a severe injury by the way cutting his career short so we'll never know how far he could have went if he stayed healthy. Not saying you're wrong about the element of chance but it stops being a fluke when they get this consistent type of results all the way to the second half of the second leg finals against America. Credit to the coaching staff and players executing the plan are deserved. I dont disagree that chance was a factor, but it wasn't "only" that. MLS has improved, no doubt but it isn't "much, much smaller" not yet.
How is it a fluke if the other team sucks at finishing? That's on them, not lady luck Kepper did his job and defense did enough to salvage a result in CONCACAF, they deserved it, like any other club regardless of country or league
Considering LAFC was playing a much, much better opponent, they weren't half bad, The had some clear scoring opportunities and moments where they started remembering how Bradley wants them to play. Look at how Toronto and Atlanta fared against much weaker teams last year. Some of the better players on other teams are former MLS players that are no longer good enough to take up an international roster spot on the likes of Cinci and Vancouver or dare I say Montreal.
If you look back in the old US Nat thread about him, I thought he'd be better. He was running right by German national team players as a college kid. Essentially losing two years to injuries really hurt him - especially when you consider he got a late start from playing 3 years of college ball. His explosiveness which he displayed on his goal (look at the starting position and the timing of the initial reaction to the ball for all 3 players) is world class. He always had good vision and decent skill. I figured with getting some decent coaching he'd become competent with his completely deficient left foot - something he largely has done. Now that he can take the ball down the line and actually cross with his left he has become unstoppable 1 v 1 for most outside backs.
Krkic and Dos Santos played for Barca. Neither are in Donovan's class. When he played against top Euro players in international competition he more than held his own. When he went on loan in EPL, he stood out. Some people will argue Pele wasn't great because he never played in Europe. Some people are fools.
Losing two years hurt a lot and if you look more closely at his goal you will see he still is freakishly explosive. If he had good coaching earlier in his career he would have been an unstoppable two footed player. One doesn't need to lose two years of development to finally get some good coaching.
It is not an excuse. It is reality. Anyone that knows anything about training players understands this. Just look at the timing of the goals. Mid season Red Bulls II kids beat up on Mourinho's pre-season EPL team a few years ago. Only Tyler Adams eventually got to their level.
Pretty darned good estimate. That is almost exactly when MLS teams stopped scoring and started leaking goals in their first games this year. By the second half they were sucking wind after 20.
Got to make hard decisions. You need to balance near term vs long term. That money will help them over time. Running into a good Leon team so early hurt more than anything. Zimmerman wasn't going to fix that.
Quote was from twitter not Borden. But making it bigger, won't make it better. MLS and LigaMx are at a completely different level that is only going to grow. When a team like Montreal, which many pick to be dead last in east can take a pre-season team to Saprissa and get a result the game is over. Once upon a time Costa Rica had some strong teams. Those days are gone and by 2023 it will be much worse. If they put USL and Ascenso MX in competition with the rest of CONCACAF you'd probably have a really good competition. Fans like Borden with delusions of grandeur for CPL might be aghast, but it would be a good competition that a lot of teams could win. The only possible alternative would be a pan-Caribbean league but I doubt that would help as the entire country doesn't have the population size anywhere near USL teams.
Oh my. The mental gymnastics needed to get to this is impressive. Bravo, sir. 10 out of 10. Using 2020 data to explain 2019 results, while simultaneously ignoring the equivalent 2019 data. Novel approach. And the fact that the Liga MX teams did better in the first leg being because of fatigue is rather innovative. Because obviously teams who are unfit and play midweek-weekend-midweek are going to look best in the third game. And KC? Going from properly fit to completely ground down in just a month's time? Were they doing three-a-days the entire time or something? We do this same song and dance every year. Yet, even if we only look at the data from after MLS has gotten into its season a bit, that only looks worse for you. We both agree that MLS is improving. Why not be content with actual facts? I just don't see the point of the imaginary inflation of its relative strength. What's the point?
Perhaps. I agree that he's still one of the best pure athletes on the field every time he plays, but that advantage is no longer so great that he can get away with just outrunning opponents now. Sometimes, losing a big advantage is what it takes to motivate a player to put in the technical work.