MLS to announce tomorrow that next year's first round will be Best of 5 to "reduce variance and unpredictability."
Not that I'm any particular genius, because I certainly got other things wrong, but I said Miami's inability to defend was going to hurt them in the playoffs, and I was right.
Pretty unbelievable that the top 3 all lost in round 1. El Trafico winner seems to have a pretty clear path to the Cup.
Hey, the way things are going, I wouldn't count on El Trafico happening. There's a whole 'nother round to get through.
I just read a comment on social media along the lines of: Tomorrow, MLS decides Miami are the 2024 MLS Cup champions.
I hate that we lost, but damn the schadenfreude from Cincy and Miami losing feels like a good coping mechanism.
Really sucks to think about how our path forward could have gone if we had been in form. But, any of the top 3 could say that.
Don’t forget the Crew would have had to beat NYRB in Game 3. And we weren’t really playing all that well against them.
As I believe @Bill Archer once said, Toronto realized you can't just throw anyone out there and expect to win. You gotta do it *right.* Hahaha, Miami.
As much as I hate Miami and loved to see this, I think the bloodletting in the East shows undeniably that playing 8-15 games more than the rest of the east had an effect on The Crew, Cincinnati, and Miami. I would not be surprised to see Don change things. Expect to see expanded rosters starting in September, meaning callups from MLS pro, and I also expect to see a changed format for Champions Cup and Leagues cup, allowing for the same.
What happened to gressel. He was key for Miami the first half of the year and then disappeared. He's not a bum, but he struggles to defend. Maybe he, suarez, and messi can't all be out there at once
Pardon my ignorance, but what extra games did Miami play? Didn't they bomb out of Champions Cup relatively early? Not to mention that we sent them packing from Leagues Cup early as well?
They played 5 less games than us. CCC Semis and Final (3) and Leagues Cup Quarters, Semis, and Final (3) - 1 extra playoff game. Messi, Suarez, and Gomez played several games in the Copa.
Playing six fewer matches before the playoffs start is a big difference if you ask me. Especially since their game one was against the Wild Card team that was playing their third game in seven days. You might be right that national team duty closed some of that gap for their big guns.