I wonder what effect would this have on the MLS in particular, after their supposedly top teams got owned by midtable mexican clubs. What a disastrous setback for the MLS identity as a whole. It certainly leaves a tremendous scar on their fans and "future would-be fans" for years to come. ---------------- "Where have you gone Roberto Baggio? Dario Hubner turns his lonely eyes to you! Woo woo woo!" - "Riffster" on RSS.
Club América continued Mexico’s dominance in the 2003 CONCACAF Champions Cup, scoring four second-half goals and defeating three-time defending Costa Rican champions LD Alajuelense 4:0 Wednesday in the first leg of their quarterfinal series at Estadio Azteca.
Speaking as an outsider, it would seem that the MLS clubs are at a distinct disadvantage having to play these games at the beginning of their season while the other teams are at end-of-season form. I think if the games were played a month later, it would be a different story.
the Mexican clubs were able to recover after the Galaxy won it all...I don't see why MLS can't bounce back too. it's young.
MLS teams have never been able to recover from Home and away Tournys, They even stunk it up in the MercoNorte Cup. The only time they won the the Cups was when they were held in the U.S, in one week and in one venue..
The season just started so who is to say that these two clubs would not be midtable by mid-season. You never know in MLS. Also isn't Morelia top of the table in FMF? But you have a point. This stings. It shows our club teams have some work to do. It is only one year however. And for the first time the lack of US Media soccer coverage helps. No one will remember this except us MLS diehards and we're with MLS no matter what happens.
Re: Re: Re: All Mexican Final? They were and are the favorites. I was just saying to wait and see how the season pans out. Some teams don't live up to their hype. But you're right I would have said these were our two best teams this year.
Re: Re: Re: Re: All Mexican Final? I remember when many broadcasting stations specially the spanish sports ones were real excited about the MLS league when it was in its beginnings, but now its sad to see how they rarely get mentioned now. Everyone was real excited to have a Football league in the US. It looks like that excitement has gradualy died down.
We're not dead yet! That's because they were expecting (especially the mainstream English-language media) a revival of the NASL, with ass-loads of non-existent cash being plunked down to get international stars, who in return were looking for nice little playing-vacations stateside. What they got was an American league with American players, with a HUGE benefit to our national teams and the game in the US in general. As we've seen on plenty of places on this board, that's not what many soccer fans in this country (or it's various media sectors) neccesarily wanted, thus they went back to coverage of their own leagues on niche media outlets. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and this year's CCC was nothing more than a slight bump.
It's too easy to blast these small fish out of the water. MLS teams are not deep and have no youth teams worthy of speaking of and have suck SS back ups. It is really early for the league maybe if they expand the roster they get better results, but I don't think that would help much talent wise. Maybe if they increase the salary cap, but that would mean more foreign players which could be good or bad I'm not sure. FMF teams should thrash these teams, I expect nothing less.
Trash these teams?... I must assume then, either you are of very young age or this is the first CCC you are following, as you probably don't remember the previous cups. Checking from the concacaf.com website: 1997(August): DC United made the semis and tied for third place. The Galaxy made the final and lost. 1998(August): DC United made the final and won it! 1999(Sept-Oct): Both the Fire and DC United made the semis and played against each other for third place. 2000(Jan, in California): DC United made the semis and lost for third place. The Galaxy made the final and won it! 2001, CCC was cancelled: 2002(March & August): KC Wiz made the semis and lost for third place. As a previous poster said earlier; "this year's CCC is nothing more than a slight bump." So, I don't see why you think you "expect nothing less than the trashing of these teams by MFM". By this faulty logic then, the national teams of Portugal, Argentina and France must really suck because they were the first ones to exit WC2002.
I think that what he was trying to say is that not until the FMF clubs were "forced" to line up their regular starters and take this tournament seriously he would of of expected nothing less than trashing their competition.
revdup, what happened to MLS teams when they had to play home and away? Thats what I thought Its easy when Jacky and Chucky set up these banana republic cups for you guys.
less naivete, more pragmatism... I agree that early season form is a problem for MLS clubs. But obviously the bottom line is that MLS clubs aren't as strong as MFL clubs, which should shock no one who watches both leagues on a regular basis. Unfortunately, MLS clubs make already difficult matters worse by often taking very naive approaches in these games. They prefer to wallow in righteous indignation instead of taking a more pragmatic approach. In contrast, Latin clubs tend to test the refs early and then get as much as possible out of them for as long as possible. What the idealistic condemn as "diving", the more pragmatic regard as astute ability to draw fouls and penalties. You'd hope that MLS teams would've learned by now, but they cling to quaint notions about how the game ought to be played instead of adapting to how the game actually is played. Crag Merz of the Columbus Dispatch describes the practical approach: http://www.1460thefan.com/tf.php?story=dispatch/news/sports03/apr03/1748614.html When American players figure out how to draw fouls and deal with gamesmanship more effectively, MLS teams will fare better in this tourney. Righteous indignation may make you feel better, but it won't help you win games (or at least prevent blowouts).
Re: less naivete, more pragmatism... So basically what you are trying to say is that MLS football is "saint and pure" compared to other leagues worldwide? I simply don't buy this excuse.
Re: Re: less naivete, more pragmatism... No. That's not basically what I'm saying. What I said very clearly is that MLS is most hurt by the easily observable fact that MLS isn't as strong as the MFL. See the second sentence of my post above. I also said that MLS clubs make an already difficult situation worse by taking a rather naive approach compared to the more pragmatic tactics often seen by clubs in much of Latin America.
Re: Re: Re: less naivete, more pragmatism... Well either way I think this served as a great learning experience to the league. I completely agree with ************'s post. Home and Away is a whole different ballgame.
Re: Re: Re: Re: less naivete, more pragmatism... With MLS playoffs moving to a home and away format this year it will be interesting to see if it helps MLS Clubs in Concacaf Champions Cup in upcoming years.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: less naivete, more pragmatism... Makes you wonder what took them so long to implement "home and away", But then again we are talking about the same league that came up with the infamous "shootouts". I can tell you this for sure though. Home and Away games make playoffs much more even for the teams and exciting for the fans. I wouldn't be surprise if you see an increase in stadium attendance.
Not really: 1. The losses got little play in our mainstream media. No matter how popular soccer becomes here, Serena's latest court fashion or the Mets' oldest pitcher will still get the top of the fold. 2. The fans we have are die-hards with a typically Yank attitude of "there's always next year." It's called optimism. People here are born with it: they take a loss, get on with their lives and come back next seson. 3. The "future would-be-fans" are already lining up in places like Huston, Oklahoma City, Rochester, Philly, all proposing stadiums and clamoring to be included in the next MLS expansion. Sorry, amigo, but it really is happening here. In American English "setback" does not equal "disaster."