http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?ART_ID=562136887 Soccer America has a great interview with Arena. Bruce's dream domestic league: edit: I like my title better.
Re: What Would Bruce Do (with MLS)? I agree with him on one point. I am all about rewarding the season winner more, but the playoffs should not include every team. That goes back to making the season meaningless, and that is the whole thing Bruce is trying to get away from. The teams lower in the tables should have something to fit for (playoff spots).
Re: What Would Bruce Do (with MLS)? Bruce Arena is the man. When he moves on from his current job, I'd love to see him in charge of MLS or U.S. Soccer.
I think CONCACAF needs to get their act together just as much as MLS, so people like, say, Bob Kraft actually care about international competitions.
Honestly, if the man wasn't doing the best job any one could ask for as coach of the USMNT, I'd want him running MLS, US Soccer, or heck, even CONCACAF (or all three at once for all I care they all need stronger leadership) I don't think that there is anything this man has said about the US domestically or abroad that I haven't agreed with. Heck, Bruce Arena for President!!
What a great article. Bruce even turns it around on the interviewer in the typical da Bruce fashion and starts asking him questions. BA: What team in the world do you think plays the best soccer? SA: Brazil. BA: Why is that? SA: They've got the best players? Pretty good suggestions about the changes that need to be made to the youth development too. Too bad that MLS clubs are not ready for that kind of expense for several years yet.
Re: What Would Bruce Do (with MLS)? Great point. I think he could be the man to lead MLS into it's golden era.
Re: What Would Bruce Do (with MLS)? The meaningless regular season syndrome not restricted to MLS. I'd love to see the tension you get out of college football where if you want to win the National Championship (BCS nonsense aside) you basically have to win every game, or lose no more than once.
Re: What Would Bruce Do (with MLS)? Does this mean he wants DCU to give back their 1996 MLS Cup title?
Re: What Would Bruce Do (with MLS)? WHat he should do is go back to school and take http://coachingsoccer101.com
Re: What Would Bruce Do (with MLS)? I don't think you can throw the BCS nonsense aside. People have been bitching for years to get rid of it and have a playoff system for NCAA.
Re: What Would Bruce Do (with MLS)? what bruce is doing is looking out for us soccer god bless him i could care less what we actually do, but making the games mean more would improve the play and the players... and directly effect us soccer well done
Re: What Would Bruce Do (with MLS)? Did anyone else read into it that he's not been offered a new contract already? Seems kinda weird, unless the Fed is already looking at going another direction.
It stumps me that MLS head honchos do not see how the regular MLS season means absolutely NOTHING almost. The amount of teams making the playoffs. The lack of urgency, no reward to kick serious ass, no reward until the playoffs that is. The regular season champion should be the champions of the MLS season, then break it into an east/west champ playoff.
Re: What Would Bruce Do (with MLS)? not really. The Fed didn't offer him a new contract until well after the last world cup ended
You want intensity? Increase the skill level of MLS backups. MLS does not need a "Beckham rule". It needs a structure where every player knows he can easily be replaced after a string of 2 or 3 games.
I would love to see this idea of seperate season champions and MLS Cup champions. It would not make the season meaningless. It would make it the "league champions" and then the Cup would be a seperate competition with everyone involved only using the league season for seedings.
I was lukewarm on this idea at first, but the more I think about it, the better I like it. Once the league championship is clinched, every team still has something to play for, the MLS Cup, which could be the second entry into international competition, or even just a bit of hardware to go get once the league title is out of their grasp. Of course, both would be a lot more valuable if that international competition were truly worth going after.
The trouble is one strong team in a weak conference can parley easy wins into into a season championship. Last season, for example, the West was clearly weaker than the East, and since teams play more games within their own conference, San Jose was able rack up points while the teams in the East were mired in a mosh pit of near parity. Without a single table a true season champ can't emerge.
And as usual Bruce Arena is right. Agree with him or not - his candor and honesty is refreshing. MLS absolutely has to improve the playoff system. Currently too many teams make the playoffs with too little reward for making it. We've got national team players and now the coach saying large portions of the regular season are essentially meaningless. "Win 2 game in a row in Septembe and you're in." Hell yes - the Supporters Shield winner should go to the CONCACAF tourney. We're sending our 7th, 8th or 9th (depending on how you count it) best team in the regular season against teams in leagues where they finished first or second. Just because they won the MLS Cup. That doesn't do MLS any favors if they actually try and win the thing. The Revs / Kraft obviously don't care too much - but someday oen team actually might. I don't know about Bruce's MLS Cup Tourney - but I am open to it and ready for a discussion. Its a much better dialogue than what the MLS execs are having about "every team should get to host a playoff game " and all that whiny crap. You wanna host one- get a better team. Its about raising the level of competition. Its about making games more meaninful. Selling more tickets is irrelevant. Better competition - more intense games - games with more on the line - that will help sell tickets. Watering down the regular season to nearly exhibition status so everyone has a chance to win is BS. Parity does that - each team has a shot at the BEGINNING of the season. Parity should not mean every team has a shot with 2 months left in the season. What's the point of that? Its like calling it a 1600 meter race but you only need to run the last 400 meters. Everybody walks or slow jogs the first 1200.
So has anything in the owrks from MLS on changes for 2006 relative to either the regular season or playoff structure or is it set to repeat 2005?
I pretty much agree with Bruce. The way I think MLS would be best is this: Have a regular season champion first and foremost and have that team receive the highest reward. Then instead of having a postseason/playoffs have the top 8 or 10 teams qualify for MLS cup in tournament fashion. You could have 10 teams and give the top 2 teams a bye and play a single elimination tourney. Or what I like best is to have the top 8 teams qualify for 2 groups of 4 teams and have them play a round robin group stage. Then the winner of group A play the 2nd place team from group B and vice versa. That would create a reason to keep the lower ranked teams playing for qualification.
Great post by Northside, and I agree 100%. For a short-term fix, for the Love of God, limit the number of teams that make the playoffs. There's shouldn't be more than 50% of the league that makes it. I'd be satisfied with 6 of 12. I'd be thrilled with 4 of 12.