Excuse my ignorance but could someone explain briefly how the MLS operates as opposed to regular Euriopean Leagues. e.g. playoffs, cup competitions etc.
Anyone have links to other threads or sites pertaining to this topic. I have one. www.mlsnet.com That should get you started.
OK, from a competition point of view, there is a total of 10 teams made up of 2 conferences(or groups) of 5. All 10 teams play each other a number of times, each team play a total of 28 games in the regular season. The top 8 teams make the playoffs and are finally wittled down to 2 for the MLS Cup. So the team who finishes with the most points does not neccessarily become the Champion. And the third worst team during the regular season could actually end up winning the whole thing. However there advantages for this format. Because it is not a relegation/promotion system, it does provide almost all the teams something to play for until the end. Indeed this was the case this year when every team was still in the hunt right until the last weekend of regular season matches. There is also the US Open Cup which is like the FA Cup made up of MLS and A-League teams (and others?) in a playoff style format.
Well, they have this long oak table with about fourteen chairs. On the desk, they have packets and folders and pens. And, in each chair they put monkeys. These are the ones that make the decisions.
Re: Re: Confused about MLS In other words, very similar to the European leagues, but in the European office the monkeys have big piles of cash to defecate on, throw around the room, etc.
Excuse MY ignorance as a newbie, but could someone please explain to me how the EUROPEAN leagues work? I, thus far, have only followed MLS...... Every other league has the single table scoring. And I'm assuming there are no playoffs. If this is the case, what does a team in say, 8th place at midseason, have to play for? Essentially, since there is only one winner, is finishing 2nd in the regular season the same as finishing last seeing as how there are no playoffs? I know there is a champions league, and other cups, but i don't know what they are, nor do i know who participates in them Any explanation on the workings of the european leagues, to help out a newbie, would be greatly appreciated
this is incorrect the team that has the most points through the regular season wins the Supporter's Shield, the regular season title the top 8 teams then go at it in the playoffs for the MLS Cup a third trophy can be won in a competition open to any team that wants to enter... the US Open Cup LA has already won the Supporter's Shield and is in the title game for the two cups... to the best of my knowledge, no team has ever won all three -jim
Isn't the Supporter's Shield an unofficial title, which is bestowed not by MLS or USSF, but by the various MLS supporter's clubs? I don't believe the Supporter's Shield winner (most points during the regular season) is really coinsidered the Champion. That is reserved for the winner of the MLS Cup.
HotAsFire, allow me to educate you in the ways of European footie (to the best of my ability...) The leagues are single-table, so the top team at the end wins all the marbles. However, there are other things to play for. the top 2 teams from each league play in the Champions League, while 3-5 (more or less) play in the UEFA Cup. The UEFA Cup is like the NIT for soccer - nice trophy to have, but not quite the big one. The Champions League is roughly 32 teams, split into 8 groups of 4. Each team plays round robin, and the top 2 make it to the playoffs. From there, teams play home-and-home series and the better team advances. The winner of the final (1 game) becomes the European Champion. In most leagues, like Italy, England, Germany, and Spain, the bottom 3 teams at the end of the season get relegated (knocked down) to a lower division, while the top three teams in the lower division move up to the bigger league. this is big for the lower teams, because that means more exposure, better competition, and more $$$. so coming in second is WAY better than coming in last. Oh, home-and-home... it's not like best-of-7 or stuff like that. there's no real home-field advantage here. the teams play one game at each stadium, and whoever has the most goals at the end of the two games advances. if they have the same amount of goals, the team that scored more AWAY goals advances. if these are the same, too, then they go to penalty kicks. whoever wins this advances. It's weak, but better than a shootout.
Thanks for the reply Crew Basher.... from what date to what date do the european regular seasons take place? And how long after the conclusion of those do the champions cup and UEFA Cup tournaments begin? And it's the top 2 from every league in europe that make the champions league? I would then guess that some 3rd place teams in the best leagues get screwed....as they are probably better than the 2nd place teams in some of europe's lesser leagues.
actually i do believe that some leagues get more entries than others depending on their reputation and strength... although i have no idea how they formulate that.
The MLS Cup winner is the champion no matter how much you and some others (mostly Galaxy fans...we'll see what happens on 10-20) protest.
MLS does not have a fair Supporter's Shield because teams do not play the same schedules. MLS teams play some teams more than others. With 10 teams, MLS would have to play 18 or 36 games each (1 home and away, or 2 home and away,) but they play 28.
well, i consider PK's weak because they 1) create goats (as an italian, the images of baggio in 94, and dibiagio in 98 are still burned into my memory), and because 2) they don't really prove that one team is better. they just prove that one person can shoot past the keeper. it's a team game, and i know you have to pick a winner, but there has to be a nicer way about it. the european seasons are from late august to the spring (i forget exactly when - i want to say late april, but i'm not sure). and depending on which league you play in, you will get more teams in the champions league - the average is about 2. however, italy, england, spain, and germany have 4. then again, greece, turkey, sweden, austria, portugal, etc. only have one. there are 32 teams all together. you can go to http://soccernet.espn.go.com/soccernet/tables?leagueCup=UEFA.CHAMPIONS to check out the teams in the league. so, you're right, soccertim - i concede. the teams after 4th in the "big leagues" go to UEFA Cup- 5 to 8, maybe? i'm not exactly sure... oh well. i tried.