MLS IN CCL: Final CCL Groupstage Matchday (R) Aug 20,21,22

Well, that has more to do with MLS schedule. Change the current CCl schedule it and you mess with the rest of the CONCACAF leagues that do rest during summer. Start the group phase during Feb and you mess with the MFL paly-offs. Plus the MLS sides would have even more games during their pre-season.

The FIFA CWC is in December because it didn't fit at any other date , summer is a must avoid.

 

Generally, you want to avoid the leagues Play-offs. When a MFL team has to play the Copa Libertadores late stages and La Liguilla they have to man-up and play both, many times at the same day. But Concaf is our confed too. Plus most of the leagues would be during their off-season that deep into the summer.

It has more to do with the fact that most CONCACAF leagues aren't summer leagues...

 

Maybe the problem is the MLS scheduling not the Champions League schedule, but i don't know that much about schedules around CONCACAF, to be honest, normally it would be that USSF or in this case MLS should adapt to what CONCACAF wants not the other way around. Personally i would like it if Libertadores followed a schedule closer to the CONCACAF Champions League(of course in the case of the Libertadores you should add the Round of 16).

 

It would be exactly the same if a Russian team were to win the UEFA Champions League. Not that I expect that to happen any time soon, but if if did, it's not just an MLS thing.

Atlante won the Mexican Apertura in December 2007, which qualified them for the 2008-9 CCL, which they won this past spring, which means they play in the CWC in December 2009.

 

As you said, the mexican teams manage, even when they have a game at home and in Argentina on the same day. Thats pretty epic.

Isnt off season the right time to play then? Libertadores is played during the off season of most south american countries (with sudaemricana played during the season). There's overlap on both of course.

The giant gap in the middle is what most bothers me, I think even more so then the 2 year gap between qualification and the CWC

For reference:

South America:
January-July

Asia:
Feb-November

Africa:
January - November

Oceania:
November- May

CONCACAF:
August-May


There has to be a way to move the tournament so that it makes more sense. The old champions cup was played Feb-April. Why is Feb-July a problem? (added time for added stage)

 

Not true, for some it's off-season on the kick-off but off-season when it finishes, think that not everybody has the same schedule nor the same breaks at the same time.

 

May is Mexican playoffs and also playoffs for most Central American leagues. June and July are World Cup or Gold Cup 3 out of 4 years. As long as there is the current 16-team group format, the only real options are the current schedule, or a flipped schedule with the groups in the spring and the knockout rounds in the fall. I don't think that makes enough difference to worry about it.

 

I can't help but notice that you neglected the biggest club tournament in the freaking world in your post, and that runs from...drumroll, please...JUNE TO MAY.

Sarcasm aside, you have a point with the long break. It's way, way, way too long. But what are you going to do about it? You don't want to play during MLS's playoffs/off-season, nor do you want to play during the Liguilla, meaning the most reasonable time to break is during those months (November-mid-March), which CONCACAF does.

 

There are people who dream of a CWC with 16-32 teams held every two or four years. Club Soccer is not the same as National Teams and rosters can change very quickly. That is why holding the CWC on an annual basis is an absolute must.

PS: I got my 2009 CWC tickets and look forward to the Atlante matches.