Some awesome games tonight. Great goals and energy. A few shockers too (uh…Mazatlan?). Gonna be fun quarters. Club America the only major Liga MX club left. Wow. Now they could win it all but….wow.
Yep, some heavy hitters from the MX side and the current tournament champion Miami out on their butt. Cruz Azul, Toluca, Tigres. That Columbus v Miami game was a blast. I knew they would find a way back from the 2-0. Cruz Azul at least fought back but that missed PK by Antuna and Giakoumaukis just killed them. Now we get Seattle Sounders v LAFC and Columbus v NYCFC. Great matches. I think the next League's Cup champion comes out of these matches. Tho America of course is a also to be considered. It would be nice if Colorado could take care of them.
All MLS final. Good on the Rapids. Bets on games in Mexico next year? EDIT: LAFC vs Crew would be a fascinating final.
Very enjoyable games. I am sure some adjustments are coming down the pike. I would like for them to explore cutting MLS season down. I am sure nobody would miss 4 or 5 boring season games to be able to incorporate this tournament at the end or beginning of season and avoid the long break. Colorado v America was a trip. We had both Mazatlan and Colorado at the end of their run but Mazatlan almost pulled it off and Chris Armas is probably still at the stadium hugging people over his win. Unbelievable back-to-back champion America could not take care of business. Malagon was inconsolable. Keep in mind that this dude Malagon did not have to take a turn at the pens at that time. That Colorado told Zack to take one made Malagon take one too because the next America taker was Caceres who was on his way to the spot but Malagon waved him away. Dude broke down immediately after taking that horror of a PK. Even Zack went over there to say a few words of encouragement. Heartbreak!
MLS teams would get smoked at the beginning of the season, just like they do in CCC/CCL. LigaMX and MLS are about on par, it seems to come down to which league is in mid-season form. What they could do as a bare minimum is not take an entire month for this thing. FIFA completes a World Cup in less time. SUM marketing squeezing every last penny out of soccer in the United States is, I fear, a very shortsighted strategy.
Unfortunately, I don't think we are yet at LigaMx level but we are getting closer. I say we aren't equal yet because when playing each other our Away tecord is much worse than theirs. Also our average payroll remains significantly less than theirs. But I would guestimate we are 75-80% there. Give us a decade and we will be on fully equal footing methinks.
I agree MLS is not yet at par but that gap is very small now. That not a one MX team is even in semis tells you this. This after last year when MX teams got a taste of what it's like to play a tournament on away basis. And certainly the heavy hitters should be able to reach at the very least, the semis. Especially against teams like Colorado. What happened to Cruz Azul, Toluca, Tigres, Monterey, Chivas, Pumas? None of them can play outside their own stadium? I think our different styles of play in MLS and our athleticism plays a big part in throwing the MX team off just enough where they can't get a good grip. That will also change as these embarrasing results get analyzed by them.
TBF haven’t MLS teams only won like 3 times in 28 years is Mexico? I still think it’s timing. I don’t think LigaMX teams suddenly got way worse between March and July or MLS teams got significantly better.
Timing is part of it but as I have said before MX has a double season with very little time to get players rusty. Timing is a factor but then you have to believe that timing is responsible across the board? All those teams are so off their game that MLS has their way with them? All of them? Even the top teams that basically have two MLS starter quality teams in each of their rosters plus two seasons per year that doesn't allow for teams to be out of playing condition? You take a team like America, no body on that team makes less than 1.5 million. That's the shallow end of the pool for them. But you combine the timing with styles of play in which most of their tactics are more technical while MLS teams are more run and gun with the stamina, the physical power and the strong challenging tactics and you have something there. That and of course the no-home-games factor and it adds up. Although at some of these venues, you would think the MX team is the home team the way their fans fill the seats and get loud and chanty. Those who went to the Chivas game will agree and that happened all around this tournament often. So I don't think that is a huge factor. I also think your 28 year comparison cuts way too deep. I am talking more the last 5 or 6 years. Going back more than ten years and its a completely different world for these two leagues.