Let's say MLS swaps the calendar. December = MLS Cup June-August = I'm guessing there'd be a summer tournament, whether Leagues Cup, FIFA WC or something else. Late August = New MLS Season But what the hell do they do from March-June? That's a long time to not have games. USOC? Random one-off games against other MLS teams?
Easy. They'll gin up a pre season tournament with a ridiculous cup for the winner. Probably a " World Cup Format" with group stages so that Apple has lots of games. It's nauseating, but who wants to bet they don't do something like this? You just watch.
You’d need to play a half season, can’t let national team players (for all World Cup qualified nations) just sit around from November-ish (for 80% of teams) to June. I think a half season, like an apertura/clausura would be fine. Play each team in your conference once and have a short playoff. Hell, I’d be fine with an honorary Jordi Alba Cup, have the champ of each conference go straight into a final. Or do a final four. Done.
Chuck Blazer told me a story once about San Pedro Sula; he said it is the gay capital of Central America and one day the US was playing there and a Honduras player got badly hurt. They were in the locker room when the ambulance people were trying to load him but he kept screaming that he refused to leave without his partner, who.couldnt get there because the security was so tight. Finally Chuck went out beyond the cordon and gave him FIFA VIP credentials so that he could get into.the locker room and then ride.in the ambulance. He said the CONCACAF media people were terrified that the story would get out, not just because of the media but particularly since Jack Warner was a notorious gay basher and they all figured they'd be fired. Ah the old days.
The only thing I have seen was Gomez talking about the cans coming from a section of Blue. There is no love lost between Honduras towards Mexico, so I have no problem seeing them pelt some Mexicans after a stunning victory.
Miami “draws” Palmeiras and Porto in the Club World Cup. Sounders get stuck with PSG and Athletico Madrid. Quelle surprise.
Leagues cup News. Wonder if the Crew might still have to go as defending Champs. They did that to houston in the usoc New update: Leagues Cup is considering a format that sees only 18 MLS teams participate in the upcoming edition. The 2025 iteration of Leagues Cup would pit 18 MLS teams against 18 Liga MX teams. https://t.co/cwshL2C2LG— Lizzy Becherano (@lizzy_becherano) December 5, 2024
An article about interference in the VAR booth. The featured incident is a VAR review of a potential PK due to a foul by a Crew keeper. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/59...-longer-in-control?source=user-shared-article
Something similar happened in the Bundesliga. A PRO manager (not an active ref or one assigned to the game/VAR booth) called into the VAR booth after a check was complete and said it's a PK and to recheck. They held it for a long time, but they did not give into the manager. Something like that happened 5-6 times this season. They feel undue pressure. People forget how wacky the refs were this season with the strike.
85% of owners would prefer the FIFA schedule and to have Leagues Cup start in January. Just learned that only 4 teams opposed this. I think it’s only a question of when, not if.
How and why?? Don’t the I/O’s of Min, Chi, StL, KC, Den, Tor, Mtl, and other northern teams realize that will really cut into their attendance and STM’s considering people don’t want freeze their butts off going to late Nov/Dec matches? And that viewership is better going up against baseball and baseball alone for three months of the summer?!?
When the NHL and NBA have to postpone games because of inclement winter weather and they play inside... Nevermind the CFP ticketing snafu. I'm hearing talk from OSU fans of it being too cold for them...and they're die-hards. Just imagine what a Crew game in the middle of February would do to attendance.