Garrick
Awesome, lid.
I'd just like to get people's opinions and discussion going on the competition in general, so I'll propose some questions and comments and you can take whatever whichever direction you want. Not a lot of big North American footie fans around me geographically, so I don't get to enjoy a lot of discussion on the competition. Here we go:
The new format of 8 3-club groups with no preliminary round. Yes, I get that it's designed to help with fixture congestion, but we're one San Jose over Heredia win away from an all-US-and-Mexico knockout round. Some may say this accurately reflects CONCACAF as a whole, but I'm worried about this becoming a trend with only one team making it through from each group. No runner-ups mean that the sometimes competitive Central American clubs are going to have a hard time making it through. I'd personally like some more parity and more of an international flair, but does it matter in the end?
I've heard many argue in the past that the vast book of rules on running an MLS club (salary caps, designated player, etc.) may make MLS itself more competitive, but are a huge handicap when it comes to facing Liga MX sides that can pretty much do whatever they want. I'm sure if the big clubs like Sounders FC or LA Galaxy could spend how they so please, they'd be more competitive in continental play, most likely at the expense of parity in domestic. Any way out of this?
How do we/they go about getting people to give a s*** about this competition? The CCL generally pulls less than 10,000 people per match into the stands. Obviously way below all four competitions UEFA and CONMEBOL put on, and below the AFC Champions League as well. Yes, there are obviously some quality of play issues with more than half of the teams coming from very small leagues in very poor countries in Central America and the Caribbean, but even the games played in the US, Canada, or Mexico get attended poorly.
I guess I can provide sort of an answer to the last question. I think an MLS team winning the thing (which hasn't happened since 2000, back when it was a tiny 8-club throwaway competition called the Champions' Cup) would help to create some continental narratives and rivalries and maybe attract more attention. As of right now, the whole thing is known as the competition where CONCACAF clubs get together to play some soccer, and then in the end we hand the trophy to whatever Liga MX side wants it. Not exactly a starting storyline.
If you want to talk about the competition itself this year, please feel free. I just haven't watched much of it myself this year so I don't have a lot of insight. Outside of a Herculez Gomez hat trick against some poor, point-less team from Honduras. Ouch.
The new format of 8 3-club groups with no preliminary round. Yes, I get that it's designed to help with fixture congestion, but we're one San Jose over Heredia win away from an all-US-and-Mexico knockout round. Some may say this accurately reflects CONCACAF as a whole, but I'm worried about this becoming a trend with only one team making it through from each group. No runner-ups mean that the sometimes competitive Central American clubs are going to have a hard time making it through. I'd personally like some more parity and more of an international flair, but does it matter in the end?
I've heard many argue in the past that the vast book of rules on running an MLS club (salary caps, designated player, etc.) may make MLS itself more competitive, but are a huge handicap when it comes to facing Liga MX sides that can pretty much do whatever they want. I'm sure if the big clubs like Sounders FC or LA Galaxy could spend how they so please, they'd be more competitive in continental play, most likely at the expense of parity in domestic. Any way out of this?
How do we/they go about getting people to give a s*** about this competition? The CCL generally pulls less than 10,000 people per match into the stands. Obviously way below all four competitions UEFA and CONMEBOL put on, and below the AFC Champions League as well. Yes, there are obviously some quality of play issues with more than half of the teams coming from very small leagues in very poor countries in Central America and the Caribbean, but even the games played in the US, Canada, or Mexico get attended poorly.
I guess I can provide sort of an answer to the last question. I think an MLS team winning the thing (which hasn't happened since 2000, back when it was a tiny 8-club throwaway competition called the Champions' Cup) would help to create some continental narratives and rivalries and maybe attract more attention. As of right now, the whole thing is known as the competition where CONCACAF clubs get together to play some soccer, and then in the end we hand the trophy to whatever Liga MX side wants it. Not exactly a starting storyline.
If you want to talk about the competition itself this year, please feel free. I just haven't watched much of it myself this year so I don't have a lot of insight. Outside of a Herculez Gomez hat trick against some poor, point-less team from Honduras. Ouch.
