CONCACAF Champion's League

mmmmsnouts · February 25, 2016

The Galaxy already have Gerrard, and then they went out and got Ashley Cole AND Nigel De Jong? I didn't think they could possibly be any more detestable but I guess I was wrong.

Arteta2391 · February 25, 2016

I think it is growing as a competition here

But it is not as glamourous as the Liberatdores or the copa Sudamerica

mmmmsnouts · February 26, 2016

For me the MLS calendar is the single biggest reason they don't fare well in CCL. The quarterfinals are the first competitive fixtures of the year for these teams while the other North American leagues have been going at it for 5 or 6 months. I don't think Liga MX is much better than MLS but they have a huge advantage in this tournament.

obc · February 26, 2016

Arteta2391 said:
I think it is growing as a competition here

But it is not as glamourous as the Liberatdores or the copa Sudamerica

And it will never be. Combination of history and futbol importance pretty much guarantee it's the "Euro League" of the Western Hemisphere. Don't think MX nor MLS will ever compare to the clubs of Argentina or Brazil in terms of history, mystique, or importance.

Still hoping we sort our mess out and adjust our scheduling to be competitive.

Garrick · February 27, 2016

obc said:
And it will never be. Combination of history and futbol importance pretty much guarantee it's the "Euro League" of the Western Hemisphere. Don't think MX nor MLS will ever compare to the clubs of Argentina or Brazil in terms of history, mystique, or importance.

Still hoping we sort our mess out and adjust our scheduling to be competitive.

I kind of wonder how MLS clubs would do in Libertadores. The Mexican clubs always seem to do alright, and it's not even their top sides. UANL made it to the final last year yeah?

obc · February 27, 2016

Garrick said:
I kind of wonder how MLS clubs would do in Libertadores. The Mexican clubs always seem to do alright, and it's not even their top sides. UANL made it to the final last year yeah?

Tigres or whatever? Yeah. Big reason why I rooted for River Plate even after they had just knocked out Guarani.

No idea if the Mexican clubs are that good or if they overachieved (see also: Guarani making final four) or they also benefit more from home advantage with super extended travel times for opposition.

Would like to see MLS clubs in a legitimate competition with SA powers to see how they stack up.

Garrick · February 27, 2016

obc said:
Tigres or whatever? Yeah. Big reason why I rooted for River Plate even after they had just knocked out Guarani.

No idea if the Mexican clubs are that good or if they overachieved (see also: Guarani making final four) or they also benefit more from home advantage with super extended travel times for opposition.

Would like to see MLS clubs in a legitimate competition with SA powers to see how they stack up.

I really wish we had a joint confederation. Think the regular competition against higher talent would benefit US soccer immensely.

There's a lot of logistical and political reasons why it probably never will. World cup qualifying would get harder for CONCACAF national teams.
Guarani vs Sarprissa over a two leg tie could potentially be a money losing endeavor for both clubs.

But I get this feeling that the only way to save New World club footie from the increasingly large piles of cash in Europe and China would be to band together.

Rook · February 27, 2016

Garrick said:
I really wish we had a joint confederation. Think the regular competition against higher talent would benefit US soccer immensely.

Nah joining would hurt immensely. I really think CONCACAF does a good job with the hex. The best 6 sides all play each other in the run up to the WC. You can experiment a bit in qualification because you can recover from a loss or 2 (I think one reason why African sides are conserative is because they have to be, one loss in the group stage there and you might be toast). You can also see what works against a side of actual professionals. Plus I don't really buy the fact that playing against say top 10 competetion makes one better (we'll play a Germany, Argentina or Italy maybe 1-2 times in a game of concequence once every 4 years or so; and the less they know about our side the better) but I do buy the fact that playing a bunch of college kids from the likes of Andora can make you worse.

We'd qualify for the WC oh say once every 12 years. We should scrap the Gold cup and have a joint americas tourney though. It would rival the Euros for popularity.