It's amazing how closely the Champions' Cup matches corresponded with my predictions (for once). The Mexican clubs advanced by comfortable margins, although Olimpia and Portmore United scored goals to keep the tie interesting for a while. And the Costa Rican clubs got pushed hard, and they got pushed very hard by New England and Los Angeles. But in the end the result was the same.
I need to make a more comprehensive post later, but I'll just say this. It's now clear that the MLS representatives take CONCACAF competition seriously and want to do well. The play of the Revolution and the Galaxy has improved greatly over previous years since the Champions' Cup switched to the current format. But despite this improvement, it's becoming clear that MLS teams are just not good enough on the international level.
If the league is serious about increased participation in international competitions such as the CONCACAF cups or even South America's Copa Libertadores, there has to be a sea change in the way the domestic league competition is structured. I want to discuss some ideas in a future post, and hopefully get some input from my readers.
Like starting the season earlier? Like getting more serious competition earlier for the teams that are involved? Not sure there's anything else that can be done. The rest of CONCACAF has a different season than us. Teams are in mid-season shape.
Posted by: ERic | March 09, 2006 at 06:19 PM
I agree with Eric, the season needs to start earlier or they need to start practicing earlier. The current preseason training isn't cutting it.
Posted by: Tim | March 09, 2006 at 08:44 PM
Even if MLS or preseason camps started earlier (and good luck getting the players' union to agree to either one), I don't think it would make much of a difference. DC United threw away a two-goal lead in their Copa Sudamerica tie, and those matches were played in September.
I think a contributing factor is that there are very, very few really important league matches that require full concentration by the players for 90 minutes. You can practically count the number of high-pressure matches on one hand. A fat payroll helps too, but Alajuelense and Saprissa have been successful in CONCACAF with a fraction of the payroll of the Mexican clubs.
Like I said, I'll talk about this in a later post.
Posted by: Howard Hamilton | March 10, 2006 at 12:14 AM