draft

Time to Abandon fake trophies

The last time an MLS club reached the CONCACAF Champion’s League final, in 2000, the twelve teams were split into three conferences. Two (arguably three) of them are no longer in existence. Now a mainstay in the United States backline, Carlos Bocanegra earned Rookie of the Year honors. The league, in it’s fifth year, was struggling to sign big names and earn the respect of a footballing continent dominated by Mexicans for decades. Nearly ten years later, the same sentiments could still be argued.
Nine years have passed since the once-dominant, now flailing Los Angeles Galaxy overcame CD Olimpia and the landscape of US Soccer is still struggling to find it’s identity with the rest of the continent. The talent is certainly improving, and we’ve seen big names come and go, yet clubs are still finding difficulties in attaining success in international cup competitions. If US Soccer and MLS are searching for a villain, I suggest they look inside their own offices. The main culprit has been, and seemingly will continue to be the schedule.
Mid-season friendlies, plastic trophies, and fixture congestion are destroying clubs health and fitness. Once a game of the Champions League’s caliber rolls around, they’ve nothing left to give.
First, and in my opinion the most important to go, is the mid-season friendlies. The All Star Game is great fun and I really do enjoy it, but when you schedule league games the next day, it doesn’t provide ample time for the true All Stars to return to their clubs, and therefore provides no purpose in testing the best MLS has to offer. I believe if you’re going to keep the All Star Game, you have to make it a true break and give clubs at least a ten day break from their already-congested schedule.
Continuing with friendlies, why is it necessary that MLS clubs add one more game to their schedule to play one of the world powers? Can’t Superpower A v Superpower B still draw in a double-header with an MLS club’s already-scheduled game? Again, I understand it creates revenue for the league overall, but add it to a game that wouldn’t normally sell like the Open Cup and throw it in a larger stadium. You open up your club to a much larger audience while giving fans of the game a treat. If that’s not reason enough, the money will still be there.
Moving on to faux tournaments, the existence of Superliga, the Carlsberg Cup, Pan-Pacific Championship, etc is farcical, these cups have run their course and have to go. Superliga is an excuse for MLS’ poor performance in the Champions League and aims solely to cash in on the US-Mexico rivalry. I’ve seen some high-quality games and it’s given younger players experience against talented opposition, but it’s completely unnecessary.