...This league is not wide open?!
DC United - Last Place
Columbus - First Place
Who would have ever thought? This league is for the taken. Just because we were a 1st year team last year doesn't mean we can't make a serious impact right off the bat.
Who was it that said...
...This league is not wide open?!
DC United - Last Place
Columbus - First Place
Who would have ever thought? This league is for the taken. Just because we were a 1st year team last year doesn't mean we can't make a serious impact right off the bat.
@FluSH_RPB / IG: @Flush.rpb
The Legendary
RED PATCH BOYS
you said it....time will tell. All the absences for international duty will really tell us where we stand....if we can weather the storm with starters gone I don't think there is anything we can't accomplish.......The team is solid....and if we pick up a top notch finisher, we will be that much better.....
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"Just like JDG. It wasn't a post-and-in shot, but JDG is smart & experienced" - Carts
I remember Bruce Arena being pissed off last year because there's so much parity in the league that little things like luck or an injury to a single player can shift the balance of power.
Moderator
What amazes me is the gap in points between the East and West. The East's lowest-ranked team has more points than the West's highest-ranked team!
Did the USA , of all countries, just fix soccer? - C. Ronaldo, May 27th commenting on the FBI-led investigations into fraud and corruption throughout FIFA.
When the East is in the House....
@FluSH_RPB / IG: @Flush.rpb
The Legendary
RED PATCH BOYS
Here's something else that proves this point - remember how we felt last year mid year (say, after the Chicago game away)?
we were only two points out of the playoffs, Dichio, Cunningham, and O'Brien were going to be really something now that they'd had a chance to play a few games together.....
Originally Posted by Cashcleaner
Ahhh, Cash buddy what standings are you looking at? I see DC the east's lowest team at 6 points while Colorado is tops in the west at 12. What irks me and should irk all MLS fans(in the east at any rate.) is the lack of a single table and the fact that each conference is guaranteed spots come play-off time.
As it stands at the moment, in a single table situation all the teams in the east except DC would be in and only Colorado and LA would be in from the west, the fact that Houston would be "in" if the play-offs started tomorrow under the current system is a joke. They're worse than the sixth best team in our conference and "guaranteed" a spot... it's mindless and it makes no sense what so ever.
You are right but they are just following the north american sports model at least it's not the top 4 in each division & things will probably even out that the top 2 teams in the west will have earned a playoff spot.
RPB Road Warrior. DC United 9/29/07, Columbus Chaos 3/25/08, DC Rumble 5/24/08, Montreal Madness 5/27/08, Chicago 7/12/08, Kansas City Opener 3/21/09, Columbus Smoke 3/28/09, Boston Bus Bounce 8/1/09, Montreal 1000 4/7/12 Montreal 3200 3/16/2013 Columbus Bus Breakdown 3/21/15, Montreal Playoffs 10/29/15, Montreal Opener 04/23/16, Montreal East Final 11/22/16, Chicago 08/19/17, NY Semi-Final 10/30/17, Columbus East Final 11/21/17, Montreal "Dichio Lives" 3/17/18
You're right. I agree.
What the league is after is maintaining a little drama in the playoff races to keep the fans comming in.
At this rate, a couple eastern teams are likely to be screwed.
The lack of a single table is really only affecting your eyes, not the results. Because the playoff system takes two from each division minimum and then the rest are decided by who has the best record.
I'd safely assume the two best teams in the west will have enough points to have qualified anyway.
I would like a single table too... although that only works with a balanced schedule.
The purpose of the playoff guarantees for east and for west is that the schedule is unbalanced. So teams in the East play teams in the east more. Teams in the west play more of the west. If it's a whole single table right now, then you have an unfair table. By guaranteeing some # of teams from each conference, you add some fairness back to the playoff ranking thing.
It makes as much sense as a salary cap. This is a young league, it has to do whatever it can to build interest all over North America. It couldn't survive if the same 2-4 teams dominated every year.
This year the top three teams from each conference make the play-off with the next two best teams regardless of conference being in too.
So even if teams 4 through 6 in the east are better then the 3rd best team in the west, one of those teams in the east is out regardless of the fact that they actually would have finished with more points.
Similar to how it is now in sports (NHL, MLB, NBA, NFL). You would think that regardless of how you finish, the point total would have a say in your post season appearence.
MLS is deffinitly one of the most unpredictable leagues in tee world. Teams can be top of the league one year and then last place the next. You never know whos gonna win any given game.
I love the way our boys have been playing. The points they are racking up now will be very important down the road. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. There will be some tough games ahead. We are moving up the table during a long home stand. There are teams ahead of us that are winning on the road. Our boys have to show that they can do that as well. I'm glad that BMO has become a fortress but I think the key to a play-off spot is winning road games. That and having Mr. Soccer Spice in your conference so the league changes the rules to let more crap western teams into the post season.
They're playing the MLS Cup in L.A. in the hope that they can manufacture a Cinderella story for Golden Balls. They've added an unwarrented guaranteed play-off spot to the western conference to increase his chances of getting in. And they're praying that by November the stories will read "In his first full year, Becks wins the cup!" But what they fail to account for is this game is a team sport. There are no star quarterbacks or pitchers who can carry a team. It doesn't fit the American mold. And despite the PR bullshit about being a "World Team" the Galaxy are crap and Toronto FC is going to kick their asses at the end of the month.
That would work fine if you played every team the same amount of times, but the teams play others in their own division more.
Actually, I agree with you, though, I'd prefer a single table. On the other hand, I really want this league to grow in popularity in North America, so baby steps...
The simple solution is to only expand by two's to keep the league even then, and would allow for a single table/balanced sked.
The only reason I can see them sticking with regional conferences is to cut down on the likelyhood of lets say an all east coast playoff race. Hard to get half the country to care about that..
As compared to how much of the country that currently cares about the MLS playoffs?
I see your point, but your thinking like an NHL/NFL/NBA/MLB fan in terms of regional conferences, with a single table we can finally drop this east/west schism. Play-offs should be about the best teams in the league, if the west only has one or two teams that can qualify this year that's the way it should be, we all know that next year it could be the opposite.
The best 8 teams in the league should get in, if say the 3rd seed in the west gets in and the 6th team in the east is out but has more points at the end of the season, it would be a farce. That could seriously impact a club and it's fan base don't you think?
Well it's like in the NBA. You put all the teams into one conference and suddenly what was once the Eastern Conference is now a joke fighting for the 16th spot (minus 2-3 teams)
An LAG-TFC final would be awesome!
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