The CCL puts you in a position to have injuries. It couldn't matter less that, in theory, if things went perfectly our way with depth, training and knocks then we COULD have been healthy. But a tournament which starts in February increases the chances of a shit MLS season.
This is not like teams who gun for CCL in Europe, where if you make the final you have the talent and budget to sustain the job. We are in a salary cap league. Going hard for a tourney to start the year, resting players against league minnows and dropping points was a conscious decision. And we still go hurt.
So yes, my Bull shit argument is the CCL hurt us.
I will be actively cheering for our elimination from this tournament in game one.