We would have hosted the MLS Cup Final this year if we had those rules(we beat Atlanta at home....) ... Now they change the rules...
RB would find some way to lose under any format.
We would have hosted the MLS Cup Final this year if we had those rules(we beat Atlanta at home....) ... Now they change the rules...
We are good enough to beat the best teams, and bad enough to lose to the worst teams.
three game format is painfully long and just a terrible perversion of the two legged series...You summarized the problem perfectly, but the conclusion you just made only makes the problem worse. 34 game season. Then one bad/average game or a bad call, and you are out to inferior opponent. Like you said, with a play-off system, regular season games are less meaningful. If you have a 3 game play-off series (could end after two with a win and a draw or two wins), that would increase the chance of a better team to go through and leave less things to chance and luck. Plus you get more meaningful games to look forward to.
With a play-off system the only sport that has 1 game elimination is football. But football is a high scoring game, draws are almost impossible, and there are no opportunities to just defend with whole team and go to PKs. 3 game play-off series, is the way to go, and I feel after we get a few upsets with single game elimination the League will once again go to 2-3 game play-off format.
three game format is painfully long and just a terrible perversion of the two legged series...
And on another point 14 teams?! At most it should be the top 3 in both conferences...
Or better yet just do away with the playoffs
The single table structure is boring. In Europe the same teams start to pull away each season and by the halfway point (or sometimes even before that) unless you are following an oil money club why continue watching? To see your team maybe finish in the top couple spots so they can get pummeled by the same oil money teams next season in the champions league? Or grab a Europa League spot to face a bunch of no-name clubs?three game format is painfully long and just a terrible perversion of the two legged series...
And on another point 14 teams?! At most it should be the top 3 in both conferences...
Or better yet just do away with the playoffs
Do away with playoffs and what, play a 46-game double round-robin?
We are good enough to beat the best teams, and bad enough to lose to the worst teams.
The single table structure is boring. In Europe the same teams start to pull away each season and by the halfway point (or sometimes even before that) unless you are following an oil money club why continue watching? To see your team maybe finish in the top couple spots so they can get pummeled by the same oil money teams next season in the champions league? Or grab a Europa League spot to face a bunch of no-name clubs?
In theory the format makes each game more important but it sure doesn't feel that way. There is no huge showdown to look forward to at the end of the season and it's pretty lame.
There are pros and cons to both systems. In the single table system it is generally the mid-table teams who play the most drama-less games with little on the line. Take Everton or West Ham for example. They are in 8th and 9th in the Premier League. They are both halfway through the season and have no realistic chance of either qualifying for Europe or getting relegated.
In MLS, it is the worst teams that play the most meaningless and drama-less games because they know at about the midway point of the season they won't make the playoffs.
I think one thing the MLS system is better at is making it more likely that the best 2/3 of the league are playing meaningful matches towards the end of the season. In Europe, it is the best third and the worst third of the league who are playing meaningful matches at the end of the season. The middle third of the league, with many teams that are better than those playing in the more meaningful relegation related games, have relatively little on the line.
"To believe is to suffer. It is like loving someone in the dark who never answers." - Antonius Block on Metro fandom
In the single table system it is generally the mid-table teams who play the most drama-less games with little on the line. Take Everton or West Ham for example.
We are good enough to beat the best teams, and bad enough to lose to the worst teams.
I love this format, when we inevitably crash and burn out of the playoffs we won't have to scrounge up some sort of insane optimism like with Atlanta this year. Just one horrible game and gone.
Guys were never ever doing away with playoffs, this is america and its our culture.
Trust me I massively dislike but unless fifa comes in and says no more you have to have a single table balanced schedule then its not happening.
And on another point 14 teams?! At most it should be the top 3 in both conferences...
Agreed - way too many play-off teams and also imbalanced bracket. So, a 5th seed is guaranteed to have first two matches on the road, while a 6th seed might actually get second match at home. Basically right now it is better to finish 6th than 5th. If regular season excellence is important, how is this allowed? Should have kept 6 play-offs teams at the most, like in NFL.
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