D.C. United came close to overturning the deficit in the second leg against Pachuca last night - winning the game 2-1 - but still lost 3-2 on aggregate.
However, the team looked like they can build upon what is still the early days for their season, and go on to win glory in 2008!
An injury-prone Dynamo got hammered 3-0 in Costa Rica by Saprissa, though - Saprissa and Pachuca square off in the Champions' Cup final at the end of April.
While I'll probably get pounded on by my friends if they ever read this post, I think you're right.
The MLS, both the the teams and the fans, should grab ony whatever works for them from the European and South American football traditions, and then find out the rest out on their own. Seriously, I believe that these things develop on their own, and they need to not be forced, or people will just turn their back on it.
It's happening right now.
In Europe we've got numerous examples. In my country not that many years ago, a club got a sweet sponsorship, so they decided they needed to "beef" up the fans. The creative staff hired by the club came up with a name, designed shirts and everything, and kinda just figured that of course tha fans would love. They didn't. Not at all.. See, these things need to come into existence on their own accord.
Sounds like the furore which sprang up when Red Bull bought SV Austria Salzburg and the New York/New Jersey MetroStars and turned them into walking billboards for their brand.
Neither was quite a popular move.
At some point 30-50 guys will start waving banners, and singing songs at every match, calling themselves "Galaxy Growlers" or whatever. This will spark interest among another teams fans, they'll try to compete and that way it'll grow. At least that's how it happens over here.
The sports sections of the various newspapers also grade the fans' effort, and it is common belief that great fans count as the 12th player, having that much of an impact on the both the home and the visiting team.
The fans of the various clubs compete in loyalty, creativity regarding songs and banners, and on the various homepages new songs are put out for download so they can be practised.
That's been happening from the outset - D.C. United have several groups of ultras, such as La Barra Brava and the Screaming Eagles, while Toronto FC have the Red Patch Boys, Galaxy have the likes of the Galaxians and the Angel City Brigade...
...and the Philadelphia team has had their supporters' group, the Sons of Ben, for years - even before the city was awarded their franchise, and before the team even starts playing (in 2010)!
There's at least one ultra per team, but United and TFC lead the pack as far as home fan support goes.
So if you guys want this in the MLS, it's gotta grow on it's own, and it's gotta be your way, or else it wil surely be rejected. Alot of the European countries have fairly similar fan cultures, but we've also been playing international club football for many, many years - so the best teams are measured against the best teams from other countries. Geographically speaking, you guys really don't have that many "easy" opportunities for international matches on club level. So you've gotta go your own way, as long as it's compatible with FIFA standards.
As I said earlier:
It's called the
CONCACAF Champions' League - due to take over from the current
Champions' Cup in late 2008.
Also, there is
SuperLiga, which started last year, and which will start this year in July - it has 4 teams from both MLS and the PDM contest for a million-dollar prize (no laughing matter for any team in Canada, the US or Mexico) and the right to call themselves the best team in the region (as opposed to the best team in North America as a whole, which would go to the winner of the CCC/CCL.)
Plus, the CONCACAF trophies have been hotly contested by Mexican and Central American teams for decades - so MLS teams are taking part in a tournament which has had plenty of history of its own.
One thing though, how do you guys feel it affects the MLS that there's no qualifying and relegation system in place?
I believe this is one of the things that really hones competition, so that every year teams playing like crap are shit-scared of not making the cut, and having to spend the entire next year in a lower division. This also means that the best teams of the second best division really have something to fight for, trying to make it into the top division.
Could this work in the States? Or do you only have the MLS, and no second best league?
MLS is run as a single-entity - esentially all of the teams and the MLS head office form one big company.
Essentially, it share the kind of 'major league' structure which the NHL, NFL ,NBA and MLB have used for a long time - and considering what MLS is up against, and the kind of carefully-planned strategy it needs to ultimaely thrive, it is best suited to take on the twin challenges of both competing alongside the older major leagues in Northern America, and in trying to stake a claim on a hemispheric and worldwide soccer stage.
It is the way it is - and it's better to be like that then risk seeing the same thing that happened to the NASL - where there was no salary cap and no single ownership, and while the Cosmos were front-page news, and regional rivalries developed an endurance which lasted to the present day (such as that between the Cascadian rivals in Vancouver, Seattle and Portland) the league as a whole ultimately fell apart.
MLS is
not interested in being next to fall any time soon.
And I see it in a different way - teams can plan longer-term, as regards building upon their squads, or re-working their mistakes, because they are at less risk of collapse as part of a single-entity league.
I want all MLS teams to be competitive.
And to be honest, I prefer it this way - the single-entity means that no team can buy its way to domination, and the balance in the system means that the winning teams earn their honours by their on-field accomplishments, and not because they have a richer bollionaire in charge than anyone else.
There's the USL (United Soccer Leagues) First Division, which has teams in both the US and Canada, but I'm not sure if that's considered MLS' second-tier. I remember hearing mention of the possibility of Montreal's USL team being "promoted" to the MLS within the next couple of years.
It's considered the next division down from MLS in Canada and the US, but there is no pro/rel. They are run separately, but both fall under the remit of the United States Soccer Federation (and have clubs which fall under that of the Canadian Soccer Association).
However, there is the likes of the US Open Cup, which has teams from both divisions compete against each other - and in Canada, there is a new three-team tourney between the MLS' Toronto FC and USL-1's Montréal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps, in which the winner goes on to take Canada's place in the Champions' League.
Both the Impact and Whitecaps want into MLS - but it's a case of getting the right bid together, for the league to accept them as expansion franchises. Montréal have a good start, with two very rich backers pushing for membership, and a brand-new home ground just beside the old Olympic stadium which can be easily expanded to MLS standards - and pre-existing and passionate fans of the Impact who would turn out in numbers for a Montréal MLS team.
The Whitecaps also want in, to follow both their counterparts in Toronto and their fierce rivals down in Seattle (who start in MLS in 2009) but have red tape to clear with the new Waterfront stadium they want built in downtown Vancouver before they can make the final push for a bid.
In both cases, the two teams have competition from American cities who also want to host MLS franchises (some of which have no pre-existing USL-1 team, and would be starting from scratch).
) under your skin you'll have such a gigantic player potential that it'll blow the rest of us away.
