RJB Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Given that the TFC already have one in the bag, I thought it might be timely to consider this question. Do we think that the league champion is best represented by the Supporters Shield winner, or by the MLS Cup winner? My feeling on this is that MLS Cup is more coveted, and so therefore is the more important trophy. I don't like this, as I think that a league winner over a season is a more complete team, however in MLS since teams know this, they often don't put their best team forward. Essentially I don't think teams try to win the Supporters Shield (not that they try NOT to win it), but they simply want to get into the playoffs - they want to finish hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad_Impact Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 I think the supporters shield is important but the MLS cup will always be the true championship. I was recently reading an article about FC Dallas and when it brought up their recent supporters shield, I realized that I had already forgotten that they had won it. If a team wins the shield and proceeds to have a bad showing in the playoffs, the memory of shield can fade pretty quickly. I do think that the supporters shield is the harder trophy to win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 North America is about playoffs. Even Liga MX has them. MLS Cup is the prize and it's simple as that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 15 minutes ago, Chad_Impact said: I think the supporters shield is important but the MLS cup will always be the true championship. I was recently reading an article about FC Dallas and when it brought up their recent supporters shield, I realized that I had already forgotten that they had won it. If a team wins the shield and proceeds to have a bad showing in the playoffs, the memory of shield can fade pretty quickly. I do think that the supporters shield is the harder trophy to win While I mostly agree, I don't at all agree with the final statement. The MLS Cup is more difficult for the same season as North America's other league: the season is long, you're worn down, the pressure to perform in the playoffs is much higher and failure can erase everything achieved prior in the year (the best example of this is the 2015-16 Golden State season, set the league win record and no one remembers it cause it don't mean a thing without a ring). There's also the factor of weather being harsher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtlMario Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 I think if we ask the Calgary Stampeders, we'll know the answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansem Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 This is North America so the MLS Cup winner is the champion. At least the winner of the Supporter's shied goes straight to the Champion's league. (Except if you're a Canadian team) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe MacCarthy Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 1 hour ago, MtlMario said: I think if we ask the Calgary Stampeders, we'll know the answer. Not to take this too far off topic, but this came up at a CFL thread. Calgary has been the best team for a few years now and hasn't got the job done when it counted and that means not getting more of a financial payoff, a coveted ring and your name carved on the Cup. The same goes for hockey, the league's champion wins the Presidents' Trophy and receives a payoff but like the CFL the Stanley Cup again gets a financial payoff, a coveted ring and your name carved on the Cup. If you ask the players which one they'd rather win the answer is pretty obvious. But that's really not the question, what the OP is saying definitely is true, but it is more likely a matter of perception. Also a playoff brings up more challenging circumstances and pressure. A team can win a league championship by being consistent over a greater period of time but to win a playoff you have to bring it when needed and raise your game at the right time. You could even bring in a religious argument, which is more important the birth or the resurrection. I would think most truly religious people would say the resurrection but which one is more celebrated? I guess you could come down to this simple point. If the regular season represented the champion (in everybody's eyes) why bother having a playoffs and crowning a champion. Maybe giving the regular season champion a title is a consolation prize when the best team over the season doesn't get the job done in the playoffs. Chicken and egg thing really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenFisk'sBiggestFan Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Although I don’t agree with it, I think this article sums it up.... https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/12/04/boehm-best-ever-what-if-title-belongs-sounders-not-toronto-fc Of course, just because the MLS cup is the hardest to win doesn’t mean that the winner is the best team. Was Seattle the best team last year? I don’t believe so. But it is still obvious that they are the champion of the league right now. For this year, whether or not TFC wins the cup this year, they are still the best team overall. However, if they don’t win, they aren’t the champion. The cup is the most important trophy that determines the champion, but I believe the shield is given to the best team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 28 minutes ago, BenFisk'sBiggestFan said: Although I don’t agree with it, I think this article sums it up.... https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/12/04/boehm-best-ever-what-if-title-belongs-sounders-not-toronto-fc Of course, just because the MLS cup is the hardest to win doesn’t mean that the winner is the best team. Was Seattle the best team last year? I don’t believe so. But it is still obvious that they are the champion of the league right now. For this year, whether or not TFC wins the cup this year, they are still the best team overall. However, if they don’t win, they aren’t the champion. The cup is the most important trophy that determines the champion, but I believe the shield is given to the best team. Again gotta disagree because there have been years where the shield winners were not the best team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 6 hours ago, matty said: Again gotta disagree because there have been years where the shield winners were not the best team. That has to be one of the most absurd statements of all time. "Cup form" is random and not the measure of the best team. A league championship is won by the team that has the best record in the league over the whole season. Week in, week out, they persevere and earn the most points of any team in the league playing all the other teams in the league. There is no other way to determine the best team in the league. A few odd matches against a select few opponents is fun and worthwhile (see: Arsenal the last two season) but it does not represent the champions, the best team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 28 minutes ago, ted said: That has to be one of the most absurd statements of all time. "Cup form" is random and not the measure of the best team. A league championship is won by the team that has the best record in the league over the whole season. Week in, week out, they persevere and earn the most points of any team in the league playing all the other teams in the league. There is no other way to determine the best team in the league. A few odd matches against a select few opponents is fun and worthwhile (see: Arsenal the last two season) but it does not represent the champions, the best team. I'm referring to the conference situation in MLS causing MLS's shield winner to be debatable as the best team of the league but honestly because of the fact the MLS Cup is the LEAGUE CHAMPION it's fair to say that it's winner has earned the bragging rights to claim they are the best team (while the shield winner does not). MLS teams know that ultimately only the MLS Cup truly matters and they are working towards it not the Supporters' Shield. The best team in THIS league wins that fucking cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 BTW anyone voting for the Shield please read this and explain why you disagree https://www.theplayerstribune.com/sebastian-giovinco-toronto-fc/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unnamed Trialist Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 1 hour ago, matty said: BTW anyone voting for the Shield please read this and explain why you disagree https://www.theplayerstribune.com/sebastian-giovinco-toronto-fc/ Because Champions League is a playoff format and rarely does anyone disagree the winner is the best or very close to it in Europe. The consensus is the winner is deserving. Same with the World Cup. And same with the Gold Cup, no one sat around when we won arguing how Colombia was really the better side in the tournament, for example. Consensus for cup-format winners is broad and rarely are the merits of a playoff winner put in doubt, in any sport. Which is why the MLS choice to use that format is perfectly legitimate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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