2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup

[narduch]

The funny thing about MLS complaining about fixture congestion is that they basically had no mid week games from the start of the season until about June last year.

Also LAFC asked to cancel a bunch of league games early on for their CCL run. So they partly caused the end of season congestion on their own.

Also Cherundoldo isn't exactly a great coach and they basically were still using Bob Bradley's system. Which can also help explain their results 

[narduch]

21 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

You missed the whole Super League thing over in Europe?

How did that turn out?

[RJB]

6 hours ago, RS said:

They were horrible for much of the final third of the season but often won out on superior talent. It was most obvious in the final that they were running on fumes, but there were lots of warning signs before that.

It's MLS' own fault for their restrictions on squad sizes, but instead of relaxing some more of their roster rules they took the path of least resistance and eliminated the competition that they don't control revenues on.

Good point. Real football clubs in Europe never try to bully their respective federations and leagues.

The only actual difference here is that Concacaf is very weak in comparison to UEFA. The fact that MLS is a franchise system has almost nothing to do with it, because the "real" football clubs in Europe have constantly tried to pull the same shit (Super League, anyone?) but get rebuffed by a confederation with a backbone (with the help of FIFA).

The super league didn't happen because the clubs and leagues fought back. And by clubs, I mean the fans that are the backbone of a club, not the suits.  But I take your point, it's a fair one. 

[Kent]

9 hours ago, narduch said:

How did that turn out?

The point is that it was clubs, not franchises, that were being anti-competition in the name of greater profit with the attempted creation of the Super League. So greed isn't solely a problem with the franchise system.

[narduch]

So Starlight in Langford is also hosting the Whitecaps home game!

 

 

[Kent]

BC Place not available for the Whitecaps?

[narduch]

19 minutes ago, Kent said:

BC Place not available for the Whitecaps?

Home and Garden Show

[Watchmen]

 

[Kent]

5 hours ago, narduch said:

Home and Garden Show

I don't know what's worse. Playing a soccer game on artificial turf or hosting a garden show on artificial turf 😆

Seriously though, where would MLS be without CPL and it's infrastructure?

[BearcatSA]

4 hours ago, Watchmen said:

 

Judging from the highlights, I would agree about the lights at Willoughby stadium.  They gave off a mid 70s Empire Stadium vibe.

[SpursFlu]

4 minutes ago, BearcatSA said:

Judging from the highlights, I would agree about the lights at Willoughby stadium.  They gave off a mid 70s Empire Stadium vibe.

I'm not buying it. The whole lights don't meet the standards thing

Edited December 19, 2023 by SpursFlu

[narduch]

56 minutes ago, Kent said:

I don't know what's worse. Playing a soccer game on artificial turf or hosting a garden show on artificial turf 😆

Seriously though, where would MLS be without CPL and it's infrastructure?

It's funny, if CPL didn't exist where would they play? BMO Field? The US?

[Watchmen]

1 hour ago, BearcatSA said:

Judging from the highlights, I would agree about the lights at Willoughby stadium.  They gave off a mid 70s Empire Stadium vibe.

I think it's one of the things Friend has mentioned needs to be upgraded. Definitely felt bare bones when I was there, and I could see why it would be bellow CONCACAF standards.

[Watchmen]

44 minutes ago, narduch said:

It's funny, if CPL didn't exist where would they play? BMO Field? The US?

I'm curious as to why Swangard wasn't an option. It's hosted CONCACAF games previously (albeit its been a while).

[SpursFlu]

1 hour ago, Watchmen said:

I'm curious as to why Swangard wasn't an option. It's hosted CONCACAF games previously (albeit its been a while).

Probably because it's grass

[Mihairokov]

2 hours ago, narduch said:

It's funny, if CPL didn't exist where would they play? BMO Field? The US?

I had a similar question. Think the answer is either Orlando or Houston

[Kent]

So I just saw something on facebook which said the Home and Garden show at BC Place ends on the 11th. Cavalry's game is on the 21st (and presumably Vancouver's game could have been then). Does it really take that long to go from a trade show back to a soccer field that BC Place wouldn't be available then?

Side note. All the Mexican matches are in the first block of games (February 6-15) and all of the American matches are in the second block of games (February 20-29). Are they dictating the schedule?

[narduch]

10 minutes ago, Kent said:

So I just saw something on facebook which said the Home and Garden show at BC Place ends on the 11th. Cavalry's game is on the 21st (and presumably Vancouver's game could have been then). Does it really take that long to go from a trade show back to a soccer field that BC Place wouldn't be available then?

Side note. All the Mexican matches are in the first block of games (February 6-15) and all of the American matches are in the second block of games (February 20-29). Are they dictating the schedule?

It sounds like Concacaf had a date in mind and wouldn't budge.

[Watchmen]

36 minutes ago, Kent said:

So I just saw something on facebook which said the Home and Garden show at BC Place ends on the 11th. Cavalry's game is on the 21st (and presumably Vancouver's game could have been then). Does it really take that long to go from a trade show back to a soccer field that BC Place wouldn't be available then?

Side note. All the Mexican matches are in the first block of games (February 6-15) and all of the American matches are in the second block of games (February 20-29). Are they dictating the schedule?

 

25 minutes ago, narduch said:

It sounds like Concacaf had a date in mind and wouldn't budge.

Yeah, listening to the AFTN podcast, it was the broadcasters who set the schedule. Whitecaps asked Tigres to reverse the legs as BC Place would be available then, but Tigres declined (as is their right).

Swangard is still under construction and ar this time couldn't be confirmed as a host venue. Pitch is apparently in poor shape from the construction.

Langley meets the turf requirements but not the lighting.

So, just a perfect storm of events.

[SpursFlu]

I actually think both games being moved to Victoria are the result of the away team playing hardball

[Unnamed Trialist]

6 hours ago, SpursFlu said:

I actually think both games being moved to Victoria are the result of the away team playing hardball

Since it makes their travel worse, and maybe exposes them to more weather than BC Place, plus more fan pressure up close, let's hope it works for the Canadian teams.

[narduch]

A little bit of a shame now that they didn't expand the seating at Starlight 

[SpursFlu]

35 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Since it makes their travel worse, and maybe exposes them to more weather than BC Place, plus more fan pressure up close, let's hope it works for the Canadian teams.

I think there will be more Tigres fans than Whitecaps fans. There is a decent sized Mexican community in Victoria. Plus a lot of Mexicans in Mt Vernon with a straight shot ferry that runs from that area

Edited December 19, 2023 by SpursFlu

[SpursFlu]

I decided to dork out and check Ticketmaster and it looks like Forge have sold a ton of tickets for the Chivas game. Am I reading that right?

Cavalry in Victoria goes on sale Jan 10th

[Kent]

7 hours ago, SpursFlu said:

I decided to dork out and check Ticketmaster and it looks like Forge have sold a ton of tickets for the Chivas game. Am I reading that right?

Cavalry in Victoria goes on sale Jan 10th

I have no knowledge of how many tickets have been sold, but just a reminder that you can trust that a blue dot indicates an unsold ticket on ticketmaster, but you can't trust that a grey dot indicates a sold ticket.