Wasn't I Just Saying This?

Just last week, I was bidding a fond farewell to the Italians from Euro 04 after their staggeringly dull group play managed to produce a whopping 3 goals in 3 games. I hoped that this might mark the end of "take no chances" soccer and encourage teams to actually play for the win. Apparently, I'm not alone, as Beau Dure points out in his new column. His target is not the Italian national team, but rather the teams in MLS. Exhibit A, a comment from Freddy Adu last week after DC's 1-1 draw in Dallas that both teams were playing to "protect the tie" in the dying minutes. As Dure points out, this attitude seems prevalent in the league this year, partly because no team has any real incentive to sprint away from the pack.

An embarrassing 8 or 10 teams in MLS make the playoffs, making the regular season almost meaningless. Even home-field in the playoffs doesn't mean much, as the first round are home-and-home and the MLS Cup is on neutral ground (unless you're the Galaxy). Only the conference finals, held at the home of the lowest remaining seed, really give a team an advantage. Personally, I think MLS would be well advised to take a page from the NFL and make every round (except the final) a 1-leg knockout match hosted by the lower seed. Home-and-home series have their place, and the San Jose-LA series last season was really a cracker, but that place is not in MLS. Home-and-home series work in the Champions League precisely for the reason they aren't needed in MLS - because the two teams haven't played the same schedule it is impossible to declare one more deserving of hosting a 1-leg knockout. The whole of the MLS regular season is set up to make that determination, and then it's meaningless.

Personally, here's my system. Top 6 make it into the playoffs. Round 1 give the top finishers in the conferences a bye and play the other 4 teams in a 1-leg knockout match at the home of the lower seeds. The winners move on to the conference finals and from there everything works as normal. The regular season becomes more meaningful and you get a full month of intense knockout action (host the US Open Cup final the week after the MLS Cup final). Make sense to me!