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TFC depth, new format could help MLS achieve CCL glory in 2018

Major League Soccer has achieved more than many could’ve imagined over the last five years, but there’s still one glaring hole on the league’s resume.

Although it will be a tough task for the five MLS clubs entered in the CONCACAF Champions League, the elusive prize the league has searched for could finally end up in the trophy case in April.

Only Real Salt Lake and the Montreal Impact have reached the final since the switch to the Champions League format, which has been dominated by clubs south of the border in Liga MX.

However, there’s hope that one of the five clubs from MLS entered into the newly configured format will break through and end the Mexican stranglehold on the competition.

Monday’s draw presented the New York Red Bulls and Seattle Sounders with favorable paths to the quarterfinals as they will take on minnows of CONCACAF.

The side of the bracket featuring the Red Bulls and Sounders also opens the door for a run to the final if both teams can come together and focus on the competition in February, March and April when MLS play starts to heat up.

Club Tijuana and Chivas de Guadalajara are no slouches, but they are easier opponents for the Red Bulls and Sounders than the other Mexican sides entered into the draw.

Over on the other side of the bracket, Toronto FC and the Colorado Rapids will face off in the Round of 16 in a two-legged contest that will almost certainly require the orange ball to be used in February.

Toronto FC will be the strongest MLS side to enter the competition and the Reds should be able to shrug off the Rapids, who plummeted back to Earth after a surprising 2016 season. New boss Anthony Hudson will have his side prepared for the task at hand, but Toronto’s chemistry will cause too many problems.

FC Dallas should be able to handle Tauro FC of Panama in the round of 16, but then they face a quarterfinal death wish against either Club America or Saprissa, who were paired against each other in the opening round.

The bottom half of the bracket is without a doubt tougher than the top part, but it also presents Toronto FC with the opportunity to slay regional giants on the way to the crown jewel of their final conquest of North American soccer.

In any other year, an MLS club would stand no chance against Tigres in the quarterfinal and then sustain the pressure of a semifinal matchup with Club America, but the Reds are not like anything we’ve seen before in MLS, which is why Greg Vanney’s bunch is the great hope MLS has to bring home continental glory.

Motivation and depth, two issues that plague MLS teams in the early third of the calendar, are not problems for Toronto, and it will have most of its core back for the 2018 season so developing a new understanding within like the Rapids will have to do in preseason is far from a concern.

With the MLS preseason beginning on January 22, Toronto and the four other MLS participants in the CCL will have ample time to get ready for their continental challenges.

The new format that got rid of group qualification for the best clubs in North America should also help the MLS teams involved in the CCL.

The new CCL is a three-month tournament with a maximum of eight games played starting in the week of February 20.

Throwing league play to the wayside is a common trait of MLS teams chasing the CCL crown, but Toronto has the ability to thrive in continental play and pick up early results in MLS due to its depth.

Imagine seeing a fully-rested Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley and Sebastian Giovinco taking on the firepower of two Mexican clubs in March and April.

It would be a continental clash for the ages, and with everything else accomplished, there’s no doubt the Reds will have the CCL on their list of goals for 2018.

There’s a chance the Red Bulls and Sounders could get through the top half of the bracket through the final, but the Red Bulls have some questions in terms of experience, especially if Sacha Kljestan departs New Jersey.

Brian Schmetzer’s side is expected to have a Toronto-like focus to attempt winning the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup, but their depth may be called into question with the motivation to get back to the league’s biggest stage and become champions again.

Of course plenty can change between now and the time the first CCL game is played in February, but there certainly won’t be a lack of confidence in an MLS team coming out on top in 2018, especially if Toronto splashes into the competition with the intensity it delivered throughout the 2017 MLS campaign.

Comments

  1. The Red Bull will again be in a bit of disarray as they will no longer have Grella and it looks like Klejstan will be leaving as well. Both those players are getting older so how consistently they can contribute may be questionable in any case.

    I think it would be unrealistic to think the Red Bull will go far, but if Veron will finally begin playing consistently well and hitting the target more often it would bode well. Robles is a good enough keeper and the defense is OK, but inexperienced. If they can then ride BWP and Veron’s scoring with a maturing Adams taking charge of the midfield they may do better than people think. But winning the CCL is likely out of the question for them.

    The Sounders will have to play better than they did in the MLS final if they have any hope of winning much. It was not so much they lost as how badly they were dominated by Toronto, without Frie’s heroics that result would have been a real blow-out.

    Reply
    • That’s my concern with the Sounders as well plus losing Joevin Jones is a bigger blow than some people may realize.
      I think out of RBNY, FCD and Seattle, the Sounders still have the best chance to make the final, but I’m not completely convinced about their depth the way I am with Toronto FC.

      Reply
    • I’m not going to waste time arguing with you, mainly because you tend to have less of a clue and more whining than even I thought was possible….and I have seen whining about soccer in this country for over 40 years.

      There is one fact that proves it, that is you are one of the few real whiner trolls out there. Sure there are whiners about Pro/Rel or Gerber, there will be trolls if a very good Tigres wins it all.

      But places like this used to be loaded with posters predicting MLS will fail. Or claiming MLS is garbage. Comments from whiners like you were everywhere. Not anymore. Now it is just you and you can’t get anyone to agree with you. Seems like with the people that are left 100% have written you off for what you are, ignorant and hateful.

      Reply
      • I realized that TFC is the best team, but I think my Sounders have the best chance. The key will be how do the Sounders do at replacing Jones, because they were a better team than they showed in the last two MLS Finals.

        Any MLS team is going to have to get through 3 Mexican teams to win it. But TFC facing Tigres and then America ( assuming no Costa Rican upsets ) is going to be very difficult at best. That side of the bracket was insanely rough. But the Sounders will only have to face one of them if they get far enough.

      • Sounders definitely have a better bracket, but their performance in the last two MLS Cups doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in them holding the flag high for MLS in the CCL.
        There’s no doubt they have the quality players like Roldan, Dempsey, Torres, Frei and others to get the job done, but like you I’m concerned about the loss of Jones. Also the Ozzie Alonso situation isn’t exactly ideal either.

    • Success as in terms of evolving itself. It’s come a long way in the last few years when it comes to the quality of players, the money being spent on talent and the bar being raised by teams like TFC and Atlanta. It’s improved immensely, but the critics should still be there, especially when it comes to the CCL and competing with Mexican clubs and spending as a whole throughout the league, which still needs to get better too.

      Reply

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