The dust is still settling from Real Salt Lake's disappointing loss to Monterrey in the CONCACAF Champions League final, but that doesn't mean it's too early to look ahead to the 2011-2012 edition of the tournament.
The draw for this summer's preliminary round will be held May 18, and as many as three Major League Soccer teams will be involved. The Seattle Sounders (last year's U.S. Open cup winner), FC Dallas (MLS Cup runner-up) and the Canadian Championship winner, which figures to be either Toronto FC or Vancouver, will fight for the right to join the Colorado Rapids (MLS Cup winner) and Los Angeles Galaxy (Supporters' Shield winner) in the group stage.
Which of those teams has the best chance to make an extended run like Real Salt Lake? Let's take a look at the options:
The Galaxy, Sounders and Toronto FC all have CCL experience from this past year, although it wasn't necessarily positive experience.
Los Angeles was upset in the preliminary round, and Seattle and Toronto didn't make it out of the group stage. TFC actually fared the best, missing out on the knockout stage by two points and finishing behind Real Salt Lake and Cruz Azul in its group with a record of 2-2-2. Seattle went 1-0-5 in its group, including two losses to eventual champion Monterrey.
Looking ahead, the Galaxy will still boast Landon Donovan, and David Beckham should be around for the group stage before his contract expires. The team has shown it has the depth capable to win league games even without its stars, but will that success translate onto the regional stage?
Seattle could be seen as a viable threat, but the long-term injury to Steve Zakuani definitely does not help the team's credibility on the regional stage. As for TFC, it doesn't have a Dwyane De Rosario-like figure to lean on like in the past and is in rebuilding mode. Should Vancouver unseat Toronto as Canadian champion, the Whitecaps would be exploring uncharted territory.
Newcomers Colorado and FC Dallas present interesting cases. Colorado showed it can hang with anybody in MLS after winning the league title last year, and its physical style of play coupled with its strong strike tandem will make the Rapids a tough out.
FC Dallas likely won't have David Ferreira for the preliminary round, meaning that just getting into the group stage could be a challenge. On its best day, FCD has proven it can be a title-worthy contender. If Dallas can make the group stage, achieve a consistent level of play and have Ferreira come back at 100 percent, it would also make for a tough team to beat.
Which MLS team do you think has the best shot at making a deep run in the upcoming CONCACAF Champions League? Cast your vote here:
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How did you vote? Which team do you think has the best shot at making a deep run? Do you see any team making it past the quarterfinals?
Share your thoughts below.
Yea, but it’s an American institution (Our OLDEST competition, even older than NFL, MLB, etc.) and I think it should continue. Also, it gives non-MLS teams a shot. It should stay.
1. MLS CUP
2. EASTERN CONFERENCE
3. WESTERN CONFERENCE
4. US OPEN CUP
Any repeats – go to the next place team in that team’s conference.
Really reaching the knockouts shouldnt be so hard, just win against all non mexican teams ad your there, focus on winning games you’re expected to win before you focus on how you can pull off an upset in the next round..
NO US open cup it is a waste of time! It is a joke competition that should be removed especially when teams dont take it seriously and more teams enter the league creating more games. The NASL and USL are jokes. The only things teams should focus on is MLS League, CCL, and a couple friendlies here and there.
Right now, I would have to say NYRB and LAG. They seem to have the combination of quality and quantity to make it.
The Sounders just lost their most irreplaceable player, but are actually quite deep for an MLS side. That depth is why they do well in Open Cup play. They’ll be making a few additions this summer too. Assuming they don’t get another Group of Death like last year (Saprissa, Monterrey), I expect them to advance to the knockout round.
And don’t forget about the altitude that would give them a big homefield advantage against most non-Mexican teams.
??? THIS year’s CCL – 2013 is a looong way away. I doubt RBNY will look anything like it does now in 2013.
RSL has the best chance to go the deepest. unfortunately were going to have to wait for 2012 season for that run.
Colorado has a strong bruising team but without technical ability I don’t see them doing much.
As for the Gals, the CCL demands team depth and I don’t think LA has enough to stay competitive in CCL and focus on MLS.
After watching Monterrey in two legs against RSL, they asked questions of RSL that no MLS team has in the past two years. It will be tough for any MLS team for now to win a two leg series against the top Mexican clubs, but not impossible (RSL and Cruz Azul, for example). If we can get MLS teams regularly into the knockout stages, it will build confidence and experience in the tournament format that will help.
Agree with the 2nd place for Supporters Shield getting the nod– we need teams to have multiple year runs in the tournament, not a random re-shuffle every year.
That’s a GREAT idea Tom – I would love as the league expands to make conferences and conference rivalries matter more, like in other US sports.
4 spots:
Cup Winner
Eastern Conference winner
Western Conference winner
US Open Cup
I think Colorado has what it takes…and I’m an RSL fan.
I think MLS (and it’s teams) needs to focus on the CONCACAF CL and doing well consistently before it worries about an entirely different confederation’s competition. Personally, I think all CONCACAF teams should stay away from CONMABOL.
None of the Above. RSL was our shot. Need to increase the salary cap and build more squad depth. The Mexican League is still head and shoulders above MLS in those aspects.
Agreed the 2nd place Supporters Shield team should get the last bid over the MLS Cup Runner-Up.
Disagree about playing in Libertadores. Why would we want to fly teams all the way down there? I’ve really enjoyed the CONCACAF Champions League the last few years, and I think there’s alot of potential for growth in the competition.
Yeah I’m going with ‘none of the above.’ Its too bad the best teams in MLS right now, RSL and NY, didnt qualify. It’s not like the Mexican clubs are worldbeaters or anything, but they are good attacking teams that will score goals. They have frequent defensive lapses that MLS teams just havent figured out how to exploit.
I was coming on here to make the same point. It should be:
East and West Conference winners (to ensure Supporters Shield and make the conferences matter), US Open Cup and MLS Cup….with back ups being next best regular season record. It seems like BS to me that neither RSL or NY are in it.
The Red Bulls need to represent. They are the best team in MLS aside from RSL. Now I’m going to go vomit.
I chose LA Galaxy because this was a choice of “which one stinks the least.”
bingo
Maybe the Galaxy if they take it seriously. It all just depends on how high they rate concacaf. Do the Galaxy rate Supporter Shield and MLS Cup higher? If so, I wouldn’t be surprised if they held out their veteran players in CCL competition and that would hurt their chances. Also, Landon will be playing in the Gold Cup this summer… a lot of games for him. I suspect the Galaxy won’t take CCL very seriously.
The others? Dallas w/o Ferriera have little chance, Colorado is schizo, and Seattle is soft (losing Zakuani doesn’t help either). I’d be shocked if the Canadian team made it out of group play.
Great, two of the four American teams already have serious injuries to their top players…
Someone should make this a Facebook group or something. The Don needs to be aware of this sentiment and he should act on it. No question not having RSL in the CCL is a bad thing for the league.
Completely agree. I’d much rather rave RSL again then FC Dallas.
Colorado is the only team deep enough…
That makes complete sense, so it won’t happen.
i don’t see any of these teams getting as far as RSL has. out of all of them i could see LAG getting the furthest.
MLS and Garber’s policies not to take advantage of the opportunity for their to teams to grow by playing Copa lIbertadores and Sudamericana will continue to hamper the necessary international exposure needed to win a Mickey Mouse cup like the concacaf one. The mexicans will continue to rule this cup over and over and over again. Kreiss’ lack of international coaching stood out yesterday and was outcoached, the players were like deers caught in the light. LA had a chance last year but lost against teams from trinidad, yes trinidad.
Though it pains me to say it as a Galaxy supporter, RSL is the best team this league has probably ever seen, and if they couldn’t take home the prize then I’m not sure when we’ll next see a MLS team capable of it.
Wait til there’s a significant (25%+) bump in the salary cap and a DP slot or two added (maybe a New World DP and a U-25 DP) and we’re starting to talk about teams that can financially compete with the FMF in the CCL. We might not see another serious challenger from MLS until that happens.
LA might be okay, but with Angel and Beckham getting older and injuries having destroyed their depth in the back, I’m not sure they can pull it off. Will Becks even be in LA come next season when the knockouts start?
Chivas got a bye into the round if 16 last year beaches they had to withdraw the previous year because of the swine flu pandemic. Just making it out of group is pretty hard.
+1
Count me in the minority who does not want to see MLS in the South American competitions any time soon. It may be a decent barometer of our league’s talent, but do we really want our already thin rosters flying to South America and back multiple times and have more games crowding an already packed schedule?
Agreed. Colorado and FC Dallas although good on their best day lack the consistency and depth to go far. Canadian teams need a long way to go to be set for a deep run. LA has talent but they had the same talent when they lost to PR last year, and they haven’t gotten any younger, so even if they make it out of the group stage, their lack of depth and youth is going to kill them, especially since Arena will continue to focus on MLS this fall.
LAG could make a run if they can stay healthy and Bruce decides to take the competition seriously. My opinion is that one reason MLS teams have not done better in CCL is that the schedule really hurts them.
Monterrey and Santos Laguna are returning next year. Santos and Monterrey have been the better teams in recent seasons, Pumas and Tigres will probably make it as well.I wonder how MLS would do in Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana? Mexico sends their 4th,5th, and 6th place teams and seem to have no trouble making it to the semi-finals and finals like Chivas did last year or even Pachuca who won the sudamericana already.
Agreed. Reward playing well in the league, consistent play over a season rather than some tournament almost anyone can now get into…. Travesty.
This. MLS’ best chance was this year – it’ll be two years before the league can produce another solid side.
FCD without Ferriera are dead. LA has too many old players and Landon is not playing up to speed. The rest will get knocked out at the beginning.
Had Ferreira been protected better, it would have been FCD. Too bad, I was really excited to watch us in CL and see what we could do. Playing possession game and so forth I thought made FCD dangerous to the rest of CONCACAF. Oh well.
FCD definitely has he talent and depth to make a deep run. It’s just a matter of their youngsters being disciplined enough when the pressure is on. If they can clear that hurdle there is a definite possibility they can put together a good run. Colorado because of their defensive prowess and their ability to slow and game down could be a very tough opponent. Their brand of soccer isn’t pretty but they have knack for making their opponents change their tactics. Once a team does, the combo of a solid central midfield and 3 capable strikers can be hard to handle.
I think a better question would be “who is going to qualify for the knockout round?” All six of the clubs you list will have dramatically different rosters in 2012 when the knockout round rolls around, and who knows what the draw will be.
I think it would be a major step forward if MLS can just get all five clubs into the group stage and have three of them qualify for the knockout rounds.
That means RSL would’ve qualified instead of Dalla.
+1
It’s too bad that the MLS cup loser gets a shot instead of the supporters shield runner up. I like Colorado or LA’s chances, but a lot could change with summer transfer window additions.
Yes, and the Cup just honors streaky teams like the Crapids anyway. Do it like UEFA. I love the playoffs and all, but it’s still just a Cup competition. The teams who have the depth to compete in CCL are the ones who finish high in the regular season, not the streakers (haha) in the Cup.
completely forgot the format of entrance. that would be for the 2012-2013 ccl.
for 11-12 fc dallas without ferrera(sp?) and dax does not look dangerous enough, colorado is not looking good, la with a chance but consistency needs to be there.
RSL and the Crew did not qualify…
Ives asked about this year’s CCL – not 2013’s. Is TH14 even going to be able to play in 2013? Will Juan Agudelo even still be in the league?
Looks like you are talking about this year’s MLS season and next year’s CCL. Even so, the Crew? Really?
Agreed, would make the fight for 2nd overall more meaningful near the end of the schedule.
Its a shame that the MLS Cup runner-up gets a spot and the Supporter Shield runner-up does not. This needs to be changed. Think most MLS fans would agree.
RSL would be a much better representative of the MLS than FC Dallas…
How about none? LAG is too old, and all the teams, minus perhaps FCD, are not deep enough. As well, I doubt we will see a draw as favorable as RSL’s next year.
As well, can we replace the MLS Cup runner-up with the Supporters’ Shield runner up as our fourth entrant into the competition?
Real Salt Lake has the capability to take it all next year like they almost did this year.
New York Red Bull with the squad they have should be able to win just about everything in this hemisphere if they can stay healthy
LA is looking really good right now but they sometime go on win streaks followed by losing streaks so if consistent they are really good shot at it
Columbus Crew has the defence to stop any attack thrown at it, if they could get their offense firing they look very good.
NYRB 2013 Club World Cup! YEAH! Hooray for a terrible calendar!