Eight down and one to go on MLS Open Cup participation excuse.
MLS excuses wearing thin after CONCACAF defeats
Before I begin my article on the discussion at hand, let me be clear that I wish any Major League Soccer who qualifies for the CONCACAF Champions Cup, I want them to do well and defeat the rest of the region from Canada to Mexico, from the Central American clubs to the Caribbean Clubs. The goal is to show our region and the entire world that MLS Clubs can win this international club competition like the Seattle Sounders did in 2022.
But. It's also rich how the bigwigs at the front office of Major League Soccer used the Open Cup as an excuse to remove three-quarters of their first-division clubs from participating in the National Championship of American Soccer due to the fixture congestion excuse that they created with the Leagues Cup. Nine MLS clubs qualify through MLS Regular season places, the three Leagues Cup Places, and the Open Cup Champion position too.
Cincinnati, Columbus, Houston, Miami, Nashville, New England, Orlando, Philadelphia, and St. Louis started in the first round of the round of 16, since the beginning of the Champions Cup, the majority of these clubs have been falling at every round since the start. St. Louis City lost to the Houston Dynamo, who lost to the Columbus Crew in the first round. Nashville SC lost to Inter Miami in the round of 16, along with Orlando City lost to Tigres, and FC Cincinnati fell to Monterrey and their former star striker Brandon Vazquez.
In the Quarterfinal round, the New England Revolution and Inter Miami found the exit with a whimper or dragging themselves off the pitch against Club America and Monterrey, leaving the Crew remaining as the only MLS club headed toward the Semi-Finals. So, as we are currently in April the third round of the US Open Cup will be on the week of April 16th and 17th. If these MLS clubs were to play in the Open Cup, they would've started in the fourth round scheduled for the week of May 7th and 8th.
So, once again, where is the schedule congestion for these clubs in the Open Cup? You guessed it, nowhere.
The number one issue that MLS has is they are no longer the marketing company for their Soccer United Marketing arm to sell or to continue to suppress the tournament and make it meaningless and never allow the clubs and leagues of the USL, NISA, NPSL, and the amateurs to get a chance at knocking out the big boys. That is why MLS wants to throw their two teams in the MLS Next Pro and use the excuse that they are a sanctioned third-division league and those players should be used in the Open Cup instead of the top players in their first division.
While it's nice to see the lower levels gain an advantage or at least attempt to have a better shot at winning the Open Cup, US Soccer must make sure that during the 2024 Open Cup tournament, they lay down the law and stick to their bylaws when it comes to all of their clubs in all of their sanctioned leagues to participate in the 2025 Open Cup and beyond. MLS doesn't and shouldn't run the sport as a whole, like what the other four major sports leagues do in this country. Once again, we must point out that while the NBA is doing this in-season tournament based on the Open Cup, it's not a real Open Cup because the teams in the NBDL the developmental league, are not participating in that tournament.
While I am happy for the Columbus Crew reaching the Semi-Finals, they will have their hands full; with Monterrey as they won't be messing around. These Semi-Final games will be the last two weeks of April into May before the one-and-done final on Sunday, June 2nd. I know Wilfred Nancy will have his team prepared for this big semi-final clash, but mark my words. If Monterrey eliminates the Crew, the PR war will be worse, for Don Garber. Every pundit will be sharpening their fingers of blame and yell very loudly to tell him how wrong he was.
That's why the Open Cup is special. That's why, the Open Cup is believed to be the best thing the sport has ever created. To give those small teams and those in the middle a fair chance at knocking out the big boys and claiming to be the best American Soccer team in the country for that year. To also attempt a repeat as champion has happened, but not in consecutive years since the Seattle Sounders did it three seasons from 2009 through 2011. It's time for MLS to put their money where their mouth is and stop interfering with US Soccer business. It's time to save the cup.
Jokes on MLS! Not only did they embarrass themselves in CONCACAF in humiliating fashion, and cast themselves as the Arch-Villian for the multitudes of "lower leagues soccer" communities to rally against, their absence has allowed the spotlight to shine on such stories as the Farolito taco store club, the Irvine Zeta revenge against MLSNP, the CBS-USL Mega-broadcasting deal, etc.