Vancouver Whitecaps lost their fourth playoff match last night. They played two of those on short rest and two with a week between. If the Seattle Sounders play four playoff games they will do so with two having a week(ish) between them, then a three-week pause and then two more with a week between them.
Nearly two years after MLS and Apple TV insisted that the perfect time to start every match was 7:30 pm, the list of playoff games starting at that time could be counted on one hand.
It’s supposedly the highlight of the season. The time when there‘s the most drama and the biggest crown is won.
But the playoffs are a complete mess.
USL and NWSL are playing every weekend, basically, and featuring the teams at expected times (small exceptions for a storm going through Colorado). Wouldn't that be nice?
Instead, as we rush towards the holiday season with a couple multi-day weekends coming up MLS doesn't want you to plan to watch the Seattle Sounders in a playoff race. Instead they trickle out information.
Yesterday we learned the opponent. The date and time will come out today, or maybe tomorrow. The start time will almost certainly not be the start time that the league insisted was best for the regular season.
And it will be three weeks between games. Which is good for the health of the two good attacking players on the Sounders, but is bad for remembering that Seattle had a decent season. That schedule isn't really a benefit for Seattle versus LAFC, who despite having to play an extra game because they're losers that lost a playoff game, will be rested just fine.
A playoff structure that doesn't reward winning is weird. A playoff structure that changes start times is weird. A playoff structure that changes the pace of play during the playoffs is weird.
Is there a better plan? I don't know. I'm a blogger. I don't make seven figures in a leadership position. I merely know that the people who do decided to put together a playoff structure that is harmful to the fan experience and doesn't reward teams that perform well in it.
Go Sounders, whenever you play again.
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Catching up on Sounder at Heart
Here's what you missed on the site this week.
Sounders
Next match: Sounders will be at LAFC, at some time, in a Western Conference semifinal a couple weeks from now.
- Sounders will face LAFC in Western Conference semis
- Nos Audietis: Something worth celebrating
- There’s no time to rest, despite three-week break
- Postgame Pontifications: Power of perseverance
- Jordan Morris, Albert Rusnák expected to return in next round
- Survive and advance: Sounders outlast Dynamo in shootout
- Realio’s Ratings: Don’t overreact
Reign
- Reign are ready to turn the page on tough 2024
- The Cooler Guild: It's fine, it's cool, it's over
- Jess Fishlock signs one-year contract with Reign
Defiance
- Some players have started to say goodbye, but the official roster notice will likely come out at the same time as the first team.
Spokane
Velocity advanced to the semifinals, playing at Forward Madison on ESPN+ at 4 pm PT on Saturday.
Zephyr continue their early season struggles, on the road tonight at Carolina Ascent on Peacock+ at 4pm PT. The 2-4-3, -3 team is in 7th place of eight teams and doesn't play at home again until March. That's six games on the road with a winter break splitting the schedule.
Looking back at the news
Everything else you need to know
In the updated Concacaf men's club rankings the Sounders are the 5th best MLS team and 13th best overall, falling behind Pumas. LAFC and Inter Miami also took small dips.
During next year's Club World Cup the Seattle Sounders and other teams won't have to honor national team call-ups. As a reminder, teams in the CWC will have short window to sign frees prior to the tournament.
ION TV is happy with its first season airing the NWSL on broadcast TV. They averaged 145,000 viewers in their 50+ matches and added 20 advertisers.
USL Super League players joined the USL PA. The Super League has voluntarily recognized the union. Next up is a CBA for the nation's second pro women's soccer league.
Puget Sound soccer continues to expand with Snohomish United joining USL 2. Like the rest of the USL 2 teams it is an amateur endeavour. Several of the USL 2 teams in the central Sound added USL W teams for next season, too.
Philadelphia Union parted ways with their only successful coach. Peter Vermes is the longest serving MLS manager, nearly twice as long as Brian Schmetzer in second, who has managed the Sounders nearly twice as long as third place Óscar Pareja, who has been with Orlando for nearly 5 years. Union were a club built on longevity and player development. They'll now pursue a new path.
Bruce Arena is one of the few coaches that belongs in a conversation of "better MLS coaches than Brian Schmetzer" and that's why San Jose hired him after he was fired for telling inappropriate jokes among his New England staff.
Héctor Herrera is looking for a new team. Houston Dynamo didn't pick up his option. Their now-former captain's last act was to spit towards a referee in the playoff loss to Seattle. That totally had nothing to do with why Houston is getting rid of their best player in their current era.
Merritt Mathias is the latest NWSL legend to retire. It feels like the league is going through a dramatic shift in storied talent.
North Korea's women's youth program is the best in the world.
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