Bruce Arena: no fan of MLS unbalanced schedule

Aug 10, 2012, 9:37 AM EDT

Bruce Arena, coach of the Los Angeles Ga

Looks like L.A. Galaxy coach Bruce Arena held his tongue on this year’s unbalanced schedule in MLS about as long as he could.

In 2011, every Major League Soccer team played an equitable slate of matches, one at home and one on the road against every other club. That’s a “balanced” schedule in the MLS vernacular.

But Montreal entered the league this year as a 19^th franchise. League deciders didn’t want to play 36 matches (the sum of retaining a balanced schedule). So they concocted a system of facing conference rivals more often, while facing cross-conference clubs less.

There was grumbling here and there, mostly as the new way would affect the Supporters Shield, which is awarded for top club in the regular season. Now, “grumbling” has gone nuclear. What say you, Coach Arena?

I think the whole construction of the schedule this year with an unbalanced schedule is stupid. Absolutely stupid. To have a Supporters’ Shield for that, it’s stupid. I don’t know how that ever got through, but I can tell you that most people think it’s stupid.

“Without a doubt, the way to put together a schedule in this league is home and away. Period. End of story. And if they need somebody to help them figure it out, the coaches would be glad to sit down with the people in the front office of MLS and show them how to do it. We would be glad to do it.”

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5 Comments (Feed for Comments)

bishopofblunder - Aug 10, 2012 at 1:04 PM

Yes, it is stupid. Yes, the front office of MLS need someone to help them figure it out. No, they wouldn’t be willing to listen to ideas from the coaches.

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tylerbetts - Aug 10, 2012 at 3:08 PM

Is the unbalanced schedule stupid? Yes.
Is a balanced scheduled preferrable? Yes.
Has MLS had unbalanced seasons before? Yes.
Has the Supporters’ Shield been decided based on the differences in that unblanace before? Yes
Has Bruce Arena been around MLS long enough to have seen more unbalanced seasons than balanced seasons? Yes.

I’m not sure how he doesn’t know how this got throught …

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SD1 Timbers Special Forces - Aug 10, 2012 at 3:47 PM

I don’t think unbalanced is stupid. NFL does it, NBA does it, MLB does it. Explain how those successful leagues are stupid for using ONLY an unbalanced schedule? I prefer to play against teams that matter to the playoffs of the Timbers than a road trip across the United States.To those who still think the league has 12 teams, it doesn’t. It’s about to have 20 and even more. So if a balanced schedule is used will Arena complain about injuries after a 40+ game season? Think about it, just don’t FEEL about it. BTW, MLS covers more area than every single league in the WORLD with the exception of one team in Russia. Sorry, MLS isn’t the same old boring copy of a league that plays in one time zone not FOUR! I’d rather have teams healthy and at the top of their game so they can show the talent of the league, not tired or injured players who are trying to please spectators. Seriously, do you want teams playing 40 or more games a year? Then what’s the answer? What the other major sports have done more successfully than any other sports leagues in the world? No, not good enough? For me it is and has been, welcome to the United States. A country that covers more time zones and miles traveled than all other leagues in a season, yet fans want it to be one time zone and a single table, like tiny countries, which we’re not. Makes no sense if you think about it not just feel about it.

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- SD1 Timbers Special Forces - Aug 10, 2012 at 3:54 PM
  
  * I sadly understand that the playoffs do not matter this year to the Timbers.
  
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californiaredskins - Aug 11, 2012 at 2:30 AM

I think the time zone issue is the greater point here. A greater emphasis on conferences eases the travel considerations for all teams and helps to ensure greater playability for the players. Also, more conference match ups make for better viewing not so much from a this is a rivalry or that is a rivalry, but more from a standpoint of these games are more important.

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