Will ‘Bye’ Week Cost the New England Revolution MLS Cup ?

Will the November international break cost the hottest team in Major League Soccer a chance to win the MLS Cup?

It’s a complaint voiced by National Football League franchises that perform so admirably during regular season play that they are awarded with a Bye during Wild Card Weekend of the postseason tournament: Sure, the extra rest is nice, but the momentum earned by winning game after game during the fall up through the holiday season disappears during the off week.

One Major League Soccer soccer club is set to go through a similar situation this coming weekend.

No team in MLS has been as hot during the closing stretch of the regular season up through the first stages of the playoffs as the New England Revolution. The Revolution will enter the Eastern Conference Championship series versus the New York Red Bulls having won 11 of the club’s past 13 contests. New England have gone 11-1-1 over that stretch of time, and they cruised to an easy win over the Columbus Crew in their first postseason series of the fall.

Unlike with what occurs on the first weekend of the NFL Playoffs, the Revolution are not on a Bye because of their brilliant run of form. Neither they nor the Red Bulls have a choice in the matter. The world of football has entered that wonderful time of November when an international break causes leagues from different corners of the globe (Australia not included) to shut down so that Euro Qualifiers, other cup competitions and

cash-grab

international friendlies can take place.

Those at the Revolution are saying the right things and doing whatever possible to keep their minds on the task at hand. Defender Chris Tierney told MLSSoccer.com the following about the off week earlier this week:

“You want keep the rhythm. When you have had a run of results like we’ve had here, you want the next game to come quick. We’ll make sure we push each other in training this week. I think we’ve done a good job at that. We’re not taking our foot off the gas because we realize how important this momentum is.”

Revolution coach Jay Heaps also put a positive spin on things when speaking with the MLS website. “It allows guys to get a little bit of rest,” Heaps stated. “At the same time we’ve already started preparing for the next week, because we want to be ready for a good New York team.”

New England won’t just be attempting to stay in the rhythm that comes with preparing for and playing in weekly matches. Fans of the Revolution, not to mention Heaps and all within the club, will be holding their breaths while keeping track of a key man who will be linking up with the United States Men’s National Team.

Lee Nguyen entered the playoffs having found the back of the net five times in the final four games of the regular season. His scintillating form has thus far continued into the postseason, and the 28-year old who should be a 2014 MLS MVP candidate received a deserved USMNT call-up from national team boss Jurgen Klinsmann. Whether or not Nguyen will take the pitch when the United States face off with Colombia on Friday (2:30 pm ET) has not been made public by Klinsmann.

New England midfielder Jermaine Jones will also be joining Nguyen with the US National Team.

And what of the Red Bulls? They certainly haven’t been as hot as the Revolution. New York notched victories in three straight before last Sunday’s match at DC United, but a 2-1 loss on that day was still good enough for the Red Bulls to advance to the Eastern Conference Championship on aggregate goals.

Unlike with New England, New York’s playoff MVP candidate will delight in getting some rest.

Red Bulls captain Thierry Henry, who turned 37-years old this past August, can obviously still go on the big stage, but anytime he can have a weekend off these days is only a plus for his club. Neither Bradley Wright-Phillips nor Peguy Luyindula, both of whom were instrumental in the Red Bulls dispatching of hated rivals DC in the playoffs, have to worry about international duties. Tim Cahill has been called up by Australia, but he has not, over the past several months, been for the Red Bulls what Nguyen and Jones have meant to the Revolution.

The off week, on paper, benefits the lower seeds in the Eastern Conference this time around.

That MLS needs to repair its playoff system so long as the North American top-flight will continue to utilize a tournament to crown a champion is hardly news. Implementing a new system is not, however, nearly as easy as is suggesting one.

A shortened playoff schedule with fewer teams awarded postseason berths doesn’t address those October and November FIFA dates that cannot be ignored. MLS adopting a winter schedule sounds fun until you remember that several clubs could not, for numerous reasons, realistically host home games from mid-November up through the start of March. This leads to discussions of winter breaks, fantasy scheduling and ideas that, truth be told, aren’t being kicked around by MLS this fall.

What you get is, thus, what you get, and what the Revolution are getting is a system that isn’t rewarding them for being the higher playoff seed.

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