Fansided

Los Angeles FC and Atlanta United are the way of the MLS future

By Graham Ruthven

ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 19: Atlanta United defender Franco Escobar (2) celebrates his goal with Atlanta United teammates during the MLS playoff match between the New England Revolution and Atlanta United FC on October 19, 2019 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by John Adams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 19: Atlanta United defender Franco Escobar (2) celebrates his goal with Atlanta United teammates during the MLS playoff match between the New England Revolution and Atlanta United FC on October 19, 2019 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by John Adams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Atlanta United and LAFC have hired big name coaches, built gorgeous new stadiums, signed in-their-prime players and deserve to be in the MLS Cup Final.

Six games, 23 goals, three extra time periods. This was the binary data from the first round of the 2019 Major League Soccer playoffs, but not even these numbers do justice to the dramatic introduction made to the post-season. This was playoff soccer at its absolute best. This was everything these games are meant to be.

FC Dallas fought back from 2-2 down, and then 3-2 down, to take the Sounders to extra time at a fervent CenturyLink Field only for Jordan Morris to score a winner for the hosts. DC United also earned themselves extra time with a late equalizer away to Toronto FC, but then conceded four times to eventually lose 5-1 in what was Wayne Rooney’s final MLS appearance.

In Chester, Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Union fought back from 3-0 down against the New York Red Bulls to win 4-3 in extra time, while the LA Galaxy set up a derby clash with rivals Los Angeles FC in the Eastern Conference semifinals by beating Minnesota United. Even in the lowest-scoring first round game, Atlanta United found a dramatic late winner against the New England Revolution.

This was the precursor to a series that is still to be decided. The 2019 MLS playoffs have been quite the spectacle. From the Seattle Sounders’ shock victory over LAFC to Toronto FC’s win at CitiField to see off New York City FC, these past two weeks have provided season-defining moments. Just as intended.

All this post-season drama is perhaps the direct result of the league’s switch to a single game elimination format, implemented for the first time this year. Previously, only MLS Cup and the first round ties were single-game. Now, they all are. It could prove to be one of the best changes MLS has made in a number of years. In fact, it could be a watershed moment for the league as a whole.

Of course, two-legged ties can produce a certain drama of their own, but too often the first leg is a cagey affair with both teams eager to give nothing away. There is a tension to these sort of games and from that comes a dimension that has perhaps been lost in the switch to a single game playoff format.

What’s more, the new format robs entire fanbases of their chance to watch their team at the most critical point of the whole season. The LA Galaxy, for instance, would have had to play every game away from Dignity Health Sports Park to win MLS Cup this year. Their seeding means they played Minnesota United at Allianz Field on Sunday and Los Angeles FC at Banc of California Stadium before bowing out. Their run to MLS Cup was plotted completely away from home.

This might be a price worth paying, though, for what the MLS play-offs have received in return. MLS has long attempted to strike a balance between the norms of soccer played in Europe and South America with the culture of sports traditionally played in North America. By going to a single-game elimination format the league has finally leaned fully into the notion of true play-offs, originally a North American sporting concept.

European soccer has opened its collective mind to the value of play-offs in recent decades – look at how the final promotion place to the Premier League from the English Championship is decided in this way – but has never fully embraced the idea. Now might be the time for that to change as the sport moves into a new era.

Social media has made drama a sporting currency and play-offs produce more drama than straight league games. With the television revenue bubble perceived to be close to popping in European soccer, clubs and leagues must look to keep themselves an attractive product. Play-offs, even to decide a league season, might be a natural development in this increasingly desperate effort.

Some fans may never accept such a fundamental change to the fabric of the sport, but the benefits are already being showcased by MLS this season. When the 2019 North American soccer season finally ends it will be the moments produced in Philadelphia, Seattle, Toronto, and all the other places to have witnessed playoff drama over the past couple weeks.

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