2022 Concacaf Champions League

Funny to watch Lodeiro and Diaz trying to figure out where on their body they are going to pretend the intense pain is coming from… Pumas are pretty rough but those guys are freaking ridiculous.
 
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Haven't really been impressed by either side so far in this one.

Seattle seems to be getting the better play, but they are constantly missing runners, either via bad pass or not passing to the runs into open space. And it's not always because of the lineup shifting. It often seems like its guys like Lodeiro, Ruidiaz, Morris, and Roldan that aren't on the same page.
Now that last goal was the opposite of this. Beautiful movement, vision, and passing.
 
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They've done it! Congrats Seattle! :)

I don't know why you guys are so anti-Seattle tonight, but I'm not. I'm very happy for them, and MLS. Like I've said before, if there's any team I think deserves it, it's Seattle.

Onwards to greater heights for NYCFC and MLS!
I'm glad MLS won. I'm glad a team like Seattle with all those fans won. I am curious what the crowd would be like if we hosted at RBA tonight... Would our fans have come out? I would hope so but I just don't know. (I'd have gone)

I just don't want to see all the sounders fans being even more annoying than they already are.
 
Congrats to Seattle - they played the entire tournament like a mature winning team and players stepped up when they needed to in key moments to turn the various series in their favor. That’s what championship teams do.

That said, there is a twinge of an opportunity lost for NYCFC - because it’s not every year that they will play CCL or have the bracket they had this year - imagine if it’s Tigres or Monterrey in the final instead of Pumas. NYCFC was the toughest test for Seattle to win.

oh well. Let’s win the open cup and try again.
 
Congrats to Seattle and MLS - they deserved the win. I'll always be disappointed that both Maxi and Chanot were injured right before our match against them at Lumen Field. I think our chances would have been a lot better with a full squad. Oh well.
And that we couldn't play on our home field.
 
The Union fans have been way too whiney about the circumstances of that game and the suggestions that it is illegitimate are too much. I also scoff at their claims that the solid showing their B-team made is proof their A-team would have won. Even though the Union are not a possession forward offensive team, they never would have played as compact and defensively as the team who showed up did and it would have been a completely different contest.

On the other hand, I'm sympathetic because they really did get screwed over by out-of-date protocols that kept multiple fully healthy players out of the game, and if it happened to us I am fully confident we have fans who would be as whiney as they were. This is one reason I try never to lead the complaints about any stuff like that, even in games where we clearly were robbed by refs, bad luck, injuries, or whatever, so I can just tell Philly fans that I don't complain no matter what so STFU because that's how it goes.
 
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As for Seattle, their fans can be obnoxious but they have seemed to me much less so this year. I've nothing solid to base that on but it's my definite impression. I also have to credit them for showing up always and everywhere - in person, on the web, whatever. And the team itself is is basically a model MLS club. I think we are on their trajectory, and if we keep it up and can be as consistent and successful as they have been since joining MLS that would be amazing.
 
As for Seattle, their fans can be obnoxious but they have seemed to me much less so this year. I've nothing solid to base that on but it's my definite impression. I also have to credit them for showing up always and everywhere - in person, on the web, whatever. And the team itself is is basically a model MLS club. I think we are on their trajectory, and if we keep it up and can be as consistent and successful as they have been since joining MLS that would be amazing.
Yeah, I agree with this. Seattle is the current top MLS club that all clubs presumably wish they would be. Incredibly consistent year in and year out, especially with the parity of MLS, is something to be envious of. The fact that Schmeltzer has been there seemingly forever (6-7 seasons) is also nearly insane to think about too. Coaches usually last what, 2-3 seasons? To have a coach last that long and continually win without getting poached blows my mind.

What's also funny about this is Seattle weren't consistent or winners until after Portland won the Cup. It's almost as if their neighbors being the first to win lit such a fire under Seattle's ass that they've now gone on to win more MLS cups and become the first MLS team to win the CCL. Hope RBNJ doesn't pull something like this lol.

As long as NYCFC remain consistent the next few years, I could see us being similar to Seattle. Not necessarily appearing in 3-4 straight MLS Cup Finals, but being a presence in the playoffs each year and making it far in the Open Cup.
 
What's also funny about this is Seattle weren't consistent or winners until after Portland won the Cup.
I think their consistency and winning goes back further.
They made the playoffs their first year, have never failed to make the playoffs, never finished below 7th, and won the Shield the year before Portland won MLS Cup.
Their PPG both before and after their own first Cup is >1.60. They only had a PPG below 1.50 once (and also had exactly 1.50 once).
Winning cups is kind of random. Winning like that year after year is real consistency. Oddly, their lowest PPG year was their first Cup year.

Coincidentally, with a shorter history of 7 full years against 13, NYCFC also has just one annual PPG below 1.50 (2015) and one of exactly 1.50 (last year). Also NYCFC's first Cup year was its second lowest ever PPG (and worst if you exclude NYCFC's first year).

NYCFC's all-time PPG (x-2015) is 1.66. Seattle is 1.64, and 1.66 if you exclude their worst year.
 
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One thing that struck me watching all the coverage leading up to and after the game was how much when Garth lagerway talked about the growth of the league he would always point to NYCFC first and how well we do building our roster, that's a great sign that one of the best long term roster builders thinks we are on that level too. Also I don't know if I would want to go to a final we couldn't play at Yankee stadium or our own stadium. Seeing the fans crowding lumen field, imagine what a full Yankee stadium would be like for a champions league final!