There have been rumors in the last couple days that would indicate they are going to do exactly that.
No one bats an eye when Bulgarian champs have to play Finnish champs in the middle of the summer. If CCL isn't onboard, just replace with a tournament that USSF/MLS/AMF/LMX control. Let some other leagues vie for a chance to be cannon fodder, sign a tv deal, and kick off the fucking ball. Time to get Darwinian.
He's an MLS vet with European and significant national team experience. And apparently, he's an all-around good guy. Not a bad choice, imo.
Not sure, i'm sure he isn't at the same level he was once at, but is kind of specific type of defender that may not fit into some teams style. His national team career was limited due to this.
I remember when I was a New England supporter, the guy was a stud center back in a 3-man backline. Played almost every minute, was part of a great defense, all of that with like a record low number of fouls and I think he went like 70 matches or something amazing without even a yellow card. In that era of MLS, defenses were all big and athletic guys who succeeded simply with physicality and fouls, not so much on technical skill and positioning. The league has gotten better in that regard, but only so much. He had success because he was extremely smart and extremely technical, not physical, big, or fast. That's the kind of guy that can captain a team, and will probably be a head coach in the league within a few years of retirement.
Simply put, different business models and organizational prowess. I know the owners of our local PDL club, and he said the USL has a bunch of back-end support for it's clubs that NPSL does not have the experience or capability of providing.
