The Leagues Cup Is Kind Of Good (And It's No Surprise)
MLS vs Liga MX matchups have been interesting in the tournament that welcomed Messi to American soccer, but maybe a second Concacaf-wide tournament would be better.
Contrary to numerous reports of Lionel Messi dominating MLS, Messi is yet to actually play an MLS game.
It’s true he has been the star performer in games mostly against MLS teams in the past few weeks, but surely to dominate a league you have to play in it first.
The competition Messi has been playing in during the early stage of his jaunt in American soccer, is the Leagues Cup.
And the Leagues Cup has been good.Â
Perhaps it was always going to be given the amount of time and money invested in it, but if MLS wanted to see some kind of result from making a big thing of this new, expanded mid-season tournament with Liga MX, then it has at least seen one in the form of some interesting games.
But didn’t we already know that competitive continental club soccer is good? We didn’t need the Leagues Cup to prove this.
The Concacaf Champions League in its various guises—soon to be the Concacaf Champions Cup (again)—has existed for some time and regularly produces the kind of intrigue seen in the Leagues Cup.
Even more so, as it includes clubs from other Concacaf nations, rather be limited to teams from Canada, the United States, and Mexico, as the Leagues Cup is.
What has made the Leagues Cup good is something that already exists—an interest piqued when clubs from different countries play each other in competitive matches.
On the other hand, matches between clubs from the same league haven’t had the same allure.
That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some good intra-league games, but the draw of international club competitions generally happens when teams from different countries get the rare chance to test themselves against each other.
The rarity of certain games and situations is an underrated aspect of soccer. Many organisers believe the best clubs should play each other more regularly, but what often makes these kinds of games more special is their freshness and unfamiliarity.
Some MLS teams remaining in the tournament including Messi’s Inter Miami (as they are now known) could potentially win the tournament having only played one Mexican team.
MLS vs MLS games will naturally throw up a couple of rivalry matches, in the same way the US Open Cup does, given the way the groups were arranged locally.
There has already been a Hudson River derby between the two New York sides in the last 32.
The pair have never met in the MLS playoffs, but even the draw of knockout soccer in the Leagues Cup could not capture the imagination of fans in the New York area.
The two teams, albeit ones whose 2023 seasons have been far from inspiring, drew a crowd of just 11,004 in New Jersey.
It can be difficult to get the balance right with rivalry matches. Games need to be played to create the rivalry in the first place, especially in MLS where the teams are relatively new, but play too many games and the rivalry becomes diluted.
With the combination of MLS, the Leagues Cup, and the US Open Cup, that could well happen.
If the Concacaf Champions Cup provides the continental interest, and the US Open Cup provides the regional rivalry matches in knockout soccer, what is the Leagues Cup for?
Maybe it is an indication that Concacaf tournaments have the scope, and the spare time in the calendar, to be expanded and be more inclusive to Central American and Caribbean teams.
Maybe it shows there is room for an equivalent to the Europa League or Copa Sudamericana. A secondary tournament in Concacaf below the Champions Cup.
Or maybe the main motivation behind the Leagues Cup is not interesting, intriguing international club competition, but money. To be earned and kept by MLS and Liga MX only, with the rest of Concacaf excluded so it falls behind.
The Leagues Cup has welcomed Messi to American soccer and it has provided some interesting MLS vs Liga MX games.
It has offered some indication that MLS has improved as a league.
Even though games being played only in MLS stadiums and not in Mexican ones might paint a false picture, there is obviously some decent depth to MLS in 2023 and strong franchises that can hold their own against Mexican sides.
The Leagues Cup has been good, but the good things about it are not new concepts, and hint that a second Concacaf-wide tournament could be better still.