Dave’s Football Blog

Before I begin, I don’t want to use this post to denigrate the accomplishments of Joe Public, the champions of Trinidad and Tobago. That is clearly a very talented side, and the fact that they put a 4-0 drubbing on the New England Revolution last night in Foxboro is proof of that.

Doesn’t it seem, though, that the Revolution wasn’t so interested in this new CONCACAF Champions League?

After all, here’s a club that already has a trophy in an international competition (such as it is) and is dealing with injuries and fatigue. It’s also filled with players who aren’t particularly happy that Major League Soccer is making them play all these different tournaments and not giving them a whole lot of compensation for it. Steve Ralston’s thanks-for-the-trophy-now-piss-off reaction to MLS commish Don Garber on the SuperLiga champions’ podium made that clear to everyone.

So would it be a shock to anyone if the Revs got together and said, hey, MLS isn’t paying us enough for this? Would it surprise anyone if they just bottled it against Joe Public so that they could focus on the MLS Cup and MLS Supporters Shield? What’s this CONCACAF Champions League to them, anyway? I know winning international competitions means something, even in North America, but what’s the real benefit to the Revs here?

Think about it: The Revs would have to play more games during a crucial stage of their domestic league season, and MLS has already made it clear that they’re not going to get paid very much for their efforts. Plus, if they made it to this Champions League group stage, they would have to face Atlante, a Mexican club that was throwing punches at the Revs after their SuperLiga semifinal. Do they really need that distraction on the way to the MLS Cup?

And what’s the ultimate reward of the CONCACAF Champions League? A trip to Japan during the offseason for the FIFA Club World Cup and a potential shot at the UEFA Champions League winner, who will probably beat them 4-0 — assuming they even make it that far down the bracket.

Would the Revs have won this tie against Joe Public if they cared about this new Champions League? Perhaps not, but they certainly wouldn’t have lost 6-1 on aggregate. This was a tank job, and honestly, I don’t blame the Revs one bit. They’ll start caring when MLS pays them to start caring.

That said, I have a feeling D.C. United might not feel the same way. DCU is already in the Champions League group stage and has always valued international competitions more than most MLS clubs. Plus, DCU is a long shot for a league trophy this season, so they might decide to focus more on this group stage rather than the MLS Cup playoffs — especially since all they have to do to get back to the Champions League next year is win at home tonight against the Charleston Battery, an upstart USL-1 club, in the U.S. Open Cup Final. That was probably the plan all along.

Perhaps it’s just a case of choosing your battles wisely. Either way, for MLS to have only two clubs in the Champions League group stage — an injury-plagued Chivas USA was also eliminated last night — doesn’t reflect too well on the league. If anything, it suggests that the players have a point. MLS clubs aren’t deep enough or well-paid enough to handle all these competitions, and if the league really wants to change that, it must loosen the purse strings. Otherwise, it’s Joe Public’s world, and MLS clubs are just playing in it.

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