What it takes to win the MLS CUP

Soccer in America is very unpredictable. The MLS, USMNT, USL, WPS, you name it. Over the past couple of years, the MLS playoff race has been filled with surprises you'd never expect in your life. That is because after the eight MLS clubs have earned their playoff berths, it completely does not matter what place you finished in the regular season. A fellow team from New York, the New York Red Bulls has earned a playoff spot in the final week of regular league play on a mere 39 points and the final team to chase the cup. Those 39 points meant absolutely nothing when it came to playoff mode. They've beaten league giants Houston Dynamo on a score of 4-1 on aggregate with a 3-nil win in Houston. NYRB had then moved on to the Eastern Conference Final and prove victorious over playoff newbies Real Salt Lake with a 1-0 win. The New York Red Bulls had booked their plane tickets to Carson, Calif. and left with a trophy whose conference they were not even in.

The secret in this league is consistency. If you're successful from top to bottom, chances are you'll be successful in the playoffs. That was the case for 2008 underdogs Columbus Crew. At the end of the 2007 campaign, the Columbus Crew were beginning to become the garbage of this league where they missed out on the playoffs on a couple of good years now, and with attendance at a low, things were looking like they had no future for this club. Not in 2008. Sigi Schmid, the coach of Crew, led them to an astonishing 6-3-1 record in their first ten games. The team eventually finished off the regular season with a whooping 57 points with a 17-7-6 record, was the first team to clinch a playoff berth, and won the supporters shield (team with most points at the end on the 30 weeks of play). As the team then cruised through the playoffs, earning victories over Kansas City and Chicago, they then faced New York Red Bulls who were on a Cinderella run over the past week or so. The Columbus Crew won the MLS CUP, by beating the New York Red Bulls on a score of 3-1. The Columbus Crew had what it takes to win the MLS CUP, consistency. Many say it was Sigi Schmid, others say it was Guillermo Barros Schelotto, but I say it was the fans. The Columbus faithful came together in 2008 after one of their stands was destroyed for the purposes of building a stage. All of the little 10-member supporter groups came together to form the Nordecke. The Nordecke was the heart and soul of this team which most likely was one of the factors in their unlikely success in 2008.

That was a little preview of 2008, and now we're off to 2009. The 2009 campaign kicked off with a few surprises. The two big ones were the Los Angeles Galaxy series of ties, and the 2008 MLS CUP finalist's, the NYRB series of losses. No one knew what Bruce Arena's army was up to at the time. Their first ten games got them to a 1-1-8 record. Was it consistent? I'll say so. This series of ties turned into a much different scenario as L.A. were climbing the ladder up the Western Conference table. They finally finished off the season one point away from clinching the supporters shield with a 12-6-12 record. The formula seemed right for them Bruce Arena (Sigi Schmid) + Angel City Brigade (Nordecke) + Beckham (Schelotto) + CONSISTENCY = MLS CUP GLORY. The Galaxy looked a lot like the Crew in 2007 last year as they were beginning to become the garbage of this league at the end of the regular season. The 2009 Cinderella Story edition club, Real Salt Lake will play the Galaxy in Seattle in the final. RSL had clinched a playoff spot on the last day of league play with 40 points. Again, those 40 points meant absolutely nothing as they went on to defeating the Columbus Crew and the Chicago Fire respectively. The New York Red Bulls had been out of the playoff chase weeks and weeks before the final 30 weeks of the regular season had ended. The team finished off their 2009 campaign with a pathetic 5-19-6 record. Last year's MLS CUP finalists, this year's joke. This is what I mean by soccer in America being unpredictable.

Take the WPS. Sky Blue FC made the playoff in the final week of play as the fourth and last team, and they ended up beating Marta and company to be crowned league champions. The USMNT had suddenly proved the world wrong with a 2-nothing win over Spain in a crucial semi-final, as well as giving Brazil a hell of a game in the Confederations Cup final. So is soccer in America, MLS really that unpredictable, or that just the way soccer rolls?