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Leagues Cup Review

 The first edition of Leagues Cup has come to a close. The obvious story line is of course the greatest soccer player on the planet coming to Miami to lead them to the first trophy in their club's history. There were a lot of questions about the validity of the cup and how teams from both leagues would handle the aded workload.

The Competition

It was apparent early on that some teams cared more than others. No one really threw in the towel, and no one wanted two full weeks off before their return to league play. However I think some teams welcomed some rest and the opportunity to return to health.

The Format

The only oddity of the format was the defending league champs coming in during the knockout stages. You could suppose with the timing of this tournament in the MLS season that not having to grind through two group stage games would be advantageous to defending MLS Cup Champions LAFC. The one mind blowing aspect of the format was that all games were played in MLS stadiums. This was a natural huge advantage for MLS clubs. 

It was fun and exciting to see Club America fans in St. Louis and Chivas fans in Kansas City, that fact I will not argue, but for the long term health of competition you want to see Liga MX sides have the opportunity to host matches. Even if there aren't but a handful of Charlotte fans packing the Azteca. 

Messi

Where to even begin on the Messi debut coming in the opening match of this tournament. It was incredible. I haven't seen numbers but you have to assume it was the most watched club match in US Soccer history. Celebrities piled into stadiums and ticket prices ballooned to levels never before seen in this league, if not this country for the sport of soccer. Officiating was questionable at times, always in favor of the lads in pink (my Orlando City bias was through the roof in the Florida Derby), but that is truly what was best for the league.

Messi the soccer player did not disappoint, in fact he mesmerized. Ten goals in seven games Lionel Messi won the Golden Boot and Best Player awards, and he was simply magnificent. He made plays only he could make like the Finals goal where he beat four Nashville defenders and the keeper in one of the most brilliant displays of greatness I've ever witnessed. 

Probably equally important for Miami and the League he showed he really wants to be here. He had fire, passion and leadership and just a pure desire to lift this trophy. 

Rarely in sports, or even life for that matter are you able to set unreasonably high expectations for someone and then they show up and totally blow those expectations out of the water and that is exactly what Lionel Messi did. He exceeded fan expectations, he exceeded league expectations, he just stole the show the entire tournament. 

Nashville

What shouldn't be lost in the Messi-rich messaging and coverage of Leagues Cup is how well Nashville played throughout this tournament. This is a really good team that is really well coached. They took down Monterrey and gave Miami their toughest match of the tournament (respect to FC Dallas in that regard). Nashville is a team with a clear identity, quality leadership and quality role players who are going to make a really strong push to lift silverware this season. 

The Future

This year set the stage for what could either be the start of a new great tournament, or one that doesn't have staying power but really gave us a special month of soccer. For this tournament to succeed you are going to have to play games in Mexico. I don't even mind the idea of bringing in the winners of USL and the Canadian Premier League to get involved. 

If you're going to add seven games to the season along with an expanded CCL and a new expanded Club World Cup MLS is going to have to address their roster rules sooner rather than later. Obviously this isn't the Saudi League and there needs to be some balance that allows both the financial security for the future of the league and the flexibility to add mega stars like Messi. I think we are definitely out of the era of "is this league going to be here in X number of years?" and into needing a vision of the future of the league on both a North American and global landscape.

Thank you all for tuning in and being so gracious following my extended break. I look forward to providing coverage throughout the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs!

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