The Colorado Rapids’ championship is just a segue into a host of changes in store for MLS in 2011.
5. More teams and a balanced schedule might equal fatigue » With newcomers Portland and Vancouver, MLS will expand to 18 teams, and each team will play every other team twice: 17 games at home, 17 games away. That’s another 66 games to strain the already slim corps of officials, and it doesn’t include what can amount to a half-dozen, or more, matches in other tournaments.
4. Trading one questionable playoff idea for another » The idea of sending teams to the other conference for the postseason was a disaster. Instead of regional rivalries driving competition, Colorado and Real Salt Lake won the East in successive seasons. Adding a pair of berths so that 10 of 18 teams make the postseason puts MLS back where it got ridiculed before with more teams making the playoffs than missing it.
3. Reserve league gets a restart » Speaking of more matches, these might be the most important — both for MLS and the U.S. national team. Rosters will increase to 30 players, which should encourage the development of homegrown players like D.C. United’s Andy Najar and Bill Hamid.
2. Expansion draft, re-entry draft, college draft » The MLS offseason that started Monday could prove to be the busiest ever, and keeping track of the rules around the multiple player acquisition mechanisms ought to be worth a Ph.D.
1. Changing to the international calendar » Because this remains only a potential change that MLS has promised to investigate, it reeks of appeasement to FIFA ahead of the vote on the destination for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
