MLS out of CCL again. Is it bad luck, or something more?

Aldo De Nigris celebrates a goal against the LA Galaxy (AP Photo)

So, another year, another collapse.  Major League Soccer is facing another year without a representative in the CCL final.  Lord knows the Seattle Sounders gave it the old college try, and the Galaxy looked fully capable of beating Monterrey for the first 45 minutes in their series, but in the final analysis, the results just didn't come.

Let's look at a couple of facts here.  Number 1, despite the exits of the Sounders and the Galaxy at the hands of Santos Laguna and Monterrey, MLS clubs are doing better in this competition year after year, as MLS Analyst Matthew Doyle points out here.  The record keeps improving.  Now, some of this is against the Caribbean and Central American clubs, whom MLS have generally shown themselves to be superior, most of the time.  However, the league is starting to notch results against Mexican opposition every year as well.  RSL drew Monterrey in the first leg of the finals in Monterrey in 2011.  In 2012 both Seattle and FC Dallas notched wins against Mexican opponents.  This year, the Houston Dynamo beat Santos at home and the Sounders became the first club to eliminate a Mexican team in the knockout stages, beating Tigres.   Tigres is no slouch of a club.  So the evidence is there, it's getting better, just maybe not at the pace that MLS fans want it to.

Number 2: Mexico is still the better league, at least in this competition.  There are probably many factors at work here.  Many have pointed out the salary cap issue over the last couple of days.  While it is true that Mexican sides don't have the spending constraints  that MLS sides do, when you look at what went down in the semis, would a spending spree have helped, especially in light of the fact that MLS tends to spend it's DP money on attackers?

What am I getting at here?  Certainly both the Sounders and the Galaxy had their chances, and failed to finish them.  However, one can imagine that had the Sounders had a fully healthy compliment of Eddie Johnson and Obafemi Martins, and had the Galaxy had a fully fit Landon Donovan playing with Robbie Keane, those chances would have stood a better chance of being finished.  I'm not sure MLS is going to acquire better attackers than these guys in the near future, no matter how much cash you throw around.

What concerns me more is Major League Soccer's inability to put up a clean sheet in these games.  I grew up on the saying "Defense wins championships," and generally it's as true in soccer as it is in American football, unless you're Barcelona and you're just going hold the ball for 90 minutes, but even Barca have had their lack of defense exposed of late.  The fact is, had the Sounders and the Galaxy been able to take care of business and pitch clean sheets in the home legs of their series, they would not have been in that position.  Ditto RSL in the 2011 final.  Giving up road goals in these finals and semifinals are killer.  Defense looks like it might be a concern for Seattle all year, and outside of Omar Gonzalez, the Galaxy might have some issues too.

So in the end, I would like to see MLS sides focus more on the defensive side of things.  That's just me.  After all, I'm a Serie A fan, and I love defensive football, I love making the other side earn it.  The fact is, if you put up a clean sheet, especially in your home leg, you're gonna give yourself a chance to win.

I also tend to agree that the salary cap needs to be raised a little as well, though I'm not one that would advocate for the elimination of the cap or a huge increase, I don't think you want to price the smaller clubs out of MLS competition to try and buy a CCL trophy.  While winning the CCL would bring international recognition to the league, clubs have to remain competitive at home to keep MLS growing and sustainable,

I would like to see a 4th DP added though.  However, it's fair to point out that many teams, if not most, aren't using all three slots available at the moment.  Still that might give a club like Seattle, LA, RSL, or Sporting a chance to go out and spend a little more on another player that might get them over the hump in CCL, though of course RSL and Seattle fans won't have a stake in champion's league this year, sadly.

So there's my take.  We're getting closer.  After all, this league is less than 20 years old, and I generally think MLS and club management are doing a great job.  I don't think it's time to panic, and I don't think it's time to open the flood gates for cash, let's just keep building block by block.  What do you folks think?