CARSON, Calif. – A day after the MLS unveiled their new set of standings tiebreakers to the public, LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena issued his criticism—not of the new standings tiebreakers—but of the league’s decision to use an unbalanced schedule for the 2012 season.
MLS revealed the unbalanced schedule for the 2012 season at the MLS Cup Final on November 20th, 2011. Citing concerns about travel and an uneven number of teams, the league opted to switch to the conference-based schedule in which clubs would play in-conference opponents three times and out of conference rivals, just once.
Below are Arena’s comments on the unbalanced schedule in their entirety...
“You don’t have control of that stuff. The playoff thing is one thing, but I think that the whole construction of the schedule this year with an unbalanced schedule is stupid. Absolutely stupid. To have a Supporters' Shield for that is stupid. I don’t know how that ever got through,” said Arena after training on Thursday. “I think I can tell you that most people think it’s stupid. It has not achieved anything or doing anything better in marketplaces and I think that without a doubt, the way to put together a schedule in this league is home and away. Period, end of discussion, Period, end of discussion. And if they need somebody to help them figure it out, the coaches would be happy to sit down with the people in the front office in MLS and show them how to do it. We’d be glad to do that; actually we’d prefer to do that honestly.”
