The US Open Cup is a special event that has gotten a lot of attention as of late. MLS teams have crashed out of the competition at an alarming rate in our country’s version of the FA Cup. Josh Hakala, senior editor of TheCup.us, helped us answer a few questions about this year’s matchups.
1. Some analysts have claimed that Cal FC’s defeat of the Timbers is the greatest upset in Cup history. Do you agree or disagree? How will they fare against Seattle on national TV?
We don’t have a complete history of the tournament’s 99 years, so it’s really hard to make that statement, but within the Modern Professional Era (1995-present), it definitely has to rank near the top. As Cal FC’s chances against Seattle, Eric Wynalda said in an interview recently that his team matches up better with Seattle than it does Portland, so they certainly have the belief that they can compete, but I think Seattle might be too much for them. The same thing happened in 2008 when Hollywood United, an amateur team, upset the Portland Timbers, and then went on to face the Sounders. Seattle won 6-0 that day in a match that wasn’t even close.
2. What caused the MLS teams to struggle so much in the Cup this year?
I don’t think it was any one thing that contributed to the “MLS massacre,” as fans were calling it. Some teams didn’t put out their best lineup, but they paid for it. But others did put out a pretty good lineup and still didn’t get a result. I just think it all comes down to there not being a MASSIVE gap between MLS and the lower divisions. The gap is pretty big, but it’s not as big as you see in other countries. I think more MLS teams are taking the tournament seriously, but there are still some who have it pretty low on their priority list. Before you automatically criticize an MLS team for throwing out reserves in the Open Cup, you really have to take a look at their situations. There’s injuries, there’s teams who have played a lot of games. And let’s also consider the fact that there’s nothing wrong with playing some reserves in a cup competition. You should be able to expect players who are on your bench to perform for you against lower division opposition, otherwise, why are they on your roster? But when you’re a huge favorite, like a Manchester United or a Chelsea, you’re going to get the other team’s best shot, so that contributed, as it does every year, to some of the upsets this year.
I also wouldn’t panic if I’m an MLS fan. In 2004, we had quite a few MLS upsets in Round 4, but we still had an all-MLS final. In 2007, 5 of the 8 MLS teams were knocked off in Round 3, but again, we still had an all-MLS final.
3. How do you think the NPSL teams did in the Cup this year? What can they do to advance further next year?
I think the NPSL did about as well as you’d expect from any amateur league. They went 3-3 in the opening round against other amateur clubs, two of those three losses were in extra time and one of the three teams that advanced to Round 2, the Georgia Revolution, played the Atlanta Silverbacks, an NASL (2nd Division) team pretty tough and only lost 1-0. It was a good showing overall. As far as what to do advance further next year, I don’t think there’s anything they can do that the other clubs in the tournament won’t be doing. They just have to improve their rosters and get a little bit of luck come tourney time.
