MLS: Don Garber right to keep all options on table
Don Garber has stated that every potential option of how to complete the 2020 MLS season is on the table. Given the uncertainty of the current climate, that is exactly right.
The 2020 Major League Soccer was just two weeks old when it was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. As is the case the world over, play was initially postponed for several weeks before being put back bit by bit. At present, the league will not return until June 8th at the earliest.
Predictions about what will happen and if and how the league will return and in what form are futile. Put simply, there is too much uncertainty to make genuine judgements for what is to come. And anyone who does is only fooling themselves.
More from MLS Multiplex
- Javier Milei Elected in Argentina: Potential Impacts on MLS and Signings of Argentine Players
- Orlando City and New York City FC in the Battle for Matías Arezo; Grêmio Enters Negotiations! Who Will Come Out on Top?
- USA, Honduras, Panama, and Canada Close in on a Spot in the 2024 Copa America
- De Gea Turns Down Al-Nassr’s Lucrative Offer: Speculation Points to Possible Reunion with Messi at Inter Miami
- Messi’s Magnetic Impact in the United States
However, despite the lack of clear information or projections for the future, MLS Commissioner Don Garber and his staff must still make plans for the eventual return of the league. They might not be able to say which form the league will take in 2020, but they can at least have several different solutions laid out, ready in waiting for when the time comes to exercise them.
Some have criticised leagues around the world for making plans for the return of their respective competitions. That is a very shortsighted viewpoint, however. Just because you make plans does not mean those plans are going to happen. There is a wide range of contingencies and these must be prepared for.
This week, Garber confirmed that MLS is thinking about how to solve the 2020 season and says that ‘everything is on the table’. Speaking to Altitude Sports Social, he said:
"“I’d say yes, everything’s on the table, and it should be, it’s one of the benefits of having time to take a step back and perhaps think about life going forward that might be a little different — and in positive ways. We’ll get back to playing and we’ll get back to having our fans and we’ll get back to MLS having the momentum that it had leading into its 25th season. But maybe we’ll be producing games differently.”"
It is a wise stance to take. Why rush into a particular course of action when you do not have the full information at hand? Equally, why relax completely and say ‘it will be what it will be’ without having some vague idea of how you might complete the season? The two extremes would be foolish.
Quite how MLS intends to complete the season, if at all, remains to be seen. Some have suggested splitting the league into its conferences and only playing intraconference matches before a playoff system. Others have suggested a straight playoff-like format. Even more have argued that the league should be voided entirely. At this stage, no one knows what will happen, and subsequently, the best course of action is difficult to determine.
Next. MLS: Top 5 Brazilian players in league history. dark
For now, then, Garber is keeping his options open. And given the circumstances, that is the right and only thing to do.