It’s break time, but not the restful kind. Your Loons are hitting pause on the MLS regular season for their annual Leagues Cup adventure, and this year’s tournament is going to be unlike anything you’ve ever seen. With a new format and three new teams for your Loons to take on, we’ve got plenty of learning to do, so let’s get this special Leagues Cup edition of the game preview going!
Querétaro F.C.
Instead of going through the run of form like we usually do, I thought it might be nice to use this first section to just get to know our Leagues Cup opponents a little better. While ancient Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu doesn’t have anything to do with this tournament, his famous saying still carries weight: Know thy enemy. Believe me, there’s plenty to know about Querétaro, but we’ve only got time for the highlights.
Querétaro F.C. — or Gallos Blancos de Querétaro, as they’re commonly known — have played in Santiago de Querétaro since 1950. They came into existence as part of the inaugural Mexican second division, expanding the league system in Mexico and bringing professional soccer to Querétaro. They’ve gone between the first and second divisions on several occasions, but their most notable run-in with relegation came in 2013. Get a load of this one.
When Querétaro was set for relegation after the 2013 season, their owners purchased the license for Liga MX side Jaguares de Chiapas, moving the team to Querétaro and effectively buying their way out of going down. I must say, that’s awfully clever. And, since the 2020 promotion/relegation freeze in Mexico, they haven’t been under threat of going down in any of the last few seasons, either, despite stringing together average-to-poor finishes in the league standings.
Keys to the Match:
Does Form Matter?
The Liga MX Apertura season is only a few weeks old, meaning most of the Mexican teams are still heating up. The timing and locations of this tournament have always made Leagues Cup a real challenge for Liga MX sides, who are forced to play every match away from home against teams that are in midseason form. This quirk begs the question: How important is form? With MLS teams cleaning up the podium in each of the last two editions of Leagues Cup, it seems that the ability to bring a consistent, sustained run of form into this tournament is one of the keys to victory. If we shorten our form analysis to match Querétaro’s three games played, your Loons are 1-1-1 to their opponent’s 0-3-0. Now, that’s an incomplete picture of the Loons’ recent form, but it’s still enough to suggest that Querétaro will be fighting an uphill battle when Wednesday’s match gets underway.
New Format, New Strategy
Sure, the Loons will be playing against three Liga MX teams in Phase One, but they aren’t actually competing with any teams from Mexico. Under the new rules of Leagues Cup, the Loons are actually up against their fellow MLS teams, as only the top four point-earners from each league will advance to the knockout stage. That means they have to perform better than at least 14 MLS sides, none of whom they get a chance to play. This new format is unique in that no matter how well a team plays, they have to rely on results elsewhere to learn their fate. What if every MLS team wins all three of their Phase One games? Yeah, tiebreakers will pick the top four for us, but how terrible would it be to win every game in a tournament and still get eliminated? Now, it’s highly unlikely that every team from one league or the other will win every one of their games, but the possibility still exists. That means that a single dropped point could be the difference between advancing and elimination. While running the table doesn’t guarantee anything, it’s almost certainly going to be the standard that teams need to hit if they want a real shot at the trophy.
Priorities, Priorities
Your Loons are realistically in the race for all four trophies they started the season in contention for — U.S. Open Cup, MLS Cup, the Supporters’ Shield, and now Leagues Cup. That means a lot of intense games await them in the coming months, and the stakes are only going to keep getting higher. A strong Leagues Cup performance could set the precedent that this is a season for success, setting this squad up to finish their other three campaigns strong. Failure to qualify for the knockouts would free up some fixture congestion, but it might leave a bad taste in the mouths of the players. This is an opportunity for valuable trophy-chasing experience, and one way or another, it presents a great way to learn important lessons. We won’t know how much value the club is placing on Leagues Cup until Wednesday’s game kicks off, but the lineup and performance in this opening match will tell us plenty.
Matchcar
