News Analysis: Why is MLS embracing a playoff format disliked by players and fans?

LAFC forward Denis Bouanga, left, greets forward Mario González during the second half of LAFC’s win over Vancouver in the first game of their MLS Cup playoff series on Saturday night. And the early results suggest the fans aren’t buying it, with several thousand empty seats watching both LAFC and the Philadelphia Union roll to convincing wins in the first games of their postseason series. The MLS is always mixing it up, trying something new.” The league defends the three-game first round by saying it’s like World Cup group play, ignoring the fact that it is in no way like World Cup group play, the only similarity being the number of games. In World Cup group play, draws and goal differential not only matter, they’re often part of the strategy; in the MLS playoffs, the only thing that counts are wins, no matter how they’re achieved.