Two MLS clubs entered the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary rounds expecting to advance to the group stages. But after a home and away series both New England and Chivas USA were outed worse than anyone could have imagined.

New England lost on aggregate to Trinidad side Joe Public 6-1. OUCH.

Chivas lost on aggregate to Panamanian side Tauro 3-1. Double ouch.

What went wrong? A few things came to mind like the vast amount of injuries that both sides were plagued with going into the tournament. Or the fact that neither club had a break in their schedule to really get ready for this event. Or the fact that the MLS club aren’t deep enough in terms of roster sizes to compete in these kind of events.

I think these results should be an eye opener to the league that MLS clubs just aren’t on par as much as we thought they were with clubs like Tauro and Joe Public. Now the MLS clubs have better talent but when it comes to depth we are still getting beat all over the park by other clubs.

Also, this should be an eye opener that the league needs to refocus its priorities for this tournament and NOT SuperLiga. The league gave the four MLS clubs a schedule break in July for SuperLiga and not for the CCL. Its a shame too, even though the MLS clubs did very well in SuperLiga.

We still have two clubs left in this tournament but they start group play towards the end of the MLS season. Again, no break for them at that time.

So where and what went wrong for the MLS clubs in CCL? Will DC and Houston fair any better in the group stages?