CONCACAF should consider modifying the Champions League schedule, writes Goal's CONCACAF Columnist.

Editor's Note: CONCACAF hipster Jon Arnold brings Goal readers stories and opinions from around the region in a weekly column.

The CONCACAF Champions League semifinals are set. Next week's first legs pit the Montreal Impact against Alajuelense and Club America against Herediano.

A lot of people want to fix the CCL, be it a total overhaul or seeing the competition sacrificed completely in favor of sending teams to South America's Copa Libertadores or a different competition entirely. But the CCL doesn't need an overhaul, just a tune-up. Year after year more fans are turning up to the midweek matches. Teams are making (slow) progress on knocking Mexico off the throne it has occupied since the format was switched for the 2008-09 season. The progress being made is slow but steady. Still, it should be nudged along when possible.

One of the best tweaks the region's brass could make is to change the calendar from running between August until April to starting in February and running until November like the Asian Football Confederation's edition. Sure, Major League Soccer would benefit from having the quarterfinals take place while it's in season instead of before the campaign. But Montreal's stunning start to the first leg in Pachuca and it's at-the-death equalizer at home showed that MLS clubs can get through the quarterfinals with the proper preparation. This has little to do with Major League Soccer and everything to do with strengthening the region as a whole.

Last year, Cruz Azul was a deserving champion. Then, the wheels fell off of La Maquina. The champion tumbled out in the CCL group stages and missed the Liga MX postseason. On the back of that, they headed down to the Club World Cup to be sacrificed to Real Madrid.

Having a champion crowned in November and immediately heading to whatever far-flung locale is hosting the Club World Cup would provide a much better chance of someone pulling an upset – and also put out a more accurate showing of where the top teams in the region are. That's not to say the CONCACAF champion will be able to compete with the European winner. That's just not going to happen in the current landscape. But it does ensure that a team which recently has won something is representing the region.

With most countries in CONCACAF using short tournaments, teams are generally in action between January and May and then back at it in late July until November. The cut-throat groups of three can stay with winners going directly into the quarterfinals. The quarterfinalists, whether Mexican, Costa Rican, American, Canadian or from elsewhere, will all be cohesive units and deep runs in the continental championship will likely be mirrored by trips through their own postseason.

The toughest part of making the swap would be the actual implementation. It wouldn't be popular, but it makes sense to send the most recent Liga MX champion (the Mexican league has earned the right at this point) and begin the precedent of sending an in-form team to the Club World Cup.

It's a tweak that alters little but provides great benefit to the region's clubs.

Quickly Taken

U-17 championship - After youth powers Mexico and the United States, Costa Rica and host Honduras also have impressed. The group winners automatically qualify for the World Cup and contest the final March 15. That same day, two other playoff matches will take place with those winners also making the U-17 World Cup in Chile later this year.

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