Ex-USMNT player Jimmy Conrad blasts MLS decision to opt out of U.S. Open Cup: ‘They choose to be exclusive’

Former U.S. men’s national team players Jimmy Conrad and Jesse Marsch have come down hard on MLS’ decision to send youth squads in place of the senior teams to the 2024 edition of the U.S. Open Cup.

The league announced Friday that MLS Next Pro teams would play in the century-old cup competition, a move that received swift condemnation from every corner of the American soccer community. On Monday, Conrad reflected on MLS’ decision during an appearance on Morning Footy, CBS Sports Golazo Network’s daily soccer show.

“I had an emotional reaction to it,” the Open Cup winner said. “This is the one tournament that we have here in this country that’s for everyone. Every single team. Amateur teams have a chance to qualify and participate in this tournament.

“They have a choice to be inclusive and they choose to be exclusive,” Conrad continued. “They had a choice to not be like all the other American sports in this country and to really make it about the greater good of the game and to really grow the game in a meaningful way, to work with USL, to work with U.S. Soccer to grow Open Cup, to work with all the youth stuff that’s happening when they’ve created MLS Next and MLS Next Pro and they’ve chosen that.”

Conrad elaborated on the latest episode of Call It What You Want, CBS Sports Golazo Network’s new podcast co-hosted by Marsch and fellow ex-USMNT player Charlie Davies. Marsch, a four-time champion as a player and a former competitor during his stint coaching the New York Red Bulls, noted the competition’s history.

“I think it’s the wrong decision,” Marsch said. “I know there’s so many teams now and there’s so many games and tournaments and there’s lots of reasoning you could put behind this, and I’m not saying it’s easy to balance all those things out but for me, this has been one of the cornerstones of the way that the league and the sport has operated in our country for a long time.”

It is that history that ultimately makes the decision sting for Conrad.

“This trophy matters. It has history. It has our respect. This Leagues Cup stuff feels like it’s for money. The Champions Cup to some extent feels like it’s for money even though it has a Champions League feel to it. We need to have that competition as well but the Leagues Cup in particular still feels very manufactured. It still doesn’t have our respect. It just has Leo Messi scoring a whole bunch of goals and Inter Miami winning something but it doesn’t have everything else that comes with it.”