Major League Soccer's schedule is unique compared to the club season many of us are used to seeing in Europe. MLS employs an American-style format – a regular season and playoffs – to determine a winner, while leagues across the pond utilize a single table with the team that compiles the best overall record crowned champion. That distinction is what makes MLS enjoyable, but it’s also what makes it, at times, unbearable.

The playoffs carry so much importance in MLS that the regular season is often rendered meaningless – especially during the second half of the season when most teams are already assured of a postseason spot.

New York Red Bulls striker Thierry Henry, who is most remembered for playing with Arsenal and Barcelona, once compared the MLS playoffs to the knockout stages of the Champions League.

“The only thing that matters here is the playoffs,” he said. “You are not going to be champion at the end of the season. We know that. Everybody knows that. You’ve seen it in the past two or three years here.”

At the start of the season, Red Bulls coach Hans Backe said his goal this season was to win the Supporters Shield, given to the team with the best overall regular-season record, over the MLS Cup. In August, Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller reiterated that sentiment, saying the Supporters Shield “for me is winning the league.”

As teams embark on the last two months of the regular season, there are some startling statistics to ponder:

• Each of the last six teams to reach the MLS Cup final posted a better regular-season record starting on Aug. 1 than they did from the beginning of the season in March through July 31.

• Six teams that had a losing record on Aug. 1 reached the final, including two of the past three seasons (New York in 2008 and Real Salt Lake in 2009).

• Three previous MLS Cup winners - D.C. United (in 1996 and 2004) and Real Salt Lake (2009) - had losing records. If that were to be the case again this fall, the Los Angeles Galaxy, who currently have the best overall record, would not be crowned champions in the end.

In other words, the current system favors teams that peak at the right time over ones who have the best records. Last year’s MLS Cup final in Toronto between the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas was a surprise matchup. The Rapids, who went on to win the title, posted a 12-8-10 regular-season record, finishing seventh out of eight teams in the playoff standings. No team with a losing record made the playoffs last season, but the Rapids were the closest thing to one.

All this means that between now and the end of the regular season on Oct. 23, fans will have to watch as most teams play one meaningless match after another in anticipation of the playoffs. The current format makes the regular season a routine exercise, much like the NBA and NHL have done, in anticipation of the playoffs. When MLS expands to 19 teams next year with the inclusion of the Montreal Impact, it may mean more regular season games.

The domestic leagues in Europe are not entirely immune from this problem of meaningless games, but because they have no playoffs each game actually means more. Teams overseas are also playing for a lot more. Aside from the title, clubs need to finish near the top if they want to qualify for the Champions League and Europa League the following season. The mid-table teams, meanwhile, need to avoid dropping in the standings if they don't want to be relegated to the second division. In other words, all the teams in those top flights have something to play for. In MLS, all teams need to do is get off to a decent start, get into playoff contention and play well enough to clinch a spot. Once that’s over, the playoffs usher in the start of a new season.

What is the solution? A single MLS table with no playoffs is something some favor, but it would be too foreign a concept for mainstream American sports fans to embrace. Another plan that includes promotion/relegation has been rejected by MLS. The solution is to reduce the current 34-game season to an NFL-style 16. Like in football, the strength of a team’s schedule would be based on the previous year's record. A team that won the title should have a tougher schedule. The league could also set up schedules that favor rivalries (to get fans more into it) and based on proximity (to save money and reduce travel). This year, the MLS playoffs have been expanded from eight to 10 teams in order to accommodate two wild-card berths.

By slashing the regular season in half and trimming the playoffs back to eight teams, games would mean a lot more. Teams with losing records would not get into the playoffs so easily. The playoffs could be two-legged games throughout, including the conference finals (currently one game). The MLS Cup would remain a single game at a venue that is decided upon before the start of the season.

It’s not like many MLS teams aren't busy during the season playing friendlies against touring European clubs and the CONCACAF Champions League, a tournament that determines the North and Central American champion. Teams could make up for fewer MLS games by playing friendlies. They do so now, often to the detriment to their season. With a slimmer regular season, MLS could actually take a few weeks off during the World Cup so that teams with missing players are not at a disadvantage.

No one likes change. However, tinkering with the regular-season format could make for a more exciting season. After all, every game should count. Otherwise, wake me up in late October when it's time for the playoffs and the outcome of games actually mean something.