Why do MLS players needs to go on loan at the end of the season?

The MLS regular season will end in November, while the playoffs will run through mid-December. The problem comes after that, since Major League Soccer will be on hold for several months and American soccer will reset in April 2021 instead of March as previously thought.

This means that if a team fails to qualify for the playoffs, their players would have 6 months without competition. That equates to players being stuck for a long time in a year with a lot of international commitments. Due to the pandemic, 2021 will have the peculiarity that the Golden Cup, the Copa America, the UEFA European Championship and the Africa Cup of Nations will be played all at the same time.

That means that the players of the MLS will be at a disadvantage with the players from other leagues since they will not remain in competition. This may be the reason why MLS players are taken into account by the coaches of the national teams are seeking loans to leagues that keep competing after the MLS ends.

Landon Donovan, back on his days as a Los Angeles Galaxy player, had gone on short loans to Everton and Bayern Munich until the MLS season began to stay in his best physical shape. Sending players to Europe or South America on short loans could be a good thing for both the players and the MLS teams.