Archive for November 2010
MLS Playoffs, Other Tourneys
MLS
- MLS Cup: Colorado Rapids win MLS Cup After Extra Time
- MLS Cup Playoffs: Five Year Attendance Report
- Grant Wahl: Five Thoughts from the Cup Final
Tournaments
- Copa Sudamericana: LDU defeats Independiente in Semi 1st leg
- Mexican Liguilla: Pumas, America advance in Liguilla, Cruz Azul out
- Mexican Liguilla: Monterrey advance in Liguilla, Pachuca out
- Mexican Liguilla: Santos advance in Liguilla, will play America
The Business of Soccer
- LA Down Under: Beckham still brings in the bucks
MLS Player Moves and More
MLS
- Danny Allsop bids adieu to DC United
- Rev sign first Home Grown player, 16 yr old M/F Diego Fagundez
- Vancouver: Whitecaps make US Int’l Demerit 1st signing
- Philadelphia: Union’s Unique Academy Structure
- Generation Adidas Graduates after 2010
- Match Fit USA’s new playoff suggestion
- Brian Straus’s new playoff suggestion
Interesting Reads
Tournaments
- Copa Sudamericana: LDU defeats Independiente in Semi 1st leg
- Mexican Liguilla: 2 draws in Mexican playoffs
MLS Tactics, La Liga TV Money, Player Stories, MLS Draft Info
MLS
- San Jose: How the Quakes Beat RBNY
- Rapids: How the Rapids Exploit Weakness
- Dallas: FCD Uses Harris to Befuddle Galaxy
- Locker room leadership; how it counts in MLS playoffs
- MLS Drafts Explained for a British Audience
- Timeline for Drafts(excluding SuperDraft)
- Jason Davis: On Ending Restrictions on Academy Signings
- Steve Davis: Cup Final Preview
- Jeff Carlisle: Cup Final Preview
Interesting Reads
- Kyle Martino: “Can you Play”, Don’t Ask the Athlete
- Gale Agbossoumonde: Regrets signing with Traffic
- The Run of Play: On talent and using it
- Jacob Steinberg: A terrific read about Jose Antonio Reyes
Around the World
- Brasileirao: 3 way race for Campeonato with 3 left to play
The Business of Soccer
- La Liga: TV Rights Deal Threatens Split
Tourneys and more
MLS
- MLS Cup Semifinal: Rapids in Cup Final
- MLS Cup Semifinal: Dallas surprises LA to gain Cup Final berth
Tournaments
- Asian Champions League: Seongnam(Korea Republic) seal ACL glory
- FIFA Club World Cup: The field is set
| FIFA Club World Cup Bracket | ||||
| Qualifier | Semifinals | |||
| Al-Wahda(UAE) | >>> | >>> | ||
| Hekari Utd(Oceania) | Seongnam(Asia) | Internazionale(UEFA) | ||
| Mazembe(Africa) | >>> | |||
| Pachuca(CONCACAF) | Internacional(COMNEBOL) | |||
| Dec 8-18 in Abu Dhabi | ||||
Interesting Reads
- Fullback Tactics: Out Wide Or In The Box? -Don’t know if it would work, but would like to see some team try it.
Make Believe 2014 USMNT World Cup Roster
Waiting for the weekend MLS playoff games. The announcement of the roster for the upcoming USMNT friendly in South Africa got me to dreaming a bit. So here is my make believe roster of outfielders for the 2014 US Men’s World Cup team.
Forwards: Altidore, Agudelo, Bunbury
also in consideration: Wondolowski, Braun
Midfielders: Bradley, Edu, Dempsey, Donovan, Diskerud, Holden, Torres, Bedoya, Shea, Jones
also in consideration: Pontius, Cameron, Feilhaber, Cruz, Convey
Defenders: Gonzalez, Ream, Agbossoumonde, Lichaj, Bornstein, Goodson, Opara
also in consideration: Pearce, Orozco-Fiscal, Wynne, Parkhurst, Siriboe, Spector
Just having some fun.
A Bit of This and That
MLS
- Tactics: San Jose/Colorado
- Tactics: Los Angeles/Dallas
- Jeff Carlisle: Los Angeles/Dallas
- Combine: Pre Draft Combine details
- Renewal: 1st Re-Entry Draft details
- FC Dallas: Open letter to Dallas Media – Cover Us!
Interesting Reads
- Richard Farley: Different Standards For Good Football
Tournaments
- Asian Champions League: Iranian team looks for upset
- Copa Sudamericana : Defending Champions Liga Deportiva Universitaria(LDU) in Semis
- Copa Sudamericana : Independiente, Goias in Semis
- Copa América 2011: Copa América groups are drawn
The Business of Soccer
- Tottenham loses money despite revenue increase
- EPL: Bolton chief calls for salary cap
- Rostering an International Doesn’t Pay – Good article, ignore the ignorant comments
- Serie A: Players set Nov 30 strike date
MLS Player Scoring
Hanging around waiting for the MLS semifinals, I cobbled together the following lists of player scoring performances for the 2010 season. It’s a simple metric with goals counting for 2 points and assists counting for 1 point, then calculating points per 90 minutes. I picked the 700 minute minimum because it allowed for the inclusion of players that signed mid-season. For the rookies, I picked 600 minutes minimum because no rookie was in the 500-600 range.
Take what you want from the information. For me, a few things… Danny Mwanga is the only rookie in the overall top 20. That just reinforces the argument that he deserved the Rookie of the Year award over Andy Najar(at least from the offensive viewpoint).
No rookies were in the top 20 last year. Nine players, however are repeaters from 2009. They are: Angel, Casey, Ching, Cummings, Cunningham, DeRosario, Donovan, Montero and Wondolowski.
| Players with 700 minutes minimum – Top 20 | ||||||
| Team | Player | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Points | Pts per 90 |
| LA | Edson Buddle | 2,109 | 17 | 2 | 36 | 1.536 |
| SJ | Chris Wondolowski | 2,308 | 18 | 1 | 37 | 1.443 |
| DAL | Jeffrey Cunningham | 1,464 | 11 | 1 | 23 | 1.414 |
| PHI | Sebastian Le Toux | 2,520 | 14 | 11 | 39 | 1.393 |
| TFC | Dwayne DeRosario | 2,226 | 15 | 3 | 33 | 1.334 |
| RSL | Alvaro Saborio | 1,988 | 12 | 4 | 28 | 1.268 |
| LA | Landon Donovan | 2,141 | 7 | 16 | 30 | 1.261 |
| COL | Conor Casey | 2,289 | 13 | 6 | 32 | 1.258 |
| DAL | Milton Rodriguez | 835 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 1.186 |
| CLB | Emilio Renteria | 857 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 1.155 |
| SEA | Fredy Montero | 2,353 | 10 | 10 | 30 | 1.147 |
| COL | Omar Cummings | 2,471 | 14 | 3 | 31 | 1.129 |
| PHI | Danny Mwanga | 1,461 | 7 | 4 | 18 | 1.109 |
| HOU | Brian Ching | 1,425 | 7 | 3 | 17 | 1.074 |
| NY | Juan Pablo Angel | 2,593 | 13 | 4 | 30 | 1.041 |
| SEA | Steve Zakuani | 2,285 | 10 | 6 | 26 | 1.024 |
| KC | Kei Kamara | 2,418 | 10 | 6 | 26 | 0.968 |
| DAL | David Ferreira | 2,699 | 8 | 13 | 29 | 0.967 |
| SEA | Blaise Nkufo | 931 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0.967 |
| LA | Jovan Kirovski | 932 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 0.966 |
| 2 points per goal, 1 per assist | ||||||
| Rookies with 600 minutes minimum | ||||||
| Team | Player | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Points | Pts per 90 |
| PHL | Danny Mwanga | 1,461 | 7 | 4 | 18 | 1.109 |
| KC | Teal Bunbury | 1,441 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 0.749 |
| NE | Zack Schilawski | 1,261 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0.714 |
| DAL | Eric Alexander | 1,054 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 0.598 |
| SJ | Ike Opara | 914 | 3 | &nb sp;0 |
6 | 0.591 |
| DC | Andy Najar | 1,983 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 0.499 |
| LA | Michael Stephens | 1,884 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 0.478 |
| CHV | Blair Gavin | 1,369 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 0.460 |
| SJ | Steven Beitashour | 640 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.281 |
| CHI | Steven Kinney | 963 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0.280 |
| NY | Tony Tchani | 1,610 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0.280 |
| CLB | Shaun Francis | 993 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.091 |
| 2 points per goal, 1 per assist | ||||||
| Designated Players | ||||||
| Team | Player | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Points | Pts per 90 |
| LA | Landon Donovan | 2,141 | 7 | 16 | 30 | 1.261 |
| NY | Juan Pablo Angel | 2,593 | 13 | 4 | 30 | 1.041 |
| SEA | Blaise Nkufo | 931 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0.967 |
| LA | David Beckham | 466 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0.966 |
| SEA | Alvaro Fernandez | 475 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0.947 |
| NY | Thierry Henry | 859 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 0.733 |
| SJ | Geovanni | 777 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0.579 |
| CHI | Fredrik Ljungberg | 2,432 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 0.518 |
| NY | Rafael Marquez | 783 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0.345 |
| TFC | Mista Martinez | 544 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.165 |
| TFC | Julian de Guzman | 2,014 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.089 |
| CHI | Nery Castillo | 487 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 |
| 2 points per goal, 1 per assist | ||||||
MLS – Playing with Numbers
MLS
Wondo really was a sniper this year. Over half his shots were on goal and half of his shots on goal went in.
| PLAYER | TEAM | GP | SHOTS | SOG | SOG % | GOALS | G/SHOTS | G/SOG |
| Chris Wondolowski | SJ | 28 | 68 | 36 | 52.94% | 18 | 26.47% | 50.00% |
| Conor Casey | COL | 27 | 69 | 28 | 40.58% | 13 | 18.84% | 46.43% |
| Dwayne De Rosario | TOR | 27 | 72 | 36 | 50.00% | 15 | 20.83% | 41.67% |
| Edson Buddle | LA | 25 | 96 | 43 | 44.79% | 17 | 17.71% | 39.53% |
| Omar Cummings | COL | 29 | 76 | 37 | 48.68% | 14 | 18.42% | 37.84% |
| Juan Pablo Angel | NY | 30 | 98 | 40 | 40.82% | 13 | 13.27% | 32.50% |
| Kei Kamara | KC | 29 | 91 | 33 | 36.26% | 10 | 10.99% | 30.30% |
| Fredy Montero | SEA | 29 | 91 | 34 | 37.36% | 10 | 10.99% | 29.41% |
| Sebastien Le Toux | PHI | 28 | 90 | 48 | 53.33% | 14 | 15.56% | 29.17% |
| G/SHOTS=Goals % on Shots Taken — G/SOG=Goals % of Shots on Goal | ||||||||
DC United, FC Dallas, Houston, New England, Philadelphia, Seattle and Toronto are the teams that lost more than once when scoring the first goal.
Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake are the only teams not to have won when surrendering the first goal.
DC United and Houston lost more than once when leading at the half. Los Angeles led at the half 15 times. Chivas USA led at the half just 4 times.
Houston, Philadelphia and Toronto won more than once when trailing at the half. Philadelphia trailed at the half 12 times. FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake trailed at the half just 4 times.
There was no ‘World Cup’ boost in attendance as these numbers demonstrate.
| pre cup | during cup | pre/during | thru cup | after cup | thru/after | overall | ||||||
| GP | Avg | GP | Avg | +/- | GP | Avg | GP | Avg | +/- | GP | Avg | |
| 1998 | 82 | 14,894 | 23 | 15,827 | 6.27% | 105 | 15,098 | 87 | 13,363 | -11.49% | 192 | 14,312 |
| 2002 | 45 | 16,483 | 25 | 13,011 | -21.06% | 70 | 15,243 | 70 | 16,398 | 7.58% | 140 | 15,821 |
| 2006 | 60 | 16,057 | 40 | 13,198 | -17.81% | 100 | 14,914 | 92 | 16,142 | 8.24% | 192 | 15,502 |
| 2010 | 93 | 16,472 | 24 | 17,227 | 4.58% | 117 | 16,627 | 123 | 16,721 | 0.56% | 240 | 16,675 |
Tournaments
- CONCACAF: Champions League Results
- UEFA: Champions League
- UEFA: Europa League
- Digicel Caribbean Cup
- Copa Sudamerica
- USWNT: US Women continue World Cup qualifying run