While Toronto and Seattle are preparing to face off in MLS Cup, the rest of the teams in Major League Soccer are turning their attention towards next season. Most immediately, teams are making decisions about which players should return and which should be let go.
Tag: scatterplot
Revisiting the repeatability of team success
Last summer, I published an article that examined the repeatability of success in Major League Soccer’s regular season. Using data from recent seasons, I concluded that “[a]n MLS team’s performance one year has very little relationship to its performance the following year.” With the 2016 season starting tomorrow, it seems appropriate to build upon that… Continue reading Revisiting the repeatability of team success
Exploring the passing tendencies of Columbus and Portland ahead of MLS Cup
When Columbus and Portland face off this evening in MLS Cup, it will be a clash between two of the better passing teams in the league. Both feature midfields heavy on ball control, with international-caliber players pulling the strings supported by a back line that likes to get forward. In preparation for this game, I… Continue reading Exploring the passing tendencies of Columbus and Portland ahead of MLS Cup
Examining whether teams in MLS must spend big to succeed
There is a narrative about Major League Soccer that describes an emerging financial arms race between its teams. The Designated Player Rule, instituted in 2007 with the arrival of David Beckham, has allowed teams additional flexibility to spend larger sums of money on key players. Every team in the league has taken advantage of this… Continue reading Examining whether teams in MLS must spend big to succeed
League Parity, and Repeatability of Points Per Game
I was inspired the other day by something Steve Fenn (@StatHunting on Twitter) wrote about analytics in soccer: IMO it’d be better if a club’s analytics 1st made sure metric was predictive, or at least repeatable. — Steve Fenn (@StatHunting) July 28, 2015 This question of repeatability is something that resonated with me, so I… Continue reading League Parity, and Repeatability of Points Per Game
Comparing MLS Goalscoring Rates to Recent History
The week of the All-Star Game is upon us. Most teams in Major League Soccer hit the midway point of their season a few weeks back, the Gold Cup just finished, and the CONCACAF Champions League is starting soon. This seems a decent time to step back from the season, take stock of the trends… Continue reading Comparing MLS Goalscoring Rates to Recent History
Experiments in plotting player performance
How do you evaluate soccer players? Is there a way to examine a given player, in the context of his or her team, regardless of their position on the field? This is an issue that I’ve been somewhat preoccupied with this season, and the question has led me to put together a plot style that… Continue reading Experiments in plotting player performance
Lineup Continuity and Points Per Game
Several years ago, I wrote about the importance of continuity in a team’s lineup over the course of the season. The piece has since been taken down (it will soon be republished on this site), but the thrust of the argument was that the most successful teams in Major League Soccer were able to… Continue reading Lineup Continuity and Points Per Game
Plotting individual playing time against goal difference
I started working with a new type of impact plot tonight, looking specifically at playing time compared against team goal difference. Dots representing each player are plotted along two axes: the horizontal axis records how much of the season the player has seen, while the vertical axis indicates the team’s goal difference during the player’s time… Continue reading Plotting individual playing time against goal difference
Attendance for home openers since MAPFRE Stadium opened
This chart presents the attendance figures for Columbus Crew SC home openers since 1999, when MAPFRE Stadium opened. In the 16 year history of the stadium, crowd sizes have ranged between 10 and 25 thousand. The low point was 2011, while the high was unsurprisingly set in the stadium’s first year. Attendance shows some correlation… Continue reading Attendance for home openers since MAPFRE Stadium opened