Expansion Draft Lists Out

I've spent the last hour or so updating the Wikipedia page, so check that out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_MLS_Expansion_Draft The MLS press release has some errors on the Generation Adidas graduates. However, it appears that all of the following players have graduated: Alston, Kevin Beltran, Tony Gonzalez, Omar Hall, Jeremy Igwe, Amaechi Nyarko, Patrick Seitz, Chris Wallace, Anthony Wallace, Rodney Zakuani, Steve Zayner, Jed I've confirmed this based on protected lists and team press releases (all except for Zayner, who's certainly not gonna get a 5th year). EDIT: MLS has issued an updated press release which confirms the above list, except for Zayner. Really, they've going to give him a 5th year? Surely that's another mistake. I know he was injured, but... How does that differ from the list I was predicting? Well, it seems that Stefan Frei has been given another year, which is very surprising. I know Nick Rimando started all year in 2000 and didn't graduate, but Brad Guzan did and he's the only comparable player since then. At least I'm pretty sure Guzan did, I have him listed as doing so but I can't find the source. Frei really should've graduated, since he clearly established himself as the starter and played 90% of the season. MLS did graduate Chris Seitz, I guess due to the fact that he is a lock to make the roster and also that he's had three years. How you graduate Seitz and not Frei mystifies me. Also graduating are 2007 draftees Amaechi Igwe and Anthony Wallace, which is another surprise. Apparently due to the larger senior roster (or smaller developmental roster), they're going to get these guys out earlier. But tell me how this makes sense: Igwe and Wallace have played 1,196 and 826 minutes in three seasons respectively. They graduated, yet Roger Espinoza has played 1,169 and 635 minutes in his two years and didn't. So I have to believe that the third year is what did it. Overall, I missed 26 out of 165 protected players from my final preview the other day. Two of those were due to Seitz and Frei. EDIT: Here's my predictions on who Philadelphia will take. These things are always really tough to analyze; who would've guessed Jarrod Smith last year for example? If I can get more than three right, I'd be ecstatic. I expect Philadelphia will take more veteran and expensive players this year because they haven't signed anyone yet. At this point last year Seattle already had committed to $800,000 against the cap with Keller, Ljungberg, and Le Toux. So I don't think it's too unrealistic that they could take somebody like Luciano Emilio or Amado Guevara (who SBI and Goal.com both seem to expect will be taken). (2010 age in parentheses) CHI - Gonzalo Segares (27) - Even if there's only a 25% of him staying, it's worth the risk. It's not like all ten picks will end up on the roster anyway. Why not take the chance? CHV - Shavar Thomas (29) - Solid defender. CLB - Alejandro Moreno (30) - Won't score a lot, but it's not just about the goals. Every year his team ends up being good. COL - Greg Dalby (24) - Cheap player who was very highly regarded coming out of college. Hasn't gotten a real opportunity to show his potential. DC - Devon McTavish (25) - Versatile player can fill in at several positions. HOU - Eddie Robinson (31) - Former Best XI player coming off a big injury. KC - Herculez Gomez (28) - Cheap attacking player. Maybe him and Convey on the left and right side of midfield? LA - Josh Saunders (29) - A better choice to start than Jon Conway. Also the most popular expansion draft prediction by every fan out there since Sunday. NE - Amaechi Igwe (22) - Another young player who hasn't gotten much time. Assistant coach John Hackworth is familiar with him from the U17s. 100k salary might be a turn off, but they could negotiate it. SJ - Bobby Convey (27) - Almost too perfect of a story, right? Surely must improve in 2010. Total salaries: ~ $974,000

MLS 2009: Red Card Data & Situational Goal Differences

Did you notice the stat ESPN gave about David Beckham on the MLS Cup broadcast last night? I sure did. They noted that the Galaxy's goal differential was +10 when he was on the field during the 2009 season. The team as a whole was only +5, though I don't recall if the ESPN stat was for regular season only or not. Plus/minus is a stat that has been used in hockey for a long time, and it's starting to pick up steam in basketball as well. It's come up from time to time on soccer sites as well, but not too much. I'm planning to look into the plus/minus data for each player MLS in 2009, and one thing I needed to deal with are the red cards. That's why this summer I went through MLS history and figured out all the necessary red card data, with the view of possibly looking at all seasons at some point. Also, I want to use only full strength, 11 on 11 situations for the analysis. I'm also going to adjust for each team's goal difference, so each player will be compared to the average for the team (I'll post the non-adjusted number as well). Players will also have their playing time taken into account, like I did with the MLS Team Ages post. But this post isn't about plus/minus. I mentioned having to get the red card data for 2009, and I've done that. So while I've yet to figure out the plus/minus, I have some interesting stuff to post: I wanted to show how teams have done this year with their goal differences, and not just the normal ones seen on MLSnet. How does their GD look when you take out all non-full strength situations? First, let's look at the historical red card numbers for the entire league (which I believe I didn't actually post in my previous look on the subject). All data in this post is regular season only: MLS Red Cards Per Game, 1996-2009 Reds Games Per Game 1996 29 160 0.181 1997 37 160 0.231 1998 60 192 0.313 1999 54 192 0.281 2000 54 192 0.281 2001 45 158 0.285 2002 44 140 0.314 2003 38 150 0.253 2004 35 150 0.233 2005 42 192 0.219 2006 44 192 0.229 2007 54 195 0.277 2008 59 210 0.281 2009 81 225 0.360 Total 676 2508 0.270 Yes, 2009 had the highest sending off rate in league history. MLS is missing two red cards in their historical data the last time I checked, both in 1997. I've added both. Also, MLS has sometimes counted in their MLSnet statistics red cards given to coaches. I don't count those, only ones given to players. Reds given to players on the bench or after the final whistle are counted, however. Four such cards are included in the 2009 data below (though they don't impact the minutes at all). Now let's look at this past year. How many did each team get, and what about the minutes played in each situation? 2009 MLS Red Cards & Situational Minutes Played For Against 11v11 10v10 1 up 1 down 2 up 2 down CHI 4 6 2491 31 116 93 0 0 CHV 7 9 2395 29 173 125 7 0 CLB 7 3 2552 8 7 141 0 0 COL 2 9 2467 0 190 37 6 0 DAL 5 6 2474 2 63 163 0 0 DC 4 3 2611 0 44 45 0 0 HOU 8 7 2442 62 167 91 0 0 KC 6 10 2171 0 467 55 0 7 LA 7 7 2393 11 139 168 0 0 NE 4 6 2449 21 105 146 0 0 NY 8 3 2371 1 76 253 0 0 RSL 7 5 2441 53 59 200 0 0 SEA 8 4 2410 34 94 196 0 0 SJ 1 2 2621 0 70 9 0 0 TOR 3 1 2646 0 0 48 0 6 "For" means a red card given to that team. So Chicago received 4 red cards (Robinson, Soumare, Thorrington 2), while benefiting from 6 called against the opposition. Man, the Wizards played about 20% of their season up or down a man (or two). That stands out. I know they had that streak with a bunch of consecutive games with ejections for either team in the middle of the year (including the Superliga). As mentioned above, four red cards were given to players not in the match at the time: 6/6 - Luciano Emilio, DC vs NY (bench) 6/13 - Mike Petke, NY @ TOR (after final whistle) 8/6 - Brad Davis, HOU @ DAL (bench) 9/12 - Carlos Johnson, NY vs KC (after final whistle) Here's the most interesting thing: MLS 2009: Goals For/Against in Various Situations Overall 11v11 10v10 1 up 1 down GF GA GF GA GF GA GF GA GF GA CHI 39 34 31 32 0 0 7 1 1 1 CHV 34 31 30 28 2 0 2 0 0 3 CLB 41 31 39 28 1 0 0 0 1 3 COL 42 38 35 38 0 0 7 0 0 0 DAL 50 47 44 43 0 1 5 1 1 2 DC 43 44 42 43 0 0 1 0 0 1 HOU 39 29 35 25 0 1 3 2 1 1 KC 33 42 23 33 0 0 10 5 0 4 LA 36 31 34 26 0 0 1 1 1 4 NE 33 37 30 30 0 1 1 0 2 6 NY 27 47 25 40 0 0 0 1 2 6 RSL 43 35 41 31 0 0 0 0 2 4 SEA 38 29 35 24 0 0 2 0 1 5 SJ 36 50 33 48 0 0 3 1 0 1 TOR 37 46 37 45 0 0 0 0 0 1 So here's how the GD's compare, overall and 11 v 11: overall 11v11 GD GD CHI 5 -1 CHV 3 2 CLB 10 11 COL 4 -3 DAL 3 1 DC -1 -1 HOU 10 10 KC -9 -10 LA 5 8 NE -4 0 NY -20 -15 RSL 8 10 SEA 9 11 SJ -14 -15 TOR -9 -8 The two teams that jump out are Chicago and Colorado. Both go from positive to negative when you only consider full strength situations. On one hand, it means they took advantage of their man up situations. But it also means that they didn't impress at full strength. It's pretty surprising to me to see the Fire with a negative GD in full strength situations. Meanwhile, LA-NE-NY all look better. I know red cards are a part of soccer, but it's interesting to isolate the data like this. Thoughts?

Least Deserving Champions in 60 Years

Real Salt Lake is the first American sports team to win a championship with a losing record in 60 years. In the history of the major four leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL), and also MLS and the NASL, only two teams have accomplished that. Both were in the NHL: 1949 Toronto Maple Leafs (22-25-13) 1938 Chicago Black Hawks (14-25-9)

New York Red Bulls - Best Goals 2009 Compilation

Final Record: 5-19-6 (21 pts) Goals: 10) Jorge Rojas 9) Macoumba Kandji 8) Dane Richards 7) Albert Celades 6) Juan Pablo Angel 5) Juan Pablo Angel 4) Juan Pablo Angel 3) John Wolyniec 2) Dane Richards 1) John Wolyniec Note: Only goals scored in the 2009 regular season were considered. NY didn't give me a lot of material to work with, but it does make it easier to finish the video. Watching it makes me so thankful that Red Bull Arena will open next year and the NFL lines will be gone. I can already see the idiots on Youtube complaining in my head before I even post it. Don't forget to subscribe to the CTL Youtube Channel! Further Viewing New York Red Bulls - Best Goals 2008 New York Red Bulls - Best Goals 2007 New York Red Bulls - Best Goals 2006 (audio disabled) Other 2009 Goal Comps Chicago Fire

Expansion Draft 2009 - Final Protected Lists Preview

Time to revisit my projections for the last time. Who will be available for the Philadelphia Union to select? The rules were announced recently, and they're exactly the same as the past few drafts. The following players should graduate from Generation Adidas status: Alston, Beltran, Frei, Gonzalez, Hall, Nyarko, Wallace, Zakuani, and Zayner. I would be extremely shocked if any of them didn't graduate, or if any other GA players did. See this post for further info on how minutes played affects GA status and graduation. I'll also be updating the Wikipedia article on the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft. What normally happens is, MLS only releases the lists of exposed players. So you have to do a little work to figure out who actually was protected, including figuring out GA statuses. So next week I'll be updating that page for everyone's convenience. I'll be sure to post my predictions for who will be selected by Peter Nowak and Philly when the lists are final. In the following post, "changes" refers to how my projections have changed since the last time I posted them. Previous Projections August 21 - Eastern Conference August 22 - Western Conference September 17 - Preview #2 CHICAGO Protected Available Exempt Mike Banner Cuauhtemoc Blanco Baggio Husidic Jon Busch C.J. Brown Wilman Conde Calen Carr Peter Lowry Stefan Dimitrov Patrick Nyarko Andrew Dykstra Marco Pappa Justin Mapp Logan Pause Brian McBride Dasan Robinson David Myrie Gonzalo Segares Brandon Prideaux John Thorrington Chris Rolfe Tim Ward Austin Washington Daniel Woolard Changes: Lowry for Blanco. I feel extremely confident on 8 of these players. The other three are Lowry, Pappa, and Segares. Lowry should be protected because of his potential and low salary (developmental player). Segares is out of contract, but he's not a lock to leave and he's a highly valuable player. I still think he merits protection. That's not unprecedented, NE did it with Parkhurst last year. Pappa is complicated because of his loan situation, which is up after the season. It seems likely that he'll be back though, and if so he's an important member of the team. The Fire will have to protect at least one of either Pappa or Segares, and he's probably more likely. I still think there's actually a chance Mapp could be protected despite the high salary. He was a Best XI player only a few years ago, though I suppose the cheap Woolard might be a smarter choice. CHIVAS USA Protected Available Exempt Jonathan Bornstein Justin Braun Yamith Cuesta Chukwudi Chijindu Jorge Flores Jon Conway Maykel Galindo Jim Curtin Sacha Kljestan Maicon Santos Michael Lahoud Kevin Harmse Jesse Marsch Ante Jazic Paulo Nagamura Dan Kennedy Jesus Padilla Eduardo Lillingston Shavar Thomas Gerson Mayen Zach Thornton Lance Parker Ante Razov Marcelo Saragosa Bojan Stepanovic Claudio Suarez Carey Talley Mariano Trujillo Sasha Victorine Cesar Zamora Changes: Cuesta/Flores/Padilla for Braun/Lillingston/Trujillo. The biggest change is Preki leaving. Who knows how that will affect the Chivas list, which was already one of the hardest teams to predict. I feel Bornstein/Galindo/Kljestan/Lahoud/Thornton are locks. They also need three international players, which is complicated by the fact that Galindo/Jazic/Saragosa/Trujillo all hold green cards and that Padilla is an American. So they must protect at least three out of Cuesta/Harmse/Lillingston/Nagamura/Santos/Stepanovic/Thomas. That's even messier when you realize that Nagamura is out of contract and Cuesta/Santos are on loans. I'd say Nagamura probably still deserves protection, and Thomas might be the best bet of the group. I'll go out on a limb and pick Cuesta as the third international despite the loan, since he started in the playoffs and he's only 20. Who gets the last three spots? Padilla will probably play a bigger role next year, and Flores has potential (even though he wasn't protected a year ago). Marsch has been a key player for the team despite his age. It might be wise to to protect him because of the former Fire connection with Nowak. This does leave off a couple of notable players. Braun is a decent bet to end up on a the list, but he was a Preki signing and he hasn't exactly lit up the back of net. COLORADO Protected Available Exempt Mehdi Ballouchy Julien Baudet Ciaran O'Brien Conor Casey Preston Burpo Rob Valentino Colin Clark Steward Ceus Omar Cummings Greg Dalby Cory Gibbs Facundo Diz Jordan Harvey Ty Harden Kosuke Kimura Michael Holody Nick LaBrocca Pat Noonan Pablo Mastroeni Scott Palguta Drew Moor Jacob Peterson Matt Pickens Ross Schunk Jamie Smith Changes: Kimura for Smith. I've been following what Jason of View From The Couch is projecting, so as a result I've included Kimura. However, I just can't put Baudet or Smith in the eleven. They both make over $150,000 and were brought in by Gary Smith, which means that the odds of either being selected are virtually zero. Jason also excludes Gibbs, which I can't agree with no matter what Gary Smith thinks of Cory. Even if they're plan on going into 2010 without him, he could bring something in a trade. Palguta or Peterson could have an outside shot at making the list, too. COLUMBUS Protected Available Exempt G. Barros Schelotto Kevin Burns Eric Brunner Cory Elenio Brian Carroll Jason Garey Emmanuel Ekpo Alex Grendi Eddie Gaven Andy Gruenebaum William Hesmer Frankie Hejduk Chad Marshall Andy Iro Danny O'Rourke Steven Lenhart Gino Padula Adam Moffat Robbie Rogers Alejandro Moreno Jed Zayner Duncan Oughton Emilio Renteria Kenny Schoeni Changes: Gaven/Zayner for Hejduk/Moreno. After the playoffs and the Denmark game, does anybody still want Hejduk to be protected? I've been reading the Crew forum on Bigsoccer, and they certainly don't. Zayner is much more likely to be selected by Philadelphia. Gaven was left off the list last season, but he's played well and could be selected despite his $173,250 salary. He belongs in the eleven this year. Lenhart and Moreno split time up top, so be leaving both off they'll still have at least one next year. Lenhart is probably the last man left off. If they're higher on him than Zayner, then they could make that switch. DALLAS Protected Available Exempt Jair Benitez Ray Burse Eric Avila Marvin Chavez Daniel Hernandez Bruno Guarda Jeff Cunningham Steve Purdy Josh Lambo Kyle Davies Pablo Ricchetti Peri Marosevic David Ferreira Andre Rocha Brek Shea Atiba Harris Daniel Torres Anthony Wallace Ugo Ihemelu Blake Wagner George John Dave van den Bergh Dax McCarty Heath Pearce Dario Sala Changes: Chavez/Sala for Ricchetti/van den Bergh. Ricchetti burned his bridges and is gone. Buzz at 3rd Degree suggests Harris over van den Bergh for the final spot, so I've made that change as well. VDB's inclusion is the only possible change I could see. DC UNITED Protected Available Exempt Marc Burch Ely Allen Dejan Jakovic Brandon Barklage Julius James John DiRaimondo Thabiso Khumalo Luciano Emilio Bryan Namoff Fred Chris Pontius Christian Gomez Santino Quaranta David Habarugira Clyde Simms Andrew Jacobson Danny Szetela Greg Janicki Rodney Wallace Avery John Josh Wicks Milos Kocic Devon McTavish Jaime Moreno Ange N'Silu Ben Olsen Tiyiselani Shipalane Lawson Vaughn Steve Cronin Changes: Burch/Khumalo for Fred/Moreno. With Olsen's retirement and Soehn's departure, it seems like change is in the air at DC United. If you're going to leave off Emilio and Gomez, then you might as well leave off Fred and Moreno as well. Khumalo is included because of the need for three internationals. The issue here could be "no trade" clauses. If designated player Emilio were to have one, for example, then he would take away a domestic player spot (as a green card holder). HOUSTON Protected Available Exempt Corey Ashe Wade Barrett Danny Cruz Bobby Boswell Ricardo Clark Geoff Cameron Ryan Cochrane Mike Chabala Tyler Deric Brian Ching Tally Hall Brad Davis John Michael Hayden Andrew Hainault Luis Angel Landin Stuart Holden Richard Mulrooney Brian Mullan Pat Onstad Dominic Oduro Eddie Robinson Cam Weaver Abe Thompson Erik Ustruck Craig Waibel Changes: Chabala/Weaver for Clark/Landin. Clark is leaving on a free transfer and Landin was a huge disappointment. Based on their playing time down the stretch, Chabala and Weaver seem next in line and they're both cheap. Barrett/Mulrooney/Onstad were already left unprotected a year ago, so I'd expect that to happen again. Holden's out of contract too, but you could at least picture him staying (or maybe not). If I were Nowak and Holden were unprotected, I'd take him. Why not take that chance even if it's really slim? KANSAS CITY Protected Available Exempt Davy Arnaud Adam Cristman Roger Espinoza Matt Besler Herculez Gomez Chance Myers Jimmy Conrad Aaron Hohlbein Michael Harrington Michael Kraus Kevin Hartman Eric Kronberg Zoltan Hercegfalvi Jonathan Leathers Santiago Hirsig Matt Marquess Jack Jewsbury Rauwshan McKenzie Kei Kamara Kurt Morsink Claudio Lopez Boris Pardo Josh Wolff Kevin Souter Lance Watson Graham Zusi Changes: Hartman for Watson. Seems pretty cut and dry. Down the Byline suggests Zusi instead of Wolff. Could he or Watson make the list instead of an older player? LOS ANGELES Protected Available Exempt David Beckham Todd Dunivant Tristan Bowen Gregg Berhalter Alecko Eskandarian Chris Birchall Alan Gordon Edson Buddle Leonard Griffin A.J. DeLaGarza Bryan Jordan Landon Donovan Jovan Kirovski Sean Franklin Chris Klein Omar Gonzalez Eddie Lewis Dema Kovalenko Yohance Marshall Mike Magee Stefani Miglioranzi Donovan Ricketts Kyle Patterson Tony Sanneh Josh Saunders Julian Valentin Changes: Berhalter/Kovalenko for Dunivant/Eskandarian. Bruce Arena protected Kovalenko back in 2006 when he was with NY, so I now expect the same thing to happen again. Along with Kovalenko, Berhalter has been huge down the strech and he seems a more likely choice than Dunivant, who can be replaced by DeLaGarza. NEW ENGLAND Protected Available Exempt Kevin Alston Chris Albright Nico Colaluca Darrius Barnes Stephane Assengue Amaechi Igwe Jay Heaps Gabriel Badilla Shalrie Joseph Mauricio Castro Jeff Larentowicz Kheli Dube Kenny Mansally Edgaras Jankauskas Sainey Nyassi Brad Knighton Emmanuel Osei Pat Phelan Steve Ralston Bobby Shuttleworth Matt Reis Wells Thompson Taylor Twellman Chris Tierney Michael Videira Changes: None. Larentowicz is out of contract, but as I mentioned above, they still protected Parkhurst last year. The big question is whether or not they'll protect Twellman. He's been injured for over a year and has one of the league's highest salaries. I think that it's still the smart move to do so. Kheli Dube (likely the 12th man in the pecking order) is clearly not on the same level even at his best. NEW YORK Protected Available Exempt Juan Pablo Angel Danleigh Borman Bouna Coundoul Andrew Boyens Kevin Goldthwaite Albert Celades Jeremy Hall Danny Cepero Carlos Johnson Walter Garcia Macoumba Kandji Leo Krupnik Ernst Oebster Carlos Mendes Dane Richards Matthew Mbuta Luke Sassano Mike Petke Seth Stammler Jorge Rojas Sinisa Ubiparipovic John Wolyniec Nick Zimmerman Changes: Boundoul/Johnson for Celades/Cepero. Boundoul won the starting keeper job down the stretch, while Celades announced his retirement. Without Celades, they'll need to protect another foreign player, so I selected Johnson over Rojas. REAL SALT LAKE Protected Available Exempt Kyle Beckerman Jean Alexandre Alex Nimo Tony Beltran Pablo Campos Chris Seitz Nat Borchers Raphael Cox Fabian Espindola Rachid El Khalifi Robbie Findley Nelson Gonzalez Will Johnson Ned Grabavoy Javier Morales David Horst Jamison Olave Clint Mathis Nick Rimando Yura Movsisyan Robbie Russell Tino Nunez Chris Wingert Kyle Reynish Andy Williams Changes: Russell for Campos. 10 players are stone cold locks. Russell is the exception. Will it be him, Campos, Grabavoy or maybe Alexandre who completes the list? We'll see what Kreis is thinking. Russell was protected a year ago so I think that tilts it in his favor. SAN JOSE Protected Available Exempt Arturo Alvarez Bobby Burling Quincy Amarikwa Ramiro Corrales Joe Cannon Simon Elliott Bobby Convey Mike Graczyk Cornell Glen Darren Huckerby Jason Hernandez Chris Leitch Ryan Johnson Brandon McDonald Andre Luiz Aaron Pitchkolan Shea Salinas Antonio Ribeiro Ramon Sanchez Jamil Roberts Chris Wondolowski Andrew Weber Michael Zaher Changes: Wondolowski for McDonald. As I've said before, no matter how much some people want Convey out of SJ and think he would be a perfect fit, I don't think he'll be unprotected. He has too much talent, it's too perfect of a scenario with the Philly hometown kid coming home, and also he holds value in a trade if they go that route. SEATTLE Protected Available Exempt Osvaldo Alonso Terry Boss Brad Evans Evan Brown Leo Gonzalez Chris Eylander Jhon Kennedy Hurtado Michael Fucito Patrick Ianni Taylor Graham Nate Jaqua Stephen King Kasey Keller Roger Levesque Freddie Ljungberg Sebastien Le Toux Fredy Montero Tyrone Marshall James Riley Lamar Neagle Steve Zakuani Sanna Nyassi Zach Scott Nathan Sturgis Peter Vagenas Tyson Wahl Changes: None. I suppose Le Toux, Levesque, and Nyassi have an outside chance, possibly at the expense of Riley. TORONTO Protected Available Exempt Nana Attakora Jim Brennan Fuad Ibrahim Chad Barrett Brian Edwards Sam Cronin Lesly Fellinga Julian de Guzman Gabe Gala Dwayne De Rosario Nick Garcia Stefan Frei Ali Gerba Emmanuel Gomez Amado Guevara Amadou Sanyang Carl Robinson Adrian Serioux Pablo Vitti O'Brian White Marvell Wynne Changes: None. What was a nightmare to project when I first did this back in August now seems easy. The high-priced Guevara/Robinson/Vitti should be unselectable and easy to exclude. Meanwhile, Garcia played his way off.

2010 World Cup Seeding News & Analysis

World Cup Qualifying is completed is completed. I've updated the 2010 World Cup Eliminations Timeline, which tells you exactly which date each team was eliminated and in what order. That won't require another update until June. But the real exciting news is that with all the qualifiers completed, we can now focus on the World Cup seeds and the draw. The seeds will be announced on December 2nd, and the draw is two days later. Edgar has the final seeding ranking, so check that out. If the formula doesn't change (a big if), France will have the final seed over Portugal. A couple major things I want to point out: 1) FIFA have decided this time around to use the October 2009 FIFA ranking as part of the formula instead of November 2009. The reason given is because they wanted to exclude the playoff games. As Edgar points out, it was considered fair last time to include them, so how is anything different now? While it doesn't appear to change the actual seeds, it's another shady decision at the last second. 2) Other possibilities: Of course, there's the possibility that FIFA might change the formula. They always seem to do so, albeit only slightly. Last time, they only used the two previous World Cups instead of three. If FIFA decided to reduce it to only include one previous World Cup (2006), then Portugal would be seeded at the expense of England. What if they only used those October FIFA rankings, and discarded past World Cup performance totally? Then France would miss out, and the Netherlands would be seeded instead. I don't know if the odds of that are good, but they've used the rankings in qualifying for seeding, and they made a big show of changing it after Germany 2006. It seems like they trust it more now. What if they decided to only use the October FIFA ranking and not any from the past two years, but still used the past two World Cup performances? No change. Although, if you use only the October ranking and only Germany 2006 performances, then again Portugal would replace England. 3) What should American fans be hoping for in the draw? The seeded pot will always be tough. Which seeded team we get is not really the key to a successful draw. The biggest thing is avoiding the top teams in the Euro pot. Here it is: Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland There is a huge disparity in the quality of those teams. Netherlands and Portugal would be instant death; if we get one of those two plus a seeded team, then there's only a very slim chance of advancing to the round of 16. Avoiding those two is the biggest goal of the draw, and there's a 75% chance of that. Denmark seems like the third best team, and we just saw what they can do against us. Serbia is probably 4th. Either of those teams would be tough as well. The other four teams I would consider to be a good draw. Slovakia and Slovenia would be a dream draw. The other hugely important part is what FIFA decides to do with the third and fourth pots. Last time, CONCACAF was paired with AFC, and the other pot was CAF/CONMEBOL/OFC. This time, you could still have AFC/CONCACAF (plus New Zealand) and CAF/CONMEBOL. But you could also have AFC/CONMEBOL and CAF/CONCACAF, like in 2002. The numbers add up to 8 either way. We'll see what they do. It would be better for the US if we were paired with CAF. Asian teams should be easier than African teams, especially on their home continent, so we want the chance to draw one. We'd also then have a 1/3 shot of drawing South Africa, which should be the easiest seed despite the home field advantage. Either way they do it, I feel it's important to avoid the CONMEBOL teams, which are stronger than African or Asian teams. You have a 37.5% chance of getting one, although it's less if CAF/CONMEBOL are paired, since South Africa can't be drawn with another African team. Or they could simplify all this and seed all four groups the same way they seed the top one, which is something I'd like to see.

208 to 1: World Cup 2010 Eliminations Timeline

UPDATE: The World Cup field is set. No more updates on this post until June. Yes, we know now who qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. In the future, it will be easy to look at the qualifying standings to see how things turned out. However, one thing that can't easily be determined from a simple glance at the standings is exactly when each team fell out of contention. It's fairly obvious if you look at the schedule for a minute or two, but that takes some effort. So what I set out to do is to make a list of exactly when each team was officially eliminated, and here it is. You'll see the overall order of each team to the left of their name, counting down from 208 (the number of FIFA members, hence this post's title). The number to the right of the team is their order of elimination within their region. Order of Elimination March 30, 2007 206 (tie). Brunei Darussalam (AFC-44th, tie) 206 (tie). Laos (AFC-44th, tie) 206 (tie). Philippines (AFC-44th, tie) The only three FIFA members not to enter qualifying. May 25, 2007 204. Papau New Guinea (OFC-11th) Were listed as participating in qualifying but apparently "failed to meet the official accreditation" (Wikipedia) before qualifying started. August 7, 2007 205. Guam (AFC-43rd) Withdrew immediately after the AFC preliminary draw. August 29, 2007 203. American Samoa (OFC-10th) First team out during South Pacific Games. August 31, 2007 201 (tie). Central African Republic (CAF-52nd, tie) 201 (tie). São Tomé and Príncipe (CAF-52nd, tie) These two CAF members withdrew before the preliminary round. September 1, 2007 199 (tie). Cook Islands (OFC-8th, tie) 199 (tie). Tahiti (OFC-8th, tie) September 3, 2007 198. Samoa (OFC-7th) 197. Tonga (OFC-6th) September 7, 2007 196. Solomon Islands (OFC-5th) Only four teams remained after the first round of OFC qualifying (aka the South Pacific Games). The first tiebreaker during qualifying is goal differential, and I have Samoa being eliminated before Tonga because of it. Allow me to explain: With one match in the round robin remaining and the second spot to advance still undecided, Vanuatu has 6 points, Samoa 6, and Tonga 3. Samoa has completed all their games with a +1 goal differential; Vanuatu (+17) and Tonga (-1) face each other in the final match. A Tonga win would mean a three way tie, but it is impossible for Samoa's goal differential to be tops in that scenario. September 13, 2007 195. Bhutan (AFC-42nd) Also withdrew from qualifying. October 15, 2007 194. Macau (AFC-41st) October 26, 2007 193. Afghanistan (AFC-40th) October 28, 2007 191 (tie). Mongolia (AFC-38th, tie) 191 (tie). Timor-Leste (AFC-38th, tie) 190. Myanmar (AFC-37th) 189. Nepal (AFC-36th) 187 (tie). Bangladesh (AFC-34th, tie) 187 (tie). Palestine (AFC-34th, tie) 186. Chinese Taipei (AFC-33rd) 184 (tie). Maldives (AFC-31st, tie) 184 (tie). Pakistan (AFC-31st, tie) 183. Malaysia (AFC-30th) 182. Cambodia (AFC-29th) 181. Vietnam (AFC-28th) 180. Sri Lanka (AFC-27th) 179. Kyrgyzstan (AFC-26th) October 30, 2007 178. India (AFC-25th) First round of Asian qualifying. I'm basing the order on the starting times of the matches as well as the time zones of the host countries. Extra time is taken into account too. There are not really any ties here, but I have no way of knowing which games ended first. I would also be unaware if any games were delayed or anything like that, so keep that in mind. November 16, 2007 177. Somalia (CAF-51st) November 17, 2007 176. Comoros (CAF-50th) 175. Guinea-Bissau (CAF-49th) These three lost in the preliminary round of African qualifying. November 18th, 2007 174. Tajikistan (AFC-24th) 173. Yemen (AFC-23rd) 172. Indonesia (AFC-22nd) 171. Hong Kong (AFC-21st) Four teams gone in the small second round of Asian qualifying. March 25, 2008 170. Eritrea (CAF-48th) Withdrew after the group stage was drawn. March 26, 2008 168 (tie). Turks and Caicos Islands (CONCACAF-34th, tie) 168 (tie). U.S. Virgin Islands (CONCACAF-34th, tie) 167. Dominica (CONCACAF-33rd) 166. Aruba (CONCACAF-32nd) 165. Montserrat (CONCACAF-31st) 164. Saint Kitts and Nevis (CONCACAF-30th) 162 (tie). Anguilla (CONCACAF-28th, tie) 162 (tie). Nicaragua (CONCACAF-28th, tie) 161. Dominican Republic (CONCACAF-27th) March 30, 2008 160. British Virgin Islands (CONCACAF-26th) 159. Cayman Islands (CONCACAF-25th) First round of North American qualifying done. June 7, 2008 158. Turkmenistan (AFC-20th) 157. Lebanon (AFC-19th) June 14, 2008 156. Jordan (AFC-18th) 155. Thailand (AFC-17th) 154. Singapore (AFC-16th) 153. China (AFC-15th) 152. Oman (AFC-14th) 151. Kuwait (AFC-13th) 150. Puerto Rico (CONCACAF-24th) June 18, 2008 149. Bahamas (CONCACAF-23rd) June 20, 2008 148. St. Vincent and the Grenandines (CONCACAF-22nd) June 21, 2008 146 (tie). Fiji (OFC-3rd, tie) 146 (tie). Vanuatu (OFC-3rd, tie) 145. Seychelles (CAF-47th) 142 (tie). Belize (CONCACAF-19th, tie) 142 (tie). Grenada (CONCACAF-19th, tie) 142 (tie). St. Lucia (CONCACAF-19th, tie) June 22, 2008 140 (tie). Iraq (AFC-11th, tie) 140 (tie). Syria (AFC-11th, tie) 139. Mauritania (CAF-46th) 138. Djibouti (CAF-45th) 137. Niger (CAF-44th) 135 (tie). Mauritius (CAF-42nd, tie) 135 (tie). Tanzania (CAF-42nd, tie) 134. Barbados (CONCACAF-18th) 133. Guyana (CONCACAF-17th) 132. Antigua and Barbuda (CONCACAF-16th) 131. Bermuda (CONCACAF-15th) 130. Netherlands Antillles (CONCACAF-14th) 129. Panama (CONCACAF-13th) AFC and CONCACAF are now getting into the heart of their qualification methods. Iraq is the first of the reigning confederation champions to be eliminated. I wonder how many such teams have failed to qualify throughout the history of WCQ? Can't be too many. June 28, 2008 128. Lesotho (CAF-41st) September 6, 2008 127. New Caledonia (OFC-2nd) 126. Namibia (CAF-40th) 124 (tie). Equatorial Guinea (CAF-38th, tie) 124 (tie). Liberia (CAF-38th, tie) 123. Burundi (CAF-37th) September 7, 2008 122. Botswana (CAF-36th) New Zealand became the champion of Oceania and also advanced to the Confederations Cup. They'll now wait a year to play their next qualifiers. Also, South Africa was eliminated from the qualifying competition on this date. Of course, they're still guaranteed a spot in the World Cup. September 12, 2008 121. Ethiopia (CAF-35th) Kicked out of the competition by FIFA, in one of the rare instances where they actually followed through on their threats. October 11, 2008 120. Congo DR (CAF-34th) 119. Zimbabwe (CAF-33rd) 115 (tie). Angola (CAF-29th, tie) 115 (tie). Cape Verde (CAF-29th, tie) 115 (tie). Libya (CAF-29th, tie) 115 (tie). Madagascar (CAF-29th, tie) 114. Sierra Leone (CAF-28th) 113. Swaziland (CAF-27th) 112. Senegal (CAF-26th) 110 (tie). Chad (CAF-24th, tie) 110 (tie). Congo (CAF-24th, tie) 109. Canada (CONCACAF-12th) Angola and Cape Verde were hard to figure out because of the second placed teams advancing. I believe they were officially eliminated at the same time, when groups 5 & 7 were settled. Angola becomes the first team from the 2006 World Cup to be eliminated. Meanwhile, Canada surprisingly is the first CONCACAF team out in the semifinal round. Who would've thought that a year after their great 2007 Gold Cup? October 12, 2008 108. Uganda (CAF-23rd) 107. Gambia (CAF-22nd) We're now done with the second round of African qualifying. First of all, I'm really glad that both Angola and South Africa failed to advance. It makes things a whole lot simpler (due to these qualifiers also counting for the 2010 Nations Cup). Of the final 20 teams, in the previous round 10 were #1 seeds. The only two to miss out were Angola and Senegal. 5 were #2 seeds (Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and Zambia), 4 were #3 seeds (Gabon, Malawi, Rwanda, and Sudan), and 1 was a #4 seed (Kenya). I have to say I'm disappointed to see The Gambia out. They were my surprise pick for a first time qualifier, due to their youth successes recently. Then, seeing some of their players move to MLS only made me more interested in their fate. They played really well, finishing second ahead of Senegal, so they have nothing to be ashamed of. If they're disappointed, they certainly aren't showing it; the president of the country has declared today a public holiday due to the away draw against Senegal. October 15, 2008 106. Cuba (CONCACAF-11th) 104 (tie). Haiti (CONCACAF-9th, tie) 104 (tie). Suriname (CONCACAF-9th, tie) October 19, 2008 103. Jamaica (CONCACAF-8th) 102. Guatemala (CONCACAF-7th) Semifinal round of North American qualifying ends. The hex is set. April 1, 2009 101. United Arab Emirates (AFC-10th) 100. Malta (UEFA-53rd) 99. San Marino (UEFA-52nd) After a near-six month break (by far the longest in the process) we finally can eliminate a couple more teams. The first European casualties are here, and now the number of teams remaining is reduced to double digits. June 6, 2009 98. Georgia (UEFA - 51st) 97. Andorra (UEFA - 50th) 96. Albania (UEFA - 49th) June 10, 2009 95. Qatar (AFC - 9th) 94. Iceland (UEFA - 48th) 93. Kazakhstan (UEFA - 47th) 92. Liechtenstein (UEFA - 46th) 91. Peru (CONMEBOL - 10th) June 17, 2009 90. Uzbekistan (AFC - 8th) 89. Iran (AFC - 7th) Four teams have qualified from Asia, along with the Europe's first, the Netherlands. Iran becomes the second 2006 World Cup team to be eliminated. That's certainly a more shocking elimination than Angola. August 12, 2009 88. Azerbaijan (UEFA - 45th) September 5, 2009 87. Rwanda (CAF - 21st) 86. Armenia (UEFA - 44th) 85. Moldova (UEFA - 43rd) 83 (tie). Guinea (CAF - 19th, tie) 83 (tie). Malawi (CAF - 19th, tie) 82. Estonia (UEFA - 42nd) 79 (tie). Cyprus (UEFA - 39th, tie) 79 (tie). Faroe Islands (UEFA - 39th, tie) 79 (tie). Montenegro (UEFA - 39th, tie) September 6, 2009 76 (tie). Mali (CAF - 16th, tie) 76 (tie). Benin (CAF - 16th, tie) 76 (tie). Sudan (CAF - 16th, tie) African teams in the final round are beginning to drop, as Ghana and Brazil both punched their ticket to the finals. We've gotten to the point now where you can pretty much say, it's either this time or that team for that spot. I'd say of the remaining teams, a good 20 or so have virtually no shot at qualifying. September 9, 2009 75. Belgium (UEFA - 38th) 74. Belarus (UEFA - 37th) 73. Luxembourg (UEFA - 36th) 71 (tie). Macedonia (UEFA - 34th, tie) 71 (tie). Scotland (UEFA - 34th, tie) 69 (tie). Finland (UEFA - 32nd, tie) 69 (tie). Wales (UEFA - 32nd, tie) 68. Saudi Arabia (AFC - 6th) 67. Bolivia (CONMEBOL - 9th) 66. Trinidad & Tobago (CONCACAF - 6th) The Saudis became the third 2006 qualifier to be eliminated this cycle, in heartbreaking fashion by Bahrain. It was funny, because I watched them score around the 90th minute to take the lead. Then, one of their players decided to not to take the ball to the corner a minute later, instead trying to score again. I was thinking it was nice to actually see a player try to go at goal for once in that situation, and of course it costs them. AFC qualifying is now completed. Later on in the day, Trinidad became the 4th 2006 team to fail this time around. Of the other eliminations, Scotland is the only notable one. The others have had no chance for a while now. October 10, 2009 65. Zambia (CAF - 15th) 64. Burkina Faso (CAF - 14th) 62 (tie). Morocco (CAF - 12th, tie) 62 (tie). Togo (CAF - 12th, tie) 61. Turkey (UEFA - 31st) 60. Bulgaria (UEFA - 30th) 57 (tie). Lithuania (UEFA - 27th, tie) 57 (tie). Poland (UEFA - 27th, tie) 57 (tie). Romania (UEFA - 27th, tie) 56. Austria (UEFA - 26th) 54 (tie). Colombia (CONMEBOL - 8th) 54 (tie). El Salvador (CONCACAF - 5th) October 11, 2009 52 (tie). Kenya (CAF - 10th, tie) 52 (tie). Mozambique (CAF - 10th, tie) It was a weekend of many eliminations, but only Colombia looked to have any real hope of making it (and even that was a longshot). At this point, 19 teams have qualified. The dates of qualification can be found on Wikipedia (link). Many of the 32 teams left alive fighting for a berth have only a microscopic chance. We should see another 10 eliminations on Wednesday, and only one (one of Argentina/Ecuador/Uruguay) should give us any drama. Some teams are only alive based on crazy scenarios; what are the odds of Andorra, Luxembourg, Malta, or San Marino getting a result? October 14, 2009 51. Croatia (UEFA - 25th) 49 (tie). Israel (UEFA - 23rd, tie) 49 (tie). Latvia (UEFA - 23rd, tie) 47 (tie). Czech Republic (UEFA - 21st, tie) 47 (tie). Northern Ireland (UEFA - 21st, tie) 44 (tie). Hungary (UEFA - 18th, tie) 44 (tie). Norway (UEFA - 18th, tie) 44 (tie). Sweden (UEFA - 18th, tie) 42 (tie). Ecuador (CONMEBOL - 6th, tie) 42 (tie). Venezuela (CONMEBOL - 6th, tie) None of the crazy scenarios came to pass, so these eliminations were expected. Ecuador will be disappointed at losing to an already qualified Chile. Looks like all the big names will once again make it after Argentina scraped through. All that's left now is African qualifying and the playoffs. For the remaining 9 spots, it's going to be one of two teams: Algeria/Egypt, Cameroon/Gabon, Nigeria/Tunisia, Bahrain/New Zealand, Costa Rica/Uruguay, and the four UEFA playoffs. November 14, 2009 41. Bahrain (AFC - 5th) 40. Tunisia (CAF - 9th) 39. Gabon (CAF - 8th) November 18, 2009 38. Egypt (CAF - 7th) 37. Ukraine (UEFA - 17th) 35 (tie). Bosnia & Herzegovina (UEFA - 15th, tie) 35 (tie). Russia (UEFA - 15th, tie) 34. Ireland (UEFA - 14) 33. Costa Rica (CONCACAF - 4th) After two years, qualification has finished. It started in Samoa with the 2007 South Pacific Games, and ended with Uruguay defeating Costa Rica on aggregate. There are currently 32 teams remaining, broken down by confederation below. 4-AFC 6-CAF 3-CONCACAF 5-CONMEBOL 1-OFC 13-UEFA

Chicago Fire - Best Goals 2009 Compilation

Final Record: 11-7-12 (45 pts) Goals: 10) Chris Rolfe 9) Marco Pappa 8) Cuauhtemoc Blanco 7) Chris Rolfe 6) Peter Lowry 5) Patrick Nyarko 4) Brian McBride 3) Peter Lowry 2) Chris Rolfe 1) Brian McBride Note: Only goals scored in the 2009 regular season were considered. Finally getting around to doing this, albeit a little later than usual. One down, fourteen to go...plus the overall best goals comp. Don't forget to subscribe to the CTL Youtube Channel! Further Viewing Chicago Fire - Best Goals 2008 Chicago Fire - Best Goals 2007 Chicago Fire - Best Goals 2006 (audio disabled)

MLS Team Ages: Minutes Played by Age Group

For much more on this subject, see the original MLS team ages post. It includes the average age of every MLS team in league history. Age Breakdown First, I wanted to look at the leaguewide distribution of ages. The percentages here are based on the total number of minutes played in MLS history by every player, using on the age of players on July 1st of each season (the midway point). That's the age I consider each player to be for a specific season (it's far too much work to figure out each player's age on each specific match day). Ages weren't rounded for this breakdown, so for example every player who was 19 point something was considered a 19 year old, whether it was 19.01, 19.49, 19.77 or whatever. 15 0.03% 16 0.08% 17 0.27% 18 0.44% 19 0.66% 20 1.78% 21 3.62% 22 7.40% 23 10.14% 24 9.13% 25 8.88% 26 8.58% 27 7.53% 28 6.88% 29 6.75% 30 6.33% 31 5.85% 32 5.02% 33 3.74% 34 2.56% 35 1.72% 36 0.90% 37 0.77% 38 0.42% 39 0.31% 40 0.15% 41 0.06% 42 0.01% In chart form: It's interesting to see that the number peaks at 23, because previously we learned that the average age of every minute played in league history is 27.37 years old. Obviously it's because of the age of rookies coming out of college (and the lack of younger options). I would love to look into how the Premiership compares to MLS, if there hasn't been a similar study (has there?). I'd expect much more playing time for teens, although I don't know if there would be a huge difference in the average age overall. Now, let's look at the MLS teams which have used the most young and old players. There's some overlap between these lists and the youngest/oldest teams I posted about yesterday, but they're not quite the same. Top Five Teen Teams (the average MLS team has gotten 1.48% of their minutes from teens) 5) 2004 Columbus Crew (9.51%) Two young rookies accounted for this ranking: 19 year old Chad Marshall earned a starting role, and 17 year old Danny Szetela was acquired mid-season and saw a bit of action. 4) 2006 Columbus Crew (10.78%) Three teenagers on this team, with 19 year old Eddie Gaven starting full time in his first season for the Crew. Szetela and Tim Ward also saw some part-time action. 3) 2004 Metrostars (13.86%) Gaven and Mike Magee were important players in their sophomore years. Also ranks as the youngest team in league history (24.71 years) by a good margin. 2) 2002 DC United (13.93%) Four teens on the team, though as a whole they played fewer minutes than the last entry did. It's just that 2002 was a shorter, 28 game season. Bobby Convey started, while Justin Mapp, Santino Quaranta, and Eliseo Quintanilla also contributed. 1) 2005 Metrostars (20.77%) The largest teen percentage of any team, though they were much older (and better) than their record-setting 2004 squad. That's because of the addition of 30-somethings Jeff Agoos, Youri Djorkaeff, Tony Meola, and Ante Razov. Anyway, Michael Bradley and Eddie Gaven were starters, while Abbe Ibrahim and Tim Ward also saw some action. And don't forget the fifth teen (though surely you already have), Danilo da Silva and his 62 minutes. Top Five Over-30 Teams (the average MLS team has gotten 27.82% of their minutes from 30+ players) 5) 2008 Toronto FC (49.89%) This year's TFC team is also in the top ten (though the overall age was a year lower). Brennan, Cunningham, Dichio, Guevara, Marshall, Robert, Robinson, Sutton, Teliby, and Titus comprised the O-30 group. 4) 2002 Colorado Rapids (51.42%) As you may have seen yesterday, they're also the oldest team in league history. 3) 2001 Dallas Burn (52.60%) Six regular starters over the age of 30: Dade, Deering, Farrer, Graziani, Pareja, and Rodriguez, though all were under 33. Eck and Kubik also were 30+ but didn't see as much time. 2) 2001 Miami Fusion (53.20%) Also the second oldest team in league history. They really had something special there. 1) 2008 Houston Dynamo (54.90%) Also the ninth oldest team in league history. Seven of eleven starters were 30+. Down to 31.84% this season, despite almost all the same players back. The team with the fewest O-30 minutes? That would be 1996 LA, where Andrew Shue's 96 minutes were the only such ones for their whole team - a total of 0.30%. Tough to beat that. Minutes Played by Age Group: Team by Team List 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-42 20-29 30+ CHI 1998 0.00% 39.70% 16.83% 43.47% 0.00% 0.00% 56.53% 43.47% CHI 1999 0.00% 16.28% 40.47% 28.47% 14.78% 0.00% 56.75% 43.25% CHI 2000 3.36% 28.04% 50.71% 7.43% 10.46% 0.00% 78.75% 17.89% CHI 2001 7.89% 30.36% 46.89% 5.79% 9.07% 0.00% 77.25% 14.86% CHI 2002 0.33% 42.35% 44.75% 0.70% 11.88% 0.00% 87.10% 12.58% CHI 2003 4.92% 41.54% 46.13% 7.41% 0.00% 0.00% 87.67% 7.41% CHI 2004 6.99% 37.06% 44.12% 11.83% 0.00% 0.00% 81.18% 11.83% CHI 2005 0.00% 46.82% 18.39% 34.80% 0.00% 0.00% 65.20% 34.80% CHI 2006 0.00% 53.17% 14.70% 28.04% 4.10% 0.00% 67.87% 32.13% CHI 2007 0.00% 44.12% 24.62% 31.27% 0.00% 0.00% 68.73% 31.27% CHI 2008 0.00% 27.18% 34.75% 21.25% 16.82% 0.00% 61.92% 38.08% CHI 2009 0.00% 36.83% 32.80% 18.83% 11.55% 0.00% 69.63% 30.37% CHV 2005 0.02% 47.06% 32.37% 12.41% 8.15% 0.00% 79.42% 20.56% CHV 2006 0.07% 50.45% 13.41% 27.54% 8.53% 0.00% 63.86% 36.07% CHV 2007 0.05% 52.16% 17.75% 22.75% 7.28% 0.00% 69.92% 30.04% CHV 2008 2.00% 48.13% 24.41% 21.81% 3.65% 0.00% 72.54% 25.46% CHV 2009 1.12% 35.05% 25.49% 23.62% 14.35% 0.38% 60.54% 38.34% CLB 1996 0.00% 38.79% 31.67% 29.53% 0.00% 0.00% 70.47% 29.53% CLB 1997 0.00% 41.90% 28.92% 25.04% 4.14% 0.00% 70.82% 29.18% CLB 1998 0.00% 21.74% 48.77% 23.13% 6.36% 0.00% 70.51% 29.49% CLB 1999 0.00% 20.98% 47.85% 19.26% 11.91% 0.00% 68.83% 31.17% CLB 2000 0.00% 17.66% 48.20% 25.93% 8.20% 0.00% 65.87% 34.13% CLB 2001 0.00% 28.60% 39.97% 28.73% 2.70% 0.00% 68.57% 31.43% CLB 2002 0.00% 38.71% 43.82% 13.16% 4.32% 0.00% 82.53% 17.47% CLB 2003 0.00% 15.33% 60.99% 23.68% 0.00% 0.00% 76.32% 23.68% CLB 2004 9.51% 26.89% 41.36% 13.75% 8.50% 0.00% 68.24% 22.25% CLB 2005 3.53% 49.47% 12.92% 25.84% 8.24% 0.00% 62.39% 34.08% CLB 2006 10.78% 34.54% 39.86% 14.81% 0.00% 0.00% 74.40% 14.81% CLB 2007 0.00% 39.07% 36.42% 18.25% 6.26% 0.00% 75.50% 24.50% CLB 2008 0.00% 39.68% 36.93% 13.56% 9.83% 0.00% 76.61% 23.39% CLB 2009 0.00% 50.07% 30.94% 12.85% 6.15% 0.00% 81.01% 18.99% COL 1996 0.00% 25.69% 42.10% 25.67% 6.55% 0.00% 67.79% 32.21% COL 1997 0.00% 22.03% 59.31% 18.66% 0.00% 0.00% 81.34% 18.66% COL 1998 0.00% 25.05% 47.14% 27.81% 0.00% 0.00% 72.19% 27.81% COL 1999 0.00% 28.07% 22.71% 49.22% 0.00% 0.00% 50.78% 49.22% COL 2000 0.06% 44.95% 20.90% 34.08% 0.00% 0.00% 65.85% 34.08% COL 2001 0.74% 24.73% 30.96% 39.32% 4.25% 0.00% 55.69% 43.57% COL 2002 0.00% 25.67% 22.91% 33.89% 8.72% 8.81% 48.58% 51.42% COL 2003 0.00% 36.36% 23.81% 32.14% 7.69% 0.00% 60.17% 39.83% COL 2004 0.00% 40.44% 35.18% 24.39% 0.00% 0.00% 75.61% 24.39% COL 2005 0.40% 37.15% 49.68% 11.38% 1.38% 0.00% 86.84% 12.76% COL 2006 0.00% 33.01% 38.60% 28.39% 0.00% 0.00% 71.61% 28.39% COL 2007 0.00% 28.54% 30.51% 39.17% 1.78% 0.00% 59.05% 40.95% COL 2008 0.00% 30.25% 45.68% 20.12% 3.95% 0.00% 75.92% 24.08% COL 2009 0.00% 13.14% 71.84% 11.69% 3.34% 0.00% 84.97% 15.03% DAL 1996 0.92% 15.30% 50.57% 27.80% 5.40% 0.00% 65.87% 33.20% DAL 1997 0.00% 26.27% 47.26% 26.25% 0.22% 0.00% 73.53% 26.47% DAL 1998 0.00% 17.03% 52.27% 26.20% 4.50% 0.00% 69.30% 30.70% DAL 1999 0.00% 19.48% 50.64% 28.19% 1.68% 0.00% 70.13% 29.87% DAL 2000 0.00% 30.97% 36.63% 32.34% 0.07% 0.00% 67.59% 32.41% DAL 2001 6.51% 12.74% 28.16% 48.83% 3.77% 0.00% 40.90% 52.60% DAL 2002 8.45% 17.16% 43.61% 30.78% 0.00% 0.00% 60.77% 30.78% DAL 2003 7.69% 39.81% 24.12% 28.37% 0.00% 0.00% 63.93% 28.37% DAL 2004 0.36% 34.81% 35.65% 25.47% 3.71% 0.00% 70.46% 29.18% DAL 2005 3.61% 34.50% 35.92% 23.92% 2.04% 0.00% 70.43% 25.96% DAL 2006 0.04% 36.42% 30.03% 32.37% 1.14% 0.00% 66.46% 33.50% DAL 2007 1.48% 45.21% 37.70% 13.78% 1.82% 0.00% 82.91% 15.61% DAL 2008 1.40% 51.37% 18.67% 28.57% 0.00% 0.00% 70.03% 28.57% DAL 2009 2.46% 41.85% 21.53% 34.16% 0.00% 0.00% 63.37% 34.16% DC 1996 0.00% 26.62% 68.53% 4.85% 0.00% 0.00% 95.15% 4.85% DC 1997 0.00% 20.62% 62.23% 17.15% 0.00% 0.00% 82.85% 17.15% DC 1998 0.00% 31.59% 48.04% 20.37% 0.00% 0.00% 79.63% 20.37% DC 1999 0.00% 26.81% 40.82% 32.37% 0.00% 0.00% 67.63% 32.37% DC 2000 5.61% 27.89% 29.33% 37.16% 0.00% 0.00% 57.22% 37.16% DC 2001 7.46% 47.01% 18.00% 25.11% 2.42% 0.00% 65.01% 27.53% DC 2002 13.93% 24.40% 37.11% 24.56% 0.00% 0.00% 61.51% 24.56% DC 2003 2.38% 33.00% 49.01% 12.69% 2.91% 0.00% 82.01% 15.61% DC 2004 5.24% 30.80% 46.55% 10.35% 7.06% 0.00% 77.35% 17.41% DC 2005 4.70% 40.49% 38.52% 15.38% 0.90% 0.00% 79.01% 16.29% DC 2006 7.98% 55.29% 20.70% 16.03% 0.00% 0.00% 75.99% 16.03% DC 2007 0.35% 30.25% 46.30% 23.10% 0.00% 0.00% 76.55% 23.10% DC 2008 0.00% 30.68% 44.43% 24.89% 0.00% 0.00% 75.11% 24.89% DC 2009 0.00% 39.32% 28.62% 27.88% 4.18% 0.00% 67.94% 32.06% HOU 2006 0.00% 26.67% 45.73% 18.46% 9.15% 0.00% 72.40% 27.60% HOU 2007 0.00% 22.95% 45.67% 23.23% 8.15% 0.00% 68.62% 31.38% HOU 2008 0.00% 19.71% 25.39% 47.82% 0.00% 7.09% 45.10% 54.90% HOU 2009 0.36% 38.06% 29.74% 22.70% 0.00% 9.14% 67.80% 31.84% KC 1996 0.00% 23.47% 51.86% 24.67% 0.00% 0.00% 75.33% 24.67% KC 1997 0.40% 19.91% 52.95% 22.13% 4.60% 0.00% 72.86% 26.73% KC 1998 0.10% 15.47% 51.71% 19.29% 13.44% 0.00% 67.18% 32.72% KC 1999 0.00% 30.55% 31.53% 21.75% 16.16% 0.00% 62.08% 37.92% KC 2000 0.00% 34.21% 27.61% 24.23% 13.96% 0.00% 61.82% 38.18% KC 2001 0.34% 28.36% 42.28% 25.83% 3.19% 0.00% 70.64% 29.02% KC 2002 0.00% 17.28% 54.87% 16.23% 11.62% 0.00% 72.15% 27.85% KC 2003 0.00% 18.65% 53.78% 18.86% 0.00% 8.71% 72.43% 27.57% KC 2004 0.00% 33.57% 46.83% 12.92% 6.37% 0.30% 80.40% 19.60% KC 2005 0.00% 25.79% 50.23% 22.47% 0.00% 1.51% 76.02% 23.98% KC 2006 0.70% 24.69% 56.68% 17.93% 0.00% 0.00% 81.37% 17.93% KC 2007 2.25% 25.24% 47.42% 25.09% 0.00% 0.00% 72.66% 25.09% KC 2008 0.00% 35.83% 27.55% 36.62% 0.00% 0.00% 63.38% 36.62% KC 2009 0.00% 31.25% 28.87% 30.78% 9.11% 0.00% 60.11% 39.89% LA 1996 0.00% 33.66% 66.03% 0.30% 0.00% 0.00% 99.70% 0.30% LA 1997 0.00% 38.13% 45.66% 16.21% 0.00% 0.00% 83.79% 16.21% LA 1998 0.00% 41.96% 24.22% 33.82% 0.00% 0.00% 66.18% 33.82% LA 1999 0.53% 21.07% 40.57% 30.64% 7.19% 0.00% 61.63% 37.84% LA 2000 0.00% 21.20% 40.14% 31.91% 6.75% 0.00% 61.34% 38.66% LA 2001 0.00% 30.94% 37.05% 25.03% 6.99% 0.00% 67.99% 32.01% LA 2002 0.00% 41.56% 30.37% 28.07% 0.00% 0.00% 71.93% 28.07% LA 2003 0.42% 31.82% 37.69% 25.72% 4.35% 0.00% 69.51% 30.07% LA 2004 0.38% 32.26% 42.72% 14.85% 9.79% 0.00% 74.98% 24.64% LA 2005 0.00% 45.36% 31.61% 15.44% 7.59% 0.00% 76.97% 23.03% LA 2006 7.07% 48.79% 20.82% 17.92% 5.40% 0.00% 69.61% 23.32% LA 2007 4.10% 26.74% 33.24% 30.25% 5.68% 0.00% 59.97% 35.93% LA 2008 0.02% 32.58% 28.42% 36.09% 2.88% 0.00% 61.00% 38.98% LA 2009 0.00% 25.95% 28.94% 28.74% 16.37% 0.00% 54.89% 45.11% MIA 1998 0.00% 38.41% 30.99% 25.69% 4.92% 0.00% 69.40% 30.60% MIA 1999 0.00% 54.93% 22.86% 17.10% 5.11% 0.00% 77.79% 22.21% MIA 2000 0.34% 37.61% 34.61% 23.74% 3.70% 0.00% 72.22% 27.44% MIA 2001 0.05% 28.11% 18.63% 36.95% 16.25% 0.00% 46.75% 53.20% NE 1996 0.00% 32.80% 52.42% 14.78% 0.00% 0.00% 85.22% 14.78% NE 1997 0.00% 25.22% 50.60% 17.93% 6.25% 0.00% 75.82% 24.18% NE 1998 0.16% 20.34% 57.18% 22.33% 0.00% 0.00% 77.51% 22.33% NE 1999 1.59% 17.88% 42.41% 30.26% 7.85% 0.00% 60.29% 38.12% NE 2000 0.10% 35.26% 35.98% 28.66% 0.00% 0.00% 71.24% 28.66% NE 2001 0.00% 41.01% 34.22% 18.01% 6.77% 0.00% 75.23% 24.77% NE 2002 0.00% 29.87% 47.06% 23.06% 0.00% 0.00% 76.94% 23.06% NE 2003 0.00% 24.13% 57.30% 18.57% 0.00% 0.00% 81.43% 18.57% NE 2004 0.00% 40.65% 43.21% 16.14% 0.00% 0.00% 83.86% 16.14% NE 2005 0.00% 42.52% 39.02% 18.46% 0.00% 0.00% 81.54% 18.46% NE 2006 0.00% 40.53% 34.27% 25.20% 0.00% 0.00% 74.80% 25.20% NE 2007 0.07% 32.54% 36.62% 30.77% 0.00% 0.00% 69.16% 30.77% NE 2008 8.97% 31.30% 28.20% 31.53% 0.00% 0.00% 59.50% 31.53% NE 2009 0.13% 42.85% 27.05% 24.75% 5.22% 0.00% 69.90% 29.97% NY 1996 0.00% 18.14% 63.59% 18.27% 0.00% 0.00% 81.73% 18.27% NY 1997 0.00% 29.55% 46.18% 24.27% 0.00% 0.00% 75.73% 24.27% NY 1998 0.29% 23.01% 66.05% 10.65% 0.00% 0.00% 89.06% 10.65% NY 1999 0.00% 38.73% 39.98% 21.29% 0.00% 0.00% 78.71% 21.29% NY 2000 0.00% 51.68% 13.37% 26.69% 8.26% 0.00% 65.05% 34.95% NY 2001 0.00% 33.30% 31.55% 35.15% 0.00% 0.00% 64.85% 35.15% NY 2002 0.00% 36.59% 50.57% 9.51% 3.34% 0.00% 87.16% 12.84% NY 2003 7.78% 30.08% 51.78% 10.36% 0.00% 0.00% 81.86% 10.36% NY 2004 13.86% 34.79% 41.91% 9.43% 0.00% 0.00% 76.71% 9.43% NY 2005 20.77% 29.21% 23.05% 9.59% 17.37% 0.00% 52.26% 26.97% NY 2006 1.11% 38.58% 31.18% 10.74% 18.38% 0.00% 69.76% 29.12% NY 2007 4.73% 21.65% 33.84% 34.51% 5.27% 0.00% 55.50% 39.77% NY 2008 2.24% 33.40% 32.98% 31.38% 0.00% 0.00% 66.38% 31.38% NY 2009 0.00% 32.63% 40.48% 26.89% 0.00% 0.00% 73.11% 26.89% RSL 2005 2.81% 32.59% 44.85% 19.75% 0.00% 0.00% 77.44% 19.75% RSL 2006 0.92% 35.52% 31.40% 32.16% 0.00% 0.00% 66.92% 32.16% RSL 2007 5.70% 35.68% 27.74% 30.88% 0.00% 0.00% 63.42% 30.88% RSL 2008 0.00% 19.42% 66.53% 14.05% 0.00% 0.00% 85.95% 14.05% RSL 2009 0.00% 34.15% 48.30% 17.55% 0.00% 0.00% 82.45% 17.55% SEA 2009 0.00% 37.31% 37.94% 16.10% 8.65% 0.00% 75.25% 24.75% SJ 1996 1.46% 12.08% 62.74% 23.72% 0.00% 0.00% 74.82% 23.72% SJ 1997 0.00% 19.47% 43.36% 37.17% 0.00% 0.00% 62.83% 37.17% SJ 1998 0.00% 47.72% 21.39% 25.79% 5.09% 0.00% 69.11% 30.89% SJ 1999 0.00% 55.87% 32.22% 11.90% 0.00% 0.00% 88.10% 11.90% SJ 2000 0.00% 36.24% 47.45% 16.31% 0.00% 0.00% 83.69% 16.31% SJ 2001 6.33% 23.50% 46.19% 23.99% 0.00% 0.00% 69.69% 23.99% SJ 2002 1.15% 17.23% 56.17% 25.45% 0.00% 0.00% 73.40% 25.45% SJ 2003 2.14% 22.91% 45.88% 12.38% 16.68% 0.00% 68.79% 29.07% SJ 2004 1.26% 16.78% 55.68% 11.43% 14.86% 0.00% 72.45% 26.28% SJ 2005 0.00% 26.63% 48.64% 9.07% 15.66% 0.00% 75.27% 24.73% SJ 2008 0.00% 29.54% 35.49% 30.98% 3.99% 0.00% 65.03% 34.97% SJ 2009 0.00% 29.97% 30.33% 33.90% 5.80% 0.00% 60.30% 39.70% TB 1996 0.00% 23.37% 31.89% 44.74% 0.00% 0.00% 55.26% 44.74% TB 1997 0.34% 30.26% 31.12% 32.74% 5.53% 0.00% 61.39% 38.27% TB 1998 0.00% 28.42% 37.65% 27.43% 6.51% 0.00% 66.06% 33.94% TB 1999 0.00% 34.06% 44.78% 13.52% 7.63% 0.00% 78.84% 21.16% TB 2000 0.00% 20.99% 50.50% 7.79% 20.72% 0.00% 71.48% 28.52% TB 2001 6.93% 20.79% 43.78% 18.60% 9.90% 0.00% 64.57% 28.50% TOR 2007 1.43% 36.85% 28.18% 33.53% 0.00% 0.00% 65.04% 33.53% TOR 2008 2.85% 30.40% 16.86% 49.59% 0.30% 0.00% 47.26% 49.89% TOR 2009 3.39% 45.95% 7.02% 43.63% 0.00% 0.00% 52.97% 43.63% MLS Total 1.48% 32.06% 38.62% 23.50% 4.11% 0.21% 70.68% 27.82%

MLS Team Ages

EDIT 11/13: I found an error with one player's minutes played (DaMarcus Beasley in 2004). I've corrected it, and as a result the top ten youngest teams list is affected. 2004 Chicago's age changes from 25.54 to 25.44, which means that they jump from 5th to 3rd in the list. You can skip this paragraph unless you're interested in the details of why the error occurred. It came about because of the MLSnet player registry, which I previously found a lot of mistakes in while originally researching this subject. Beasley is listed as playing only five games and 450 minutes, when he actually played almost three times as much. Now, I have a copy of the MLS Fact & Record Book, which has the correct figures. But it was a lot easier to work with the data by copying and pasting from the MLSnet registry than inputting everything manually. So if you're going to work with MLS stats, watch out for those player register errors. (Now updated with this year's data) How young and old were 2009's MLS teams? Rank refers to how the team did performance-wise this season. Age Rank 1 LA 29.04 2 2 KC 28.58 13 3 CHV 28.22 6 4 HOU 28.13 3 5 SJ 28.10 14 6 CHI 27.94 5 7 COL 27.45 9 8 SEA 27.39 4 9 NY 27.29 15 10 DC 27.21 10 11 DAL 27.20 11 12 TOR 27.10 12 13 RSL 26.93 8 14 CLB 26.62 1 15 NE 26.49 7 The Galaxy were the league's oldest team by far, and 4th oldest team in league history (while the Wizards just missed the top ten). See below for a ranking of the top ten. How did they rank so high? They had a large number of over-30 contributors: 38-Sanneh 35-Berhalter, Lewis 34-Beckham 33-Kirovski, Klein 31-Kovalenko, Miglioranzi, Ricketts Not to mention that Buddle/Donovan/Dunivant aren't young any more. Even though they started two rookies for most of the year, this core group of veterans saw that they finished easily on top of the age table (and nearly the real one as well). KC was an easy second with five regular starters in their 30s: Hartman, Conrad, Hirsig, Lopez, and Wolff. At 26.49, the Revolution were the youngest team in the league, but they weren't even close to making the top ten youngest teams list. They started two rookies and the two 20 year old Gambians, and only 422 minutes were played by guys from 27-30 years of age. The Crew were the second youngest team for the second straight year, and they have two supporters shields to show for it. Overall, the average age in 2009 was up. There's a very interesting pattern in the leaguewide average age chart below, check it out. In the near future, I'll look at the percentage of minutes played by teens and O-30 players for every team in league history. I've alluded to those stats a few times below, and I'd like to explore it further. The rest of this post was originally published on March 9, 2009. I've updated the data where necessary. Inspired by a story on Basketball Prospectus titled Age and Success in the NBA, I've gone ahead and figured out the ages for each Major League Soccer team. I did that by figuring out the exact age of each player at the midway point of the season (I used July 1st for each year), then multiplying by the number of minutes played. I then added the totals for each team, which were then divided by the entire team's number of minutes played. The overall average for the entire history of MLS is 27.37 years. The yearly averages were in the upper 27's from 1996-2001, followed by a dropoff after contraction. This downward trend bottomed in 2004, and there's been an increase in each of the past five seasons. The drop off can be explained by the lack of foreign signings during the post-contraction years. Here's the data in chart form: I'm sure the most obvious question (especially if you read the linked article) is whether or not age has an impact on team performance in MLS. The data over the last 30 years in the NBA shows a good realationship between the two: the older a team is, the better it does. Unfortunately, there's nothing of that sort here. I only get a correlation of .11 for the MLS data (1996-2008) compared to .55 for the NBA. This chart shows the data in MLS from 1996-2008: I didn't notice anything for offense or defense either. The average of the MLS Cup winners (1996-2008) is 27.28, very close to that all time average listed above. The 20 best teams (PPG) in league history have an average age of 27.39, while the 20 worst are at 27.18 years (including two 2009 teams there). There may be a slight tendency for the really bad teams to be a bit younger. Although, the top ten youngest and oldest teams have (as a whole) done better than your average team. Speaking of the youngest and oldest teams, that's something I was really interested to find out. So let's get to it. Top Ten Oldest MLS Teams Falling out of the top ten after the 2009 season is the 2003 KC Wizards, with 40 year old MVP Preki. 10) 1999 New England Revolution (28.73) The Revs missed the playoffs for the third time in their first four seasons. Their teams had progressively gotten older each of those four seasons, culminating in this franchise high. With player-coach Walter Zenga's return in goal at age 39, and starting roles for John Harkes (32) and Dan Calichman (31), they certainly had experience. 9) 2008 Houston Dynamo (28.79) It was another great year for Houston, but they disappointed in the playoffs. Were they a bit too old? 55% of their minutes were to players over the age of 30. That's the highest of any of the top ten, and probably any team in league history. They could've made a run for the top spot in 2009 if not for several injuries. 8) 2000 Columbus Crew (28.81) The Crew got a little bit older in each of their first five seasons. This was the worst performing out of the five, too. This was the last starting role for guys like Robert Warzycha (36), Mark Dougherty (32), John DeBrito (31), and Ansil Elcock (31). 7) 1996 Tampa Bay Mutiny (28.84) Supporters' Shield winners, featuring the relatively-young Carlos Valderrama (34). Who knew he would play another six seasons? They were beaten in the playoffs by the youngest team in the league, DC United. 6) 1998 Kansas City Wizards (28.90) A last place finish for the oldest team in the league's oldest year. Preki (35) wasn't the team's oldest player, that honor went to Mo Johnston by two months. 5) 2000 Tampa Bay Mutiny (28.97) This was the year that Mamadou Diallo (28) took the league by storm, for better or worse. In addition to El Pibe, they had a 35 year old Steve Trittschuh. 4) 2009 Los Angeles Galaxy (29.04) Bruce Arena came in to right the ship, and he looked for veterans to do so. Mission accomplished. 3) 1999 Chicago Fire (29.25) Decent team, but they couldn't match the success of year one. With six regulars over the age of 32, it's no surprise that they set the record for the oldest MLS lineup ever. 2) 2001 Miami Fusion (29.48) Everybody fondly remembers this team, and why not? They were excellent, one of the best in league history. 53% of the minutes were from over 30's, including Preki (38) and Ian Bishop (36). 1) 2002 Colorado Rapids (29.56) Is this the team you would've guessed as the oldest? Pretty decent team actually, making it to the final four. They're notable as Valderrama's last stop. That makes half the teams on this list featuring either him or Preki. In addition to him, at full health these Rapids also featured John Spencer up top, Mark Chung and Chris Henderson on the wings, Robin Fraser and Rick Titus on defense, and Scott Garlick in goal. All those players were over 30. Top Ten Youngest MLS Teams 10) 2004 DC United (25.95) MLS champs, with the league's youngest ever player Freddy Adu in his debut year. Certainly Peter Nowak was more willing to try younger players than his predecessor Ray Hudson. 9) 1999 San Jose Earthquakes (25.80) The first year in MLS for championship mainstays Joe Cannon (24), Jimmy Conrad (22), and Richard Mulrooney (22). Also known as the team who's record looks the most inflated over what it actually was due to the shootout (19-13 vs 9-10-13). 8) 2003 Metrostars (25.80) Bob Bradley's first year in charge certainly brought on a youth movement. See later in the coutndown further evidence of this. This team featured talented rookies Eddie Gaven (16), Mike Magee (18), and Ricardo Clark (20). 7) 2005 DC United (25.72) A pretty good team, setting the stage for their back to back shield winners in 2006-07. They actually got younger after winning a championship. Upon further inspection, that doesn't seem to be too rare. But Nowak's first team was really young to begin with, so this is notable. 6) 2006 Columbus Crew (25.63) Sigi Schmid's first year in charge, but the rebuilding project didn't take right away. Getting big minutes were Eddie Gaven (19), Chad Marshall (21), Jason Garey (21), and Brandon Moss (22). Two out of four ain't bad. 5) 2006 DC United (25.49) Yup, it's another Nowak DC team. The third year only saw the team get even younger, as vets like Dema Kovalenko and Nick Rimando were replaced by younger options. Meanwhile, young players like Adu and Facundo Erpen got full seasons worth of action. 4) 2003 Chicago Fire (25.49) Tons of youthful big names here: Mapp, Beasley, Ralph, Bocanegra. Chris Armas was the only player over the age of 30, which meant that only 7.4% of minutes were played by over 30 players. I believe that's a record. 3) 2004 Chicago Fire (25.44) AKA the Fire's worst team ever. The inclusion here (over the 2003 team) is due to the injuries to Jesse Marsch and Ante Razov. 2) 2007 FC Dallas (25.43) Took a step down from 2006, but were still decent under first year coach Steve Morrow. This team's inclusion surprised me a bit, because they had some big name veterans. But they also had a large number of young contributors. It seems like Arturo Alvarez and Kenny Cooper have been around for a long time, but they'll both only be 24 this coming season. 1) 2004 Metrostars (24.71) Fitting that they're also the holders of the youngest MLS lineup ever. They're number one by a wide margin. Not only did they still have the 17 year old Gaven (who became a full time starter and Best XI member this season), 19 year old Magee, and 21 year old Clark, they added Joselito Vaca (21) and Jeff Parke (22) as starters. Despite the youth, they have may been more remembered for Amado Guevara's MVP season, Sergio Galvan Rey's debut and subsequent failure, or that thrilling 5-5 draw in San Jose. Despite this, the 2005 Metros hold the record for biggest percentage of minutes played by teens at about 21%. Average Ages Chart 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 CHI xxx xxx 28.24 29.25 26.76 26.70 26.70 25.49 25.44 26.54 27.22 27.36 28.26 27.94 CHV xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx 26.58 26.94 26.96 26.88 28.22 CLB 27.28 27.49 27.88 28.06 28.81 28.07 26.59 26.90 27.03 27.15 25.63 27.10 26.82 26.62 COL 28.39 27.51 27.57 28.55 27.45 28.51 29.56 27.73 27.29 26.86 27.49 27.60 27.08 27.45 DAL 28.39 27.59 28.45 28.32 28.41 28.25 27.53 26.21 26.86 26.65 27.18 25.43 26.37 27.20 DC 26.33 27.22 26.90 27.32 27.01 25.99 26.32 26.35 25.95 25.72 25.49 27.16 27.75 27.21 HOU xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx 28.07 28.49 28.79 28.13 KC 27.57 28.50 28.90 28.29 28.30 27.65 28.55 28.55 27.21 27.91 27.16 27.07 27.66 28.58 LA 26.47 26.96 26.85 27.97 28.08 27.84 27.19 28.11 27.43 26.65 26.16 27.77 27.98 29.04 MIA xxx xxx 27.77 25.97 26.91 29.48 xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx NE 26.70 27.72 27.84 28.73 27.30 27.18 27.06 27.13 26.65 26.28 27.04 27.40 27.14 26.49 NY 27.44 27.44 27.41 26.50 27.90 27.37 26.08 25.80 24.71 26.50 27.52 27.70 27.22 27.29 RSL xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx 26.94 28.09 26.78 26.91 26.93 SEA xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx 27.39 SJ 27.54 28.08 27.20 25.80 27.25 26.70 27.08 27.37 28.22 27.92 xxx xxx 28.19 28.10 TB 28.84 28.52 28.31 27.49 28.97 27.90 xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx TOR xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx 26.57 28.12 27.10 TOTAL 27.50 27.70 27.78 27.69 27.76 27.64 27.27 26.97 26.68 26.81 27.00 27.18 27.51 27.58 Yearly Age Ranks Chart (How teams ranked each year in terms of age. Ranked from oldest to youngest, so a one means they were the oldest team that season) 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 CHI xxx xxx 4 1 12 11 7 10 9 9 5 6 2 6 CHV xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx 8 9 10 12 3 CLB 7 7 5 6 2 4 8 6 5 3 11 8 13 14 COL 2 6 8 3 7 2 1 3 3 5 4 4 10 7 DAL 3 5 2 4 3 3 3 8 6 7 6 13 14 11 DC 10 9 11 9 10 12 9 7 8 12 12 7 6 10 HOU xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx 2 1 1 4 KC 4 2 1 5 4 7 2 1 4 2 7 9 7 2 LA 9 10 12 7 5 6 4 2 2 6 10 2 5 1 MIA xxx xxx 7 11 11 1 xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx NE 8 4 6 2 8 9 6 5 7 11 8 5 9 15 NY 6 8 9 10 6 8 10 9 10 10 3 3 8 9 RSL xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx 4 1 11 11 13 SEA xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx 8 SJ 5 3 10 12 9 10 5 4 1 1 xxx xxx 3 5 TB 1 1 3 8 1 5 xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx TOR xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx 12 4 12

2010 MLS Superdraft Order & Picks

With only three games left in the entire season, it's time for another update. The draft order is nearly complete. Spots #1-12 are set in stone: 1 PHI 2 NY 3 SJ 4 KC 5 TOR 6 DAL 7 DC 8 COL 9 NE 10 CHV 11 SEA 12 CLB The four first round playoff losers are ranked by regular season performance to determine the order. The conference championship losers will be ranked 13-14 in the same way, while the MLS Cup runner up and winner will be in positions 15 and 16. Looking at the eight possible MLS Cup outcomes, here's what the final four spots in the order will be in each scenario: 13th 14th 15th 16th CHI over HOU RSL LA HOU CHI CHI over LA RSL HOU LA CHI HOU over CHI RSL LA CHI HOU HOU over RSL CHI LA RSL HOU LA over CHI RSL HOU CHI LA LA over RSL CHI HOU RSL LA RSL over HOU CHI LA HOU RSL RSL over LA CHI HOU LA RSL Both western conference teams have more points than the eastern conference teams, so the east loser will be 13th and the west loser will be 14th. For the projection below, I'm assuming the higher seeds win (LA over CHI). Current 2010 MLS Superdraft Order Includes picks that have been traded already. Unfortunately, many of them are conditional and the conditions have not been made public, which makes it hard to follow. None of the conditional picks without a round mentioned are included in the order below. We do know that the 16 teams will draft 64 players over 4 rounds, and that Philadelphia obviously will have the first pick as the only expansion team. The draft itself will take place in Philadelphia, as that's where the NSCAA convention is being held from January 13-17 (if you want to know where the next decade of Superdrafts will take place, click here). Round One 1 Philadelphia Union 2 New York Red Bulls 3 San Jose Earthquakes 4 Kansas City Wizards 5 FC Dallas (from TOR) 6 FC Dallas 7 DC United 8 Columbus Crew (from COL) 9 New England Revolution 10 CD Chivas USA 11 Seattle Sounders FC 12 Columbus Crew 13 Real Salt Lake 14 New York Red Bulls (from HOU) 15 Chicago Fire 16 Los Angeles Galaxy Round Two 17 Philadelphia Union 18 New York Red Bulls 19 San Jose Earthquakes 20 Kansas City Wizards 21 FC Dallas (from TOR) 22 Colorado Rapids (from DAL) 23 Colorado Rapids (from DC) 24 Toronto FC (from COL) 25 New England Revolution 26 CD Chivas USA 27 Seattle Sounders FC 28 San Jose Earthquakes (from CLB, DAL, RSL) 29 Real Salt Lake 30 San Jose Earthquakes (from HOU) 31 Chicago Fire 32 New York Red Bulls (from LA) Round Three 33 Philadelphia Union 34 New York Red Bulls 35 CD Chivas USA (from SJ) 36 Kansas City Wizards 37 San Jose Earthquakes (from TOR) 38 FC Dallas 39 DC United 40 Colorado Rapids 41 Kansas City Wizards (from NE) 42 CD Chivas USA 43 Houston Dynamo (from SEA) 44 FC Dallas (from CLB) 45 Real Salt Lake 46 Houston Dynamo 47 Chicago Fire 48 Los Angeles Galaxy Round Four 49 Philadelphia Union 50 New York Red Bulls 51 San Jose Earthquakes 52 Kansas City Wizards 53 Toronto FC 54 FC Dallas 55 DC United 56 Colorado Rapids 57 New England Revolution 58 CD Chivas USA 59 Seattle Sounders FC 60 Columbus Crew 61 Los Angeles Galaxy (from RSL) 62 Houston Dynamo 63 Columbus Crew (from CHI) 64 Columbus Crew (from LA) Trade/Pick Movement List Round 1 CLB has COL's pick (Noonan) DAL has TOR's pick (Serioux) NY has HOU's pick (Oduro) Round 2 COL has DAL's pick (Ihemelu) COL has DC's pick (Gomez) DAL has CLB's pick (2008 picks) DAL has TOR's pick (Ibrahim) NY has LA's pick (Magee) RSL has DAL's pick (Davies) SJ has DAL's pick (Campos) SJ has HOU's pick (Weaver) TOR has COL's pick (Richardson) The Davies pick is for the lowest of DAL's two second rounders (CLB & TOR; their normal pick is now COL's). That pick now belongs to SJ, after originally being traded to RSL. Round 3 CHV has SJ's pick (Burling) DAL has CLB's pick (2008 picks) HOU has SEA's pick (Ianni) KC has NE's pick (International slot) SJ has TOR's pick (Garcia) The Burling pick doesn't specify whether it's for SJ's original pick or the TOR pick that they also own. I've listed it as SJ's pick, #35, but it could also end up being #37. Ianni's pick was conditional. If he had played in 20 regular season games, the the pick would've became a second rounder. He ended up only playing 17. Round 4 CLB has CHI's pick (Herron) CLB has LA's pick (Miglioranzi, conditional) LA has RSL's pick (Mathis, conditional) Conditional Picks CHI has CHV's pick (Curtin) CHV has TOR's pick (Guevara) LA has DC's pick (Wicks) NE has DC's pick (John) NY has RSL's pick (Kovalenko) RSL has CHV's pick (Talley) SJ has HOU's pick (Weaver) Soccer America said at the time that Chivas is guaranteed a first rounder out of the Guevara deal. Since they got a second rounder in this year's draft, that means they should probably get TFC's 2010 first rounder, right? Of course, Dallas already holds that pick. The Talley pick is a second rounder in either 2010 or 2011. The John pick is also in one of those two years, though a round isn't mentioned. Supplemental Draft Wasted Trades CHI has SJ's 4th round pick (R.Johnson) HOU has DC's 4th round pick (C.Thompson) SJ has LA's pick (Kirovski, conditional) The supplemental draft no longer exists. Generation Adidas Players Every top pick since 2003 has been a GA player (or Project-40, as it was once known). These players are underclassmen signed to contracts before the draft. As they are younger and also don't count against the salary cap, they will almost certainly make up at least half of the first round picks. Without knowing who is going GA, it's nearly impossible to predict the draft. I highly recommend 3rd Degree's 2010 Generation Adidas tracking page for all the latest news and rumors. As of now, it seems that popular opinion has Ike Opara to Philly and Dilly Duka to NY for the first two picks (if they sign). Top Seniors? Here are some names worth remembering. Mostly taken from the following links (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), which includes last year's all-conference teams, Hermann Trophy watch lists, preseason all-americans, etc. Who do you think belongs on this list? The best blog for following college soccer prospects has to be Pro Player Pipeline, check it out. G Joseph Bendik Clemson G Jovan Bubonja UIC G Akira Fitzgerald Wake Forest G Brooks Haggerty North Carolina G Brian Perk UCLA G Misha Rosenthal Northwestern D Mark Blades Northwestern D Chad Borak UC Northridge D Daniel Bostock Monmouth D Nick Cardenas San Diego State D Ben Clack Saint John's D Eric Conklin Wisconsin D Josh Didion Cal Poly D Phil Edginton Louisville D Julian Edwards Drake D Nick Elenz-Martin Brown D Kevin Gallaugher CS-Dominguez Hills D Jordan Graye North Carolina D Joel Gustafsson Saint John's D Martin Hedevag UC Santa Barbara D David Lozano UC Riverside D Zach Loyd North Carolina D Richard Martinez Hofstra D Tennant McVea Loyola (Md.) D David Newton Clemson D Kwaku Nyamekye Harvard D Tim Ream Saint Louis D David Reed Saint John's D Barry Rice Kentucky D Kevin Santora UC Irvine D Ofori Sarkodie Indiana D Chris Schuler Creighton D Seth Sinovic Creighton D Kevin Tangney North Carolina D Zach Tierney UIC D Doug Verhoff Ohio State D Jamel Wallace San Diego State D Taylor Waspi Wisconsin D Kwame Watson-Siriboe Connecticut M Carlos Aguilar UC Irvine M Eric Alexander Indiana M Neil Barlow Virginia M Nelson Becerra Saint John's M Djamel Bekka Coastal Carolina M Austin da Luz Wake Forest M David Estrada UCLA M Mauro Fuzetti Michigan M Craig Henderson Dartmouth M Sunghyun Kim CS Northridge M Ross LaBauex Virginia M Paul Marcoux UC Davis M Stephen McCarthy Santa Clara M Devin Muntz Princeton M Kyle Nakazawa UCLA M J.T. Noone Temple M Conor O'Brien Bucknell M Vince Petrasso Campbell M Mike Pezza Connecticut M Doug Rodkey Maryland M Joe Salem Tulsa M Alan Sanchez NC State M Zach Schilawski Wake Forest M Kevin Schrout Drake M Michael Seamon Villanova M Andy Stadler George Washington M Toni Stahl Connecticut M Michael Stephens UCLA M Michael Strickland Stanford M Michael Thomas Notre Dame M Evan Toft San Diego State M Alex Torda Dayton M Jonathan Villanueva Virginia M Collen Warner Portland M Hanson Woodruff Syracuse M Drew Yates Maryland F Eddie Ababio North Carolina F Andre Akpan Harvard F Ronnie Bouemboue NC State F Matt Bouraee Cornell F Devan Carroll UNC Wilmington F Conor Chinn San Diego F Byron Dacy Creighton F Jamie Darville Loyola (Md) F Paulo Da Silva SMU F Bright Dike Notre Dame F Kyle Evans Lehigh F Michael Ferguson Loyola-Chicago F Irving Garcia UC Irvine F Two-Boys Gumede UAB F Scott Lorenz Wisconsin F Sam Maheu St. Bonaventure F Samson Malijani Fairleigh Dickinson F Andrew McGill Ohio State F Charlie Reiter Davidson F Cameron Sims CS Northridge F Ryan Soroka Saint John's F Slavisa Ubiparipovic Cleveland State F Steffen Vroom Depaul F David Walker UC Santa Barbara F Garrett Webb Drake F Alex Weekes Colgate F Justin Wyatt Elon F Kareem Yearwood Charleston F Jason Yeisley Penn State Total picks (conditional picks not included) CHI 3 picks 15, 31, 47 CHV 5 picks 10, 26, 35, 42, 58 CLB 5 picks 8, 12, 60, 63, 64 COL 4 picks 22, 23, 40, 56 DAL 6 picks 5, 6, 21, 38, 44, 54 DC 3 picks 7, 39, 55 HOU 3 picks 43, 46, 62 KC 5 picks 4, 20, 36, 41, 52 LA 3 picks 16, 48, 61 NE 3 picks 9, 25, 57 NY 6 picks 2, 14, 18, 32, 34, 50 PHI 4 picks 1, 17, 33, 49 RSL 3 picks 13, 29, 45 SEA 3 picks 11, 27, 59 SJ 6 picks 3, 19, 28, 30, 37, 51 TOR 2 picks 24, 53

MLS Playoffs: Yellow Card Rule Change

This was brought to my attention in the play-by-play thread on Bigsoccer: Did you notice that MLS has changed its rules for playoff yellow card suspensions? I'm not sure if this was put into place this year or last year, but it definitely was not the case as of 2007. Two yellow cards in consecutive games mean a suspension. That's not the change. The change is that a player cannot be suspended for the MLS Cup for yellow cards. So if Jamison Olave, who got a yellow at Crew Stadium, gets another yellow in Chicago and RSL wins, then he would be eligible for the title game. If you remember, Ricardo Clark missed the 2006 MLS Cup final because of the old rule. I think the change must be new, because that link above to the MLSnet discipline page has conflicting language on the subject - look at "playoff caution accumulation" and then the 5th paragraph under "2009 MLS Cup Playoffs Guidelines." However, when you check out the 2009 Playoff Guide (PDF), it confirms the change. Also, about last night's game: Pat Phelan came close to equalizing for the Revolution, but it shouldn't be a surprise that NE couldn't break the aggregate tie or come back once they went behind. Their attacking depth was non-existent, especially once Mauricio Castro went down. They started the game with zero forwards on the bench; the six field player subs were Igwe, Tierney, Phelan, Thompson, Castro, and Colaluca. I know Stephane Assengue is a player for the future, but surely they might've named him to the bench in case they needed a goal. It's not good to be relying on Phelan as your last ditch sub in that situation. Of course, even if the Revs had attacking depth, that doesn't mean Nicol would use it - remember Ricardo Phillips and Jose Manuel Abundis?

Home/Away Records, Rookies, and CLB/RSL

1) I've updated the home/away records for each MLS team in each season through 2009: Check them out here. 2) If Omar Gonzalez wins the Rookie of the Year award, he'll be the youngest winner ever. He was 20.72 years of age as of July 1st. The current record-holder is Carlos Bocanegra in 2000, at 21.10 years old. All three of this year's nominees (Gonzalez, Frei, Pontius) started and played 90 minutes on opening day. That means it is now 10/14 seasons where the winner got time in his team's opening game, and 28/42 nominees. 3) Tonight is the conclusion of the CLB-RSL series. If you clicked the link above, you saw the RSL had the league's best home record and second worst away record this season. That's one reason why so many people still feel like the Crew should still win this series. It's interesting how little these teams have changed from a year ago. Of the 27 players who saw action in game one, only Crew starters Eric Brunner and Emilio Renteria weren't with the same team in last year's playoffs. This is the moment for Robert Warzycha. The season long rotation of Guillermo Barros Schelotto all comes to a head tonight. There's been injuries, concerns about playing on turf, balancing league and CONCACAF play, and most notably the benching Saturday for defensive reasons. Schelotto definitely should be fully healthy and ready to go. The balancing act has worked out well so far, so it's kind of unfair to base it all on one game. But that's the way the MLS playoff system works, and you can imagine the reaction if the Crew are eliminated tonight. If it works, Warzycha could come out looking like Alex Ferguson. If not, it's more like when Greg Andrulis started Dante Washington over Edson Buddle and Jeff Cunningham. Remember that?

MLS Foul Awards 2009

Ladies and gentlemen, it's that time of the year again. The regular season is over, so now we can look at the official numbers for fouls committed and fouls suffered and put them in the context of "per 90 minutes" rather than just raw totals. Which players will lead in the eight categories below? 1. Most Fouls Committed 2. Least Fouls Committed 3. Most Fouls Suffered 4. Least Fouls Suffered 5. Most FC Compared to FS 6. Most FS Compared to FC 7. Most FC + FS 8. Least FC + FS Rules: Players must have played 20% of the season, in minutes. This year, that was 540 out of 2700. Field players only, no goalkeepers. Total Fouls (1996-2009): FC FS Diff Games FC FS 1996 4432 4386 46 160 27.70 27.41 1997 4583 4579 4 160 28.64 28.62 1998 5402 5132 270 192 28.14 26.73 1999 5551 5285 266 192 28.91 27.53 2000 6489 6236 253 192 33.80 32.48 2001 5211 4966 245 158 32.98 31.43 2002 4559 4364 195 140 32.56 31.17 2003 4836 4584 252 150 32.24 30.56 2004 4573 4348 225 150 30.49 28.99 2005 5670 5432 238 192 29.53 28.29 2006 5573 5297 276 192 29.03 27.59 2007 5524 5232 292 195 28.33 26.83 2008 5211 4880 331 210 24.81 23.24 2009 5146 4729 417 225 22.87 21.02 As you can see, this year and last the number of fouls called is way down. Refs have been instructed to not interrupt the flow of the game as much, for better or worse. That explains the Seattle-Houston game last week, huh? Why the difference in FC and FS? First of all, stats for goalkeepers haven't been listed since 2004. That would only make up a couple dozen fouls, though. I can only assume it's due to handballs. Also, remember for this table that the average length of a game in 2000-3 was a bit longer due to OT. Now, on to the awards. 1. Most Fouls Committed And the winner is... Rookie forward Quincy Amarikwa of the San Jose Earthquakes. Would you have guessed that he commits the most fouls per 90 minutes? The last two recipients of this award were not in the league the next year; I think he'll break that streak. 2009 Top Ten Team Per 90 Min FC 1 Quincy Amarikwa SJ 3.588 602 24 2 Alan Gordon LA 2.911 1175 38 3 Steven Lenhart CLB 2.789 1065 33 4 Conor Casey COL 2.674 2087 62 5 Eduardo Lillingston CHV 2.637 1263 37 6 Edson Buddle LA 2.582 1255 36 7 Pablo Campos SJ/RSL 2.582 1011 29 8 Ben Olsen DC 2.363 1371 36 9 Marcelo Saragosa DAL/CHV 2.335 1272 33 10 Cam Weaver SJ/HOU 2.332 772 20 Gordon's name should be no surprise - this is his third time in the top ten (2006, 2008). Same thing for Olsen and Saragosa, grizzled veterans of the fouls committed category. They're here for the 5th and 4th times respectively. All Time Winners 1996 Jose Vasquez LA 1997 Paul Keegan NE 1998 Paul Keegan NE 1999 Paulo Dos Santos NE 2000 Matt Okoh COL 2001 Matt Okoh NE 2002 Raul Palacios COL 2003 Carlos Ruiz LA 2004 Jesse Marsch CHI 2005 Brian Ching SJ 2006 Marcelo Saragosa LA/DAL 2007 Roberto Brown COL 2008 Rod Dyachenko DC 2009 Quincy Amarikwa SJ 2. Least Fouls Committed And the winner is... The two-time winner of the MLS Fair Play Award, New England's Steve Ralston. This is his 4th top ten appearance in this category. Ralston should probably thank Rapids coach Gary Smith in his acceptance speech. Smith released the three-time defending champion, Terry Cooke. Cooke was on pace for a top ten appearance, but didn't have enough minutes to qualify. Who knows if he could've won again? 2009 Top Ten Team Per 90 Min FC 1 Steve Ralston NE 0.233 1543 4 2 Jacob Peterson COL 0.239 1131 3 3 Justin Mapp CHI 0.267 1013 3 4 Eric Denton SJ 0.336 803 3 5 Richard Mulrooney HOU 0.357 1260 5 6 Steve Zakuani SEA 0.406 1993 9 7 Brian McBride CHI 0.413 1963 9 8 Josh Tudela LA 0.424 637 3 9 Kelly Gray SJ 0.427 632 3 10 Sebastien Le Toux SEA 0.432 1457 7 Peterson's here for a second straight year in the top ten, while Denton/Gray/McBride also all made their second top tens. All Time Winners 1996 Billy Thompson CLB 1997 David Patino COL 1998 Gerell Elliot DAL 1999 Kevin Knight NY 2000 Carlos Valderrama TB 2001 Robert Fraser COL 2002 Richard Farrer DAL 2003 Jesus Ochoa LA 2004 Kelly Gray CHI 2005 Michael Parkhurst NE 2006 Terry Cooke COL 2007 Terry Cooke COL 2008 Terry Cooke COL 2009 Steve Ralston NE 3. Most Fouls Suffered And the winner is... Seattle Sounders designated player Freddie Ljungberg. This award has now gone to a DP in each season since the rule was passed. 2009 Top Ten Team Per 90 Min FS 1 Freddie Ljungberg SEA 3.284 1836 67 2 Fredy Montero SEA 2.517 2217 62 3 Cuauhtemoc Blanco CHI 2.417 1452 39 4 Macoumba Kandji NY 2.414 1752 47 5 Javier Morales RSL 2.384 2076 55 6 Ben Olsen DC 2.298 1371 35 7 Santiago Hirsig KC 2.218 2110 52 8 Pablo Vitti TOR 2.182 1650 40 9 Robbie Rogers CLB 2.159 1709 41 10 Brian Ching HOU 2.150 1549 37 Blanco's finished in the top three in each of his MLS seasons. Rogers is back for a second consecutive season, while Ching and Olsen make their 4th top tens. Olsen completes a double by being in the top ten for both fouls committed and suffered. That's not exactly rare, however. Adam Cristman, Danny Dichio, and Andrea Lombardo all did it in 2007. Reigning MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto made the past two top tens in 2007-8. Where is he now? 32nd, right after A.J. DeLaGarza. Alejandro Moreno, who's normally a lock for this top ten, was only 13th. His teammate Steven Lenhart, who started over him in the playoff opener, was right up there at 19th. All Time Winners 1996 Giuseppe Galderisi NE/TB 1997 Damian DAL 1998 Diego Serna MIA 1999 Jason Moore DC 2000 DaMarcus Beasley CHI 2001 Onandi Lowe KC 2002 DaMarcus Beasley CHI 2003 Jose Cancela NE 2004 Davy Arnaud KC 2005 Alejandro Moreno SJ 2006 Jose Cancela NE 2007 Cuauhtemoc Blanco CHI 2008 Marcelo Gallardo DC 2009 Freddie Ljungberg SEA 4. Least Fouls Suffered And the winner is... Chivas USA defender Shavar Thomas has not only won the award, he's also set an all time record. He was only fouled once in 1,459 minutes of playing time; that should be pretty hard to break. Thomas and runner up Sam Cronin both eclipsed Ezra Hendrickson's record which lasted all of one year. 2009 Top Ten Team Per 90 Min FS 1 Shavar Thomas CHV 0.062 1459 1 2 Sam Cronin TOR 0.076 2363 2 3 Chris Tierney NE 0.172 1044 2 4 Jim Brennan TOR 0.218 2478 6 5 Simon Elliott SJ 0.219 1234 3 6 Darrius Barnes NE 0.233 2700 7 7 Bobby Burling CHV/SJ 0.252 713 2 8 Scott Palguta COL 0.257 1749 5 9 Josh Tudela LA 0.283 637 2 10 Aaron Pitchkolan DAL/SJ 0.285 631 2 Thomas also made the top ten in 2003. Brennan and Pitchkolan are here for a second time also. All Time Winners 1996 Richard Weiszmann NE 1997 Joey Martinez DAL 1998 Kris Kelderman MIA 1999 Leo Cullen MIA 2000 Brian Johnson KC 2001 Edson Buddle CLB 2002 Zak Ibsen SJ 2003 Daouda Kante NE 2004 Hong Myung-Bo LA 2005 Kenny Cutler RSL 2006 Kelly Gray HOU 2007 Bobby Boswell DC 2008 Ezra Hendrickson CLB 2009 Shavar Thomas CHV 5. Most FC Compared to FS And the winner is... San Jose's Quincy Amarikwa wins his second award. He committed 2.093 more fouls per 90 minutes than he suffered. For the fourth straight year, the winner of Most FC also wins Most FC compared to FS. You'd think that happens every year, but it actually never happened in the league's first ten seasons. 2009 Top Ten Team Per 90 Min FC FS FC FS 1 Quincy Amarikwa SJ 2.093 602 24 10 3.59 1.50 2 Rodney Wallace DC 1.629 2265 52 11 2.07 0.44 3 Jovan Kirovski LA 1.498 1202 30 10 2.25 0.75 4 Eduardo Lillingston CHV 1.496 1263 37 16 2.64 1.14 5 Edson Buddle LA 1.434 1255 36 16 2.58 1.15 6 Aaron Pitchkolan DAL/SJ 1.426 631 12 2 1.71 0.29 7 Yamith Cuesta CHV 1.374 786 15 3 1.72 0.34 8 Julius James HOU/DC 1.334 1214 25 7 1.85 0.52 9 Atiba Harris CHV/DAL 1.178 2139 55 27 2.31 1.14 10 Andy Iro CLB 1.141 631 12 4 1.71 0.57 I know Kirovski gets bashed a lot already, but shouldn't a creative player like him (right?) do better in this category? Second top tens for Harris/Pitchkolan (both 2007). All Time Winners 1996 Curt Onalfo LA 1997 Cle Kooiman TB 1998 Cle Kooiman MIA 1999 Geoff Aunger DC 2000 Ricardo Iribarren DAL 2001 Brian Namoff DC 2002 Raul Palacios COL 2003 Diego Walsh CLB 2004 Simo Valakari DAL 2005 Esteban Arias CHV 2006 Marcelo Saragosa LA/DAL 2007 Roberto Brown COL 2008 Rod Dyachenko DC 2009 Quincy Amarikwa SJ 6. Most FS Compared to FC And the winner is... Three years, three wins in this category for the Chicago Fire's Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who just edges out Ljungberg. The winning number of 1.798 more FS per 90 minutes than FC is by far the lowest #1 total in league history, 26% lower than Blanco's total last year (the previous low #1). 2009 Top Ten Team Per 90 Min FC FS FC FS 1 Cuauhtemoc Blanco CHI -1.798 1452 10 39 0.62 2.42 2 Freddie Ljungberg SEA -1.765 1836 31 67 1.52 3.28 3 Amaechi Igwe NE -1.290 628 5 14 0.72 2.01 4 Santino Quaranta DC -1.272 1769 15 40 0.76 2.04 5 Justin Mapp CHI -1.244 1013 3 17 0.27 1.51 6 David Ferreira DAL -1.170 2692 23 58 0.77 1.94 7 Brian McBride CHI -1.100 1963 9 33 0.41 1.51 8 Javier Morales RSL -1.084 2076 30 55 1.30 2.38 9 Mike Banner CHI -1.051 942 6 17 0.57 1.62 10 Jair Benitez DAL -0.935 1155 10 22 0.78 1.71 Look at all the Fire players. Does this mean they're a creative team, or just soft? They did win the team fair play award this year by a wide margin. Mapp (5th) and McBride (7th) make this top ten on what seems like a yearly basis. Also, Igwe...really? He did barely qualify with 628 minutes, so I wonder how a full season would look. All Time Winners 1996 Giuseppe Galderisi NE/TB 1997 Damian DAL 1998 Gilmar TB 1999 Jason Moore DC 2000 DaMarcus Beasley CHI 2001 Onandi Lowe KC 2002 Brian McBride CLB 2003 Jose Cancela NE 2004 Jose Cancela NE 2005 Jose Cancela NE 2006 Jose Cancela NE 2007 Cuauhtemoc Blanco CHI 2008 Cuauhtemoc Blanco CHI 2009 Cuauhtemoc Blanco CHI 7. Most FC + FS And the winner is... San Jose's Quincy Amarikwa is a triple winner. Sure it's a small sample size (602 minutes), barely over the 20% minimum, but rules are rules. The only other player to win three foul awards in a single year was Onandi Lowe of KC in 2001. Lowe played over 1,000 minutes that year and set a record for the highest fouls suffered rate, which is a pretty good accomplishment. The interesting thing will be watching Amarikwa next year and seeing if this holds up. 2009 Top Ten Team Per 90 Min FC FS FC FS 1 Quincy Amarikwa SJ 5.083 602 24 10 3.59 1.50 2 Alan Gordon LA 5.055 1175 38 28 2.91 2.14 3 Freddie Ljungberg SEA 4.804 1836 31 67 1.52 3.28 4 Steven Lenhart CLB 4.732 1065 33 23 2.79 1.94 5 Ben Olsen DC 4.661 1371 36 35 2.36 2.30 6 Macoumba Kandji NY 4.623 1752 43 47 2.21 2.41 7 Conor Casey COL 4.442 2087 62 41 2.67 1.77 8 Fredy Montero SEA 4.425 2217 47 62 1.91 2.52 9 Pablo Campos SJ/RSL 4.362 1011 29 20 2.58 1.78 10 Cam Weaver SJ/HOU 4.080 772 20 15 2.33 1.75 Atiba Harris, where have you gone? Alas, the two-time former winner only could finish 27th this year. If the pattern holds, he should again be first in 2010. The only previous top ten finisher is Olsen; it's his 7th top ten here! A warrior for sure. All Time Winners 1996 Alberto Naveda NE 1997 Paul Keegan NE 1998 Evans Wise NE/TB 1999 Paulo Dos Santos NE 2000 Diego Serna MIA 2001 Onandi Lowe KC 2002 Alejandro Moreno LA 2003 DaMarcus Beasley CHI 2004 Andy Williams CHI 2005 Brian Ching SJ 2006 Atiba Harris RSL 2007 Andrea Lombardo TOR 2008 Atiba Harris CHV 2009 Quincy Amarikwa SJ 8. Least FC + FS And the winner is... The second rookie to claim an award, Sam Cronin of Toronto FC. He was second to Shavar Thomas in fouls suffered, but here he's second to none. Like Thomas, he also sets an all time record by being involved in only 0.533 fouls per game either way. 2009 Top Ten Team Per 90 Min FC FS FC FS 1 Sam Cronin TOR 0.533 2363 12 2 0.46 0.08 2 Josh Tudela LA 0.706 637 3 2 0.42 0.28 3 Jacob Peterson COL 0.716 1131 3 6 0.24 0.48 4 Eric Denton SJ 0.785 803 3 4 0.34 0.45 5 Simon Elliott SJ 0.802 1234 8 3 0.58 0.22 6 Scott Palguta COL 0.823 1749 11 5 0.57 0.26 7 Darrius Barnes NE 0.833 2700 18 7 0.60 0.23 8 Chris Tierney NE 0.862 1044 8 2 0.69 0.17 9 Sean Franklin LA 0.880 1125 7 4 0.56 0.32 10 Bobby Burling CHV/SJ 0.884 713 5 2 0.63 0.25 Cronin is taking over this award for fellow Wake Forest alumni Michael Parkhurst. Denton makes a second top ten appearance in this category. All Time Winners 1996 Frank Yallop TB 1997 David Patino COL 1998 Leo Cullen MIA 1999 Leo Cullen MIA 2000 Eric Denton DC 2001 Leo Cullen MIA/NE 2002 Richard Farrer DAL 2003 Chris Brown KC/NE 2004 Kelly Gray CHI 2005 Clyde Simms DC 2006 Terry Cooke COL 2007 Michael Parkhurst NE 2008 Michael Parkhurst NE 2009 Sam Cronin TOR Further Reading Foul Awards 2008

MLS Sporcle Quizzes

I've made a couple of new ones. A great way to kill some free time! MLS Players Off The Pitch - How familiar are you with the off the field activities of past and present MLSers? Includes both well-known and obscure examples. First MLS Game - Name the players and more from the April 6, 1996 clash between San Jose and DC United. Previous quizzes I've made: MLS Best XIs - Name the members of from each year (1996-2008). FIFA Members That Aren't Countries - Not MLS related, but any fan of CONCACAF should do well here.

MLS Goal Details 2009

Taken from the game guide pdfs on MLSnet. They appear each week, and also in the playoffs. For the non-playoff teams who played each other last week (NY-TOR, KC-DC), I've added in the stats myself. I'll say it again: MLS should really promote these stats as they are very detailed and interesting and just get buried in the game guides. Totals Goals 571 100.00% Right Foot 300 52.54% Left Foot 155 27.15% Headers 114 19.96% Other 2 0.35% Open Play 289 50.61% Cross 111 19.44% Corner 43 7.53% Rebound 24 4.20% Penalties 49 8.58% Direct From FK 18 3.15% FK (indirect) 19 3.33% Own goals 18 3.15% Inside Goal Area 152 26.62% Inside Penalty Area 339 59.37% Outside Penalty Area 80 14.01% Compared to Previous Years 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Right Foot 48.21% 56.62% 57.65% 57.72% 53.98% 52.54% Left Foot 32.65% 23.77% 26.64% 23.75% 26.90% 27.15% Headers 18.37% 18.15% 15.51% 17.57% 18.44% 19.96% Other 0.77% 1.45% 0.20% 0.97% 0.68% 0.35% Open Play 52.04% 51.72% 49.50% 47.30% 51.78% 50.61% Cross 21.43% 19.60% 18.09% 18.34% 18.61% 19.44% Corner 6.63% 6.53% 7.36% 8.11% 6.77% 7.53% Rebound N/A N/A 7.36% 7.14% 6.09% 4.20% Penalties 9.95% 9.07% 6.96% 9.07% 6.09% 8.58% Direct From FK 2.55% 3.45% 2.98% 3.09% 2.88% 3.15% FK (indirect) 5.36% 6.72% 5.57% 5.21% 5.08% 3.33% Own goals 2.04% 2.90% 2.19% 1.74% 2.71% 3.15% Inside Goal Area 26.79% 25.05% 26.84% 22.59% 21.15% 26.62% Inside Penalty Area 61.99% 60.80% 56.86% 62.16% 60.74% 59.37% Outside Penalty Area 11.22% 14.16% 16.30% 15.25% 18.10% 14.01% Team Breakdowns: Offense CHI CHV CLB COL DAL DC HOU KC LA NE NY RSL SEA SJ TOR Goals 39 34 41 42 50 43 39 33 36 33 27 43 38 36 37 Right Foot 16 21 18 25 31 28 18 13 16 17 18 22 22 11 24 Left Foot 15 9 10 10 9 8 11 15 11 6 6 14 12 15 4 Headers 7 3 13 7 10 7 10 5 9 10 3 7 4 10 9 Other 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Open Play 22 19 15 23 27 21 16 13 19 14 15 25 25 14 21 Cross 7 7 12 6 9 4 10 8 6 11 3 7 5 10 6 Corner 2 0 6 1 5 2 6 3 4 0 0 4 7 0 3 Rebound 0 2 1 4 0 2 0 2 1 1 3 1 1 2 4 Penalties 4 3 4 5 3 8 2 2 3 5 3 2 0 5 0 Direct From FK 1 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 FK (indirect) 1 1 1 0 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 0 0 2 1 Own goals 2 2 0 1 1 1 0 2 2 0 1 3 0 2 1 Inside Goal Area 4 10 11 10 14 8 16 16 9 8 8 7 14 9 8 Inside Penalty Area 29 20 28 25 24 29 16 9 21 22 15 33 21 23 24 Outside Penalty Area 6 4 2 7 12 6 7 8 6 3 4 3 3 4 5 Team Breakdowns: Defense CHI CHV CLB COL DAL DC HOU KC LA NE NY RSL SEA SJ TOR Goals 34 31 31 38 47 44 29 42 31 37 47 35 29 50 46 Right Foot 20 18 14 17 22 20 19 27 18 17 24 20 14 24 26 Left Foot 8 6 11 9 15 12 5 7 8 14 14 10 10 14 12 Headers 6 7 6 12 10 11 5 8 5 6 9 5 5 12 7 Other 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Open Play 15 17 17 16 22 19 15 22 13 16 27 20 18 25 26 Cross 5 6 7 5 7 10 4 9 7 6 10 9 4 12 10 Corner 2 1 1 5 7 2 6 2 3 5 1 2 0 4 2 Rebound 2 1 2 3 2 2 0 3 2 0 3 2 2 1 0 Penalties 5 3 1 5 4 5 2 3 5 2 5 1 1 3 4 Direct From FK 2 1 2 1 2 1 0 1 1 3 1 0 0 1 2 FK (indirect) 2 1 0 3 0 3 2 2 0 1 0 1 1 2 1 Own goals 1 1 1 0 3 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 3 2 1 Inside Goal Area 7 10 6 10 15 12 6 13 13 12 10 10 7 13 9 Inside Penalty Area 20 17 20 25 26 28 19 22 14 17 29 18 19 33 31 Outside Penalty Area 7 4 5 3 6 4 4 7 4 8 8 7 3 4 6 If you're looking at this really carefully, you may notice an error. For offense, there are 289 open play goals and 24 rebounds, as well as 152 inside goal area and 339 inside penalty area. For defense, the numbers are 288-25 and 153-338. I checked, and it's not from any of the non-playoff teams that I manually added. Maybe at a later date I'll go through each week's game guides to find the error...not now. Some interesting things to point out: Corner kick goals. For the past four seasons, the MLS Cup winner has been in the top three percentage wise. Here's this year's breakdown: Corners Goals PCT 1 SEA 167 7 4.19% 2 CLB 144 6 4.17% 2 HOU 144 6 4.17% 4 DAL 146 5 3.42% 5 LA 138 4 2.90% 6 RSL 160 4 2.50% 7 TOR 129 3 2.33% 8 KC 157 3 1.91% 9 DC 127 2 1.57% 10 CHI 183 2 1.09% 11 COL 134 1 0.75% 12 CHV 129 0 0.00% 12 NE 118 0 0.00% 12 NY 135 0 0.00% 12 SJ 157 0 0.00% Total 2168 43 1.98% The total PCT of 1.98% is lower this year: Corners Goals PCT 2009 2168 43 1.98% 2008 1980 40 2.02% 2007 1826 42 2.30% 2006 1751 37 2.11% 2005 1776 36 2.03% 2004 1554 26 1.67% Of course, keep in mind that due to the way MLS counts things, there are actually more goals scored off corners. I believe that if a corner is sent in and headed on goal, parried by the keeper back to an attacker who then puts in home, that would count as a rebound goal rather than a corner goal. And Blanco's corner vs CHV last week would go down as an own goal, because that's a separate category. Stuff that jumped out at me: KC and SJ were the only teams with more left-footed goals than right-footed. LA only allowed 13 goals from "open play," the fewest in the league. DAL led the league by far in goals scored outside the area. CLB was last. CLB had the most goals with the head, and also lead the league in goals from crosses. They were right among the leaders in corner goals as well. SEA didn't allowed a goal off a corner all year. I would include "defensive corner" percentages, but I have no way of easily getting corners against stats without going through all the match reports. HOU and KC had the highest rates of goals scored "inside goal area," which means the six-yard box. CHI and NE both were at the top of goals against from outside the area. Will we see any long distance bombs in their series? NE gave away 4 own goals this year, the most in any year so far (2004-09). See anything else interesting? Further Reading 2008 Goal Details 2007 Goal Details