MLS Week 5 - 2017

[Ulrich]

Some weird results yesterday.

Minnesota kills RSL. LA Galaxy suck. And Houston destroys the Red Bulls.

Love all three.

By the way, was looking at GD around the league - we are one of just five teams to give up less than a goal per game so far. Promising.

I think we're going to see RB revert back to their norm. Dax was that team through&through, and he was the sole reason Marsch's system worked for a few years - once their midfield is breached/bypassed, their Defense is toast, and Dax shielded the back 4 from so many attacks. It's no surprise that Chicago has a little sting to them this season. I'm betting Dax is smiling as much as we are.

 

[JGarrettLieb]

I just can't even go down the PPG road at this point. You have the points you have. I don't even think anyone can say they know enough about the teams yet to draw any conclusions beyond that.

That's actually a really good discussion to have. At what point do you really start drawing conclusions about teams based on their averages and table standings?

Personally I believe 8-9 games is probably where you can start getting insight, with 10-12+ games played allowing for some real conclusions to be drawn about a team for a given season. Though this figure means I don't tend to draw long term conclusions until about 1/4 to 1/3 of the season is over; which might be a bit too long.

Sometimes I wish soccer was a bit more like baseball, where you can reasonably predict a team's ending standings based on the player statistics at the beginning of the year. Individual ranking might be out of the realm of possibility, but quartile predictions for teams have proven to be reasonably accurate.

 

[Shawn Ryu]

Minnesota is not deadlast and has won a game while couple others still has not.

Still shit but they may not be the worst expansion team ever after all.

 

[EganSoccerWords]

I think we're going to see RB revert back to their norm. Dax was that team through&through, and he was the sole reason Marsch's system worked for a few years - once their midfield is breached/bypassed, their Defense is toast, and Dax shielded the back 4 from so many attacks. It's no surprise that Chicago has a little sting to them this season. I'm betting Dax is smiling as much as we are.

I still dont get the 4222.

 

[EganSoccerWords]

For thd Whitecaps sake i hope they start Montero for here on out. Gamechanger for them. Very exciting after he subbed in.

 

[mgarbowski]

That's actually a really good discussion to have. At what point do you really start drawing conclusions about teams based on their averages and table standings?

Personally I believe 8-9 games is probably where you can start getting insight, with 10-12+ games played allowing for some real conclusions to be drawn about a team for a given season. Though this figure means I don't tend to draw long term conclusions until about 1/4 to 1/3 of the season is over; which might be a bit too long.

That's where I start: after 9 games and a quarter of the season. I think that's where signal to noise starts crossing into useful territory. I do not think it is too conservative. In fact it can still mislead. Last year the Red Bulls, DCU and we were all struggling after 9 games while Philadelphia looked strong.

 

[Ulrich]

I still dont get the 4222.

The only team to ever make it work was Bob Bradleys. And even then it was hit or miss.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

The only team to ever make it work was Bob Bradleys. And even then it was hit or miss.

Good counterattack formation if you have inherently creative players who are naturally comfortable wide and drifting in. I don't think RBNJ has that.

But the formation is also defensively weak. People call him Bunker Bob, but that's actually the opposite. How many important 2-0 leads did we blow with him as manager? 2 massive championship matches. And he regularly gave up 1 goal leads.

 

[Ulrich]

Good counterattack formation if you have inherently creative players who are naturally comfortable wide and drifting in. I don't think RBNJ has that.

But the formation is also defensively weak. People call him Bunker Bob, but that's actually the opposite. How many important 2-0 leads did we blow with him as manager? 2 massive championship matches. And he regularly gave up 1 goal leads.

When you invite the opponent to not only pitch a tent in your end, but also stake out the foundation and start pouring concrete, you're bound to give up a ton of leads. That's why I've never been a fan of pulling a midfielder or forward to "protect" a lead with a CB. Best defense is to keep the opponent on their back foot and continue what worked to get you there. Sigh....

And actually, I was referring to Bradley's days as manager of RB.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

When you invite the opponent to not only pitch a tent in your end, but also stake out the foundation and start pouring concrete, you're bound to give up a ton of leads. That's why I've never been a fan of pulling a midfielder or forward to "protect" a lead with a CB. Best defense is to keep the opponent on their back foot and continue what worked to get you there. Sigh....

And actually, I was referring to Bradley's days as manager of RB.

I hate bringing on another CB. It is the ultimate create and cure a problem.

PV has some weird subs.