One Third of the Season - Who is the most productive Sounder?

First and Foremost though - Thank You Mike Adams, Thank you Travis Patriquin, thank you all 4962 in these past eight years. I feel that I knew too few and too many of you at the same time. Thank you to all of our fallen soldiers. Sorry for the somber start, but there are things I must do.

At the third pole with the Sounders in 3rd overall and 2nd in the West, one could wonder who is the most productive player. I guess it all comes down to definitions.

So I'm going to offer two different tables, and you tell me who is most responsible for the 4-2-4 (16 points) record to this point in league matches.

The first table includes Plus/Minus which is Goals For minus Goals Against while the player is on the pitch.

Next on that table is Clean Sheets, which is similar to the Keeper stat, but in this case I apply it to all players on the field for at least 60 minutes in which a goal is not scored. I excluded from the first list players who made an appearence of less than 10 minutes where no goals were scored for either side.

The second table is the productivity table from earlier in the week. It uses the college "points" system (2 points for a goal, 1 for an assist) and balances that as a per 90 stat, or two times goals plus assists divided by minutes played times 90.

[table=15]

What Plus/Minus gives us is a peak at how effective the team has been while said player was on the pitch. Basically it is Goal Differential at the individual level. It can give a snapshot of the performance of players based on their usage and subsitution patern.

I offer Clean Sheets because I feel that outfield players contribute to the Keeper being awarded a Clean Sheet, and yet this isn't tracked. If a Keeper only has to save 2 shots on goal, and neither are strong, that is not a demonstration of the success of the keeper, but instead the possession of the team, and the strength of its backline.

I will also be tracking the roles that each player performs in because the lineup and formation is shifting.

[table=14]

This second table is more a demonstration of individual performance in the time on the pitch, and is only an offensive measure. It allows us to check performance of the player, not the team. Notable is that the top regular in the league is Landon Donovan (6G, 3 A in 900) at 1.50 PP90 followed closely by Jamie Moreno (3G, 2A in 483) with 1.49 PP90.

So who do you think is most responsible for the success? I think the short list has to be the following - Keller, Evans, Montero, Alonso, Zakuani, Marshall, Hurtado, or Jaqua. Yeah, I didn't limit that much did I. The success would seem to be a total effort, but it is notable that when Kasey Keller plays, the team has all four Clean Sheets, that the team is at +9 instead of its +6. The Offense is better when Keller plays.

Basically Keller has proven to be worth his large salary, and while the entrity of the team is responsible for 16 points, without Lacey's finest, this would be a mid-table team.