Early Topics In League Are Quite Familiar

by Dave Clark on Apr 10, 2011 7:55 PM PDT in Sounders: MLS Regular Season

This young season saw a celebration of the league's founding, but the topics are typical.

There is parity, well except for Real Salt Lake. Sure, other teams have points, but they aren't manhandling their opponent's like Kreis' team is. With 3.00 PPM and +2GD per GAME, they are the class of the league. The ability to deal with injuries will determine a team's success more than anything else.
Attendance is still bifurcated along the lines of Logan v Garber. Logan's market's, which include the Los Angeles Galaxy, New York Red Bulls and DC United are averaging barely over 15,000 in attendance. Garber's markets? Nearly 21,000. For some reason the legacy of those first years seems to be hurting the sport.
Referees are inconsistent. Whether it be Davies "dive" or the 8 cards in the Whitecaps home game this week, it doesn't seem to matter how players play, as much as which referee they have. Several leagues have added help with goal-line assistants, others have video review for dives. MLS still needs to improve.
Being a Designated Player raises the bar of judgement, but that is all. Two DPs have played in Reserve games, though Alvaro Fernandez did not appear in official match. Thierry Henry is merely decent. Sure David Beckham and Eric Hassli are both on leader boards, but one is merely a specialist and the other set a record for quickest to two red cards in league history.

BTW - Charlie Davies is putting up Mike Fucito PP90 numbers, with a straight 6.00 so far.

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I wouldn't mind

pulling penalties out of PP90.

Nos Audietis

by sidereal on Apr 10, 2011 7:59 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

I could see weighting it less

But it’s a goal nonetheless. There’s something to be said for being the guy who takes the shot that you’re “supposed” to make but is way harder than it looks.

by TheTank123 on Apr 10, 2011 8:19 PM PDT up reply actions

But as a statistic it does not measure the same thing

The point is to have a number to discuss overall effectiveness in one form or another. There is such a discrepancy between scoring in the run of play and happening to be the team’s PK specialist that it should be excluded.

by brokejumper on Apr 10, 2011 9:32 PM PDT up reply actions

1 goal

Against Seattle is all that is keeping NYRB and Henry from having the world wondering how poorly that good of a team can do this season.

Also, who wouldn’t love to see the old-school "Davies/Fucito Pairing? The point total would be ridiculous.

"But who would listen to Little old me anyway?"

-by thehemogoblin

by Little old me on Apr 10, 2011 8:02 PM PDT reply actions

Standards for ref's has to improve

If the MLS is wanting to follow a trajectory towards becoming legitimate competitors for world-wide talent, revenue and respect, there are areas requiring attention – including the officiating – it has to improve (the whole revenue parity idea, at least regarding transfer fee’s, comes to mind as well). I don’t envy the ref’s job – it’s thankless, to be honest. In the MLS we’re stuck essentially grading on a curve. Comments like, “Well, as far as MLS officiating goes, the ref did an average job,” are commonplace following a match.

Life's what happens while you're making other plans

by LGoofus on Apr 10, 2011 10:09 PM PDT reply actions

No soccer league in America is in charge of referees

But the USSF is.

That’s part of the issue. Imagine if the NBA couldn’t fine/evaluate referee talent?

I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart

by Dave Clark on Apr 11, 2011 8:16 AM PDT up reply actions

It's a bit shocking to me about the LA/NY attendance

I guess I kinda get the NY attendance not being great, since really, they should be New Jersey Red Bulls. But isn’t Home Depot Center right in LA? Or is that a crappy suburb location too? Those seem like the two biggest markets for sports, and should be selling every game out. I can’t believe they’re languishing around 15k.

by chrisperry1983 on Apr 11, 2011 9:00 AM PDT reply actions

its in carson, which is right next to compton (but its pretty nice...i guess...) but outside of downtown

A sky of blue, a sea of green...(or claret)

by kelliott1527 on Apr 11, 2011 9:29 AM PDT up reply actions

Change the name to NJ Red Bulls

and you still have a team in North Jersey which has a big population by itself and you are still sitting very close to NYC. It is no excuse.

Scoreboards, not billboards.
Regular season, not pre-season.

by lysander on Apr 11, 2011 10:08 AM PDT up reply actions

They are clearly in the NYC metro area

They have mass transit. New Yorkers travel for the Nets, Giants and Jets. The name isn’t the problem.

I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart

by Dave Clark on Apr 11, 2011 10:41 AM PDT up reply actions

LA is in Carson...

The stadium is about a 3 minute drive to Compton. It’s not near anything really.

The stadium is nice though, and you can tailgate. But there aren’t any bars or anything near the stadium really. Not walking distance. We really are lucky with Qwest being downtown.

It might be about the same as living in Seattle, but having to drive out to North Everett practically in an industrial park to see the Sounders.

by soundersfcfanboy on Apr 11, 2011 11:49 AM PDT up reply actions

LA doesn't even have an NFL team...

and they still can’t support their MLS team as well as they should.

That market is far too distracted for professional sports, I think. Either that or everyone only pays attention to the Lakers.

by ABTsportsline on Apr 11, 2011 9:44 AM PDT reply actions

The Galaxy have the second best attendance in the league

And they do basically every year. Are we really lumping their 20k-plus attendance in the same pile as NYRB who struggles to get 15k? The Galaxy’s attendance is almost literally the least of the league’s problems.

Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, MLS editor SB Nation. Follow me on Twitter

by Jeremiah Oshan on Apr 11, 2011 10:00 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

agreed.

LA attendence is not ideal for a city its size, but it is holding its own. NY is a joke and has no excuse.

Scoreboards, not billboards.
Regular season, not pre-season.

by lysander on Apr 11, 2011 10:09 AM PDT up reply actions

I think I read the line wrong

I read what Dave wrote as “Logan’s markets are EACH averaging 15k” rather than the market as a whole.

by chrisperry1983 on Apr 11, 2011 10:23 AM PDT up reply actions

Just for reference...

We have every team’s attendance in the left rail of our home page if you’re ever curious how each team is performing.

Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, MLS editor SB Nation. Follow me on Twitter

by Jeremiah Oshan on Apr 11, 2011 11:11 AM PDT up reply actions

I did not notice that

Thanks for the heads up!

by chrisperry1983 on Apr 11, 2011 2:02 PM PDT up reply actions

And I read the comment as saying that those cities are offsetting poor attendance in other cities the the average.

by yuniform on Apr 11, 2011 2:20 PM PDT up reply actions

That was how it was meant

I’ll work on more clarity.

Logan launched with mainly large metro areas

I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart

by Dave Clark on Apr 12, 2011 8:53 AM PDT up reply actions

What era

is SJ considered since the first incarnation was pre garber and the 2nd was in the garber era right?

Scoreboards, not billboards.
Regular season, not pre-season.

by lysander on Apr 11, 2011 3:16 PM PDT reply actions

I have San Jose as a Logan team and Houston as a Garber

I’m working on a theory that a ton of people tried to enjoy MLS in those first years, and since it was so different refused to give it a second opportunity.

I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart

by Dave Clark on Apr 11, 2011 3:34 PM PDT up reply actions