Getting To Know The Gamethread

Site readership continues to grow, and we continue to evolve, so maybe some readers haven't caught on to what the gamethread looks like these days, particularly during a longish home stretch. Here is an introduction to what we do for every Seattle Sounders game at the senior level (meaning not Reserves or Academy, but yes for MLS, USOC, CCL).

First, it should be known that the gamethread will be up 90 minutes prior for every match, home or road. Second will be an intro that puts a very basic frame on the game, as well as remind you when it starts and what TV and radio will have the match.

Next will be links related to the game, both from the work that we do here (and at SBN Seattle) as well as some from the opposition's team site. Then comes the stat board, and this is rather new, and has had significant evolution over the past few years. Let's take a gander at the stat board for the upcoming Sporting Kansas City match.

The traditional statistics will list the goal leader, assist leader, save percent leader and goals against average leader for League play for each team. These are raw stats and are not adjusted for playing time. Injured players are included.

Advanced statistics include the Points Per 90 leader. PP90 is two times goals + assists divided by minutes played times 90. The player listed will not be one on the injured list, but could be on the injury report as anything but Out. Next is the final player specific section and this is Shots +/- per 90. It has a benchmark of 60% of available minutes played, and is what sidereal presented a few weeks ago as Player Plus/Minus. Still within this "advanced" section is team plus/minus for Shots and for Shots on Goal.

The third section gets us into the new Opta powered statistics from www.mlssoccer.com 's matchcenter. Each is the average of every league match for each team. It includes % Duels won (a 50/50 ball), pass completion %, opposition pass completion % and possession percentage. All data is from the same provider and for the entirety of the season. This should provide a snapshot of the two team's abilities to bring the ball forward (long ball teams will have lower success), as well as their ability to defend.

Keys to Game - This will be 3-5 quick bullet points on tactical things to which you should pay attention. It will be our best attempt to encapsulate how the two teams will approach the match.

Matchups - These are the specific one-v-one player matchups in the match and are taken from the Scouting Report from previously in the week. They may be slightly adjusted due to injury or lineup replacements.

Experience Snapshot - I'll tell you what I'm drinking, which scarf I'm wearing, what colors are on and where I'm enjoying the match in case you want to find me. Some have taken to sharing this data in comments as well.

Lineups - Usually, but not always, we will try to get a simple representation of the Sounders lineup at the very end of the post.

What else might you want to see? Are there things that you find to have no use? Should anything exist at its own post prior to the match so you can see it sooner?