I'm very surprised by that data. It seemed like we were much much more dangerous. I guess what I'm thinking of is that we had almost twice as many shots and most of theirs were low percentage ones. That feels more like what I remember from the game, although Atlanta had some good moments once they brought their subs in and we were already up 2-0.
Yeah, DC definitely had more quality possession than Atlanta did. Besides United's goals, I will say that two highlights of the match were a) the Turf Monster tripping up Villalba while he was in DC's box in the first half, and b) Pity Martinez laying on the ground for a very long time, exasperated that Marrufo wouldn't award a penalty. In fact, that may have been the most I noticed Pity in his entire shift of work.
Well, my toes finally thawed out about the time we were 5mi from the PA line, but the drive was totally worth it. That was a fun game to watch. Also, it was fun yelling at Brek Shea in the second half. Front row seats are incredibly gratifying, if wet.
Frankly, that flub and Moreno missed a sitter from the PK spot- both corners wide open and blasted it straight at Guzan. Should have been 4-0 imo.
As a 25+ year Aston Villa fan... I can tell you Guzan has ALWAYS been terrible at distribution. He had one good season at Villa- but that was just shot stopping. It was a slow decline after that.
This game showed both the value of the Canouse/Moreno pairing and the wisdom of getting Jara on the right side. Both Birnbaum and Brillant did not have run around because they either: 1) had to cover for a substandard outside back or 2) deal with being overrun up the gut. Atlanta was reduced to nibbling at the perimeter most of the match. Both Jara and Mora shut down any real danger and Canouse/Moreno were so effective at stopping Atlanta that Cheeto Mussolini should clone them as the prototype for his "wall".
I wouldn't look at passing percentage in the final 3rd to compare. I would look at quality shots instead. Atlanta could have great stats in the final 3rd because they play very conservatively ("mastaurbation without penetration" - thanks Ray) whereas DCU could have lower stats because they attempted more vertical passes that unlock defenses and open players up to 1v1 situations. As I recall, DCU had at least 10 shots in the 18 yard box vs 1 for Atlanta. If you're making dangerous passes, you'll get more shots. Passing percentage in the final 1/3rd is useful to see if your team overall was somewhat composed in the final 3rd, but I believe it's only one of many indicators.
In the first half, we put in a lot of crosses and passes to the 18 that came to nothing. Not really surprising given our negative height advantage. A good portion of our final third failed passes came from that. Second half, that tactic switched off like a faucet.
Yes it was. Getting to heckle him was a bucket list item. It honestly defies all manner of reason that he continues to get a shot. Potential is a dangerous thing.
I can’t argue with your stats, but based on how infrequently Atlanta was in a place to threaten our goal I’d have never guessed they’d had the lions share of possession. We were dominant on corners, shots and I’d have thought they’d had a lot more fouls.
I'd like to see the possession numbers around the 60th minute because I think the final numbers were less flattering simply because the last 30 minutes we were up and sitting back. I actually can see why they went with Rodriguez over Asad, besides any contract/money reasons. Rodriguez will be a better fit for us in the long run. Asad was more creative, but Rodriguez is faster, more vertical and more direct. We already have enough creativity with Acosta and Rooney. Especially when Rooney drops deep into midfield, you want to have dynamic players like Arriola and Rodriguez or even the fullbacks making runs in behind. Rodriguez needs to make some of those killer runs, and inversely when Arriola gets on a through ball, Rodriguez will need to make those hard runs into the box because at his age Rooney often won't get there in time.
FWIW, MLS announced its "Team of the Week". Included in the "starting" 11 were Arriola and Brillant. The coach was Olsen and Hamid was on the bench.
Here are the possession numbers for every 5 minute interval, up through minute 60 (PS: MLS's website has all of the info I keep putting up in this thread, just FYI): 5': ATL 54.4, DCU 45.6 - advantage ATL, 8.8% 10': ATL 68.9, DCU 31.1 - advantage ATL, 37.8% 15': ATL 28.9, DCU 71.1 - advantage DCU, 42.2% 20': ATL 35.9, DCU 64.1 - advantage DCU 28.2% 25': ATL 80, DCU 20 - advantage ATL, 60% (ouch) 30': ATL 68.3, DCU 31.7 - advantage ATL 36.6% 35': ATL 55.7, DCU 44.3 - advantage ATL, 11.4% 40': ATL 43.1, DCU 56.9 - advantage DCU, 13.8% 45': ATL 58.9, DCU 41.1 - advantage ATL, 17.8% 50': ATL 40.7, DCU 59.3 - advantage DCU, 18.6% 55': ATL 56.4, DCU 43.6 - advantage ATL, 12.8% 60': ATL 40.4, DCU 59.6 0 advantage DCU, 19.2% The 5' minute interval ending at the hour mark was the last time DCU saw the majority of possession during the match. I'm guessing that ATL had the possession advantage through 60', somewhere in the high 52% range (there's rounding errors thanks to MLS doing percentages by .1, so it's around 52.6-52.7% for ATL).
Those stats are interesting and just reinforce the view that possession alone is a meaningless way to look at a game. Watching the game in real time I didn't focus on possession, instead I saw a DCU team on the front foot for at least 60 minutes and an Atlanta team that struggled to create dangerous chances. IIRC, the first DCU goal came on its 7th corner kick of the first half, yet that goal occurred while Atlanta "enjoyed" a 17.8% possession advantage. Conversely, for all the supposed "possession" enjoyed by Atlanta, Martinez was a non-factor the entire game.
The numbers are still staggering. I just never saw Atlanta doing a whole hell of a lot with the ball. Especially when Atlanta's best chances came on the break as opposed to a calm, controlled build up.
I wonder about the stats they collect in general. Too often I've come from a game feeling someone lost the ball every time they touched it or made terrible passes all game that led to dangerous turnovers and I come home and look online and the guy has a 75+% passing rate. Possession seems like a very subjective stat - does someone just touching the ball equate to a completed pass and possession when in reality the pass was so hard it may have touched the intended target but simply bounced off their thigh into space and then ended up with an opponent 10 yards away ... do you have to string more than two passes to achieve "possession" ... 3 ... 1 ... dribble for 6 seconds? In reality I think the possession percentages should not add up to 100%.
The Spanish-language crew on ESPN were lauding Guzan as the best keeper in MLS right before the ball somehow went directly through his body. I don't know much about stats but there was never a moment where I pondered the notion that Atlanta could win that game. Real United was in complete control throughout.
I think a 1 yard touch off to a teammate counts the same towards "possession" as a 35 yard cross field pass that changes the focus of the attack. The best view of "possession" is the old Ray Hudson bromide -- "possession without penetration is masturbation."
I think the result might be clouding some people's opinions - while Atlanta never really felt like they were on the front foot with their possession, there were certainly times (especially in the 1st half) where they had the ball for quite a long time. Obviously, they never did anything with it, but the numbers do correspond to what I remember seeing at the game.