The article reads like it was written by one of us here in BS. All of Baxter's talking points seemed to have been cherrypicked straight from this board. Glad they have been put out there beyond the confines of this board. So Kevin, who are you here?
This made me laugh: "Asked in February whether he liked this year’s roster or the one that came within a penalty kick of the conference final last year, Klein didn’t hesitate. “I’ll take this one,” he said."
LD highlights a key problem for the Galaxy. He was particularly critical of Joao Pedro's assimilation – or lack thereof – to MLS. "We’re not to the point in Major League Soccer where you can miss on a player like this," Donovan said. "And I’m not saying he’s a miss yet. He’s still going to take some time to understand. But when you’re spending a million-and-a-half dollars on a player, you need someone who is absolutely contributing and you can count on. And he just hasn’t quite been that guy yet." https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017...-says-la-galaxy-dont-look-they-have-real-plan
Yep, and when you add Jones being a miss for us as well, our entire central midfield is a disaster....
That just about sums up the year. He is either telling a marketing lie, or demonstrating his level of acumen. Or lack thereof.
This has been my thoughts as well. What up and coming South American player wouldn't want to play for a former Barcelona skipper? He'd be great to attract young players with the hope being that he'll open doors for them to potentially bigger and better things through his connections and from his coaching that will help them become better players. I'm fine with this model given that MLS is a feeder league.
Couldn't help but notice the new target commercial with Robbie Rodgers.... seems the nerve damage hasnt hindered his acting carrer
#MLS shot quality vs quantity allowed. SKC is the only team averaging less than 1 xGA/game. Minnesota is the only team averaging more than 2 pic.twitter.com/LHrhtsmFTf— Kevin Shank (@Kev_Shank) September 26, 2017 We need someone who can finish
As in free agents? Not very much, four four two had a list and the only name that I remember that probably could help is maybe Moor but at his stage I'm not sure
#MLS shot quality vs quantity allowed. SKC is the only team averaging less than 1 xGA/game. Minnesota is the only team averaging more than 2 pic.twitter.com/LHrhtsmFTf— Kevin Shank (@Kev_Shank) September 26, 2017 Wow. Somebody needs to use that as the textbook definition for heteroscedasticity in their stats class. "Here's a scatterplot that shows exactly nothing."
I wouldn't say it shows nothing - I mean, I'd rather have more data than less and it sure beats some "analysis" where a guy in a studio shows 3 or 4 plays from a whole season and counts on his/her selective memory to draws conclusions. So anyway, it might not lead to any conclusions between those variables, but it still shows me the info on a single plot - that LA's terrible this year
The scatterplot's about defense, right? Basically we give up a lot of shots, but the shots are about league-average in terms of dangerousness. To be meaningful it needs a third dimension: points. There are a variety of ways to be bad (give up lots of shots, give up easy shots) and you want to see how it translates to overall performance.
The chart is a bit cluttered but actually useful if you understand it. X-axis is just # of shots allowed per game. So LA has been allowing a bit over 14 shots/gm a bit over the MLS average of ~12.8. 14 vs 12.8 doesn't sound much but over 34 games it adds up to 40 more shots allowed than average. Currently only VAN, DC, and MIN are allowing more shots per game. The Y-axis is expected goals per shot allowed, so is a measure of the quality of the shots being conceded. The shots that LAG are allowing have an expected goal average of ~.107 goals/shot. That means the shots we allow are slightly less dangerous than the league average of .109 goals/shot. I think our decent standing on this metric comes from the games played when JVD was here. Early in the season we gave up a lot of shots but they didn't tend to be as dangerous. Now we a sieve. If you want to take it further you can multiply the two numbers to get expected goals allowed for each team. LA's 14 shots/gm x .107 xG/shot = 1.5 expected goals allowed per game. IRL we have allowed 1.9 goals/gm (58ga/30gm). So teams are scoring almost a half of a goal more per game than would be expected given the number and quality of shots we are allowing. In sum - we are allowing way too many shots PLUS our opp are getting a bit lucky in their scoring rate. That combo leads to us to being ranked 21st out of 22 teams in goals allowed this year.
I agree with your entire post except this sentence. I think luck has little to do with it. I think that what we are seeing is the inevitable combination of inadequate personnel and a losing momentum. In terms of personnel since JVD left or when he wasn't playing, I don't think any of the back 6 except for Cole and Jones (when he plays dmid) are above league average players for their position. Outside of Romney, I don't think that any of the players are fast for their position nor would I call any of them quick. IMO, on the whole they are below average and consequently I would expect this configuration to give up more shots and goals then average. I think the Galaxy's season long lack of offense also contributes to the defensive woes as they are chasing the game far to often and gambling (e.g. the fullbacks getting caught upfield without midfielders in a position to cover). Losing momentum causes players to give up (I think Gio is the poster boy for this) which further exacerbates both the lack of offense and failure to retain/regain possession.