NE has obviously had beaucoup injuries this year. So has DCU. I did a quick count of DCU--looking at "man games lost" due to injury. For DCU, I came up with 71 (through 18 games). Let me explain the methodology I used. A "man game lost" is a game where a player was unavailable to play due to injury. It doesn't count if someone was hurt but could have played (and was rested). Or if someone got hurt in the match (and didn't play 90). Or if someone was hurt and therefore used only as a sub. Or if someone had a national team callup or a suspension. Anyone have a count (using that formula) what the Revs total would be? I suspect that NE and DCU probably total (between the two of us) more "man games lost" than the rest of the league combined.
I'm a little skeptical about this stat, but doing a quick check of NE's year I come up with about 90 (more or less depending on your estimate of Aiden Brown's starts). I didn't figure in injuries for non-starters like Andy Dorman - so that would kick it up a few. I think this stat was pretty much drummed up to explain The Bob's underachieving job at coaching the Fire in 2002 - when it seemed you couldn't listen to an MLS game for 20 seconds without Rob Stone bringing it up. Bottom line - everybody's stuck with the same ridiculous 18 man roster. Teams that invest roster room and cap dollars on old guys or injury prone players are going to get burned. Teams that use their TI and Developmental Player spots wisely do better at squeaking through the long MLS summer. This was true in 2002 and its still true in 2004.
OK, that explains the injuries to Llamosa and JMM, what about the rest? Injuries are always going to be an issue, no matter the composition of the roster, so long as we are limited to 18 men and there is little or no ability to call-up from a "AA" or "AAA" league. I think the MLB model in this regard is a sound concept. I think the complaints about the age of the roster are a little biased. The value of the senior members is too easily dismissed. Part of the needs of the league is to put fannys in the seat. Having name recognition of well known senior players who still have something to offer is worth the roster spots. Granted, we don't need a bunch of "over-the-hill" former stars, but having the older, wiser, and still fit senior players is worth the injury risk. That just needs to be balanced with the younger up-and-coming potential stars. Bottom line is that there is no reasonable way SN or any other coach could know which injuries would occur, or how many would occur. So they've just got to do there best to field a diverse and talented roster, and deal with whatever injuries come their way. Given the number and significance of the injuries, I think the Revolution coaching staff (and the remaining players) have done a good job.
FWIW, I believe the team that would probably hold the record for most man games lost would be the Rapids teams that Myernick coached (I believe the year they also set the record for MLS minutes without scoring a goal). They just had a phenomenal number of injuries that year--brought in players and they went down instantly. And Rodan, you're correct that this measure is an inexact one that is not totally accurate. For instance, what about games where a coach doesn't play someone b/c a hamstring was acting up in practice or b/c they've got a knee that acts up if they play 2 games in 4 days? This stat doesn't track that. But it is a reasonable way of judging just how many bodies a team has been down. What really tends to jack the numbers up are when you have players (ala Llamosa or Joe Max Moore or Eliseo Quintanilla or Santino Quaranta who miss all or most of the season) as opposed to a guy who misses 4 games here and someone else misses 5 games there or you hit a rough streak where 7 guys are all hurt at the same time.
This statistic does a better job than any other I've heard mentioned. It is, like any other statistic, capable of being used in a misleading manner. The fact that a star player like JMM or CL are out for an entire season are worthy of note and inclusion in a statistic. Both are, as far as I know, counting against the roster and cap, so their non-contribution on the field is worthy of note. How many other teams in the league have had important players of JMM or CL's caliber out for the entire 2004 season?