The 2013 Table - Magic Numbers, Tragic Numbers & Other Fishy Figures [R]

I could probably kick that out pretty quickly once I get my database set up. I pulled all the data from the MLS schedule pages and have it set up to put into a MySQL database, but I kind of forgot about it after loading the 1996 data and realizing that the shootout era data is incomplete because you can't tell which 1-goal games are shootout wins and which ones are regulation wins. I also did this prior to the end of this regular season, so I'm missing results from 2013. I'll probably get back on that project tonight.

 

Alternate Sources:

From 2013: http://aragon.ws/soccerdb/league/matchesAll.php?stageId=1547

...

To 1996: http://aragon.ws/soccerdb/league/matchesAll.php?stageId=1232

 

Record against playoff teams, 2013 edition (bold teams still remaining):

Team	GP	W	T	L	Pts	PPG
NYR	16	9	4	3	31	1.94
MTL	16	9	0	7	27	1.69
POR	17	7	7	3	28	1.65
SJQ	20	9	4	7	31	1.55
COL	17	7	5	5	26	1.53
SKC	15	6	3	6	21	1.40
VAN	20	7	5	8	26	1.30
RSL	17	6	4	7	22	1.29
LAG	17	6	3	8	21	1.24
FCD	20	6	6	8	24	1.20
CHI	19	5	6	8	21	1.11
SEA	17	4	6	7	18	1.06
NER	15	3	6	6	15	1.00
HOU	17	4	4	9	16	0.94
CLB	20	5	3	12	18	0.90
PHI	19	4	5	10	17	0.89
TFC	19	3	6	10	15	0.79
DCU	19	2	5	12	11	0.58
CHV	20	1	5	14	8	0.40

Just to quick explain the difference in GP - West teams played each other 3x, and each team from the East 1x. So West playoff teams had 3x4 (because they can't play themselves) + 5 (from East) = 17, West non-playoff teams have 20. East is a bit more complicated. East played 7 teams in-conference 3x, 2 teams 2x. Taking SKC for example, both of their 2x teams must have been playoff teams. 5 (West) + 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 = 15. Houston must have played all the other East teams three times (5 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 17). Got it? Good! It'll be on the test.

Well, if wanted further proof that DC, TFC, and Chivas were terrible teams, there you have it. Interestingly, Montreal did really well against the other playoff teams. In their last 8 games, when they went 1-1-6, they only played three playoff teams (and lost to all three). Again, more proof that San Jose kind of was hard done by, and Seattle probably wasn't as good as their record showed.

But Houston... what the hell happened there? That's a pathetic record, and yet they're in the Conference Final. 16 points against other playoff teams, 35 points against non-playoff teams. Which leads to this:

Record against non-playoff teams, 2013 edition:

Team	GP	W	T	L	Pts	PPG
HOU	17	10	5	2	35	2.06
SEA	17	11	1	5	34	2.00
RSL	17	10	4	3	34	2.00
SKC	19	11	4	4	37	1.95
PHI	15	8	5	2	29	1.93
NER	19	11	3	5	36	1.89
LAG	17	9	5	3	32	1.88
CHI	15	9	1	5	28	1.87
POR	17	7	8	2	29	1.71
CLB	14	7	2	5	23	1.64
VAN	14	6	4	4	22	1.57
NYR	18	8	4	6	28	1.56
COL	17	7	4	6	25	1.47
SJQ	14	5	5	4	20	1.43
FCD	14	5	5	4	20	1.43
CHV	14	5	3	6	18	1.29
MTL	18	5	7	6	22	1.22
TFC	15	3	5	7	14	0.93
DCU	15	1	2	12	5	0.33

That's quite the turn-around for Houston. 3 wins against DC certainly helped on that front. Seattle and New England feasted on the bad teams, and my dear Rapids didn't particularly care whether or not you were good or bad, they were going to get 1.5 PPG no matter what.

And then there's DC United. Oh, @Knave...

 

We were nothing if not consistent.

 

I love that in the sorted by PPG and *PPG difference table, MTL comes out on top, HOU is last, they each played a playoff team in the first round, and -0.56 difference against playoff teams dismantled 0.25 difference against playoff teams.

 

I wonder if closing the season form isn't very important. It seems to me that RSL's performance closing out the season has been generally predictive of subsequent playoff performance. I wonder if that holds true of other teams?

 

Interesting Question!!

The Last 5 Games of Eventual MLS Cup Finalists & the Season Outcome of the Best/Worst "Last-5" Teams, as extracted from MLS official site:

Season

Winners

Last-5

Runners-Up

Last-5

Best "Last-5" Team

Last-5

Season Outcome

Worst "Last-5" Team

Last 5

Season Outcome

Remarks

1996

D.C.

W-L-L-W-W

L.A.

L-L-W-W-W

T.B.

W-W-W-W-W

Won the SS, Lost Conf. Final

COL.

L-L-L-L-L

Missed Playoffs: Won Wooden Spoon

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/1996

1997

D.C.

W-W-L-W-L

COL.

L-L-L-L-W

L.A.

W-W-W-W-W

Lost Conf. Semis

COL.

L-L-L-L-W

Lost Cup Final

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/1997

1998

CHI.

L-W-W-W-L

D.C.

W-W-L-W-L

T.B., COL.

T.B. (W-W-L-W-W), COL. (W-L-W-W-W)

T.B. (Missed Playoffs), COL. (Lost Conf. Semis)

N.Y.

L-L-L-L-L

Lost Conf. Semis

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/1998

1999

D.C.

W-W-W-W-L

L.A.

L-L-W-L-W

D.C., DAL, S.J.,

D.C. (W-W-W-W-L), DAL. (L-W-W-W-W), S.J. (L-W-W-W-W)

D.C. (Won SS & MLS Cup), DAL. (Lost Conf. Final), S.J. (Missed Playoffs)

COL, K.C.

COL. (L-W-L-L-L), K.C. (W-L-L-L-L)

COL. (Lost Conf. Semis), K.C. (Missed Playoffs: Last in the West)

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/1999

2000

K.C.

T-T-W-W-T

CHI.

T-W-W-W-W

CHI.

T-W-W-W-W

Topped the Central Div, Lost Cup Final

CLB.

L-L-L-L-L

Missed Playoffs

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/2000

2001

S.J.

T-L-W-W-L

L.A.

W-W-L-W-W

CHI.

W-W-W-W-T

Topped the Central Div, Lost Conf. Final

COL., T.B.

COL. (L-T-L-L-L), T.B. (T-L-L-L-L)

COL. (Missed Playoffs: Last in the West), T.B. (Missed Playoffs: Won Wooden Spoon)

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/2001

2002

L.A.

L-W-W-W-W

N.E.

W-T-W-W-W

N.E.

W-T-W-W-W

Topped the East, Lost Cup Final

S.J., CHI., N.Y.

S.J. (L-L-W-L-L), CHI. (L-L-L-L-W), N.Y. (L-W-L-L-L)

S.J. (SS Runners-up, Lost Conf. Semis), CHI (Lost Conf. Semis), N.Y. (Missed Playoffs)

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/2002

2003

S.J.

W-L-T-L-T

CHI.

T-W-W-W-L

N.E.

W-W-W-W-W

Lost Conf. Final

COL.

T-L-T-L-L

Lost Conf. Semis

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/2003

2004

D.C.

W-L-W-W-W

K.C.

W-W-T-T-W

D.C.

W-L-W-W-W

Won MLS Cup

N.Y., S.J., DAL., CHI

N.Y. (L-W-L-T-L), S.J. (L-T-T-T-T), DAL. (W-L-L-L-T), CHI (L-W-T-L-L)

N.Y. (Lost Conf. Semis), S.J. (Lost Conf. Semis), DAL. (Missed Playoffs: Last in the West), CHI. (Missed Playoffs: Last in the East)

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/2004

2005

L.A.

T-L-W-W-L

N.E.

T-W-L-T-W

S.J., COL.

S.J. (W-T-W-T-W), COL. (W-W-T-T-W)

S.J. (Won the SS, Lost Conf. Semis), COL. (Lost in Conf. Final)

RSL.

L-L-L-T-L

Misssed Playoffs

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/2005

2006

HOU.

T-T-W-T-T

N.E.

W-T-W-W-W

N.E.

W-T-W-W-W

Lost MLS Cup Final

D.C., COL.

D.C. (L-W-L-L-L), COL. (T-L-L-T-T)

D.C. (Won the SS, Lost Conf. Final), COL. (Lost Conf Final)

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/2006

2007

HOU.

W-W-L-W-T

N.E.

T-W-L-L-T

HOU., L.A.

HOU (W-W-L-W-T), L.A. (W-W-W-T-L)

HOU (Won MLS Cup), L.A. (Missed Playoffs)

DAL., K.C., TOR.

DAL. (L-L-W-T-L), K.C. (L-L-T-L-W), TOR. (L-W-L-L-T)

DAL. (Lost Conf. Semis), K.C. (Lost Conf. Final), TOR. (Missed Playoffs: Won Wooden Spoon)

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/2007

2008

CLB.

W-W-T-L-W

N.Y.

L-L-T-W-L

HOU.

W-T-W-W-T

Topped the West, Lost in Conf. Semis

N.E.

L-T-L-L-L

Lost in Conf. Semis

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/2008

2009

RSL.

L-L-W-L-W

L.A.

W-L-W-T-W

DAL.

W-W-W-W-L

Missed Playoffs

COL., K.C.

COL.(T-T-T-L-L), K.C.(T-T-L-L-T)

COL.(Missed Playoffs), K.C.(Missed Playoffs)

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/2009

2010

COL.

W-L-T-W-T

DAL.

W-W-T-L-L

SEA.

W-W-W-W-L

Lost Conf. Semis

CHV.

L-W-L-L-L

Missed Playoffs: Last in the West

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/2010

2011

L.A.

W-W-L-W-L

HOU.

W-W-T-W-W

HOU.

W-W-T-W-W

Lost Cup Final

D.C., N.E.

D.C. (L-L-L-T-L), N.E.(L-L-L-L-T)

D.C. (Missed Playoffs), N.E.(Missed Playoffs: Last in the East)

http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings/2011

2012

L.A.

2W-1L-2T

HOU.

2W-2L-1T

RSL., D.C.

RSL. (3W-0L-2T), D.C. (3W-0L-2T)

RSL. (Lost Conf. Semis), D.C. (Lost Conf. Final)

TOR.

0W-4L-1T

Missed Playoffs: Won Wooden Spoon

http://aragon.ws/soccerdb/league/table.php?stageId=1312&matches=0&rounds=2&roundCount=5

2013

TBD.

TBD

TBD

TBD

S.J.

4W-0L-1T

Missed Playoffs

CHV.

0W-5L-0T

Missed Playoffs: Last in the West

http://aragon.ws/soccerdb/league/table.php?stageId=1547&matches=0&rounds=2&roundCount=5

Quick Observations:

MLS Cup Winners:

1. No MLS Cup Winners have ever won the Last-5 games in their regular season, the Best being 2002 L.A., who won their Last-4.

2. The Worst "Last-5" Finish by MLS Cup Winners belongs to 2009 RSL, with 2W-3L-0T. However, the least number of wins were "achieved" by 2006 Houston with 1W-0L-4T.

3. Otherwise, MLS Cup Winners typically win at least 2 of their Last-5 games to close out the regular season.​

MLS Cup Runners-up:

4. Similarly, no MLS Cup Runners-up won their Last-5 either, the Best being 2000 Chicago, who won their Last-4.

5. The Worst "Last-5" Finish by MLS Cup Runners-up belongs to 1997 Colorado, with 1W-4L (all in regulation). The next worst would be by 2008 N.Y. (1W-3L-1T) & 2007 N.E. (1W-2L-2T).

6. Otherwise, like the Winners, MLS Cup Runners-up minimally win 2 of their Last-5 games too.​

Best "Last-5" Teams:

7. The Best "Last-5" record belongs to 1997 L.A., who in fact won their last 6 games all in regulation (that would be for @Hachiko). The next best would be 1996 Tampa Bay with 5 wins (incl. 1 by SO).

8. Surprisingly, only in 3 out of 18 seasons did such teams won the MLS Cups eventually (1999/2004 D.C & 2007 Houston).

9. All others have lost in various rounds of playoffs. 5 teams even managed to miss the playoffs despite strong finishes, the best team missing-out being 2013 S.J., with 4W-0L-1T in Last-5 (unbeaten in Last-7 in fact, a league record).​

Worst "Last-5" Teams:

10. The worst record was 5-straight losses by 2000 Columbus (incl. OT). The next worst were 5 losses (incl. 1 through SO) by 1996 Colorado and 1998 N.Y.

11. For the teams in this category, as you can imagine, most of them do ended-up missing the playoffs and even won the Wooden Spoon (or finished last in their conferences).

12. The best regular season finish by such teams would be winning the SS, by 2006 D.C.!! The next best were 2002 S.J. who finished as SS Runners-up behind L.A..

13. In terms of playoffs, the best finish was making the MLS Cup Final, by 1997 Colorado (to the delight of @JasonMa).​

Pretty interesting, isn't it?

 

Nice.

 

Meant to rep this awhile ago, forgot to do so. This is in a much better format than pulling from MLS's website, and though it doesn't have the shootout winners, I do have that information from MLS's scores and can now more easily get my dataset to match the actual results.

 

Can't wait for equivalent "playoffs only" standings from past seasons too...

More useful resources for you as below:

• SoccerStats.us (with SOs for 1996-99): http://soccerstats.us/c/major-league-soccer/1996/games/, and so on...
• SportsClubStats (with SOs = Ties): http://www.sportsclubstats.com/1996/USA/MLS.txt, and so on...

 

The following is the version with Playoffs Teams only,
as captured from the wonderful "TeamStats" app,
installed on a good old Windows Mobile device
(hence only capable of sorting just by points):

Legends:

Take "01e1-NYR" for instance:​

• • "01" = Actual SS Ranking
  • "e1" = Actual Conference Ranking (1st in the East)
  • "NYR" = Abbreviation of Team Names, obviously.
  • "9-4-3" = "9W-4T-3L"
  • "34-19" = "34GS - 19GA"
  • "31" = points amassed
  • "+15" = goal difference

Quick Notes:

1. To the delight of @tigersoccer2005, NYRB remain Top in this version too,
as with the versions by @GreatGonzo & @Knave, and they are the only team with a GD of >10.

2. Western Conference winners Portland are 2nd here.

3. Montreal are still quite high up in this version too.
In fact, they are the "Top Gainers" (by stock-market terms),
with the improvement (of 8 places) here (3rd) over the Actual SS Standings (11th).

4. By the same token, SKC are the "Top Losers",
with a slide of 5 places (7th here vs 2nd in Actual SS Standings).

5. Surprisingly, Houston a.k.a. Playoffs Kings, are right at the bottom here, with a GD of -16!!

6. Will be posting the same on the past seasons real soon too...
​

 

"Playoffs Teams Only Standings" for the past 3 seasons, more to come...

 

Oh, ye of little faith.

Enjoy the final.

 

All the "Playoffs Teams Only Standings" of past seasons are now up at:
https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/playoff-teams-only-table.1575909/page-2

Enjoy browsing...

...

 

Just stumbled upon the following page on ESPN, supposedly on MLS Stats for 2013:
http://espnfc.com/stats/_/league/usa.1/major-league-soccer?cc=4716

Some observations:

1. The headline of the page says: "Major League Soccer Stats - 2004-05".

2. The sections "Performance" & "Clean Sheets" are all zeroes. Certainly something are missing here...

3. Now comes the interesting part: Are the following records for 2013 season also stand as all-time records of the league?

• Most Clean Sheets: 15 Portland Timbers
• Fewest Games Failed to Score: 7 , FC Dallas
• Fewest Clean Sheets: 3 Chivas USA
• Most Games Failed to Score: 16 DC United

​

 

Seems fixed now

 

Most Clean Sheets:

• 2011 L.A. - 17 Clean Sheets in 34 Games (50%)
• 2010 RSL - 15 Clean Sheets in 30 Games (50%)

Both are better than 2013 Portland's 15 in 34 games (44.12%).

Let us know, if there are more teams with even better records...

 

Yes, mostly fixed by now, the only remaining items are:

• Fewest Losses 5 (as with the rest, the team name that hold this record, i.e. Portland, should be appended.)
  
• Most Draws 15 (as with the rest, the team name that hold this record, i.e. Portland, should be appended.)
• Fewest Games Failed to Score 7 , FC Dallas, , , (are these commas indeed extras, or there maybe missing teams?)

 

Fewest Clean Sheets:

• 2001 TBM - 2 Clean Sheets in 27 Games (7.41%)!
• 1999 N.Y. - 2 Clean Sheets in 32 Games (6.25%)!!

Both are worse than 2013 Chivas' 3 in 34 games (8.82%).

Let us know, if there are more teams with even worse records...

 

Most Games Failed to Score:

• 2010 D.C. - 17 Games without goals in 30 Games (56.67%)
• 2009 N.Y. - 15 Games without goals in 30 Games (50%)

For @Knave info, both are worse than 2013 DC's 16 games without goals in 34 games (47.06%).

Let us know, if there are more teams with even worse records...

 

Fewest Games Failed to Score:

• 2012 S.J. - Just 2 Games without goals in 34 Games (5.88%)
• 1999 D.C. - Just 1 Game without goals in 32 Games (3.13%)

Now, to @Knave delight, the legendary 1998 D.C. United team hold the proud record of scoring at least a goal in every league game.

All these are way better than 2013 Dallas's 7 games without goals in 34 games (20.59%),
though Dallas had the distinction of missing the playoffs despite holding the record in 2013,
alongside 2008 L.A. Galaxy (top-scoring team & just 6 games without goals in 30 = 20.00%).

Let us know, if there are more team(s) that have achieved the same amazing feat as 1998 D.C. United...

 

"Playoff Teams Only Table" 2013 Updates, after MLS Cup Final:

 

Are you counting actual goals or just looking at the scoreline. Remember, shootouts from 96-99 have a phantom goal in scoreline. A 0-0 game is 1-0 in the scorebooks, but still - I believe - a "clean sheet" for both teams.