You Play to Win The Game
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Everyone knows you should play for the draw on the road. What this article presupposes is... maybe you shouldn’t.
At least in MLS. At least some of the time.
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CBA Talk: Why it's so good to own a sports team
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In September a portion of the Chicago Fire was sold, valuing the team at $400 million. In a sports world where large numbers float by with regularity, another big dollar sign went largely undigested. In 2007, Forbes began to publish valuations of MLS franchises, including the Fire. The first valuation estimated the team was worth $41 million, and so the investors appear to have returned almost ten times their money since then. That’s a 21% annual rate of return, which is a remarkable number for a twelve-year period, especially one that included the great recession of our lifetime. Over that same period, the Average Pat might have seen returns in the 6% range. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) had an annual growth rate of 6.1% from the end of 2007 to September of this year, while the S&P 500 trailed slightly at 6.0% over the same time period.
Read MoreASA Roundtable: The One About Home-Field Advantage
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With a break in the MLS Postseason schedule, we here at ASA figured we’d give you something just as good as a second leg (RIP), and a good deal more wholesome than another Toronto/Seattle MLS cup final: another roundtable! This week, our question comes from contributing writer, WOWY inventor, and tactician extraordinaire Cheuk Hei Ho.
Read MoreNEW YORK CITY FOOTBALL CLUB: POSTSEASON PREVIEW
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Slow, then fast. That’s how NYCFC plays soccer.
A lot of pixels have been spilled, especially by my colleagues over at The Outfield, trying to describe the tactics that have elevated NYCFC from the unpredictable side that stumbled through a string of draws to start the year into the even less predictable side that’s shapeshifted its way to the most successful season in the club’s short history.
Read MoreLos Angeles Football Club: Postseason Previewew
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2018 LAFC turned out to be just like 2017 Atlanta United, bowing out in the first round of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. In 2019, the comparisons with Atlanta United continue. Second-year club LAFC not only caught, but surpassed the 2018 MLS Cup winner’s marks in 2019. LAFC exceeded their points (72 to 69; 2018 RBNY had 71) and Carlos Vela surpassed Josef Martinez’ shiny new single-season goal scoring record by three goals (34). LAFC also tied the single season goals record (with the 1998 L.A. Galaxy) with 85, set the best goal differential with 48, bettering that same Galaxy team by seven. And Vela finished with 10 primary assists (the only ones we count at ASA). For comparison, the only other player with 10 or more assists and over 20 goals in our dataset was Sebastian Giovinco in 2015.
Read MoreMinnesota United: Postseason Preview
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#SnowOpener. Lost 1-6 versus the other new kids on the block. Now Minnesota is the one putting up 7-1 scorelines versus newcomers.
“We deserve more respect in this league.” The former captain was traded to the Chicago Fire, and Minnesota’s defense is now one of the best in the league.
“Three-year plan.” Although the exact origin of this phrase in reference to MNUFC’s inaugural triad of seasons in MLS isn’t well-documented, it looked incredibly unlikely the Loons could turn it around after 2 disastrous years, but they have.
Read MoreNew England Revolution: Postseason Preview
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I loathe Brad Friedel. I’m going ahead and getting this out of the way because it’s important that you understand that I’m writing this preview balanced precariously on a high horse and sipping a cocktail of equal parts gin, schadenfreude, and vindication. I found his appointment puzzling, his teams maddening, and his termination surprisingly cathartic for me despite it being about a team I honestly could not care one iota less about. I don’t hate the New England Revolution. No, it’s just been a very long time since the New England Revolution have given me any reason to feel any one particular thing about them beyond the occasional moment of amusement or confusion.
Read MoreSeattle Sounders: Postseason Preview
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To say that the Seattle Sounders exist solely to confound me would simultaneously be both incredibly narcissistic and also accurate. I’ve been tasked with the preseason and postseason previews for the perennial contenders for the past few years, and every single time I’m more and more tempted to just submit this as my draft:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(Editor’s note: this would not be up to ASA’s stringent editorial standards, as we’re not Bleacher Report… yet.)
Read MoreNew York Red Bulls: Postseason Preview
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At times this season the New York Red Bulls have looked like a very good soccer team, sometimes even harkening back to the 2018 Red Bull team that set (what was then) an MLS record for points in a season. Case in point, nine of New York’s 14 wins this year have come against playoff teams. That included wins over FC Dallas, Atlanta, and Real Salt Lake during a five match unbeaten stretch early in the season and back to back wins over Portland and Philadelphia during a late season run to put them into the playoffs.
There have also been times when the Red Bulls have looked exceptionally mediocre. They’ve looked like a team that not only lost its most important player in Tyler Adams, but also lost a whole lot more of something else as well, despite mostly returning their entire squad from 2018. The flip side of nine wins against playoff teams was picking up only one point from four games against Montreal and Columbus.
Read MoreToronto FC: Postseason Preview
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Toronto FC’s 2019 season started off strong. They picked up 16 points in their first 8 games, including a 4-0 win against NYCFC where their marquee signing, Alejandro Pozuelo, put up 2 goals and 1 assist. Things went south after that - they got just 1 win in their next 11 games. From July onward, though, TFC were pretty good. They lost only twice, and closed out the season on a 10-game unbeaten streak.
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