MLS 2011 Attendance Statistics Game Week 12

Two months and 12 game weeks in, 2011 is just barely over 2010 in terms of overall attendance. Columbus is mostly the driving factor with over 3000 less seats filled in average during the present season compared to last year. Add to this the delay in home play for Kansas City and the numbers brought in by sellouts in Cascadia do not change the overall figures that much.

At this point we can also start playing with other numbers such as the median. If we look at the Eastern conference alone, we see that the mean for Houston, for example is much higher (>2000) than the median. DC also exhibits similar numbers, albeit smaller than Houston's. Conversely, New England seems to have slightly higher median attendance numbers than the mean suggests. This is mostly due to one or two dates with numbers far below 10,000.

Portland Timbers vs DC United: the live experience

Fandom. That's the best way to describe a Portland Timbers match. The stadium, the people, the atmosphere is just amazing. Today we experienced the first Timbers game in MLS action versus a depleted, yet still consistent, DC United squad. The score was a negative 2-3 for a game that should have been a tie. But the experience is what really counts at this point in the club's early MLS career.

In terms of the game, I'd have to say that the second half was much better. DC United looked more lively in the first half and Perry Kitchen kicked off the scoring through a carefully choreographed corner (either by the DC offense or the Portland defense). Meanwhile, Portland struggled as Perlaza and Cooper lacked quality in their attempts and Jewsbury seemed absent. Can we blame this on the mid-week friendly versus storied Ajax Amsterdam? Hardly. I think the referee had more of an influence in this game.

Indeed, the second half was more entertaining, both goal-wise and on-field action. After a phantom offside call on Cooper's goal came a series of 4 penalties. Two missed, three by the Timbers and one by DCU. It was really just one PK for Portland that was repeated twice after Hamid stepped off his line (or DC players invaded the area?). We won't ever know for sure, I don't think. As for the PKs, Cooper hesitated twice and Hamid stopped it twice, regardless of whether it was legitimate. Jewsbury then stepped up the third time around and scored. A PK for DC a bit later returned the scoreline in favor of DC. Josh Wolff finished it off just 6 minutes before the end. Even though Perlaza scored again for Portland, it was too little too late.

The Portland Timbers now lie at a crossroads. They have lost their first game at home and what was usually a sure 3 points on home turf now means they must reacquire points away from the Columbia Gorge. For DC, however, things are starting to click. Add to this the fact that they will have nearly their entire team (injuries aside) to work with during the Gold Cup and the top echelon of the Eastern Conference looks more accessible.

Soccer aside for a moment. Cheers to the Timbers fans. The intimacy of the stadium and the incessant chants by the Timbers Army are enough to get most fans of the sport riled up. The stadium is as beautiful as it is historic and its lower capacity makes for a better experience both inside and outside. We were back on the road driving south into the Willamette Valley after just 15 minutes.

Champions of Europe: Barcelona and the Messiverse

Photo credit: Reuters

It's Messi's world. In European club soccer there is no better player. FC Barcelona prevailed over Manchester United FC at the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final thanks to its number 10. The Catalan team proved to be too much for Manchester United, robbing them of the ball and playing their futbol dance throughout the match.

This was a rematch of the 2009 final when Cristiano Ronaldo faced off against Messi for world dominance. That match would end 2-0. Today's 3-1 is the same general score. Dominance and distance. The game started much like the 2009 final: possession, aggression and a resolve to keep the ball away from Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. Vidic, Evra, Valencia and Park constantly broke up plays by the spaniards well inside the Iberian half of the field. And just like in 2009, as the 10th minute came around, Barcelona stole the ball. They would never give it back except for Rooney's goal.

The victory was complete because the three attacking aces scored for Barca: Pedro, Messi and Villa. Pedro's strike was magic on the pitch after subtle passes gave way to a final touch worthy of replays. Rooney would strike back seven minutes later. But that would be all from United. The second half started with a more balanced and composed Manchester United. Until Messi found a goal through a rare Van der Saar error. Villa's strike with a curling ball to the upper 90 was further prove of his completeness as a striker.

There was distance between the two teams because Barcelona found channels through the English defense with short passes and midfield incursions. The Catalan team opened up the usually-stout group that Ferguson developed from some of the best defenders in the world: Ferdinand, Evra, Vidic, Fabio. There was distance also in the score: two goals. No way for United to return fire when Villa was subbed off at the 85th minute. The game stats said it all: 24 shots, 70% possession.

And even though this is the Messiverse, no one player is complete without his team. And this supporting cast happens to be the best in the world--quite literally. Indeed, if Villa, Pedro, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pique and Puyol sound familiar it's because they form the spine of the World Cup Champion: Spain. Not to mention that 7 of these players came up through the Barca ranks. This is the difference: a team built from the ground up, growing together and adding the best player in the world.

Congratulations, Barcelona. And thank you for making us believe in fantasy again.

The US Gold Cup team: Missed opportunities?

Photo credit: Sports Illustrated

On Monday of this week we learned the names of the players chosen by Bob Bradley to represent the United States at the Concacaf Gold Cup. There were certain omissions and also some surprising additions. Out: Timmy Chandler, Alejandro Bedoya, Mixx Diskerud, Teal Bunbury, Charlie Davies, George John, Herculez Gomez. In: Robbie Rogers, Jonathan Bornstein, Freddy Adu, Chris Wondolowski, Oguchi Onyewu, Juan Agudelo.

Bob Bradley gave several reasons/reasoning for his choices: (a) Chandler is too exhausted from his first season as a starter for top-flight German team Nurmberg. (b) Rogers is a better fit than Bedoya for the team on the flanks at this point. (c) Adu has shown progress with Rizespor this season and merits a call-up. (d) Dempsey can cover as a second striker next to Altidore. (e) Onyewu is a stalwart with the team and is recovering from an injury perhaps in time for the tournament.

These are all very real and valid responses. Perhaps the most glaring one is the inclusion of Rogers over Bedoya when the latter has had a stellar season for Orebro of Sweden. The former has had an average start of the season with the Crew and was a bit disgruntled with the team early on.

Another important absence is that of Timmy Chandler. He is a two-way, multi-faceted player that can be shifted from defense to midfield at a mid-game notice. He was perhaps the best player during the last two games versus top opposition from Argentina and Paraguay. His ability to unravel the opponent's attack and his significant pace to get around players was a welcome sight for the American squad. While we may understand the reasoning behind his absence, a player of his caliber should welcome the advantage of being in a top-tier international tournament. His break-out season would be complete with another standout performance at the Gold Cup. Why not have him as a substitute at least?

The American attack should be concerned not just with the absence of a resurging Davies but with the production of top-striker Altidore. We all love him and believe in him but our forwards should be in top form. This leaves Dempsey as our top candidate to be our go-to scorer. Not a bad choice, but the midfield suffers as a result. This, compounded by the absence of Holden due to injury and Bedoya's exclusion, should leave us reason to worry. Will we see goals only from our midfield as we did at the World Cup?

Perhaps more important is the state of our defense. No DeMerrit and struggling Onyewu leaves two voids at center back. Yes, we can include Bocanegra alongside Goodson or Tim Ream. And left back? Bornstein? Bocanegra? Right back could be covered by Cherundolo/Spector/Lichaj. The latter two could play left back but aren't naturally left-footed. How do we defend against the fantasy of Chicharito Hernandez or the speed and abilities of Andres Guardado?

And this is where we end today. It will be up to Edu, Jones, Bradley to decompose the Mexican attack, and to Bocanegra and Ream or Goodson to counter the Manchester United ace. Chicharito is the X-factor in this tournament. Can this team overcome his magic as it did against Argentina? Or will we fall apart and be frustrated as we did versus Ghana (World Cup) and Paraguay (friendly)?

The players:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne), Jonathan Bornstein (UANL Tigres), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Eric Lichaj (Leeds), Oguchi Onyewu (FC Twente), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Freddy Adu (Rizespor), Michael Bradley (Aston Villa), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (New England Revolution), Jermaine Jones (Blackburn Rovers), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (3): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Jozy Altidore (Bursaspor), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

Staying alive: relegation in the Premier League

Photo Credit: Yahoo

What a Sunday. In the course of two hours, five teams faced relegation from soccer's most prestigious tournament: England's Barclay's Premier League. With West Ham out as of the past couple of weeks, two places remained remained in danger of dropping to the second-tier Championship. It would be Birmingham City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic and Blackpool. Three would survive.

The day started grim for Blackpool, going down on the scoreboard to Manchester United at Old Trafford (champions since last week). This put them in the drop zone along with Wigan, who was tying Stoke City at the time. Blackburn started off fast by scoring on Wolves early in the game. They would score two more goals in the first half. Wigan was tied at Stoke City. Birmingham was alive due to goal differential.

Luckily for our American compatriot Jermaine Jones, his team would not relinquish its lead and remained in England's top flight. Blackpool had the lead for precious moments at Old Trafford but Man. United returned fire and ended its championship in style by the score of 4-2. Blackpool would return to the second division. At the same time, Birmingham went down 1-0 to Tottenham but tied the match 1-1 to put them back in the Premier League. This was until Wolves scored two goals to level them in goal differential with Birmingham. They had scored more goals, however, so this meant the Blues would have to score another goal. This never occurred. Instead, Roman Pavliuchenko would score again and would win the game for the Spurs. The day ended with more heroics when Martinez's Wigan scored a winner thanks to Rodallega to keep the team in England's top flight.

For anyone that knows soccer beyond the World Cup and MLS, this is what the sport is about. Surviving is not just for making the playoffs or continuing to the final. Surviving is the necessity and requirement for any and all teams to remain in the top league. We know that a losing season is more than just a "rebuilding year" or a "better luck next year." How would it be to have minor league baseball teams attain entry into the major leagues? And weaker teams to play for their lives so they don't lost their place in the league?

In the end it is also about money. Teams in the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, receive financial incentives and also profit from the presence of the most profitable players in the world. Smaller teams benefit from having the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Robinho visit their stadiums.

No, we know the MLS won't have this capability. Not for the next 20 or so years. And other American sports? It's not in the cards. Not when even the BCS is still in place. So, for now, let's enjoy how the rest of the world plays. A fight to the finish. A fight to stay on top. Survival. To remain alive.

MLS 2011 Attendance Statistics Game Weeks 10 & 11

In response to comments from our readers, I've elected to show some numbers this week. No in-depth analysis for the sake of brevity. DC United remains strong in its attendance average but its last few games have been below 13,000. FC Dallas is also riding high on a couple of strong dates. I will do an analysis of median vs mean next week. For now, here are the magic numbers:

Team	Average	Relative	Median
DC	16344	67	15276
KC
NE	10893	54	11587
COL	10199	50	10306
TOR	19557	85	20086
CHI	13628	68	12315
NYRB	17191	68	16366
PHI	18045	98	18591
HOU	14954	55	14191
LA	24496	91	24998
CHV	14648	54	13722
DAL	14258	70	12185
SJ	9879	94	10276
CRD	13243	73	12987
RSL	16672	83	15907
SEA	36350	102	36287
POR	18627	100	18627
VAN	19987	91	20664

Sporting Kansas City still hasn't played at home, hence the missing numbers.

The Cascadia Clasico

Photo credit: AP

Welcome to MLS, Portland. And welcome back, Seattle. Tonight we saw a new incarnation of the Northwest Derby, the Cascadia Derby, the rivalry game that defines a sport. Yankees - Red Sox, Packers - Bears, Ohio State - Michigan, North Carolina - Duke, FC Barcelona - Real Madrid, Inter Milan - AC Milan, Emelec - Barcelona SC, America - Chivas. These are the games we wait to see every season, and every time we see it something special happens.

For MLS it's been more difficult to establish: DC vs New York? Houston vs Dallas? Real Salt Lake vs Colorado? The Superclasico Galaxy vs Chivas USA? Great approximations, even LA - New York is a good match between marquee players. But something else was missing, a little history, a more personal touch, some sibling rivalry.

And this is what the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers bring to MLS. An established derby dating back to the 1970s and the old NASL (North American Soccer League). It reestablished itself in the WSL and the USL divisions. The teams nourished the competitiveness between fans in both cities and players alike. Case in point: Roger Levesque, detested by the Timbers fans for consistently scoring on their team.

Tonight we saw a new brand of soccer in MLS. A different passion. Not just to win, but to beat the other side at every level of the game. It wasn't about points or even goals. It was about showing your passion for the jersey, the city, and picking your side.

On the pitch we saw Seattle at its best when Fernandez scored the first tally of the night. The Sounders pressed on the Timbers defense constantly at the start of the second half after an underwhelming first 45. You could feel the loss of Zakuani in their movement and the lack of a true creative force in their midfield. Portland started slow, allowed for Seattle's attack and answered with quick counters thanks to Nagbe, Cooper, Perlaza, Chara and Jewsbury. True to fashion, Jewsbury delivered a perfect free kick pass to "Futty" Danso and he headed the ball backwards above a stretching Keller.

One - one. All tied up in Seattle and now comes the cauldron at Jeld-Wen Field. Can the Sounders break down the boisterous crowd in Portland? Seattle fans are touch to match, especially their numbers. But Portland doesn't need a large stadium to show their dominance. All they need is their fans and the extra edge that comes along with any and every Clasico, derby, rivalry game.