MLS Attendance stats week 6

Here's a few figures that convey the current trends in the all-important MLS attendance. Toronto gets high marks, of course, with their die-hard fans that show up on week nights with sippy-cup beers and red and white streamers to throw at the opposition. San Jose and Kansas City have smaller stadiums suited to their smaller but loyal fanbases. New England, Columbus and New York are running really low despite a.)being number 2 in the nation (NE), b.)having an awesome team right now (CLB), and c.) being the capital of the world that easily fills Giants stadium when Barcelona or Beckham comes to mind. With that said, I believe everything is relative. Therefore, I have calculated and displayed the relative aspects of MLS attendance. I'll have more figures for you in the future that will also include the role of Becks and Co. in terms of attendance. I will permanently post attendance figures on the right column albeit at a coarser resolution.
In the meantime, some "star power" stats for you:

• Beckham: total in all stadiums (TS) 142,040; relative per capacity (RpC) 91%
• Blanco: TS 98,093; RpC* 108%
• Gallardo: TS 93,452; RpC 72%
• Lopez: TS 84,452; RpC* 88%
• Angel: TS 69,599; RpC 61%

*Blanco's numbers are enhanced by the Earthquake's game being taken to McAfee Coliseum for the match. Lopez's attendance is higher in relative terms since KC's stadium is much smaller. Also worth noting is that Angel did not participate in 3 of the 5 matches NYRB has played so far this season. I figure that these stats will level off once the hype of the start of the season is over and Beckham has covered more arenas.

Premier Relegation

Fulham wins today. The all-American Premier League team is close to safety from relegation. Much has been said about this Premier League side and its American contingent. Whilst Clint Dempsey made a name for himself with 7 goals early this season and Brian McBride started scoring for him lately, winning crucial games for them in the process, other players such as MLS standout Eddie Johnson and US national team captain Carlos Bocanegra have been relegated to the bench and sometimes to the team reserves. How does this play out for the US national team? True, Bocanegra was still on the bench for all the recent Fulham games and this may, as some commentators have suggested, count as a strategic move by the Craven Cottage Coach. He just recently scored in a shocker win against Poland in Polish territory so I hope he can get back on track at the club level soon or his time as national team member/captain could be compromised. There has been serious speculation about EJ's recent performance both club-wise and in the national team. Some, like Ives Galarcep are worried that he could turn out to be another Clint Mathis and whither out of the picture. I hope not. EJ has good treatment of the ball and I think that with Fulham he showed pretty good skill but was somehow afraid to take more chances. As for Dempsey's future... he should have no problem finding a Premier League job if Fulham does indeed get relegated. McBride on the other hand should consider going back to the Crew, where a blue-collar fanbase is ready to refill the stands if they have their hero back.
Another side that could go down into the Coca-Cola Championship is Reading. I've seen them play and they are certainly lacking in the final touch and their defense is anything but stellar at the moment. It's too bad, because one of their players is once Ecuador great Ulises de la Cruz. He is getting old, however, so I can see why he's on the bench. Bobby Convey certainly hasn't looked anywhere near as good as when he played in the US. Recent national team play has also shown this downward trend in his play. As for the goalkeepers, Kelsey and Hahnemann might be headed to the MLS. Indeed, Hahnemann has stated more than once that he'd like to be in the expansion Seattle team next season. That would be great for the league and for them as well.
As for Derby County. Hopeless. I feel for their fans. Sometimes teams are just bad and need restructuring. Benny Feilhaber should try to find work elsewhere. He was seldom used in this team and has a bright future if we count his various appearances with the national team.

The Brit Supremacy

And then there were two. Two English teams, that is. The Champions League, undeniably the most coveted prize in all of Club Football (Club World Championship doesn't quite count just yet) will be fought out by the two highest placed teams in the English Premier League. So who's to deny that it is the best and most important league in the world? Down are the other giant leagues... No more Barcelonas nor Romas nor Bayern Munichs. It is important to note that among the final four stood Liverpool, Chelsea, and Man U. Arsenal was swept aside by none other than Liverpool in the quarter finals, hence their absence from the top four. And where is the English national team? Not in the Euros. Not this time. Not even when its club teams are the most important and most lucrative in the world. Blatter may squabble around alongside Platini to make national leagues more inclusive of its own country's players. Platini wants only actual champions in the Champions League. That's never going to fly. Not when so much money's at stake for the biggest teams in the world. So what? Let's enjoy the game. Here in the States most of us soccer fans wind up watching a lot of EPL games thanks to FSC, more so than any other league including the MLS (Mexico's league doesn't count here since it excludes non-Spanish speakers). So let's have a party with the teams Americans know best. It may not be Barcelona or Real Madrid to play against the world famous Manchester United. Instead we have the much-hated-by-true-EPL-fans team... Chelsea. To quote a prominent (humorously, that is) american football commentator: Two teams, both with head coaches, playing the game of football. This should prove to be a great game.

Uncalled for: Donovan's celebration

It has fallen upon me to bring this unfortunate event(s) to attention. Why is our most prolific goal scorer in the national team, overall best player for two years in a row, and without a doubt the American player most kids look up to, behaving like this? Landon Donovan has 8 goals in just 5 games and could become the highest scoring player in MLS history if this rate continues. But how does he celebrate this? On the video provided you'll see his reaction to the Houston defender after scoring: general shouting and taunting. Why? He just scored a beautiful goal from a sublime Beckham pass. LA's dynamic duo is finally working for them and yet what makes headlines in the soccer world is how immature Donovan is. Not only did he taunt the player in the Houston game... More significantly and flagrantly, in last weekend's game against arch-rivals Chivas, he celebrated and taunted the Chivas bench (which includes ex-national team member and now head coach Preki). Preki was disappointed by this event and had few words for Donovan. It was more of a "I'm so mad I'm not going to acknowledge you" kind of reaction. Rudd Gullit himself walked to the Chivas bench to apologize. I hope and daresay implore captain Becks and Gullit talk some sense into this young man. He should soon be leaving for Europe for a league like Spain or Italy (critics agree that Germany and England are no fit for his style). Surely he'll want to keep this kind of behavior in the past. But let's rewind... what really should have happened on Saturday? Red Card. That's right, even though he's my hero for scoring so many goals on Mexico I have to say it. Donovan already had a yellow for a flagrant handball a-la-Maradona that didn't quite pan out. Celebrating the way he did after those goals (it was a hat-trick against Chivas, by the way) would have earned him another yellow in most leagues around the world, and that includes other sports. You're not going to see that in the NFL without getting a nice fine to set you back a few thousand dollars. Lesser offenses have warranted such fines in the past. So whose fault is it really? The referee. Maybe the general atmosphere and a sense of keeping the game going got the better of him. Spectacular goals and full stadium aside, we must respect the game and the other players on the field. That's what separates the true stars from the plain goal-scorers. Let's hope the league learns this well by punishing this sort of behavior and let's hope Donovan doesn't disgrace his own scoring prowess.

MLS cummulative stats Week 4

As promised. I've compiled my own analysis of the all important MLS attendance. I've been frustrated by the apparent lack of in-depth attendance figures for the league for those of us that wish for MLS to expand and gain more recognition. In other blogs I've seen plenty of numbers but not enough plots. Plots are an easier/prettier way to gauge numbers. I took it upon myself to devise different methods to analyze MLS attendance in relative terms. All figures were computed using public, official MLS attendance numbers. Note that these are cumulative numbers in the bar plots and pie plots (if provided). Individual team stats will be provided per week for all teams in line graphs as well as the effect of Beckham, Blanco, and the rest of the DP crew. I'll post those next month when more data is available.

1. Plot 1: Computed using relative attendance (actual/MLS capacity). MLS capacity varies by venue and are the official figures of each one of the teams. Note that those teams in larger football stadiums shrink their capacity to reflect the smaller contingent of soccer fans.
2. Plot 2: Actual attendance numbers

• MLS stadium capacity and stadium per team
• Chicago Fire: Toyota Park, 20,000
• Chivas USA: Home Depot Center, 27,000
• Colorado Rapids: Dick's Sporting Goods Park, 18,000
• Columbus Crew: Crew Stadium, 22,500
• DC United: RFK Stadium, 24,500
• FC Dallas: Pizza Hut Park, 20,000
• Kansas City Wizards: Community America Ballpark, 10,385
• Houston Dynamo: Robertson Stadium, 32,000
• LA Galaxy: Home Depot Center, 27,000
• New England Revolution: Gillette Stadium, 20,000
• New York Red Bulls: Giants Stadium, 25,576
• Real Salt Lake: Rice Eccles Stadium, 25,562
• San Jose Earthquakes: Buck Shaw Stadium, 10,500
• Toronto FC: BMO Field, 20,000
  

Enter Toronto

Toronto FC, that is. What a crowd. Added is a video of their home opener against RSL. As I stated on a previous email this is the best fan base in the league. Always a sellout of 20,000+ with talks of expanding the stadium in the next three to five years while other stadiums are shrinking in size to make space for a concert stage (i.e. Columbus). In the horizon, a designated player. Dutch legend Patrick Kluivert has been linked with TFC by the Footy Show blog, mls-rumors., and even Wikipedia. Kluivert is a former member of Barcelona, PSV, AC Milan, Ajax, and Valencia. He currently plays for Lille in France having scored 4 goals in 11 days. Kluivert is a reliable striker, albeit prone to injury, that would add a certain degree of pedigree to an already technically enriched Canadian side. I add "technically" for two reasons: For one the addition of French international Laurent Robert (scored the goal in the video) was a brilliant move to a squad that accounts with the presence of striker Danny Dichio, and an Amado Guevara in the midfield that provides a good deal of experience and good treatment of the ball while the younger and outstanding defenders US international Maurice Edu (can't see him staying in the league much longer) and Marvel Wynne anchor the team at the back. Second, we must remember that regardless of the pedigree and style of play, the experienced members of this squad are already in the latter stages of their career. This seems to be a recurring theme for TFC. The latest is Scotsman Paul Dickov, currently in England's second division and 35 years old. So what's the prognosis? A lot of potential--more so than last season. The older players should be able to inject their experience and style to the younger generation. I say bring back DeRosario to this Canadian side and give it a real Canadian feel. Some home grown talent up top would also be nice. This team has the makings of one of the MLS giants in the next 5 to 10 years. Adding a second or even third team in Canada (Montreal is high up in the expansion talks) would elevate the team even more.
Some stats:

• This season TFC is at 101% with 20,219 at home
• In its relative average (ratio of attendance to actual seats available) as compared with the other 6 teams in the eastern conference, TFC has 20% of the total attendance.
• Its average home attendance makes up 21% of the eastern conference attendance rate
  
• Currently constituting 11% of the total attendance in the east (1 home game)
  

(all stats are based on MLS figures)

Futbol USA goes worldwide!!!!

Thanks for all the hits from inside and outside the US. This blog will be a center for reports on major commentary from the Spanish and English speaking soccer planet along with my personal takes on major soccer issues facing the MLS, US Soccer, Ecuador futbol, as well as other important stories from around the world. Please feel free to leave your comments and/or questions. I'm a correspondent for the mls-rumors.net website and will expand on some of their material on this page. I'm currently updating my take on the n new MLS season so come back and check the new stats I have for each team. Enjoy!!!!