Jozy Altidore scores for Villareal

Typical Jozy. Composed, oportunistic, confident. A low shot to the left of the 'keeper and Jozy's European career just got a major boost. Hopefully it's the first of many. Hopefully he can be loaned to a smaller club so he can get more playing time but it's great to see him score for the yellow submarine!

MLS Attendance stats final week 2008

Hello, everyone. Final week was last week. Sorry it took me a little bit but it's been a busy month for me. Things should be easier from now on and other random statistics will be computed to show different trends. This year was about equal to last year (check out the difference plot, particularly the total). It was lower by about 97 seats or about 0.52%. Meaningless in statistical terms. Looking at the distribution for total attendance in pie chart format we see that DC and TFC share the majority of percentage (both with 17%), with Chicago (15%) and New England (15%) also showing respectable numbers. It's unfortunate that Columbus is lower (13%) given their sensational season.
Out west we see an obvious winner in the Galaxy (22%) due to the Beckham crowds. A modest Houston comes in second (15%) while RSL and a surprising Chivas (14%) are next in the pecking order. FCD is dissapointing again at 11%, lower than San Jose--their attendance numbers are inflated by games at the McAfee Colisseum. Elswhere, in relative attendance terms it seems that stadiums, on any given week, were about 70-80% full in the east. That's not a bad number compared to previous years. The west would be slightly lower at 60-70% on weekly basis, their numbers enhanced by LAG.

Diego Armando Maradona: from God to Coach

Just yesterday the soccer world was shocked (good/bad), even though it had been a possibility, to hear that Diego Armando Maradona would be the new coach of the Argentinian national team. "Diego," as he's simply known in most soccer-literate places is synonymous with soccer due to his personality, play, memories, and political views. If Pele is the King of Football then, Argentinians argue, Maradona is God. I'm torn here because I grew up watching Diego completely tear it up in 1986 (hand of God and best goal ever in the 2-1 game against England in the quarterfinals), then saw him cry at Argentina's loss to Andreas Brehme's questionable penalty in the Italia 1990 World Cup final against Germany, and fall from grace in 1994 after scoring against Greece while subsequently testing positive for doping. I was also in vigil when his life was threatened due to substance abuse and other health problems 2 years ago. Further, his political stance annoys me (pro Castro and Chavez, no to the US).
I question the wisdom of his appointment as a coach, however, since he has no real previous experience. Given his past history this will either be an amazing run for Argentina and further proof of his status as a sports deity or a catastrophic fall from grace far greater than Hugo Sanchez's for Mexico's Olympic qualifying in 2008 or even Diego's own failure in 1994. Still, I'll cheer him and Argentina on (except in fixtures against Ecuador or those that might affect its fight for a place in 2010).
Cheers, Diego. And may the force be with you.

MLS Attendance stats week 30

One more week after this and then more in depth analysis of the season as a whole with caveats about the playoff attendance numbers. It's a weird number to have, but 31 is the allotted number of games for every team (there are 14 teams in the league). Barring any last minute supercrowds at Columbus, New England, Dallas and Colorado, it's safe to bet that this year will fall short of last year's mark but only by about 100 seats (~1%). That's a minuscule amount in the grand scheme of things but certain places like Dallas have seen drops of more than 14%. My weekly difference of 2008 minus total 2007 shows the trends in a clearer manner (see yellow bar graph on right column). To counter that places like LA, Chicago and Houston have seen increases of up to 7%. We can only speculate how these numbers will change next season if Beckham doesn't return until mid-May.

Finally, to synthesize some of the latest numbers in terms of my patented relative attendance, I've decided to post high resolution plots of the median relative attendance, i.e. how full the stadium was on any given matchday. In the east TFC rules the land at 100% for almost every match, KC follows due to its relatively small stadium, and DC and Chicago also show good numbers in the high 70s and 80s. The Red Bulls below 60% is a bit troubling. Let's see how these numbers hold up when the new stadium opens.
For the west LA tops it with most matches as sell-outs, plus San Jose's small stadium. Some surprising numbers include that for Colorado at more than 60% as well as a recovering RSL at 60%. Numbers tend to be smaller in the west for whatever reason.
I will rejoin you with the last installment of MLS attendance stats. Please click on the ads and help support the website ;)

Becks on loan to AC Milan: the dangers of a short season

April to October. November for the ridiculous playoffs. That's the MLS season. Some wonder why teams like the New England Revolution, DCU, Chivas USA with players like Marcelo Gallardo, Twellman, Sacha Kljestan could possibly lose to lowly Panamanian Tauro or Caribbean side Joe Public. No wonder Beckham will be going on loan to AC Milan for the duration of the long MLS break. Who's to blame? That's complicated. Assuming the loan is for the winter months and that Milan officials are expecting him to play for the remaining of the season in 2009 and possibly the UEFA cup then he would effectively be missing two months our of the 2009 MLS season (April and May since April 15 marks the end of the MLS transfer window) and possibly March if MLS officials decide on a longer season. In all fairness, continuous competitive play would keep Becks healthy and in good standing for future call-ups to the national team by Capello. In terms of the MLS, however, Becks's move would hamper ticket sales and credibility in the league both domestically and abroad.
Some of the "blame" could go to the salary cap currently imposed at MLS. I say "blame" because in reality it's not such a bad idea. I think that the minimum should be raised, however, from $9,000 to at least $30,000 and while also raising the team-wide cap by at least 2 times as much whilst at the same time keeping the competitiveness that reigns in MLS. Let's not forget that many European leagues are starting to look at MLS's salary cap as an important way to cut their expenses and encourage more competitive leagues instead of having the same 4 teams always at the top of the table and always present in the Champions League.
Another factor is the general lack of depth in MLS. When a team like Man City loses one or two forwards, they still have players that would be indisputable starters in other teams (Nery Castillo, Felipe Caicedo). Here in the US if DCU loses Moreno or Emilio they sometimes turn to midfielders like Quaranta.
There's definitely a danger in the Becks loan to Milan. Some say the move could be permanent at the end of next season. That would be atrocious for the league since they would lose the new fan base that may have taken a few more years to become permanent. Still, the LA Galaxy's ridiculous record (no playoffs for two seasons and over 50 goals against this season) is easily another factor. Ultimately, if Beckham goes, everyone loses here in the US and the only consolation prize may be the Designated Player rule--maybe adding an additional one won't hurt. Bringing players like Henry, Ronaldo and Figo may attract some fans but nowhere near as many as Becks brought to our shores. A longer season a-la-Europe may be a tough sell at this point but then again so is the idea of a single table due to the extreme distances between cities in this country. Another option is the two tournament style league that dictates, in South America and Mexico, places in the Concachampions, Sudamericana and Libertadores. Gazidis and Garber have hinted at future changes in scheduling. That is a start. But with the Becks dilemma and poor showings internationally, things suddenly look difficult for MLS... and they're thinking of expansion cities.

CONCACAF Revolution 2: Pirates of the Caribbean

In a previous post I had stated that the whole of central America would make a splash in WCQ. I stand corrected. With Guatemala's awful loss at lowly Cuba, El Salvador's ridiculously easy group with Costa Rica (always a favorite) but with Haiti and Suriname (!), Honduras' unraveling in the group of death and a resurging Jamaica with wins at "the office" (Kingston national stadium) against both Mexico and Honduras, things suddenly swing away from Central America to the nations of the Caribbean. So much for all the promise the youngsters from Guatemala, Panama and Honduras showed in Olympic qualifying and an awful Canada that failed to get its act together. Granted, Jamaica still needs a little help from Mexico in the aztecas' visit to Honduras and at least a 6 goal difference against Canada when they visit Kingston next month, but they suddenly look very good. Mexico is forced to win or tie versus Honduras in order to get in, which makes that match even more special. T&T looked good yesterday against a very young and inexperienced US squad that lacked killer instinct with a nullified Kljestan, quiet Torres and poor central defenders. Gooch and Boca still have a job, sadly. Even though I was watching 4 games at once, I still saw enough of the US game to realize that they were not trying quite as hard as they could have. Dwight Yorke definitely has some years in him but the former Man. U. player can still score, as he proved yesterday. I really doubt the US will go down to Guatemala when they play next month at what is sure to be an ice box in Commerce City, Colorado. I agree with Steve Goff that T&T in the next round would be better than Guatemala for venue purposes in the home matches (most cities qualify). Jamaica is also better for the US in the hexagonal, especially if we play them in say, Utah or Colorado. Jamaica has their fans and stadium on their side and can arguably sneak into 4th place at the hexagonal where El Salvador looks, for now, to claim the cellar. So, as it sits, the hexagonal could look something like this:
USA
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Mexico
T&T
Jamaica
Barring any further upsets, count Mexico in and perhaps Honduras as well if Jamaica fails to score on multiple occasions against Canada. Guatemala needs a miracle to top T&T. From there I think I like USA, Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica (Honduras). Agreed?

USA vs Cuba: The live experience

Lots of goals. Lots of fun. Lots of people. Plenty to digest from Jozy's goal to Beasley's 2 goals, Donovan's composure, Torres' first game, Ching's perfect possitioning, and a stout defense with Boca, Dolo, and Gooch as impenetrable pillars in the back. But what else did I take from my first experience at a US World Cup qualifier? The fans, the feelings, and the joy of football. It was enough to get my wife and the other female in our group excited enough to yell and chant with us boys and take lots of pictures and memories.What else stood out for me? Diversity. Both on-field and in the crowd. First we have a team that's the most varied in the world... Where else will you get a team with last names like Adu (Ghana), Altidore (Haiti), Torres (Mexico), Kljestan (Serbia), Ching (Hawaii, Asian background), Bocanegra (latin american background), Onyewu (African background), as well as usual suspects like Howard, Beasley, Donovan, Pearce and co.? Only in the US. And only in the US will you get a crowd like we had. I saw plenty of people with Asian backgrounds, Caribbean, African, European, Latin American and the like... and we all cheered for the USA together and sang the national anthem together.

It was a lovely experience and we also got a treat from a full national squad that showed why the US is the top nation in the Concacaf region. Enjoy the pics and the video (not mine, by the way) of Jozy's goal.

For an even more personal view of the game in all its splendor check out a buddy of mine's blog. He's got some nice caveats about the DC area and the whole experience as a novice (like myself) at a world cup qualifier.