The Worst MLS Teams (single season & multiple)

The Best MLS Teams Every time I post something about players or teams doing good or bad, I feel obligated to post the flip side of it as well. We all know who the worst single season MLS teams were, but you may not know exactly how the worst teams over multiple seasons stack up. Especially since way more attention is given to dynasties rather than KC Royals-like ineptitude. I've figured out the worst MLS teams over 2, 3, 4, and 5 year periods. Shootouts are counted as draws, hence the APPG stat (the "A" stands for adjusted). Also, any ties are broken by goal differential. Scroll down for the top ten in every category, but now a quick look at the worst teams in each: Worst MLS Teams 1 Year 2001 Tampa Bay 2 Years 1998-9 Metrostars 3 Years 1997-9 Metrostars 4 Years 1996-9 Metrostars 5 Years 1997-1 New England The 2001 Mutiny. Much like the 1998 Galaxy, they set a new standard. They allowed 2.52 goals per game, or 0.36 worse than the second worst. I've said it before, but they were the only team to give Devin Barclay regular playing time. I just like to bring that up. In his defense, he actually scored the last goal in the club's history. Trading away Garlick/Kotschau/Valderrama for A.Brown/Vermillion/draft pick midway through the year didn't do much; they actually played worse after that. But, they can take some pride in beating the future champion Earthquakes for their last ever win. Starters: Adin Brown, Eric Denton, John Maessner, Steve Trittschuh, Joseph Addo, Josh Keller, Eric Quill, Steve Ralston, Jair, Devin Barclay, Mamadou Diallo Subs: Matt Nyman, Craig Demmin, Scott Cannon, Chad McCarty, Danny Pena, Gus Kartes, Ali Curtis Worst Single Season MLS Teams W L D Pts APPG GF GA GD 27 1 2001 Tampa Bay 4 21 2 14 0.52 32 68 -36 32 2 2005 Chivas USA 4 22 6 18 0.56 31 67 -36 32 3 2005 Real Salt Lake 5 22 5 20 0.63 30 65 -35 32 4 1999 Metrostars 4 20 8 20 0.63 32 64 -32 30 5 2003 Dallas 6 19 5 23 0.77 35 64 -29 32 6 1999 Kansas City 6 18 8 26 0.81 33 53 -20 26 7 2001 Colorado 5 13 8 23 0.88 36 47 -11 32 8 2000 San Jose 7 17 8 29 0.91 35 50 -15 32 9 2000 DC United 8 18 6 30 0.94 44 63 -19 27 10 2001 New England 7 14 6 27 1.00 35 52 -17 Now that's parity. No team appears more than once on this list, which is pretty remarkable when you think about how certain teams sucked for years. Some of these teams had a decent first month, but they all turned bad quickly. At 3-3-2, RSL was still at .500 after 8 games, the best of the ten. 2001 DC United lost out to NE on goal differential for 10th. Worst MLS Teams Over 2 Seasons W L D Pts APPG GF GA GD 64 1 1998-9 Metrostars 16 37 11 59 0.92 86 127 -41 58 2 2000-1 D.C. United 16 34 8 56 0.97 86 113 -27 64 3 1998-9 Kansas City 16 34 14 62 0.97 78 103 -25 60 4 2003-4 Dallas 16 33 11 59 0.98 69 109 -40 64 5 1998-9 New England 16 30 18 66 1.03 91 119 -28 64 6 1998-9 Miami 18 32 14 68 1.06 88 127 -39 54 7 2001-2 D.C. United 17 30 7 58 1.07 73 90 -17 64 8 1999-0 San Jose 16 27 21 69 1.08 83 99 -16 59 9 2000-1 Tampa Bay 20 33 6 66 1.12 94 118 -24 58 10 2002-3 Dallas 18 28 12 66 1.14 79 107 -28 TB had a good year in 2000 before they imploded, so everybody's favorite laughing stock takes over the top spot. As I've mentioned many times, the year after expansion (1999) saw little change in the standings. 4 teams from 1998-9 make this list, while 3 made the corresponding list on the best teams post. Chivas and RSL were so bad that they need to have good years to avoid being number one. Actually, they just need to be about right at the .500 mark. Chivas needs 42 points and RSL needs 40. Dallas makes the list over 2000-1 Colorado based on GD. Worst MLS Teams Over 3 Seasons W L D Pts APPG GF GA GD 96 1 1997-9 Metrostars 27 54 15 96 1.00 129 180 -51 86 2 2000-2 D.C. United 25 48 13 88 1.02 117 153 -36 96 3 1997-9 New England 27 43 26 107 1.11 131 172 -41 96 4 1998-0 San Jose 26 41 29 107 1.11 131 159 -28 96 5 1996-8 New England 29 45 22 109 1.14 136 175 -39 96 6 1998-0 Miami 30 47 19 109 1.14 148 183 -35 91 7 1999-1 New England 27 40 24 105 1.15 120 154 -34 91 8 1999-1 Tampa Bay 29 44 18 105 1.15 145 168 -23 84 9 2001-3 D.C. United 27 41 16 97 1.15 111 126 -15 96 10 1998-0 New England 29 43 24 111 1.16 138 168 -30 DC has the record for best preformance over 3 seasons, and almost for worst over the same length of time. Not even really that close here, either. New England was absolutely awful for the first half of their existance. EDIT: I somehow forgot to put the Metros on this list, and I had DC at number one. It's fixed now. Worst MLS Teams Over 4 Seasons W L D Pts APPG GF GA GD 128 1 1996-9 Metrostars 39 69 20 137 1.07 174 227 -53 116 2 2000-3 D.C. United 35 59 22 127 1.09 155 189 -34 128 3 1996-9 New England 36 58 34 142 1.11 174 228 -54 128 4 1997-0 San Jose 35 55 38 143 1.12 186 218 -32 123 5 1998-1 New England 36 57 30 138 1.12 173 220 -47 123 6 1998-1 Tampa Bay 40 59 24 144 1.17 191 225 -34 128 7 1997-0 Metrostars 44 66 18 150 1.17 193 236 -43 128 8 1997-0 New England 40 56 32 152 1.19 178 221 -43 119 9 1999-2 New England 39 54 26 143 1.20 169 203 -34 114 10 2001-4 Dallas 38 53 23 137 1.20 161 199 -38 The good old Metros. Sucks having your first four seasons place first here. The Revs too. Funny how those teams are both struggling with attendance now... Worst MLS Teams Over 5 Seasons W L D Pts APPG GF GA GD 155 1 1997-1 New England 47 70 38 179 1.15 213 273 -60 146 2 2000-4 D.C. United 46 69 31 169 1.16 198 231 -33 151 3 1998-2 New England 48 71 32 176 1.17 222 269 -47 160 4 1996-0 New England 49 71 40 187 1.17 221 277 -56 160 5 1996-0 San Jose 47 66 47 188 1.18 236 268 -32 160 6 1996-0 Metrostars 56 81 23 191 1.19 238 283 -45 154 7 1997-1 San Jose 48 62 44 188 1.22 233 247 -14 155 8 1997-1 Tampa Bay 54 72 29 191 1.23 246 285 -39 154 9 1997-1 Metrostars 57 76 21 192 1.25 231 271 -40 146 10 2000-4 Dallas 52 67 27 183 1.25 215 253 -38 But it is the Revs, not the Metros, who come out on top here. They practically dominate this list. Five years is a long time in the short history of MLS, so there are actually 2 teams on this list here who won a championship. As a final note, Chicago, Columbus, and Los Angeles did not appear on any of these lists.