Wednesday, November 01, 2006

MLS 2006: All Time Ranks

How do the 12 teams of 2006 compare to the previous 110 team seasons from 1996-2005? In this post, you'll find out. We'll take a look at how each team ranks all time overall, home, and away, and also in goals scored and conceded.

All rankings are done by PPG, regular season only, with shootouts counted as draws. In case of ties, goal differential (divided by games played) and goals scored are the next tiebreakers. Goals scored and conceded are ranked by "per game" numbers.

Previously, I looked at where each team ranked compared to their previous incarnations. Let's revisit that quickly, and also see the best and worst years for each:


2006 Rank # of Seasons Best Year Worst Year
CHI 7th 9 2001 2004
CHV 1st 2 2006 2005
CLB 11th 11 2001 2006
COL 9th 11 1999 2001
DAL 2nd 11 1999 2003
DC 4th 11 1998 2000
HOU 1st 1 2006 2006
KC 9th 11 2000 1999
LA 10th 11 1998 2003
NE 3rd 11 2005 2001
NY 8th 11 2000 1999
RSL 1st 2 2006 2005

2006 rank refers to how this year's teams compared to the previous seasons in that team's history. So for example the Crew had their worst year ever, 11th out of 11 seasons. The Rapids only have had two worse seasons, which is bad even by their standards. The 1997 edition had exactly the same PPG, but a better goal differential. If Houston were considered to be the same franchise as San Jose, then this would be their 5th best season.


OVERALL PERFORMANCE ALL TIME RANK

DC 20
DAL 29
NE 44
CHI 46
HOU 48
CHV 66
COL 81
NY 87
LA 88
RSL 89
KC 95
CLB 107

Out of 122 team seasons since the start of MLS. At 20th, DC United are the second worst Supporters' Shield winners, only ahead of the 2004 Crew (26th). So much for that amazing start. On the flip side, Columbus is the 4th best "worst team" out of 11 years. The best worst team? That's DC United in 2002.


HOME PERFORMANCE ALL TIME RANK

DAL 7
DC 34
COL 36
NE 52
HOU 54
NY 55
CHV 60
CHI 65
KC 76
RSL 95
LA 102
CLB 113

After some woes last year, FC Dallas was lights out at Pizza Hut Park. They only dropped 11/48 points. The 1999 Dallas team did better though. San Jose's 2002 team has the top spot (12-1-1, 2.64 PPG). To beat them in a 16 game home schedule, a team would need to get 43/48 points. This was LA's worst home record by far, the previous low in 2000 coming in at number 57. And it may seem hard to believe, but 2006 was New York's third best home record.


AWAY PERFORMANCE ALL TIME RANK

DC 13
CHI 43
NE 46
LA 54
HOU 55
RSL 71
CHV 72
DAL 75
CLB 76
KC 93
NY 103
COL 104

This is why DC won the shield. Teams do a lot better at home, so the ranking there is more important than here. Looking at this, you would think that Colorado has no chance Sunday against the Dynamo. They only two away games all year. But they did beat Dallas, and also RSL in the Open Cup both on the road. The all time mark is held by the 1998 Galaxy (also the team with the best overall record and best offense).


GOALS SCORED ALL TIME RANK

DC 39t
DAL 58t
CHV 73t
RSL 73t
HOU 80t
CHI 85t
KC 85t
NY 98
NE 104
LA 111
COL 113
CLB 121t

Let's keep in mind that the first few years of MLS had more goals (3 per game). This year we were at 2.62. It might be more helpful to post how teams did vs the league average, but that's a post for another day. The Crew just managed to pull it together and ended up only tying for the worst offense ever (with RSL 2005) instead of owning the record outright. DC's 1.63 per game was the second worst "best offense" ever, ahead of 2004's Metrostars.


GOALS CONCEDED ALL TIME RANK

NE 7t
LA 12t
DC 21
HOU 25t
CHI 27t
NY 27t
CHV 30t
CLB 30t
DAL 37t
KC 46t
COL 61t
RSL 61t

If offense is down, then defense is up. On the plus side, COL/RSL both are tied for the best "worst offense" ever. The worst teams here are still in the top half of all MLS team seasons. NE and NY both set team records.

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