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.