MLS Cup 2007 Survey Results

A few days have passed, and it's time to look at the results. A link to the survey was posted here, as well as on the MLS General forums at Bigsoccer and Soccerpubs. My goal here is to get a look at how people are thinking going into this championship match, as once the game starts (in about 14 hours now) we won't be able to do that ever again. The number of responses for each question varied a bit, as usual. Some people leave off an answer once in a while, I guess. Well, time to look at the results. Answers are through 10:30 pm central. MLS Cup 2007 Survey (207 responses. Percentages are rounded.) 10. Are you a fan of either team in MLS Cup 2007? Yes, Houston Dynamo 13% Yes, New England Revolution 18% No, neither 69% This was the last question, but I want to get it out of the way first so you can see how the other answers might be impacted. For the other questions, I'll show two columns of percentages. The first are all respondents, while the second includes only neutrals. 1. Who do you EXPECT to win MLS Cup 2007? Houston Dynamo 50% 59% New England Revolution 41% 32% Unsure 8% 9% So it looks as if most people are predicting a repeat. The betting line, when I last checked, was slightly in Houston's favor although it was by the smallest margin possible (2.60 vs 2.70 at Bet365). 2. Who do you WANT to win MLS Cup 2007? Houston Dynamo 42% 43% New England Revolution 48% 43% Unsure 10% 14% Evenly split when taking out the biased people. I would think that the Revs losing year after year might build them a little sympathy, as well as the fact that Houston is a relocated team. But it doesn't seem to be the case. I'd like to see NE finally win, although I do think dynasties are good for sports. And as a Fire fan, having NE win would mean that one more team could call themselves a champion which would make my team's accomplishment less notable. Hmm... 3. Who do you feel would be a more deserving champion? Houston Dynamo 39% 43% New England Revolution 45% 38% Unsure 15% 19% I picked New England mostly due to their Open Cup victory, but this was question some people said that they really didn't understand or care for. Maybe if the two teams had regular season records that weren't so similar, and it wasn't an MLS Cup rematch, it would be more interesting. 4. Who do you feel is a better head coach? HOU - Dominic Kinnear 40% 42% NE - Steve Nicol 48% 45% Unsure 12% 13% Pretty even again, I expected a bit more for Nicol although he does have a slight lead. Should you judge a coach mostly by the playoffs? I don't think so. Don't forget Kinnear's had a big failure of his own (2005). 5. How many total goals do you expect will be scored in the game? zero 2% 3% 1 23% 26% 2 18% 17% 3 50% 47% 4 4% 3% 5 3% 2% 6 0% 0% 7+ 0% 0% The average goals per game in these responses was 2.39 for everyone. Breaking it down, Dynamo fans expect more goals than Revs fans, 2.79 to 2.57. No shock there, although it's neutrals who are most cynical in expecting 2.27 goals. 6. Who is New England's best player? Jay Heaps 0% 0% Avery John 1% 1% Shalrie Joseph 40% 37% Jeff Larentowicz 1% 1% Pat Noonan 3% 2% Michael Parkhurst 15% 15% Steve Ralston 7% 8% Matt Reis 6% 7% Wells Thompson 0% 1% Taylor Twellman 27% 29% Over 50% of Revs fans picked Joseph. None of the 6 people who picked Noonan were Revs fans. Heaps was the only player on either team who didn't get a vote. 7. Who is Houston's best player? Wade Barrett 2% 0% Brian Ching 10% 8% Brad Davis 2% 3% Dwayne De Rosario 72% 77% Brian Mullan 2% 0% Richard Mulrooney 0% 1% Joseph Ngwenya 3% 3% Pat Onstad 3% 4% Eddie Robinson 4% 3% Craig Waibel 0% 1% Only 39% of Dynamo fans picked De Rosario. Barrett, Ching, Mullan, and Robinson did well with Dynamo fans, who in fact only picked those 5 players (in their 28 choices). 8. Which possible substitute will have the greatest impact on the game? NE - Adam Cristman 17% 16% NE - Andy Dorman 17% 15% NE - Abdoulie Mansally 0% 0% NE - Sainey Nyassi 0% 1% NE - James Riley 1% 2% HOU - Corey Ashe 4% 5% HOU - Paul Dalglish 8% 11% HOU - Stuart Holden 48% 46% HOU - Patrick Ianni 0% 1% HOU - Chris Wondolowski 2% 4% Houston fans overwhelmingly picked Holden, while NE fans were split between Cristman, Dorman, and Holden. 9. What will be the worst thing about MLS Cup 2007? Brian Ching's injury 13% 13% Commentary 16% 15% Halftime show 11% 12% Houston being there 3% 2% Location 4% 4% New England being there 13% 15% Pregame show 1% 2% Production 4% 4% Ricardo Clark's suspension 9% 9% Start time 26% 25% Revs fans were more worried about the commentary. I personally went with the pregame show, as I can't stand Rob Stone and Julie Foudy. The commentary actually seems good compared to that. Conclusion I'm predicting a 2-0 Revs win. Jaqua is a step down from Ching, although he has had success against New England in the past with Chicago. I just can't help but feel that they're due. Let's all hope for an early goal! Previous Surveys January 30, 2007 - 2010 MLS/USMNT April 6, 2007 - MLS 2007 August 5, 2007 - MLS/USMNT Summer Survey