MLS: 1st Half vs 2nd Half Performance

All 149 team seasons from 1996-2008 ranked by the improvement (in PPG) in the second half of the season compared to the first half. Shootouts counted as draws, and for the four teams in 2001 who played 27 games, I counted the first 14 as the first half. Currently, every MLS team except New England has completed their first half of 2009. We just passed the halfway point in overall games over the weekend. See below for more interesting stuff: Change in the Second Half of the Season Difference 1st Half 2nd Half 1 2005 COL 1.063 0.875 1.938 2 2001 CLB 1.000 1.231 2.231 3 2006 LA 0.938 0.750 1.688 4 1997 LA 0.875 1.063 1.938 4 2005 SJ 0.875 1.563 2.438 6 2008 HOU 0.867 1.267 2.133 7 2002 NE 0.857 0.929 1.786 8 2006 RSL 0.813 0.813 1.625 9 2002 LA 0.786 1.429 2.214 10 1996 CLB 0.750 0.938 1.688 10 1999 SJ 0.750 0.875 1.625 12 1996 DC 0.688 1.188 1.875 12 1996 NY 0.688 0.938 1.625 12 1998 MIA 0.688 0.750 1.438 12 1998 TB 0.688 0.875 1.563 12 1999 MIA 0.688 0.688 1.375 12 2006 NY 0.688 0.875 1.563 18 2003 COL 0.667 1.000 1.667 19 2005 CLB 0.625 0.875 1.500 19 2005 DC 0.625 1.375 2.000 21 2004 CLB 0.600 1.333 1.933 21 2007 RSL 0.600 0.600 1.200 21 2008 SJ 0.600 0.800 1.400 24 1997 NY 0.563 0.875 1.438 25 2007 CHI 0.533 1.067 1.600 26 1998 COL 0.500 1.188 1.688 26 1999 LA 0.500 1.563 2.063 28 2007 DC 0.467 1.600 2.067 28 2004 NE 0.467 0.867 1.333 30 1996 KC 0.438 1.125 1.563 30 1997 CLB 0.438 1.125 1.563 30 1998 NE 0.438 0.813 1.250 30 1999 TB 0.438 1.000 1.438 30 2000 CHI 0.438 1.563 2.000 30 2006 CHI 0.438 1.250 1.688 36 2007 LA 0.400 0.933 1.333 37 2001 KC 0.396 1.143 1.538 38 2001 COL 0.385 0.692 1.077 38 2001 LA 0.385 1.615 2.000 40 2000 DAL 0.375 1.250 1.625 40 2000 DC 0.375 0.750 1.125 40 2005 CHV 0.375 0.375 0.750 40 2006 NE 0.375 1.313 1.688 44 2002 COL 0.357 1.357 1.714 45 2007 CHV 0.333 1.600 1.933 46 2003 LA 0.267 1.067 1.333 46 2004 SJ 0.267 1.133 1.400 48 1997 DAL 0.250 1.250 1.500 48 2000 NY 0.250 1.563 1.813 48 2000 TB 0.250 1.500 1.750 51 2002 CHI 0.214 1.214 1.429 52 2003 NE 0.200 1.400 1.600 52 2003 CHI 0.200 1.667 1.867 52 2003 DC 0.200 1.200 1.400 52 2003 SJ 0.200 1.600 1.800 52 2007 COL 0.200 1.067 1.267 52 2008 CLB 0.200 1.800 2.000 58 1996 NE 0.188 1.000 1.188 58 2000 MIA 0.188 1.188 1.375 60 2002 KC 0.143 1.214 1.357 60 2002 CLB 0.143 1.286 1.429 62 2004 DC 0.133 1.333 1.467 62 2004 NY 0.133 1.267 1.400 62 2008 DAL 0.133 1.133 1.267 62 2008 KC 0.133 1.333 1.467 62 2008 RSL 0.133 1.267 1.400 67 1998 SJ 0.125 1.125 1.250 68 2001 CHI 0.071 1.929 2.000 69 2008 CHV 0.067 1.400 1.467 69 1996 TB 0.063 1.875 1.938 69 1997 TB 0.063 1.438 1.500 69 1998 DC 0.063 1.875 1.938 69 1999 CLB 0.063 1.500 1.563 69 2005 KC 0.063 1.375 1.438 75 1996 DAL 0.000 1.375 1.375 75 1997 SJ 0.000 1.125 1.125 75 1998 KC 0.000 1.125 1.125 75 1999 DC 0.000 1.875 1.875 75 1999 KC 0.000 0.813 0.813 75 2000 CLB 0.000 1.188 1.188 75 2001 NY 0.000 1.615 1.615 75 2003 CLB 0.000 1.267 1.267 75 2007 HOU 0.000 1.733 1.733 75 2008 COL 0.000 1.267 1.267 85 1997 KC -0.063 1.625 1.563 85 1998 DAL -0.063 1.250 1.188 85 1999 CHI -0.063 1.688 1.625 85 2000 COL -0.063 1.375 1.313 85 2005 NY -0.063 1.500 1.438 90 2004 COL -0.067 1.400 1.333 90 2004 KC -0.067 1.667 1.600 90 2007 CLB -0.067 1.267 1.200 90 2008 NY -0.067 1.333 1.267 94 1999 NY -0.125 0.688 0.563 94 2006 DAL -0.125 1.688 1.563 94 2006 KC -0.125 1.250 1.125 97 2007 NE -0.133 1.733 1.600 97 2008 CHI -0.133 1.600 1.467 99 2001 NE -0.148 1.071 0.923 100 1999 DAL -0.188 1.875 1.688 100 2005 CHI -0.188 1.625 1.438 100 2006 CHV -0.188 1.438 1.250 100 2006 CLB -0.188 1.125 0.938 104 2004 CHI -0.200 1.200 1.000 104 2003 DAL -0.200 0.867 0.667 106 2002 DAL -0.214 1.643 1.429 107 2001 DAL -0.231 1.462 1.231 108 2000 LA -0.250 1.688 1.438 109 2004 DAL -0.267 1.333 1.067 109 2007 KC -0.267 1.467 1.200 111 2001 DC -0.308 1.154 0.846 112 1996 SJ -0.313 1.563 1.250 112 1997 NE -0.313 1.438 1.125 112 2000 NE -0.313 1.563 1.250 112 2000 SJ -0.313 1.063 0.750 112 2005 LA -0.313 1.563 1.250 112 2005 NE -0.313 2.000 1.688 118 2004 LA -0.333 1.600 1.267 118 2007 NY -0.333 1.600 1.267 120 2002 NY -0.357 1.429 1.071 121 1998 CLB -0.375 1.750 1.375 121 2005 RSL -0.375 0.813 0.438 123 2001 SJ -0.385 1.923 1.538 124 2003 KC -0.400 1.600 1.200 124 2007 DAL -0.400 1.667 1.267 126 2001 TB -0.407 0.714 0.308 127 2002 DC -0.429 1.357 0.929 128 1997 COL -0.438 1.500 1.063 128 1998 CHI -0.438 2.000 1.563 128 2006 COL -0.438 1.500 1.063 131 2008 DC -0.467 1.467 1.000 131 2008 TOR -0.467 1.400 0.933 133 2002 SJ -0.500 1.857 1.357 133 2006 HOU -0.500 1.688 1.188 135 2003 NY -0.533 1.667 1.133 136 2008 LA -0.600 1.400 0.800 137 1996 COL -0.688 1.375 0.688 137 1996 LA -0.688 2.000 1.313 137 1997 DC -0.688 2.188 1.500 137 1998 NY -0.688 1.563 0.875 137 1999 NE -0.688 1.375 0.688 137 2000 KC -0.688 2.125 1.438 143 2007 TOR -0.733 1.200 0.467 143 2008 NE -0.733 1.800 1.067 145 1998 LA -0.750 2.563 1.813 146 2001 MIA -0.846 2.462 1.615 147 2006 DC -0.938 2.188 1.250 148 1999 COL -1.063 2.125 1.063 149 2005 DAL -1.250 2.125 0.875 Average of all 149 teams: 0.046 PPG Average of the 13 MLS Cup winners: -0.077 PPG. Five improved, two had no change, and six did worse. Average of the 104 playoff teams: 0.054 PPG. Average of the 45 non-playoff teams: 0.029. How about the teams that pulled out playoff upsets? Of the 52 quarterfinal series, 15 have ended in upsets. However, the teams that lost (the higher seeds) averaged 0.206 vs 0.100 for the winners (lower seeds). Team Averages Average Better Worse Even RSL 0.293 3 1 0 CLB 0.245 8 3 2 CHV 0.147 3 1 0 HOU 0.122 1 1 1 SJ 0.119 6 4 1 LA 0.094 7 6 0 CHI 0.079 6 5 0 COL 0.032 6 6 1 NY 0.012 5 7 1 NE -0.009 6 7 0 DC -0.021 7 5 1 KC -0.034 5 6 2 DAL -0.168 3 9 1 TOR -0.600 0 2 0 TB 0.182 5 1 0 MIA 0.179 3 1 0 Total 74 65 10 Dallas are second half flops; that's pretty obvious without any statistical analysis. Worst three years are 2005, 2007, and 2004. Funny how 2005 was the year Pizza Hut Park opened and they had 10 of the final 16 at home. As you can see above, it's the worst change in PPG ever. I don't know if I would've guessed Columbus as the top longtime franchise for second half improvement, though. Their 2004 Supporters Shield team only ranks 4th behind 2001, 1996, and 2005. How Teams With A Certain 1st Half PPG Did 1st Half PPG Teams Improved? under 1.08 35 28-6-1 1.08 to 1.27 31 19-7-5 1.28 to 1.48 28 12-15-1 1.49 to 1.68 29 11-17-1 over 1.68 26 4-20-2 Of course, it's a lot easier for bad teams to get better and vice versa. The average of the final PPG for all 149 seasons is 1.38, so that's the basis behind the categories. As you can see, if you're doing exceptionally good or bad things are likely to swing a bit back to normal.