Thursday, February 28, 2013

2013 Prediction on MR + Eval of 2012 Picks

Last year I did alright with my preseason predictions. 4 out of the 5 playoff teams correct.

The Toronto pick sticks in my craw - but all of the other picks were either within one spot (7) or two (NE) on the table. Quite proud of that actually.

MY PREDICTION : 2012 ACTUAL FINISH : TEAM
1 : 1 : Sporting KC
2 : 3 : NY
3 : 2 : DC United
4 : 4 : Chicago
5 : 10 : Toronto
6 : 5 : Houston
7 : 9 : New England
8 : 8 : Philadelphia
9 : 7: Montreal


You'll notice that the Crew are not listed. Last preseason I was pretty worked up about the team. I couldn't bare to include them in the list (seriously). "These days I am a pretty big Crew fan so I have removed them from the list and put them on a celestial plain of which I shall write romantically about all year."

However, before it got to crunch time I did mention that the Crew would end up fighting for a playoff spot.

2013 PREDICTION, MASSIVE REPORT

Head on over to Massive Report for a full explanation for my 2013 predictions. I used pretty much the same methodology as last year though. It worked. I'm pretty confident with it again this year.

1 : Sporting KC
2 : NY
3 : Houston
4 : DC United
5 : Chicago
6 : Columbus
7 : Montreal
8 : Philadelphia
9 : New England
0 : Toronto


What this means is that Columbus is looking at the same finish as last year. One thing I'm worried about this year is Montreal. There are a couple indicators that point towards them jumping into the top five (player retention being of most important indicator).

Their performance in the preseason only solidifies this thought. They have the potential to push out a team like Chicago and Columbus from the playoff picture.

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More on the Massive Report post:

Now that the schedule is unbalanced it seems like things can be a little more predictable. Once a team has played a couple times the outcome is remarkably predictable. It's surprising to me that Major League Soccer is marching forward with the unbalanced schedule.

Anyhow. Stay tuned to Massive Report tomorrow and Saturday before the Chivas USA opener (that's on past my bedtime). It's going to be a tricky game for the Crew.

The Crew are no doubt a better team but given the time of the game and the fact that the players traveling have been on the road for a solid month...

... could be a tricky fixture. Did I mention that? Oh.

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