Helltown's (now and future) Database

Figure 1, N. Hagglund

As the 2019 MLS season approaches, I put together high-level profiles for each team in the Eastern Conference using the following criteria:

1. Current roster, player vitals (height, foot, date joined, transfer fees, etc)

2. Player ratings using Football Manager 2019, EA's FIFA 19 and most recent WhoScored rating

3. Player's TransferMarkt value

Theory being - none of these criteria alone are enough to tell me what I need, but put together? It's more than enough. The ultimate goal with all of this is to create a solid database of MLS players above and beyond having to research a dozen different locations and pull it together on a player by player basis.

Most of my career has been in manufacturing and distribution ops management. I think of these things. If I wanted to know about my inventory, how much it costs or raw material information (size, weight, yield, supplier, etc), I didn't want to have to check a dozen different locations to find it. Think; What ERP's like Oracle and SAP should be. It's the same thing here. If I want to know about Nick Hagglund, I just want to be able to search his name and get something like this Figure 1, N. Hagglund.

That's a lot of info, but info is needed on a player. Having data available saves an incredible amount of time when you are trying to find out the basics of a player and lets the manager or scout make the determination if they need to dig in further. Next level(s) would be if the player was over/underperforming current contract and player rating. Even beyond that would be if they were a buy or sell based on current roster needs.

THE FUTURE

"Money League" teams (a Deloitte term) have incredible amounts of resources available to them. Scouts, player evaluation software, access to player profile databases and the like. Jump outside of those top clubs, or even the top 100, and you'll find that gaining access to information is time-consuming and unreliable. Meaning: difficult to put together.

For me, this is where you get what I call Frankenstien Rosters. Players from all over the world, crammed together on a starting XI that never has a chance in hell. Why were they jammed on a team? Because most of the players these teams bring in have a defined pro resume. I see this often after spending nearly a decade following MLS. I also see it in the English Premier League with teams battling it out at the bottom of the table, or recently regulated and fighting (and failing) to get back up.

Teams live in absolute fear of playing unproven players.

It does make sense if you think about it. Would you rather have a player like Nick Hagglund, who has a 5-year pro resume, as a stop-gap in your back line? Or an unproven player like 20-year-old Auston Trusty stepping up.

This fear is something teams can get over, given the proper amount of information. Even general information. Bring everything together, as best you can, in one place. If they check off enough boxes, give them a closer look. Critical thinking for most teams in MLS that seems to be missed.

Please don't hesitate to contact me at lwjohnson654@yahoo.com if you want more info.

Thank you.

Pre-Season Look at FC Cincinnati

I'm looking to take a more comprehensive look at MLS teams this year. The offseason can be a really tricky time to look at these sorts of things, but I'm committed to building a MLS database of player information. With somewhere south of 700 players, it's a doable thing.

Since it is early the offseason, take this with a grain of salt. I don't know what primary formation Head Coach Alan Koch will play, but I can tell you what his strongest lineup will be at this time.

With a current roster in hand, here is a quick analysis of where FC Cincinnati is. I take the most recent ratings of Football Manager, Electronic Arts' FIFA and WhoScored for each player and then take the median of the three to determine the general quality of the player.

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FM19	FIFA	WhoScored	WS x10	Rating	Name2	Position
74.3	80	6.85	68.5	74	Kendall Waston	Centre-Back
76.1	73	6.72	67.2	73	Fanendo Adi	Centre-Forward
67.1	72	6.98	69.8	70	Roland Lamah	Left Winger
69.2	70	6.65	66.5	69	Greg Garza	Left-Back
66.4	69	6.83	68.3	68	Alvas Powell	Right-Back
70.1	68	6.78	67.8	68	Mathieu Deplagne	Right-Back
69.1	68	6.04	60.4	68	Leonardo Bertone	Central Midfield
64	68	6.77	67.7	68	Emmanuel Ledesma	Centre-Forward
64.1	70	6.72	67.2	67	Victor Ulloa	Defensive Midfield
63.1	68	6.67	66.7	67	Darren Mattocks	Centre-Forward
63.8	66	6.63	66.3	66	Fatai Alashe	Defensive Midfield
64.4	68	6.58	65.8	66	Przemyslaw Tyton	Goalkeeper
66.4	65	6.54	65.4	65	Eric Alexander	Central Midfield
63.3	63	5.68	56.8	63	Corben Bone	Central Midfield
63.7	61	5.82	58.2	61	Spencer Richey	Goalkeeper
58.7	61	6.33	63.3	61	Blake Smith	Left-Back
55	61	6.5	65	61	Hassan Ndam	Centre-Back
60.1	61	6.09	60.9	61	Justin Hoyte	Right-Back
57	60	6.3	63	60	Emery Welshman	Centre-Forward
59.7	55	6	60	60	Jimmy McLaughlin	Right Midfield
65	0	0	0	0	Nazmi Albadawi	Attacking Midfield
62	0	0	0	0	Forrest Lasso	Centre-Back
0	0	0	0	0	Ben Lundt	Goalkeeper
0	0	0	0	0	Frankie Amaya	Attacking Midfield
0	0	0	0	0	Jimmy Hague	Goalkeeper
0	0	0	0	0	Logan Gdula	Defender
0	0	0	0	0	Tommy McCabe	Defensive Midfield
0	0	0	0	0	Rashawn Dally	Forward?

WhoScored takes x10 multiplier to make it out of 100. As the 2019 season rolls on, I'll be able to add my own Helltown Beer player rating.

The theory behind this is that there is so much public data out there on individual players, one can use it to get a very good idea of things. Players with "0" can both be exciting and not so much. Just means there's nothing out there on them.

Nazmi Albadawi is in the Football Manager 19 database at a 65, but hasn't pinged FIFA or WS yet. He's a 27-year old that has spent his entire life in the Raleigh, NC area. Wake Tech Eagles, NC State, Carolina RailHawks, North Carolina FC and then to FC Cincinnati last year. 10 goals, 4 assists in 2244 minutes played. His distribution was pretty good at 78% with most of his passes going forward. I'm very interested in how he is able to perform in MLS this year, as I'm tracking how USL players do in MLS (there are not many direct USL - MLS examples).

As the offseason rolls on and I get more teams profiled, I'll be able to place them on the table - and even predict how well they do week to week via matchup.

If I were to grade FCC right now, it'd be a "D" - meaning: out of the playoffs. But that comes with some excitement behind how they are building a roster.

MLS is a bizarre beast. Here's how I project their strongest XI (number represents the player's rating). Right now they have enough up top, but the quality isn't there to pull one from the midfield. If they do, it'd be bad news, but I can see moving McLaughlin out in favor of Ledesma or Mattocks.