MLS Salaries, Efficiencies Drop the T

This may sound strange but you know what? The release of salary information on Major League Soccer employees reminds me of how my family lost the letter "T" in Johnston.

I'm a bona fide son of a Son of the American Revolution (SAR). As such, my family is required to maintain documents that trace my blood back to someone who fought against the British (which sometimes brings about friction in the family, as my mother was born in England. ALAS!). In those documents I see that more than a handful of Johnson tales are confirmed, maybe some dismissed.

One of which that can be confirmed is that we, the Johnson family, were so poor that we had to drop the 'T'.

Way back when I had a Johnston ancestor marry a lady Johnson. Mr. Johnston (Mrs. Johnson's husband) fell in battle. The Continental Army happened to award a small stipend to the widows of warriors but due to paper work inaccuracies Mrs. Johnston (formerly Johnson) had a hard time convincing the powers that be that she was, in fact, the wife Johnston. She wanted her payment but for whatever reason, she couldn't get it.

Eventually she signed her name as "Johnson", without the "t", in order to resolve the issue. She got her stipend but not without costing my family the letter 't'. Why she had to drop the letter 't' is lost to history. Maybe it's because Mr. Johnston was illiterate. Hell, maybe his handwriting was just bad. Who knows. It doesn't matter now. I'm a Johnson because of that.

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When matching up my 73 columned MLS weighted player ranking excel spreadsheet to the PDF of MLS player salaries I notice a lot of player name changes. Sometimes it's as simple as Anthony turning into Tony. Other times it is a tilde getting lost. Sometimes it's a simple as a space betwixt letters.

I imagine that the file the Major League Soccer Players Union puts out is what players wrote down as their name. The name that the check will be made out too. Perhaps some players "Americanize" their names because they think it is simpler. It's interesting to me that when huge statistic compilers record things that players names are largely intact but when it comes to depositing that American Dollar? Things change.

This matters because this is the name that The United States of America recognizes as yours.

The one you pay taxes under.

The one descendants, 200 years from now, will dig up and as questions as to why the 't' was dropped.

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This is the time of year when the old text to columns and vlookup's get a workout. I feel like it should be a holiday of some sort because Major League Soccer (more than any other United States sports league) has fans, bloggers, beat writers and columnists put their cynical fiscal hat on.

"Oh! Look at how much they paid that guy!!" they will say. "Look how poorly that club pays players", others will say. "Read us here! Seattle Sounder stuff! We are educated, witty, spoiled and fun yet lack any sort of historical significance to our country!"... "wait?!".

There's a bottom line here. Major League Soccer, ultimately, is the boss of everything when it comes to money and what names those bills get sent too.

Here soon I will deep dive MLS salaries and shine a light on players making less than the average visitor to this blog. For now? Right now? I just wanted to get out what I feel is more important. Something more significant than a stupid list of highest paid to lowest paid, finger pointing and whatever.

Just sparing a though for Abel, or Abell. Johnston or Johnson at the moment. Carry on.

Crew Rd. 11: Crew 'Serves Win (SEA)

20 Crew games ago, Columbus lost to Seattle 6-2 in a game that seemingly sent both franchises in different directions. Since that faithful August 27th embarrassment, the Crew Franchise has entered into modern era (Designated Player Era 2007-Present) lows in Points Per Game and Goals Per Game.

Last night however, Columbus went back to the place that caused them to tailspin and came out with a hard fought 2-0 Win.

THE 2011 RESERVES IN 2012
Columbus won the MLS Reserve League last year and the core group from that team has helped turn this 2012 season around on the Senior team level. They've done it in the toughest way possible, too. On the road out West, during late game start time slots.

Josh Williams
Eric Gehrig
Justin Meram
Cole Grossman
Andy Gruenebaum

The formula to success in this league doesn't appear to be as complicated as many think. It isn't flashy signings (Milovan Mirosevic and Olman Vargas) or 1st round draft picks (Ethan Finlay) that bring the wins. It's good old fashioned chemistry through hours and hours of working together as a team.

The Crew have been pretty good since this group has peppered the starting line up. A couple wins, couple draws and a loss. Take a look at the play betwixt this group of guys when you get a chance. There's confidence. Passes are made almost without thought (especially noticeable with Williams and Gruenebaum).

MORE ON THE LAST 20 GAMES
Until last night's 2-0 win over Seattle, The Crew were only averaging 0.95 Pts p/GM, a PPG that would put them 16th on the table right now. Goals are also dangerously close to modern era lows as well (1.15 goals per game in last 20, record low was May of last year... 0.95).

Looking at this year's table compared to last year I see that the Crew have one more win out of the first 11 games (four) than in 2011. The also have one more loss, though (4).

I suppose what I'm getting at is this: I hope this win against Seattle get's the proverbial monkey off the Crew's back. The Crew have just been in a funk since the 6-2 thrashing last year.

1ST HALF
Crew defend very well. Justin Meram puts in his 3rd in 3 games (great Dilly Duka cross in). Crew do more solid defending.

2ND HALF
Seattle play is disjointed and disrupted by a Crew team in good positional shape. Crew defend well. Emilio Renteria has a moment of clarity and scores. Seattle gets frustrated. True colors show.

THE END, NOTES
No notes today. Busy week and I started dosing off after Renteria's lob. For more on the game, go read David Burgin or Aaron Katzeman

US Open Cup, Updated with Classlessness

The Third Round of the US Open Cup is on May 29th (next Tuesday). Here are some of the matchups I will be following:

7:00 PM EST
DC United v. Richmond Kickers
Richmond City Stadium, Richmond, Virginia

WHY: The Kickers and DC have a little history and it is sorted. In Richmond this time. Should be a great one.

7:07 PM EST
LA Galaxy v. Carolina RailHawks
WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, North Carolina

WHY: I like this game because LA will be in Cary, NC for a meaningful game and hope the Geoff and Matt get to attend with their families.

7:30 PM EST
Columbus Crew v. Dayton Dutch Lions
Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

WHY: Two pro teams from Ohio playing in a meaningful game. Not sure if or the last time that has happened, but it's very Ohio to have teams from the same state fight it out. I hope that, as time passes, this happens more often.

7:30 PM EST
NY Red Bull v. Charleston Battery
Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston, South Carolina

WHY: It's at Blackbaud! It's NY at Blackbaud! What more do you want?

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The Seattle Timbers v. The Portland Sounders.

I really think it is great that NASL and USL Pro teams are getting to host some of these matches. I've read that Portland paid a sizable sum to lower division Cal FC in order to play the game at the Timbers home ground of JELD-WEN Field. I also just pulled up the Seattle Times to find out if the Seattle Sounders did the same thing in bringing NASL side, Atlanta Silverbacks, to Seattle... of course they did.

Somehow this classless move reminds me of the Mike Fucito move Seattle made right before the start of the season. There is a disconnect and it is bizarre behavior that insults an intelligent and passionate fanbase.

It is expected that Atlanta's fans are not happy about accepting the offer from Seattle to change the venue. I wouldn't be either were I a fan but I put the owness squarely on the shoulders of the Seattle Sounders. They are the adult in this situation. Playing in Atlanta only helps the sport in this country. What does the sport gain by playing at Starfire in Seattle?

Portland and Seattle have made a classless move like that of defending a fake pitch. Both these teams have fake fields and it drives me nuts that either fan groups in that area of the country feel like that is okay. It seems to run counter to everything I've heard about Seattle and Portland. If there are any two cities in the country defending natural pitches and the benefits to sustainability and long term job creation, it's these two.

No doubt I will be writing more about fake fields in the future. I read a tweet about the US Soccer Foundation giving three million dollars to put in fake pitches for kids over a half year ago and I'm still fired up about it. Maybe in 3 years they can put in another million to find the obsolete detergent needed to clean the bacteria filled plastic that is also now as hard as... well... plastic.

MLS Warriors in the Night

Since most incorporation-es and bureau-es of official statist-istics-es like to measure Fouls Suffered (FS) and Fouls Conceded (FC) I felt obliged to take on the stats and turn them into something meaningful.

Here's how I approached the Foul data: Who gives a whole lot more than they get?

TEAM: Player (FC:FS)
SJE: Khari Stephenson (17:2)
CHI: Pável Pardo (11:2)
HOU: Andre Hainault (9:2)
MON: Patrice Bernier (13:3)
CLB: Danny O'Rourke (12:3)
RSL: Kyle Beckerman (30:8)
HOU: Adam Moffat (15:4)

Those are they guys that do the dirty work. Dudes that the other players don't mess with. I remember Stephenson from last year. The Crew's Tommy Heinemann went toe to toe with him. Got in his head. Missing that this year. Regardless. Stephenson is a player that goes bump.

Danny O'Rourke is on this list. I like the way he plays. You'll feel his tackle, but he'll be the first guy over to help you up. Danny represents a lot of what soccer is in this country. Horrifically vicious at times (last year he broke the leg of a retired player during a scrimmage)... sportsman at other times, tough, loyal, fair, respectful.

One thing I've learnt over the past couple years pulling this league apart the best I can is this: You need guys that go bump in the night. These are the guys that shape our domestic league - for good or for bad.

MLS is for the durable warriors. Others need not apply.

Crew Rd. 10: Nation Judging Draw (SJE)

They say... one can judge the quality of nation, past or present, by how they treat their prisoners. Just like one can judge the quality of football league by late game goals. Or something like that.

Unusual feelings for both teams after the final whistle blew on this one. San Jose ridiculously dominated the game yet Columbus had the 3 points in the bag right up till the dying embers (thank you FIFA 12 Martin Tyler).

1ST HALF
San Jose worked the ball around in the Crew third with remarkable ease in the first half. They wound up with 17 shots in the first stanza. Crew GK Andy Gruenebaum was outstanding. He had a PK save in there as well. But why so many shots in one half? There are only a couple MLS teams that average 17 in an entire game.

For any Crew fan or Supporter the 1st half was nightmarish. Simon Dawkins (London born, on loan from Tottenham) worked his way past Milovan Mirosevic and Danny O'Rourke like hot knife through butter. I'm not just saying that because he is (Edgware, North) London born and on loan from Tottenham, either. He really did make it look easy. It's worth mentioning again... Gruenebaum was outstanding.

Did I mention that Justin Meram dropped one in right before half in the 2nd minute of stoppage? It was a beautiful shot that I'll go ahead and nominate as Crew goal of the year so far (along side of the 20 yd header Miranda had last week).

The touch and control Meram showed on the goal was outstanding. Next level outstanding, to be bluntly honest. More on that later in this post.

2ND HALF
Mirosevic was subbed out and Cole Grossman was subbed in. Cole has been with the Crew for some time and has taken the more workman like path to playing with the Senior Team. Turns out that work has paid off. Grossman's positioning was much better than Mirosevic. Not saying that Cole is a better player, but he is better at playing what the Crew are doing.

With Cole's presence the 2nd half turned the game into something more resembling a pro team for the Crew. Whether for injury to Mirosevic or not, this sub was important. Had the game gone on like in the 1st half it would have been a 3-1 or 4-1 affair.

Ultimately, it was a 1-1 affair. Heart-breakingly for the Crew the Earthquakes pulled even in the NINETIETH MINUTE.

GAME OVER, GAME NOTES:
• I was in Northern Virginia for the game celebrating a nephew's first birthday. The MLS Live feed had the San Jose play callers and what not. It was interesting to hear a Crew game from another perspective. I don't get that very often as the Crew are never on Nationally. Let me say this... SJ goal scorer is a jerk character. Bizarre interview after the game where he let all the viewers know how large his ego is.

• Alex Alan Gordon's Ego, San Jose and Co. went after Eric Gehrig. I've seen this over the past few weeks. Teams have pegged him as a weak link in the Crew back line. Fact remains thus: Only 2 goals against in last three when Gehrig and Josh Williams are starting at CB. Excellent.

• The fact that other teams are now attacking Gehrig and not Williams is a testament to how respected Josh Williams is already.

• Computers and Cyberdyne Systems Model 101's don't lie. Meram's 2 goals in two games has been FORETOLD! I wrote about it HERE back in March.

Clappers are Offside

Somewhere Between Best and Chivas USA

I happened to be randomly asked about George Best today. Any day that Best comes up is a good day. Today also happened to be a day that some talented Major League Soccer players moved around. Best talk and MLS Corporate news is like... like using store brand soda to loosen up XXV Glenlivet.

Major League Soccer signs the checks and controls contracts. Individual clubs have limited control. It's one of the most frustrating things, this... being a fan of a MLS club.

The Columbus Crew were not part of the shenanigans today.

LA Galaxy in NC? DC United in Richmond?

Here are especially notable May 22 fixtures impacting the next two rounds of the US Open Cup:

MAY 22, 2012

Carolina RailHawks v. PSA Elite
WakeMed Soccer Park
Cary, North Carolina

If RailHawks beat PSA Elite, LA Galaxy will travel to WakeMed. !! May 29th.

Chicago Fire PDL v. Dayton Dutch Lions
Toyota Park Practice Field
Bridgeview, Illinois

Winner will take on the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium, May 29.

Dulles Sportsplex Aegean Hawks FC v. Richmond Kickers
Maryland Soccerplex Stadium
Boyds, Maryland

If Richmond Wins... DC United will play at Richmond City Stadium; Richmond, Va. May 29th.

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The organizers of the US Open Cup have changed it up a little bit this year by eliminating the silent auction type bid process for home team (Sounders broke that system).

It's a big deal. The US has more than a handful of nice soccer stadiums. Potentially seeing MLS teams in Virginia and North Carolina is really exciting and gives 2 of my 3 favorite states a chance to tell the nation how deep their beautiful rivers run.

I fully support any measures taken that march the sport of Soccer in the United States towards Promotion and Relegation. The sport in this country doesn't necessarly need an "all or nothing" attitude when creating new top level teams. Give the smaller teams a chance to succeed, they might surprise you. I truly believe this. So much so, I've taken a good bit of time writing about it...

Part 1

Part 2

US Open Cup Bracket, Link.

Goal Scoring Report Card, Crew

Columbus has been mediocre / poor at scoring over the past couple years. So with over a quarter of this season gone, let's take a quick look at some efficiencies.

(Graded on a A,B,C,D,F scale in relationship to the other teams in Major League Soccer this year. I pulled out goals off Penalty Kick)

Goal Scoring Distribution: C
The Crew have 6 different players with at least a goal. Middle of the pack, no matter how you slice it. Some would argue that an organized team has smaller mix of players scoring (roles and responsibilities). I tend to find having more players contributing with goals is good in MLS. That said. Columbus still doesn't have a player with a goal and an assist. Chivas the only other team in all the league that boasts that.

Individual Goal Scoring Excellence: D
There are 6 teams that have played 9 or fewer games like the Crew. 4 of them have at least one 3 goal player (TFC only other team with none).

Opportunity with Shots: B-
The Crew Average around 13 a game. Low of 5, high of 20. Incidentally that happened first two games of the year. 9 other teams averaging the around what Columbus is, but Crew slightly above league average (12.64 League, 12.78 Crew).

Finishing Chances: F
Clinically speaking? Crummy. Ranked 17th out of 19. Only TFC and Chivas are behind them. 6% of shots go in. League average is 9%. The Crew were pretty poor at this last year as well. NY, San Jose, DC and Colorado are all above 10% goals per shot. Good Performance indicator, this.

Evaluation Notes from the Teacher:
You [Columbus] are trying real hard but I would like to see more individual creativity in front of goal. I realize that you don't have the genius of Guillermo, McBride or John so let's focus on taking good shots and finishing them as a team. Get the ball in front of goal and crash the box. Go, go, GO!