# Most Improved teams - SD 07/u13 so far (as of 1/16/20)



## Kante (Jan 19, 2020)

Here's the least improved SD 2007 teams so far this year...

Usually, families and coaches will have some intuitive sense of how things are trending but it's hard to be concrete. The goal of this (long) post is to provide some objective data for evaluating DA club and coach performance/team development so far this season.

If you’re interested in more info about the methodology for comparing please, one of the other threads on most improved/least improved.
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*#1 Most Improved Team: Albion*
After a not great start with a 1-6 loss to SDSC and 1-3 loss to Arsenal, Albion has been mostly on steady track of improvement, and ended 2019 with 3-0 win over Real Salt Lake and redemptive 3-1 win over SDSC (a seven goal margin turn around!) They have a number of players who have come in and out but - per game reports - it doesn't look like the improvement can be chalked up to adding players.

Drilling into Albion's overall trend line, improvement was relatively steady pre-showcase but took an order of magnitude step up post showcase with, presumably some changes being made.

Offensively, Albion has done an okay job of spreading the wealth with nine players having scored so far, and four primary goal scorers who account for about 75% of Albion's goals. Looking at the offensive trend line, Albion saw a +60% step up offensively post-showcase vs pre-showcase.

Defensively, it's the same story. Albion was trending in the right direction defensively pre-showcase but then making an order of magnitude improvement defensively post-showcase. Looking at the defensive trend line, Albion saw a -80% improvement defensively post showcase vs pre-showcase.

Here's Albion's goal differential% chart:



Here's Albion's goals scored as % of average goals allowed by opponent over time chart:



Here's Albion's goals allowed as % of average goals scored by opponent over time chart:



*#2 Most Improved Team: San Diego Surf*
A perennially high achieving club, typically SD Surf teams start at the top of the group and stay there, or at worst, or decline somewhat.

This 07/u13 SD Surf is a little different. Am sure SD Surf players are solid but the steady progress week over week is remarkable. Usually, there's a specific point in time when changes were made (see Albion above) or when players were added, that one can do a before vs after comparison. With the San Diego Surf  07s, almost 40% of San Diego Surf's progress is statistically due directly to improvement over time, getting a little better every week. On paper, the progress  San Diego Surf looks like the ideal for how coaches develop players and teams over the course of a season. Hopefully, SD Surf can keep the improvement going thru the end of the season.

Would be interested to hear input from SD Surf folks (either replying to this post or via dm) about the team is different now than back in September.

Offensively, San Diego looks like they have solid ball movement with goals scored by 13 out of the 16 rostered players with more than 5 games played. In addition, while SD Surf's DLA has scored 14 goals in 14 games, he's accounts for less than 40% of SD Surf's total goals. Based on their improvement to date, SD Surf is about 2x as good offensively now then they were at the beginning of the season.

Defensively, San Diego looks like they were surprised a bit by San Diego SC in the first game of the season, giving up four goals total (and one in the first two minutes, and three in the first half). But, after that, SD Surf settled in defensively, giving up an average of .46 goals per game, with nine shutouts, over their next 13 matches.

Here's SD Surf's goal differential% chart:



Here's SD Surf's goals scored as % of average goals allowed by opponent over time chart:



Here's SD Surf's goals allowed as % of average goals scored by opponent over time chart:



*#3 Most Improved Team: **SC del Sol*
The #3 most improved team in the SD group is new to the group AZ team, SC del Sol.

Overall, SC del Sol is about +30% better now than they were at the beginning of the season. But, if you take out a solid, rivalry 4-3 win against Real Salt Lake and a blow-out 8-0 win over the Nomads, SC del Sol has actually declined over time. But, credit where credit is due...

Offensively, SC del Sol, is about 20% better now than they were at the beginning of the season, with good ball movement and 13 of 20 players rostered with more than five games having scored. Their leading goal scorer, #0/JV, has scored just over 1/3 of the SC del Sol's total goals. But, taking out the two matches against Real Salt Lake and the win against the Nomads, and SC del Sol has declined offensively over time.

Defensively, SC del Sol has had a more steady improvement trend, and are now about -35% better than they were at the beginning of the season. 

Hopefully, looking forward, SC del Sol can play to their potential, particularly on the offensive side, more frequently in 2020.

Here's SC del Sol's goal differential% chart:



Here's SC del Sol's goals scored as % of average goals allowed by opponent over time chart:



Here's SC del Sol's goals allowed as % of average goals scored by opponent over time chart:


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