MLS Next

[RandomSoccerFan]

OK - I read their deep-dive on February's results (link here). It uses goal differential, but doesn't appear to weight it tied to opponent strength, and it's just ranking it as if all competitors in league are equivalent. At the end of a season, with all results complete, the rankings would end up around the same either way. Just as if a set of teams in a bracket never played any outside games - their SR ranking would have to exactly match their standings ranking. But in the interim - a team putting up 4 goals against the #1 team should count more in rating their strength than a team putting up 4 goals against a backmarker.

 

[pitchplease]

agree for the most part. I do think he does take into some consideration the team, opponent and results. Otherwise, there would be no reason to move teams around or up and down, etc. you could literally just repost the current mls standings and call it a day. Flex play wraps up this weekend, and league play is down to maybe 8 weeks. not a lot of wiggle room amongst some of the teams. It's just a different perspective. End of the day, rankings matter when it comes time for playoffs. where you are seeded and what does the path look like?

 

[Grace T.]

Three teams in SoCal MLS next HD are head and shoulders above everyone else: LA Galaxy, LAFC and Strikers. The rest of pay to play MLS next HD are just like any ECNL teams but with the added restriction to not be able to play high school soccer and also having kids 5 months younger. We will see who the better teams are this summer when all these pay to play MLS next HD teams go up against 5 months older ECNL kids in tournaments.

The mlsn hg teams tend to avoid summer tournaments. They are supposed to be dark until late July. By high school the players know the tournaments don’t matter, only the big showcases and playoffs, and late summer tournaments only risk injury for the season. They’re used mostly as a preseason warmup which gives you only a few weekends to judge. They play most each other and only telegraph info to opponents or present the opportunity to poach players, and now you’ve got the age difference to worry about. Limited window to evaluate.