Preseason DA Rankings

Good Stuff El Clasico; SOS (strength of schedule) and other statistics should level out what reality is with teams that have greater or lesser wins and losses. Most of the top W/L teams have played weak schedules. These top record teams did what they are suppossed to do, which is Win. BTW that's easier said than done.... Two questions though: Is your statistics a normal way at looking at soccer?; and how would you rank this years group?
I would think ranking is a combination with the statistics you mentioned above, and the eyeball test.

My top 5 rankings-

Blues, Galaxys SD, Legends, West Coast, Surf- Blues seem to be a clear cut #1, Galaxy SD real consistent, Legends is an egnima as they have an awesome record but SOS is so weak, West Coast is really improved and played the best teams ( I dont know if was much of a surprise at all West Coast beating Surf looking at your information above); Surf will come around( always do)...
 
chiefs said:
Two questions though: Is your statistics a normal way at looking at soccer?; and how would you rank this years group?
I would think ranking is a combination with the statistics you mentioned above, and the eyeball test.
Click to expand...

I agree...the statistics don't tell the whole story and you have to eyeball it. I also agree that the top record teams winning games is easier said than done and part of why they are at the top is that they get it done against the rest of the competition. My top 5 right now in order are probably Blues, Legends, Surf and West Coast FC tied at 3rd, and LA Galaxy SD after them. Close behind at 6 and 7 would be Beach and Slammers. But the SOS numbers show that teams like Albion and Pats are probably better than their record looks. It's going to be interesting to see how it shakes out...
 
The strength of schedule above is a little off because you should not include the games against the team you are calculating for in the SOS calculation. If you do, the losing teams always have stronger SOS because the teams they played all got wins. That said, LA Premier has definitely had the toughest schedule to start and the rest of the order isn't far off. It will be interesting to see how it all balances out in the end.
 
Week 6 Rankings
(Record and Goals For/Against -- In league games only)

1. Blues (5-0; 21, 0) -- Machine shows no mercy with embarrassing demolition of Eagles. Free tip #1 - mark 16 and 17 (free tip #2 - it's easier said than done).
2. Galaxy SD (4-0-1; 9,3) -- Still undefeated. They are doing better than even I predicted (and I was really high on them).
3. Surf (3-1-1; 12, 7) -- Still a very strong team, but they are having a tough start given the talent they have. I still wouldn't want to play them.
4. Legends (3-1-1; 22, 7) -- Nice win over a good Albion team. They look to have one of the best offenses in the league.
5. West Coast (2-2-1; 8, 8) -- Great win over Surf moves these guys up into the top 5. They also tied Legends, so it is not a fluke.
6. Galaxy (3-1; 12,7) -- Off two weeks in a row. Schedule makers need some help.
7. Beach (3-1-1; 8,7) -- Nice win against Slammers makes their del Sol loss look like an aberration. Moving on up.
8. Slammers (2-2-1; 6,8) -- Loss to Beach moves them to the bottom half.
9. Albion -- (2-1-2; 3,6) -- The magic is starting to wear off. Still a strong team.
10. SC del Sol (1-3; 12, 14) -- Off. Will repeat that their games have 26 goals in 4 games. That's a lot.
11. Real So Cal -- (2-3; 4,6) -- Another win makes their record look good, but they have only beaten the bottom 2 teams, barely. . .
12. LA Premier (0-5; 3, 18) -- Already played all of the top teams but WCFC. They have a chance to prove they belong against the rest of the league.
13. Pateadores (0-5; 0, 9) -- They are not losing by much, but they still haven't scored. Tough welcome to the big leagues. Bottom 3 teams are 0-15. Ouch.
14. Eagles (0-5; 1, 23) -- I know they lost their coach, but this is starting to get ridiculous. A U15 academy team should not lose 9-0 against any team their age.
 
Let's not allow US Soccer ruin the girls program as it did the Men's program. What a shame for US Soccer not qualifying for World Cup
 
Scara999 said:
Let's not allow US Soccer ruin the girls program as it did the Men's program. What a shame for US Soccer not qualifying for World Cup
Click to expand...
Too late. You see the sheer number of people on this board that has already completely bought into the concept even though all they have to do is look across the aisle at the men's program and see what a complete disaster it has been. If you were so inclined, you could literally follow the men's program down into the sewer over the course of the past 10 years. Along with the tremendous improvement in the women's programs in other countries, it would seem that our women's program's best days are behind it.

If anyone is having trouble seeing what is right in front of them, then we have no chance to reverse the slide.
 
Scara999 said:
What a shame for US Soccer not qualifying for World Cup
Click to expand...
It is a shame. We have to realize that the best male athletes in the US dont play soccer. US men's soccer athletes are at best second or third string players in most other US sports. Sad but true.
 
GoWest said:
It is a shame. We have to realize that the best male athletes in the US dont play soccer. US men's soccer athletes are at best second or third string players in most other US sports. Sad but true.
Click to expand...

No it's a shame that people still think we need the best athletes to succeed. You think Messi would have been classed as the best athlete? Xavi? Iniesta? It's this misguided intelligence that's the root of the problem
 
Sunil Illuminati said:
No it's a shame that people still think we need the best athletes to succeed. You think Messi would have been classed as the best athlete? Xavi? Iniesta? It's this misguided intelligence that's the root of the problem
Click to expand...

It's not misguided intelligence, it's ignorance. For some, it's an excuse. They overhear the idiot next to them spewing that BS and they repeat it since they themselves have no idea what the hell they are talking about or looking at when they watch a game.

Let's just say for arguments sake that we accept the premise that in a country of approximately 325 million, that we can only get our "3rd string" athletes to play soccer, and T&T, with a population of only 1.36 million gets all their "best athletes" to play soccer. (actually, some would argue that cricket is their most popular sport and therefore, getting their "best athletes") Now, factor in that we out spend them by a margin of at least 1,000 to 1 and people still try to sell the "best athletes" BS.

Shows just how far we still have to go in this country. As I have stated before....at least two more generations

I would take....
A great soccer player
over....
A great athlete
ANYDAY!
 
Sunil Illuminati said:
You think Messi would have been classed as the best athlete? Xavi? Iniesta?
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Yes, actually I do. Ronaldo as well. Maybe I over-generalized in my statement. There are very good US male athletes that play the game but they are not on the same level as a Messi or Ronaldo IMHO.

El Clasico said:
I would take....
A great soccer player
over....
A great athlete
ANYDAY
Click to expand...
Imagine combining the "great athlete" with a "great soccer player"....I will take that any day.
 
Imagine if we had a few Bo Jackson's growing up playing Soccer , and we had a structure in this country that promoted youth soccer development from an early age. It wouldn't take long for the US to catch up to the rest of the world. 20-30 years. Sports Marketing is always looking for new things to promote and Americans love jumping on the new thing. Soccer could be something someday in the US, if we had a few superstars of our own for our youth to idolize and emulate ..... Till then we will just have to focus on and take pride in the Women's Soccer Teams. Sadly, Most Americans believe Soccer is a girls sport you little sisters plays anyway....
 
El Clasico said:
It's not misguided intelligence, it's ignorance. For some, it's an excuse. They overhear the idiot next to them spewing that BS and they repeat it since they themselves have no idea what the hell they are talking about or looking at when they watch a game.

Let's just say for arguments sake that we accept the premise that in a country of approximately 325 million, that we can only get our "3rd string" athletes to play soccer, and T&T, with a population of only 1.36 million gets all their "best athletes" to play soccer. (actually, some would argue that cricket is their most popular sport and therefore, getting their "best athletes") Now, factor in that we out spend them by a margin of at least 1,000 to 1 and people still try to sell the "best athletes" BS.

Shows just how far we still have to go in this country. As I have stated before....at least two more generations

I would take....
A great soccer player
over....
A great athlete
ANYDAY!
Click to expand...
I would take a great soccer player who is also a great athlete over everybody!
 
cowboy said:
Just a top ten:

1. Surf-They will win the league at this point;
2. Slammers-They havent hit their best stride yet;will they with the new coach?;
3. Blues-Solid core in the middle with the mids and defense;
4. Legends-Easy schedule to commence year; see if the team gels when playing better competition (lost to slammers in showcase);
5. Del Sol-Man handled Beach; will see if consistent; especially with alot of travel.;
6. Beach-they will return as a threat for many teams; matchups sometimes don't workout;
7. LAGSD-4 points with smoking mirrors; see if it lasts through a long year;
8. WCFC-bad luck and draw has them with 2 losses to start; knock the ball around with the best;
9. Albion-early points is a postive with an excellent coach; might be better later in year?
10. Real So Cal- Should have the experience with tough games, i would be surprised if not in the top ten later in the year.
Click to expand...
Update from my post:

1) Legends--only undefeated team the most consistent; are they getting fatigued with tie to no cal team?
1) Blues-#1 team listed my favorite to win; Co #1
3) Beach-moves up on the tie with Blues; looked like a wild game;
4) LAGSD-could move down if they lost their last game;
5) Surf and West Coast tied-I understand that West Coast beat Surf, and Surf just lost to Pats, but Surf has more points;
7) Pats-Dare I say this?With the win against Surf, besides WC, Pats might be the hottest team.
8) SC Del Sol-beat up slammers real bad; very inconsistent team.
9) Slammers-very disappointing so far, long way to go though in the season to improve. They did handle Pats pretty easy, but the Del Sol game was an eye opener.
10) Albion-Big Loss to La Premier; shows they compete against the best, but can lose to the bottom.
 
Here’s a quick recap.

Blues are blues - top of table
Legends must have had the team flu to lose to LA Premier
Middle of the pack is as expected.
Pats are back to Pats’in again.
 
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