Through the first 11 games of the 2008 MLS season, the clearest pattern developing thus far is the lopsided advantage home teams have had. Road teams went 0-4-2 and were outscored 13-2 in the opening weekend but have fared much worse in Week 2. In six games thus far, the road teams have been blitzed by a 19-4 tally.
Some teams won impressively at home in Week 1 and went out and couldn't even score a goal on the road. Columbus opened with a 2-0 win against Toronto and lost by the same margin at New York while New England looked like cup contenders against Houston at home in a 3-0 win but saw their team torn apart in a 4-0 loss at Chicago.
Conversely, teams that lost on the road (Galaxy, DC United) quickly quelled fears that their seasons were in jeopardy by putting together impressive performances at home.
FC Dallas has the final attempt of the weekend to pull out a road win but if this season's pattern holds up, Houston will win handily.
Not to be contrary... but how many of these results are really that unexpected?
ReplyDeleteColumbus 2 - 0 Toronto FC
Real Salt Lake 1 - 1 Chicago
Kansas City 2 - 0 DC United
New England 3 - 0 Houston
Colorado 4 - 0 Los Angeles
Dallas 1 - 1 Chivas USA
Chicago 4 - 0 New England
Los Angeles 2 - 0 San Jose
Kansas City 3 - 2 Colorado
DC United 4 - 1 Toronto FC
New York Red Bulls 2 - 0 Columbus
Chivas USA 3 - 1 Real Salt Lake
I think the RSL v Chicago match might be a little closer than expected and the Chicago v NE match surprised me. All the rest of these results seemed reasonable based on the preseason reviews I've read and preseason play.
We'll see how pronounced the home-field advantage is as the season progresses (like when KC plays at Toronto and DC plays at LA).
can you post teh trascript of the jozy altidore chat w/ soccernet?
ReplyDeleteNo. Stuff that's copyrighted elsewhere or for subscribers only won't be found here.
ReplyDeleteWe've had enough problems with people taking videos and pictures from our blog here without giving us any credit or a link. If a website gets an exclusive, they should get the hits that deserves.