Full Of Themselves

Leave it to a DC United fan to be so full of themselves to ask such a question. Gomez was with how many clubs before DC United? 5? 6? And how large of a pay increase was he demanding at age 33? The man has to make a living. But surely no player that would live and die for a club's badge would let a few quid come in the way of finishing out his career with that club, would he?

From Black and Red:
Gomez will improve most any club he goes to by a significant and noticable margin. One thing that will remain to be seen, is will he play for, live for, and die for the badge for another club, like he did for the Black and Red?

Maciej Doesn't Join Crew

Polish striker Zurawski has passed up a move to the Columbus Crew for $1 million transfer to Greek club Larissa [previous post on the move here]. Surely this is frustrating for Crew fans to see their club finally pony up some big money for a player only for the move to fail on the last day of the transfer window. Crew fans shouldn't be too surprised by this. Poland's coach Leo Beenhakker had made it clear to his captain Zurawski that he needed to be playing regularly in the lead up with Euro08 this summer. So they shouldn't be quite so shocked to see Zurawski move to a club in Europe, even a small one like Larissa (full name translated as Athletic Union of Larissa 1964), when they're willing to put cash for him. It's likely his main concern is getting ready for Euro08. A move to Larissa should help ensure he makes the squad. Had Zurawski moved to the Crew and had made Poland's squad, the Crew would've been missing him for 6-8 weeks. And that leads to the question if it's best to use a DP slot on player you know you're going to be missing for a couple months in the season. Did the Crew actually dodge a bit of a bullet?

Note: Everton fans may recognize another Larissa player who was with them during the Walter Smith days, Ibrahima Bakayoko.

Center Holds It

I'm looking forward to see what Center Holds It has to say about the Columbus Crew and Colorado Rapids this season. You can follow those comments over at their blog, here.

Rapids Land Gomez?

The streets in Denver are full of chatter these days. Most of it is folks talking about when they're going to go skiing because they have barely used their Colorado Pass this winter. But a few folks have been saying that the Rapids have signed Christian Gomez from DC United. It's a done deal and just a matter of making the announcement. I'm sure most Colorado Rapids fans will welcome Gomez with open arms. The question is what did Colorado have to give up to get him? He was out of contract with DC United and the league. At this point technically Colorado would be trading DC United for his rights.

Q & A With Stephen Keel

If you haven't already caught it, Colorado native Stephen Keel answers some questions over on NoFanAlone.com. My favorite was his answer to starting his first game last year at Salt Lake. That's right Stephen, give 'em hell! http://www.nofanalone.com/blog/archives/001050.html

Oh and I do remember having a shoe lace football tackle on Beckerman for my first yellow card. That was fun.

Michel Gets Friendly With El Pibe

Things are getting a little steamy between Michel and El Pibe, eh?
Props to John for sending this one my way.

Evaluating Team Defense

I just want to take a moment to point out yet another soccer blog, this one focused on the Colorado Rapids. It's View From The Couch. One bone I have to pick is with the idea that the Rapids had the 3rd best defense. I didn't walk away from 2007 thinking Colorado had the 3rd best defense in the league. I didn't think GA in itself was a good indicator. I think one needs to look at shots allowed and shots on goal allowed. When you look at that, you can see why I walked away with that gut feeling. Colorado more or less allowed other teams to take just as many shots as many other teams in the league. The key is that they only Houston allowed less shots on goal. Now SOG is not an exact measurement of the number of quality scoring chances given. I would argue that allowing the shot in the first place indicates some level of chance. But the Rapids allowed only 320 SOG by opposing teams. Other than Chivas USA, that is a lot better than most teams in the league. Bouna Condoul was a big part of that but the defense at a whole helped, too.

What other things can we see from these numbers? I think they show DC United relied on Troy Perkins to save their butts more than their GA indicates. It also shows that Real Salt Lake by far had the worst defense in the league.
Note: SOG (below) really is Shots On Goal Allowed. My apologies for any confusion.

By GA
Team	GA	Shots	Shots / 90	SOG	SOG / 90	Saves	Saves / 90	Saves / SOG	GA / 90	GA / SOG
Houston	23	280	3.111	118	1.311	93	1.033	0.788	0.256	0.195
Chivas USA	28	324	3.600	125	1.389	100	1.111	0.800	0.311	0.224
Colorado	34	320	3.556	161	1.789	121	1.344	0.752	0.378	0.211
DC United	34	349	3.878	164	1.822	124	1.378	0.756	0.378	0.207
Chicago	36	351	3.900	157	1.744	123	1.367	0.783	0.400	0.229
New England	43	359	3.989	169	1.878	120	1.333	0.710	0.478	0.254
Columbus	44	354	3.933	152	1.689	131	1.456	0.862	0.489	0.289
FC Dallas	44	381	4.233	158	1.756	112	1.244	0.709	0.489	0.278
Kansas City	45	342	3.800	159	1.767	110	1.222	0.692	0.500	0.283
NYRB	45	366	4.067	168	1.867	116	1.289	0.690	0.500	0.268
RSL	45	403	4.478	205	2.278	152	1.689	0.741	0.500	0.220
Los Angeles	48	388	4.311	179	1.989	125	1.389	0.698	0.533	0.268
Toronto FC	49	352	3.911	169	1.878	115	1.278	0.680	0.544	0.290
By SOG
Team	SOG	SOG / 90	Shots	Shots / 90	Saves	Saves / 90	Saves / SOG	GA	GA / 90	GA / SOG
Houston	118	1.311	280	3.111	93	1.033	0.788	23	0.256	0.195
Chivas USA	125	1.389	324	3.600	100	1.111	0.800	28	0.311	0.224
Columbus	152	1.689	354	3.933	131	1.456	0.862	44	0.489	0.289
Chicago	157	1.744	351	3.900	123	1.367	0.783	36	0.400	0.229
FC Dallas	158	1.756	381	4.233	112	1.244	0.709	44	0.489	0.278
Kansas City	159	1.767	342	3.800	110	1.222	0.692	45	0.500	0.283
Colorado	161	1.789	320	3.556	121	1.344	0.752	34	0.378	0.211
DC United	164	1.822	349	3.878	124	1.378	0.756	34	0.378	0.207
NYRB	168	1.867	366	4.067	116	1.289	0.690	45	0.500	0.268
New England	169	1.878	359	3.989	120	1.333	0.710	43	0.478	0.254
Toronto FC	169	1.878	352	3.911	115	1.278	0.680	49	0.544	0.290
Los Angeles	179	1.989	388	4.311	125	1.389	0.698	48	0.533	0.268
RSL	205	2.278	403	4.478	152	1.689	0.741	45	0.500	0.220
By Shots Allowed
Team	SOG	SOG / 90	Shots	Shots/ 90	Saves	Saves / 90	Saves / SOG	GA	GA / 90	GA / SOG
Houston	280	3.111	118	1.311	93	1.033	0.788	23	0.256	0.195
Colorado	320	3.556	161	1.789	121	1.344	0.752	34	0.378	0.211
Chivas USA	324	3.600	125	1.389	100	1.111	0.800	28	0.311	0.224
Kansas City	342	3.800	159	1.767	110	1.222	0.692	45	0.500	0.283
DC United	349	3.878	164	1.822	124	1.378	0.756	34	0.378	0.207
Chicago	351	3.900	157	1.744	123	1.367	0.783	36	0.400	0.229
Toronto FC	352	3.911	169	1.878	115	1.278	0.680	49	0.544	0.290
Columbus	354	3.933	152	1.689	131	1.456	0.862	44	0.489	0.289
New England	359	3.989	169	1.878	120	1.333	0.710	43	0.478	0.254
NYRB	366	4.067	168	1.867	116	1.289	0.690	45	0.500	0.268
FC Dallas	381	4.233	158	1.756	112	1.244	0.709	44	0.489	0.278
Los Angeles	388	4.311	179	1.989	125	1.389	0.698	48	0.533	0.268
RSL	403	4.478	205	2.278	152	1.689	0.741	45	0.500	0.220