Crunching the Numbers- Chicago

There are some very interesting trends to point out coming from the disappointing draw against Chicago. I am just going to jump right into the numbers and give some of my thoughts below

• The Findley/Plata strike partnership has now played together for 145 minutes. The team has yet to score while they are on the field together.
• In 154 minutes, the Saborio/Plata strike partnership has been on the field for 4 goals. This gives them a great MpTG score of 36.75.
• Plata has played 464 minutes along side a target forward (Saborio/Sandoval). In that time the team has scored 10 goals for a MpTG of 46.4. He has played 213 minutes when not paired with a target forward. In that time, the team as yet to score a goal.
• Saborio lowered his MpTG score from 107.4 to 94.17. He still has the fourth highest MpTG score among the five forwards. If you take out the time he has played with Findley, his MpTG drops to 68.2.
• Velasquez's MpTG dropped to 59.2. Gil's MpTG raised to 90.3. 
• Findley's MpTG rose to 139. While he is not on the field, the team's MpTG score is 56.2.

So what do these numbers tell us? First, it does not appear that playing without a target forward is a very good tactic for RSL. I did some further research and out of 18 goals scored by the team, 16 of them were scored when a target forward (Saborio/Sandoval) was on the field. The only two that were not were the last two goals scored in Chivas. Plata especially needs to have that other target forward in the game to play effectively. 

The numbers are also showing that not only is Findley struggling, but the team continues to struggle while he is on the field. His MpTG numbers are the highest among all of RSL forwards. There is an 82.8 difference in the team's MpTG from when Findley is on the field to when he is off. I like Findley and don't consider myself a Findley hater. But at some point the stats really starts to show that the team might be better off playing Findley in the reserve matches until he regains his form.

Many people have been asking for more playing time for Velasquez in the midfield They feel the team plays more dynamically when he is in the game. The numbers also seem to show this to be true. He has played 402 less minutes than Gil has. The interesting thing is that the team has only scored one less goal while Velasquez has been on the field.