Crunching the Numbers- Philly Edition

RSL came back twice while down a man for a dramatic draw with the Union. The match had the team missing four starters to internationally duty, but did see the return of Luis Gil from his time at the U-20 World Cup. There are also some very interesting stats coming out of the match:

• With both goals being scored by midfielders, RSL now has had 14 goals on the season scored by someone in the midfield. They only had 13 total last season.
• In 2012 ten different players scored at least one goal in league play. 11 different players have scored in league play this season.
• Sebastian Velasquez has now played 644 minutes in league play. During that time the team has scored  14 goals or a goal every 46.00 minutes. This is now the lowest MpTG rating on the team.
• Olmes Garcia's MpTG rating dropped to 47.91 minutes. Now the team has three players (Velasquez, Garcia, and Devon Sandoval) that have MpTG ratings under 50.
• When Ned Grabavoy plays, the team scores a goal every 54.35 minutes. When he doesn't play, the team scores every 99.00 minutes. The difference of 44.65 is the largest on the team.
• 22.22% of all goals that RSL has given up has come in the first 15 minutes of play. RSL has yet to give up a goal between the 15th and 30th minutes of matches.
• Robbie Findley and Joao Plata have played together for 337 minutes. In that time the team has scored 4 goals or a goal every 84.25 minutes. This is the second highest MpTG  rating among all of the forward combinations (the Findley/Alvaro Saborio combo is at 145.50). 
• RSL has given up 18 goals this season in 19 matches played. Seven of those goals were in the three matches that Tony Beltran did not play in (goal every 40.14 minutes).
• Lovel Palmer has played 683 minutes this season. In that time, RSL has given up 10 goals or a goal every 68.30 minutes. The team has played 1039 minutes without Palmer in the lineup. In that time RSL has given up eight goals or a goal every 129.88 minutes.

I really believe that the first stat that I listed has been the key to RSL's success this season. The additional production from the midfield has been huge this year. Opposing teams have to pay more attention to our midfielders and this will free up more space for our forwards to work in. 

Interestingly enough, one midfielder who has yet to score a goal is Velasquez. But even without scoring, things happen when he gets into the game. Although, I don't believe that he should be starting, I do believe that Velasquez needs to continue to get playing time off the bench. As the numbers show above, the team scores when he is in the game.

I am ready for an end to the Findley/Plata forward combination. The two just don't seem to play that well together. I really believe the best combination that we should be using with Saborio gone is Plata/Sandoval with Garcia and then Findley coming off the bench. When Plata/Sandoval play together, the team scores every 53.14 minutes. Garcia seems much better coming off the bench than starting at this point in his career.

I am concerned with the loss of Beltran for the next month. Although I thought Palmer did a great job getting into the attack in the Philly match, the numbers show, with out a doubt, that the defense does not play well while he is on the field. With Palmer out for his red card, the door is open for Abdoulie Mansally to see if he can take over Palmer's spot as Beltran's replacement.