A Midway Look at Minutes Per Team Goal

It is hard to believe that RSL has already played 15 matches this season. Since we are nearing the half way mark of the season I felt the time was right to start really looking into season statistics. By this point in the season there is a good sample size to really start to analyze the data. The first stat that I am going to look at is Minutes per Team Goal (MpTG).

For those that are unfamiliar with MpTG let me explain what it is. It is not a soccer standard stat but one that I came up with. First, I take a look at how many goals were scored by the team while a player was on the field.  Some simple math gets me a number showing how many minutes on average it takes for the team to score while the player is playing. Next I look at how many goals were scored while that player was not on the field. From that I can see how many goals per minute are scored when that player is not playing. This gives a basic look at how well the team plays with and without each player.

Let's first take a look at the forwards. Remember that the goals shown below are the amount of goals the team has scored, not that particular player. As a point of reference, the team as a whole is scoring at a rate of a goal every 54 minutes.

	Min	Goals	MpTG	Min not played	Goals	MpTG	Difference
Saborio	869	19	45.74	481	6	80.17	34.43
Findley	25	0	N/A	1325	25	53	N/A
Plata	599	16	37.44	751	9	83.44	46.01
Sandoval	353	5	70.6	997	20	49.85	-20.75
Garcia	663	8	82.88	687	17	40.41	-42.46

I don't think it is any surprise to see that the offense has been much more effective when Plata is in the match. You can really see how important he has been to the team when you look at the drop off that has happened when he has not been on the field. The numbers for Saborio are also interesting to me. Last season the team actually scored at a higher rate when he was not on the field. This year those numbers have been reversed.

It is a bit concerning about the lack of offense when looking at the numbers for Sandoval and Garcia. Most people probably have realized that neither player has a goal on the season yet. But it might be more concerning that the team is not scoring as much either when these two players have been on the field.

Here is a look at the RSL midfielders.

	Min	Goals	MpTG	Min not played	Goals	MpTG	Difference
Gil	586	9	65.11	764	16	47.75	-17.36
Grabavoy	1310	25	52.4	40	0	N/A	N/A
Morales	1245	21	59.29	105	4	26.25	-33.04
Velasquez	89	5	17.8	1261	20	63.05	45.25
Stertzer	108	1	108	1242	24	51.75	-56.25
Mulholland	843	15	56.2	507	10	50.7	-5.5
Grossman	405	6	67.5	945	19	49.74	-17.76
Beckerman	900	21	42.86	450	4	112.5	69.64

In looking at these numbers the one that jumps out has to be how poor the offense has been without Kyle Beckerman on the field. It is taking 70 minutes longer for the team to score a goal when Beckerman has not played. I think people might miss how important he truly is for RSL on the offensive side of the ball.

It is also hard not to be impressed with the amount of goals scored in the limited time that Velasquez has been on the field. Now it is true that his numbers will look better due to the fact that he has mostly been a late game sub and more goals are scored in the final 15 minutes than any other period of matches. But a goal every 18 minutes is still very impressive.