MLS Week 23 PowerScore ™ predictions

This week brings a full slate of MLS matchups, as all fourteen teams begin the final nine-game stretch of the season.  Things are tight in both conferences, as the East jockeys for the five playoff spots they’ll likely get, and the West must fight over what will probably be only three spots.  Five East-West games are on-tap, which means that the East has an opportunity to reassert its dominance.  Let’s see what the slightly reworked PowerScore formula predicts:

Roster Thoughts — U.S. v. Cuba and T&T

No, don’t worry.  The United States is not expected to play Cuba and Trinidad & Tobago at the same time, just within 5 days of each other.  Anyway, Coach Bradley has announced his roster of 20 players for the brace of games.  Many of the usual criticisms are applicable once again (Where’s Adu and Altidore?  Eddie Johnson?  Where’s Cooper?), and a few new ones crop up.  I’ll stick with the latter.

MLS PowerScore ™ Rankings — Week 22

Sorry, I’m still sick (see: last post), so I don’t have the energy to say much.  So, here’s my quick thoughts: This is one of those rare times during the season when all the teams have played an equal number of games (in this case, 21).  As it stands, the Eastern Conference sends 5 teams to the playoffs easily, with Houston, RSL, and Dallas sneaking in from the Western.  I don’t see that changing.  The league is seriously unbalanced this year, and I think that whoever is seeded fifth in the East will have a good chance to knock off the winner of the West in the first round.  You read it here first.

Match Report — Crew v. RSL, August 23, 2008

Result:  Columbus Crew 3 – 0 Real Salt Lake

Sorry for the delay in the match report.  I’m feeling under the weather, and work is picking up, which means that both my time and my motivation are on the wane.  Blurg.  Anyway, another stellar performance for Guillermo Barros Schelotto.  Is the non all-star a player of the year candidate? He absolutely should be, but looking at the all-star voting, GBS gets shocking little (almost no) respect from other coaches and GMs.  Why not?  I suspect it has to do with: a) his not scoring from the run of play; and b) his assists coming from passes that look easy.  But seriously, the guy is playing some ridiculous soccer.  Anyway, on to player ratings.

Guatamala v. U.S. WCQ Match preview

The U.S. men visit Guatamala tonight at 10 p.m. ET for the first semifinal match of their World Cup qualifying campaign.  I’m excited; it’s been a while since we had a meaningful match for the full men’s team.  And expect Guatamala to be a tough match up for the Americans.

Here’s some things I’ll be keeping my eye on against Guatamala:

MLS PowerScore ™ Ranking — Week 21

Well, another week, and another dismal record in my attempts to predict results using PowerScore technology.  I went 2-5 on predictions, with one perfect score prediction (the Red Bulls beat Toronto 2-0).  Not good.  I haven’t done any looking yet to see who else predicts scores on a weekly basis, but I can’t imagine that Joe Prognosticator would do much worse than a combined 3-9 of weeks 19 and 21 of MLS action.

So, I’ve done the only thing I can — attempted to innovate further.  Up until now, one portion of the PowerScore was based on an average PPG for a team’s five most recent matches.  I’ve changed that, so now the more recent one of the last five matches is, the more it’s weighted.  Thus, I’m trying to further emphasize how “hot” a team is in an attempt to capture a sense of momentum.  That may turn out to be the wrong move — who believes that New England is as bad as its last two results? — but we’ll see.  I also automated a bit the update to the PowerScores using Visual Basic.  I’m inordinately proud that I figured out how to do that.

Good for you, Edu!

Edu is set for Rangers.  Good for him.  The guy deserves to play overseas and will be a better player for it.

Match Report — Columbus v. FC Dallas — August 18, 2008

Result: Columbus 2 – 1 FC Dallas

Well, what a game!  I think (though I’m not sure and I’m too lazy to check) that Columbus already led the league in come-from-behind victories (or points, at least), and this one only adds to that record.  Once again, Columbus came out sluggish, gave up the earlier opportunities, only to come roaring back in the second-half with opportunistic, occasionally-attractive, and ultimately effective soccer.  What fun!  No, it’s not the sort of domination that makes images of the MLS Cup dance in one’s dreams, but it’s a world of difference from last season (my first in Columbus).  Anyway, I’m going to move right to player ratings in a second, but two notes first.

U.S. Roster v. Guatamala

The roster is announced here.  No major surprises.  Guzan, Bradley, Edu, and Kljestan go straight from the Olympics to a World Cup qualifier.  Honestly, I’m not exactly excited to see Eddie Johnson on the roster again.  And I wouldn’t mind seeing more of the new blood that just got tested at the Olympics on the team (Marvell Wynne in particular seems deserving), but I understand why Adu and Altidore need to get back to their new clubs.  I wonder who the special 18th player-to-be-named-later is.  I’m guessing a midfielder, given the number of defenders and forwards selected.  Heck, I’ll go with Bennie Feilhaber.  He doesn’t have much else going on, and Bradley seems to enjoy trying to get him a starting job somewhere.

MLS Week 21 PowerScore ™ predictions

I skipped Week 20; so sue me.  I guess that I could claim that I spent the week of rejiggering my formula, but I didn’t.  I spent it watching the Olympics and working.  But, I’m back now and ready to give it a go.  My record on predictions so far is 1-4.  There’s almost nowhere to go but up.  Here’s hoping that I don’t find that down.