Fail: The Wizards have 12 points from 13 games. On this pace we are targeting a 28 point season which will be the worst point tally for a season since 1999. Despite there being four teams with worse point totals than the Wizards all four of them have 11 points.
Fail: The Wizards have scored 11 goals in 13 games. The second worst ratio of goals per games behind DC United who have played one more game and scored one less goal.
Surprising: The Wizards have conceded 17 goals so far. Despite the outcry over the defense being awful, overall there are 7 teams with worse defensive records than the Wizards. We are tied with the New York.
Bad but I still love it: The Wizards are ranked 12th out of 16 in terms of goal difference. Below us in the rankings are Seattle Sounders (oh how the mighty have fallen!!), New England and DCU.
Not good: The Wizards score 0.85 goals a game and give up 1.31 goals a game on average. For the sake of a goal every two games (0.46) either scored or not conceded we’d be breaking even. 14 goals either scored or not conceded over an entire season would have us comfortably mid table … there is a thin line between success and failure.
Pause for hope: The Wizards have lost by one goal four times and had two scoreless ties. Just a minor offensive upgrade should yield a substantial amount of points.
Unfair target: Ryan Smith has scored one and has five assists on the season in 12 starts. He has been involved in more than half of our goals. If he keeps this pace up will be good for over a dozen goals on the season and easily surpass Claudio Lopez’s 2009 stats of 8 assists. I doubt he will get near Claudio’s seven goals given that he doesn’t take our penalties. Upgrade over Claudio? Hard to say, would have been nice to have them both.
Can he keep it up?: Kamara has six goals on the season so far and has been one of the few bright spots. Still not perfect by any means and has plenty of areas of his game he should improve on but his tally at this point should have him be the first Wizards player aside from Josh Wolff to get into double digits scoring in a season for some time.
Kick his ass: Davy Arnaud has more red cards than assists.
Onalfo’s Record: As the Wizards manager 27–29–22. 103 points from a possible 234. 44%. In 2009 when he was fired he had a 5–6–7 record or 22 points from a possible 54. He was running at 40% for the season.
Vermes’ Record: 6-14-5 – Peter Vermes’ record as coach of the Wizards. 23 points earned from a possible 75 in Major League Soccer play. He wins 31% of the available points. Using this 31% as a predictor for the season we should earn about 28 points from a possible 90, this matches our projected finish to within a matter of decimal places. Vermes’ 3-7-2 record last season after Onalfo was fired yielded … 31% of the points. This team is on a flat line from the time Peter Vermes took over till now, there has been no statistical improvement from his 12 2009 games vs his 13 2010 games based on points per game.
None?: The number of players with more than one goal excluding Kamara.
I have to admit, this was depressing to read. However, the truth usually hurts. I kind of hope the Wizards end up reading your blog. I still believe they can make something of the year (I’m a pragmatic optimist), but they need something to shake them up. Reading this might help.
What was your opinion overall about Lopez? Did you think the Wizards’ should have kept him? He seemed like a great guy for a set piece, but like Wolff, he seemed to pull up a lot on long-ball passes and I questioned his interest in every game. I had mixed feelings when he was let go.
Comment by Moop — July 6, 2010 @ 1:17 am
My initial opinion on Lopez was quite poor and I thought he was often half hearted and sloppy but after a while I came to appreciate him more as a player who simply didn’t fit with the Wizards. When PV turned up he actually really picked up and worked harder and I was kinda sad to see him gone. I think 8 assists and 7 goals sounds pretty dreamy right now …. basically a goal every two games in terms of his production.
Between him and Gomez we let a fair amount of goal potential just walk away, that said I am not sure either were particularly interested in sticking around … especially Gomez.
Comment by James Starritt — July 6, 2010 @ 10:45 am
“….as a player who simply didn’t fit with the Wizards.” I agree – I think the same was true for Gomez, and possibly a couple of others. That said, considering the roster upheaval, I sometimes wonder why they didn’t build a team around that pairing – though of course Lopez’ age is a problem. I’m not sure what the roster that they did build is meant to do.
Is a DP striker the way to go? or maybe someone in the midfield who can provide service to what we have? I like a 4-4-2 a lot better than a 4-3-3 but not when we’re playing nothing but defensive mids. If we get a DP striker, who is going to provide service to him?
Comment by Chris Holzman — July 6, 2010 @ 2:43 pm