MLS Statistical Analysis: D.C. United, 2.15

Yesterday we looked at MLS as a whole, so today we're looking close at the numbers for D.C. United's individual players. All rostered DCU players are on these graphics, including Collin Martin, Jalen Robinson, and Michael Seaton, who have played zero minutes for the team thus far. Players with no stat to show are shaded red in those areas, and the leaders (minimum 700 minutes) in each category are blue. Let's start with basic scoring and shooting:

Minutes / Goals / Assists / Shots / Shots on Goal / Goals per 90 / Assists per 90 / Shots per 90 / Shots on Goal per 90 / % of Shots on Goal / % of Shots = Goal / % of Shots on Goal = Goal

Notably we have Chris Rolfe ahead of Jairo Arrieta by just one for the team lead in goals, and Fabian Espindola leading the team in assists, despite playing far less than most regulars. Rolfe's tally of 44 shots is 19 more than anyone else, but Espindola has him beat in shots per 90. I shouldn't be surprised that Jairo Arrieta is the most accurate shooter, as his 62.5% SOG is the only number above 50% on the whole team.

Moving on to the next graphic, we have more offense to examine:

Passes / Passes completed / Key Passes (pass directly leading to a shot) / Attempted Dribbles / Successful Dribbles / Offsides / Unsuccessful First Touches / Dispossessed / Loss of Possession per 90 (combination of UT and DISP)

LOOK AT PERRY KITCHEN'S PASSING. Do not look at Taylor Kemp's 66.85% passing, which is the only number below 70% for anyone who isn't a goalkeeper. Sean Franklin and Chris Korb, the other fullbacks with significant minutes, both complete more than 75% of their passes. I can forgive Kemp a little bit, because he's the co-leader with Espindola in key passes (pass leading to a shot) at 21. Of course Espindola has done that in far fewer minutes. Chris Rolfe has attempted and completed the most dribbles, but Davy Arnaud still has a better ratio at 80%. That's not as good as the 100% with which he started the season, but go on, Davy.

And then we have Jairo Arrieta, called offside 31 times this season. To put that in perspective, the rest of the team has 31 offsides. Arrieta also leads in both loss of possession categories overall and losses of possession per 90. That last number has increased slightly from the 5.40 that opened the season, which is to say that this is all problematic. Arrieta's offsides number leads MLS. He's played two more games than 2nd place David Villa, but he has 8 more offsides. Interestingly, Alvaro Saborio is third with 21 in 15 games, but most of those came with RSL -- and by "interestingly," I mean slightly alarming.

On we go to the defense:

Attempted Tackles / Successful Tackles / Interceptions (stopping a pass from reaching its intended target) / Attempted Aerials / Successful Aerials (balls won in the air against an opponent)

That Davy Arnaud is leading the team in both attempted and successful tackles is not a surprise, but there's Perry Kitchen being awesome again with his 88.37% success ratio. Last time around I mentioned Conor Doyle for his tackles and interceptions. His interceptions have gone down significantly (6.15 after 5 games to 0.96 per 90), but he leads the team in tackles per 90. Not bad for a forward turned winger.

Now let's talk about Steve Birnbaum, Aerial Monster. 74.19% aerial success and 5.29 successful aerials per 90 may not seem like big numbers, but he compares very well with other defenders in the league. Of any defender with 800 or more minutes, Birnbaum is 3rd in aerials won per 90, behind Vancouver's Kendall Waston (5.9) and Colorado's Axel Sjoberg (5.4). He's also 3rd in success ratio,  again behind Sjoberg (79%) and Waston (76%). He's really good in the air.

Now for the goalkeepers, very quickly:

First of all, Andrew Dykstra has allowed two less goals than Bill Hamid in 842 less minutes. Dykstra is not a bad goalkeeper, but Bill Hamid is very, very good. I'd like to know what has led to Dykstra facing more than two more shots on goal per game than Bill Hamid. It's obviously a small sample size for Dykstra, but it's a curiosity at least. Obviously Travis Worra is the greatest third string goalkeeper ever.