Back (completely) from vacation now and right away got interested in the continuity of starting line-ups so far this season after watching last weekend’s action, as those who listened to the show this morning know.
Here below is a more full illustration of that monologue during the “Three Points” segment. I liked this data because it seemed to reflect the personality about each different way every team has started their season. Also, during my interview with Brian Mullan last month, he talked about the saintly patience (or “satanic,” depending on who you ask) of Dominic Kinnear, pictured above, coming into play during the rough Houston start. That is reflected down here as well:
NUMBER OF DIFFERENT STARTERS USED
Houston 13
Salt Lake 13
Kansas City 15
New England 15
San Jose 15
Seattle 15
Toronto 16
Chicago 16
Chivas 16
Colorado 16
Dallas 17
DC United 17
Columbus 18
Los Angeles 19
New York 20
NUMBER OF TOTAL SUBSTITUTIONS MADE
New England 6
Houston 7
Colorado 13
Dallas 13
DC United 13
Seattle 13
Los Angeles 14
New York 14
Toronto 14
Columbus 15
Salt Lake 15
Kansas City 16
San Jose 17
Chicago 17
Chivas 19
If you really look at both categories, you can see how insulated that Dynamo lineup has been. Maybe that brings up some worthy questions about the team’s depth. Speaking of that, also in play within the graphic here is another signal of Chivas’ superior mix of back-end talent. They have subbed fairly freely and survived easily with their need to tinker around that starting lineup ravaged by injury.
And how about a look at last season’s final tally for some additional perspective on this data itself:
NUMBER OF DIFFERENT STARTERS USED
AVERAGE=26
Houston 22
New England 22
San Jose 24
Kansas City 25
Salt Lake 25
Chicago 26
Colorado 26
Dallas 26
Los Angeles 26
New York 27
Columbus 28
DC United 28
Chivas 30
Toronto 33
NUMBER OF TOTAL SUBSTITUTIONS MADE
AVERAGE=84
Los Angeles 64
New England 75
Toronto 75
San Jose 80
Chivas 82
Houston 83
DC United 85
Colorado 87
Dallas 87
New York 87
Columbus 88
Kansas City 90
Chicago 94
Salt Lake 96
PHOTO COURTESY: Associated Press
