Jamon M - MLS and footy analysis

Always fun to hear stats from coaches who are the... *checks notes* ...least analytically advanced team in the league.

Another follow-up: I was asked about the differences between the three Fast Pace Attack Types, so here are the definitions.

These are all debatable. I wrestled for a while with these and watched a lot of video to get to what felt right to me.

Cincy/Toronto shaping up similarly but more so, looks like

To clarify, San Jose is in the middle on Unprogressed, but they are a few spots higher on Contested Play.

They've done a better job progressing their possessions than most teams, but that came from two dominant home games, too.

Someone asked me if Philly and San Jose today would be a track meet, and my answer was "probably a very messy track meet".

The Union have the most Unprogressed Play sequences (contested + unrealized) per game, and the Quakes are up there, too. It's part of their DNA. It was true in 2025 as well.

Friday Stat Dump: Measuring change in outcomes

We discussed last week how a team is starting their possession sequences can tell us a lot about what they are trying to do differently this season.

bsky.app/profile/jamo...

Today we'll see -- limited to two games -- if they've been effective.

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Side note: Unprogressed Attacks never get xG, shots, goals, anything. They are unprogressed.

Either teams are fighting for the ball (Contested), or one of them just made a bad pass or lost control as soon as they won it (Unrealized).

It happens. A lot actually.

Sorry if I missed your team there. As the season goes on, this is something we can revisit. We can also look at how teams are conceding and how these categories contribute to goal differential and xGD. We can break them down into specific attacking methods to compare styles.

Enjoy the games!

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As we look at MLS 2026 after week two, what do you notice?

* Outsized importance/disparity of Fast Pace Attack xG so far
* Philly inefficient
* Early leaders like SJ, LAFC, NYC, CHI, RBNY, ORL and STL were above avg last season, too
* POR, FCD, SKC, RSL, CIN and ATL moving right

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But when we look at who is most effective at generating chances from Fast Pace Attacks, we can look at shots or xG. We can compare volume to efficiency.

Here is Sequence Attack xG sorted by Fast Pace xG along with a comparison of Fast Pace Sequences vs. its xG.

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Using this, we can see how much teams use various types of these attacks in their sequences along with how they start the sequences. Along with data such as shots, goals, xG, PSxG and g+, both for/against, we can discover strengths and weaknesses.

Here is MLS 2025 sorted by Fast Pace Attacks.

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You'll find a lot of similarities here with @futi.live's Phase of Play model. I built key elements of my own method eight months ago and recently finished it.

For (attempted) simplicity, I've grouped 16 attack types into 5 categories.

Here is a visual:

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Friday Stat Dump: Measuring change in outcomes

We discussed last week how a team is starting their possession sequences can tell us a lot about what they are trying to do differently this season.

bsky.app/profile/jamo...

Today we'll see -- limited to two games -- if they've been effective.

1/

2026 NWSL Previews: Denver Summit, Boston Legacy — American Soccer Analysis Our 2026 NWSL Season Previews have started and today we hit Denver and Boston. If you want to support this coverage of the league, you can head to our Patreon . For $5 a month you can get access ...

It’s preview tiiiiiime

@catabush.com tells us not to ignore the elephant in the room in Denver and @kierdoyle.bsky.social talks about Boston Internationals. Our friends at @xowngoals.com dropped audio previews for both teams today as well!

www.americansocceranalysis.com/home/2026/3/...

So it looks like Chicho is not listed as a DP. Hernan is but with an asterisk that means: Indicates player is currently unavailable, and club may receive roster/international spot relief, but not Salary Budget relief unless otherwise determined pursuant to the loan agreement.

2026 Primary Window GAM Release A glimpse into the (potential) futures of MLS teams

MLS released its latest GAM numbers again today, and we’re really seeing some interesting situations. Some teams are all in and there’s a new leader at the top of the GAM leaderboard.

Key signings! Depth charts! Tactical outlooks! Standings predictions!

I’ve got 45,000 words of breakdowns for all 42 teams in the USL, so come catch up ahead of opening weekend.

🔗➡️ backheeled.com

I pulled some data via @americansocceranalysis.com's {itscalledsoccer} and while home advantage has never started out so high in an MLS season since 2013, it is not quite the highest ever (only 98.41 percentile).

I suspect this is an aberration and it will bounce around just like it always has.

Now live: presentation videos. Find all recorded talks on our Youtube. Link below.

Recorded presentations from the 2026 ASI Summit are now live on YouTube. To see all of the incredible talks from this year's Summit, visit the link below:

www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

So for years MLS was the most homefield advantage-heavy league in the world, though that had been fraying a bit the past half-decade.

Well, guess what? So far in 2026 home teams are 15W-1L-3D. And the home teams are both winning the 7:30 games, which, if they hold on, makes it 17-1-3.

Atlanta keeps running out 3 defense first midfielders and can’t seem to create a chance, wonder why that might be

Preston Judd was a prolific scorer in USL Championship and could score well 6 different ways. There are very few of those strikers in MLS.

He continues to make a successful transition.

Drake Callender was really good today.

This CF Montreal team could be historic levels of bad. Let’s get them home and see for sure.

Michael Bradley being an ultra control press and possess manager with a dash of set piece Red Bull bullshit is just so fitting I love it

I feel this deep in my soul.

So did Montreal

As this demonstrates, the most important chances your team gets under this lens comes from Defensive Action Starts. Maybe a couple of teams will get much more/less in set pieces/pens, but that tends to even out/is more luck based.

Even Nashville looked at this and said, "Let's get Espinoza."

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Instead of overwhelming you with the 25 ways sequences are started, I've grouped them into four categories:

* Defensive Action Starts: defensive disruption/turnover
* Keeper Action Starts: goal kicks, saves, punches, etc.
* Dead Ball Starts: set pieces, pens, etc.
* Miscellaneous: leftovers

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