Classic League 02 D1

Midway through the fall season the rankings in D1 look like this:

1. DTS
2. Solar Red
3. DT Thornber
4. Sporting United
5. Arsenal
6. FC DAllas (Goncalves)
7. FCD Red (Gomez)
8. FCD Premiere (Clark) What happened to Pino?
9. Dallas America America
10.LP Fagen
11. Ayses
12. Solar Chelsea (Renner)
13. LP Owen
14. DT Red Scott
15 FCD BLue
16 TX Suns
17. FCD Central Gonzales
18. TFC Larry
19. LP Gerrard
20. Real Estudiantil

Some teams have played 5 and some have played 6 so these standing are little loose.

Any suprises so far?

It looks like Sporting United is doing better than anticipated before the season ( althought they are also getting a lot of comments about rough and dirty play)

Arsenal is doing better than predicted pre-season as well.

The usual suspects with SR and DTS are at the top and it may turn into a two team race for first if DT Thornber does not keep up. ( But long way to go still)

Suprised to see Solar Chelsea in the middle of the pack based upon pre-season ranks and LP Gerrard and TFC Larry struggling.

Still time for any team to turn it around but those at the bottom can not wait too long or D1 for next year will slip away.

By the way, for those development purists, I know the talk of relegation is counter to development but this is the system we have so we have to deal with it.

Gatorz wrote:Midway through the fall season the rankings in D1 look like this:

1. DTS
2. Solar Red
3. DT Thornber
4. Sporting United
5. Arsenal
6. FC DAllas (Goncalves)
7. FCD Red (Gomez)
8. FCD Premiere (Clark) What happened to Pino?
9. Dallas America America
10.LP Fagen
11. Ayses
12. Solar Chelsea (Renner)
13. LP Owen
14. DT Red Scott
15 FCD BLue
16 TX Suns
17. FCD Central Gonzales
18. TFC Larry
19. LP Gerrard
20. Real Estudiantil

Some teams have played 5 and some have played 6 so these standing are little loose.

Any suprises so far?

It looks like Sporting United is doing better than anticipated before the season ( althought they are also getting a lot of comments about rough and dirty play)

Arsenal is doing better than predicted pre-season as well.

The usual suspects with SR and DTS are at the top and it may turn into a two team race for first if DT Thornber does not keep up. ( But long way to go still)

Suprised to see Solar Chelsea in the middle of the pack based upon pre-season ranks and LP Gerrard and TFC Larry struggling.

Still time for any team to turn it around but those at the bottom can not wait too long or D1 for next year will slip away.

By the way, for those development purists, I know the talk of relegation is counter to development but this is the system we have so we have to deal with it.

The reality is these boys are 10 year olds so I'm not surprised by standings so far. Lots of soccer ahead till the end of the season. I don't think the top 3 teams have played anyone yet so will see how things shakeout at the end.

What wrote:

Gatorz wrote:Midway through the fall season the rankings in D1 look like this:

1. DTS
2. Solar Red
3. DT Thornber
4. Sporting United
5. Arsenal
6. FC DAllas (Goncalves)
7. FCD Red (Gomez)
8. FCD Premiere (Clark) What happened to Pino?
9. Dallas America America
10.LP Fagen
11. Ayses
12. Solar Chelsea (Renner)
13. LP Owen
14. DT Red Scott
15 FCD BLue
16 TX Suns
17. FCD Central Gonzales
18. TFC Larry
19. LP Gerrard
20. Real Estudiantil

Some teams have played 5 and some have played 6 so these standing are little loose.

Any suprises so far?

It looks like Sporting United is doing better than anticipated before the season ( althought they are also getting a lot of comments about rough and dirty play)

Arsenal is doing better than predicted pre-season as well.

The usual suspects with SR and DTS are at the top and it may turn into a two team race for first if DT Thornber does not keep up. ( But long way to go still)

Suprised to see Solar Chelsea in the middle of the pack based upon pre-season ranks and LP Gerrard and TFC Larry struggling.

Still time for any team to turn it around but those at the bottom can not wait too long or D1 for next year will slip away.

By the way, for those development purists, I know the talk of relegation is counter to development but this is the system we have so we have to deal with it.

The reality is these boys are 10 year olds so I'm not surprised by standings so far. Lots of soccer ahead till the end of the season. I don't think the top 3 teams have played anyone yet so will see how things shakeout at the end.

Agreed, these little guys still have a long way to go in soccer and in this season. But it is interesting to see the trends starting so far. In the pre-season rankings, I don't think anyone had Sporting United or Arsenal or Dallas America America in the top ten.

As for the top three, DTS and SR have both played Aresenal ( a top ten team and I think also Goncalves) They have also both played Solar Chelsea ( who i think will come back to be a top ten team)

I don't think DT Thornber has played too many top teams but i could be wrong.

You are right though, this list could change dramatically before the end of the Spring Season. Just getting some 02 talk going. This place is starting to look like the 03 forum.

Gatorz wrote:

What wrote:

Gatorz wrote:Midway through the fall season the rankings in D1 look like this:

1. DTS
2. Solar Red
3. DT Thornber
4. Sporting United
5. Arsenal
6. FC DAllas (Goncalves)
7. FCD Red (Gomez)
8. FCD Premiere (Clark) What happened to Pino?
9. Dallas America America
10.LP Fagen
11. Ayses
12. Solar Chelsea (Renner)
13. LP Owen
14. DT Red Scott
15 FCD BLue
16 TX Suns
17. FCD Central Gonzales
18. TFC Larry
19. LP Gerrard
20. Real Estudiantil

Some teams have played 5 and some have played 6 so these standing are little loose.

Any suprises so far?

It looks like Sporting United is doing better than anticipated before the season ( althought they are also getting a lot of comments about rough and dirty play)

Arsenal is doing better than predicted pre-season as well.

The usual suspects with SR and DTS are at the top and it may turn into a two team race for first if DT Thornber does not keep up. ( But long way to go still)

Suprised to see Solar Chelsea in the middle of the pack based upon pre-season ranks and LP Gerrard and TFC Larry struggling.

Still time for any team to turn it around but those at the bottom can not wait too long or D1 for next year will slip away.

By the way, for those development purists, I know the talk of relegation is counter to development but this is the system we have so we have to deal with it.

The reality is these boys are 10 year olds so I'm not surprised by standings so far. Lots of soccer ahead till the end of the season. I don't think the top 3 teams have played anyone yet so will see how things shakeout at the end.

Agreed, these little guys still have a long way to go in soccer and in this season. But it is interesting to see the trends starting so far. In the pre-season rankings, I don't think anyone had Sporting United or Arsenal or Dallas America America in the top ten.

As for the top three, DTS and SR have both played Aresenal ( a top ten team and I think also Goncalves) They have also both played Solar Chelsea ( who i think will come back to be a top ten team)

I don't think DT Thornber has played too many top teams but i could be wrong.

You are right though, this list could change dramatically before the end of the Spring Season. Just getting some 02 talk going. This place is starting to look like the 03 forum.

I hear you, it seems like 02 parents are in shock.

Shock? only shock i see is how LP Gerrard and TFC Larry have done overall to this point. Congrats to Sporting, Arsenal and Dallas America for their solid start but not one top 10 victory against the current table. I am sure they will win some big games but until they do, i personally am not shocked or surprised. Through 6 games the schedules are very unbalanced. Lets see where everyone is when the dust settles

Here's the results so far....

Best Wins:

Sporting United 1-0 over Ayses (#11)
Arsenal 3-2 over FCD Blue (#15)
Dallas America 4-1 over TFC Larry (#18)

Just saying......

Agree that the schedules are very unbalanced at this point. After this coming Saturday, LP Gerrard will have played, DTS, Solar Red, DT Thornber, Solar Chelsea, FCD Goncalves in their first 7 matches.

I thought the biggest surprise was DT Red beating Solar Chelsea last weekend.

debit wrote:Agree that the schedules are very unbalanced at this point. After this coming Saturday, LP Gerrard will have played, DTS, Solar Red, DT Thornber, Solar Chelsea, FCD Goncalves in their first 7 matches.

I thought the biggest surprise was DT Red beating Solar Chelsea last weekend.

LP Gerrard has had the murderers row of schedules for the first half with the #1, #2, #3, #6 and #12 teams to play. The Spring should get better as they play more of the teams on the bottom half of the table.

Some interesting stats are:

1. Most goals by any team: DTS 35
2. Fewest goals given up: SR 3
3. Teams #7,8,and 9 are all tied at 2-2-2 records.
4. Teams #17,18 and 19 are all tied at 1-1-4 records.

That brings up how important goal differential will probably be at the end of the season as some teams will probably have identical records.

Did I miss the part about what happened to Pino? That's a surprising change. Anybody know why?

I heard he lost his voice box in a nasty shark attack while on vacation and can no longer speak.

debit wrote:Did I miss the part about what happened to Pino? That's a surprising change. Anybody know why?

I heard he lost his voice box in a nasty shark attack while on vacation and can no longer speak.

Nothing happened to Pino. Just a change on paper until the proper licensing paperwork is processed. Nothing to see there, move along.

tpitty wrote:

debit wrote:Did I miss the part about what happened to Pino? That's a surprising change. Anybody know why?

I heard he lost his voice box in a nasty shark attack while on vacation and can no longer speak.

Nothing happened to Pino. Just a change on paper until the proper licensing paperwork is processed. Nothing to see there, move along.

Well, I guess I'll never trust that source again

debit wrote:

tpitty wrote:

debit wrote:Did I miss the part about what happened to Pino? That's a surprising change. Anybody know why?

I heard he lost his voice box in a nasty shark attack while on vacation and can no longer speak.

Nothing happened to Pino. Just a change on paper until the proper licensing paperwork is processed. Nothing to see there, move along.

Well, I guess I'll never trust that source again

I do understand those shark attacks can be brutal, but c'mon we all know he lost an appendage, his voice is fine!!

Gatorz wrote:

debit wrote:Agree that the schedules are very unbalanced at this point. After this coming Saturday, LP Gerrard will have played, DTS, Solar Red, DT Thornber, Solar Chelsea, FCD Goncalves in their first 7 matches.

I thought the biggest surprise was DT Red beating Solar Chelsea last weekend.

LP Gerrard has had the murderers row of schedules for the first half with the #1, #2, #3, #6 and #12 teams to play. The Spring should get better as they play more of the teams on the bottom half of the table.

Some interesting stats are:

1. Most goals by any team: DTS 35
2. Fewest goals given up: SR 3
3. Teams #7,8,and 9 are all tied at 2-2-2 records.
4. Teams #17,18 and 19 are all tied at 1-1-4 records.

That brings up how important goal differential will probably be at the end of the season as some teams will probably have identical records.

In my effort to avoid work this morning, I decided to look at schedule strength. Below are the updated standings based on the scores reported here from the games last night. To arrive at Strength of Schedule, I simply averaged the rankings (1-20) of the opponents each team has played (through 6 games). Low score would be a difficult schedule. High score is an easy schedule. Relatively speaking of course. And last disclaimer is that this is obviously a snapshot of a moment in time and the numbers would change each week.

Easiest possible schedule is: 17.50
Hardest possible schedule is: 3.50
Average schedule is: 10.00

Ranking Pts Strength of Schedule
1. DTS 18 10.00
2. Solar Red 18 13.00
3. DT Thornber 16 14.67
4. FCD Central Premier 11 9.50
5. LP Rush 10 11.00
6. Sporting United 10 10.33
7. LP Owen 9 11.67
8. Arsenal 9 8.83
9. FCD Red 8 10.33
10.FCD Premier 8 6.83
11.Dallas America 8 12.83
12.AYSES Gold 7 12.67
13.Solar 7 9.00
14.DT Red 6 12.83
15.FCD South Blue 5 9.33
16.TX Suns 5 7.83
17.FCD Central 4 12.50
18.TFC 4 7.67
19.LP Gerrard 4 7.83
20.Real Estudiantil 1 11.50

Some interesting observations:
1. DT Thornber has the easiest schedule so far at 14.67 and are taking advantage of it. They haven't played anyone in the top 9.

2. FCD Premier has the most difficult schedule so far at 6.83 and currently mid-table. Not bad at all. They've played 4 of the top 8 teams.

3. Compare FCD Premier and Dallas America. Both are sitting on 8 points, but FCD's schedule is 6.83 and Dallas America's schedule is 12.83. Also Dallas America has a -9 goal differential with that relatively soft schedule.

4. Compare LP Owen and Arsenal's schedule. Both sitting on 9 points, but LP Owen's schedule is 11.67 while Arsenal is at 8.83

5. Compare AYSES and Solar both sitting on 7 points while AYSES schedule is a softer 12.67 and Solar's is 9.00.

6. LP Gerrard has the 3rd toughest schedule so far and it doesn't get any easier. They have to play 3 more teams currently in the top 8 this fall.

7. FCD Central has a tough road ahead having only earned 4 points from a relatively soft schedule so far.

debit wrote:

Gatorz wrote:

debit wrote:Agree that the schedules are very unbalanced at this point. After this coming Saturday, LP Gerrard will have played, DTS, Solar Red, DT Thornber, Solar Chelsea, FCD Goncalves in their first 7 matches.

I thought the biggest surprise was DT Red beating Solar Chelsea last weekend.

LP Gerrard has had the murderers row of schedules for the first half with the #1, #2, #3, #6 and #12 teams to play. The Spring should get better as they play more of the teams on the bottom half of the table.

Some interesting stats are:

1. Most goals by any team: DTS 35
2. Fewest goals given up: SR 3
3. Teams #7,8,and 9 are all tied at 2-2-2 records.
4. Teams #17,18 and 19 are all tied at 1-1-4 records.

That brings up how important goal differential will probably be at the end of the season as some teams will probably have identical records.

In my effort to avoid work this morning, I decided to look at schedule strength. Below are the updated standings based on the scores reported here from the games last night. To arrive at Strength of Schedule, I simply averaged the rankings (1-20) of the opponents each team has played (through 6 games). Low score would be a difficult schedule. High score is an easy schedule. Relatively speaking of course. And last disclaimer is that this is obviously a snapshot of a moment in time and the numbers would change each week.

Easiest possible schedule is: 17.50
Hardest possible schedule is: 3.50
Average schedule is: 10.00

Ranking Pts Strength of Schedule
1. DTS 18 10.00
2. Solar Red 18 13.00
3. DT Thornber 16 14.67
4. FCD Central Premier 11 9.50
5. LP Rush 10 11.00
6. Sporting United 10 10.33
7. LP Owen 9 11.67
8. Arsenal 9 8.83
9. FCD Red 8 10.33
10.FCD Premier 8 6.83
11.Dallas America 8 12.83
12.AYSES Gold 7 12.67
13.Solar 7 9.00
14.DT Red 6 12.83
15.FCD South Blue 5 9.33
16.TX Suns 5 7.83
17.FCD Central 4 12.50
18.TFC 4 7.67
19.LP Gerrard 4 7.83
20.Real Estudiantil 1 11.50

Some interesting observations:
1. DT Thornber has the easiest schedule so far at 14.67 and are taking advantage of it. They haven't played anyone in the top 9.

2. FCD Premier has the most difficult schedule so far at 6.83 and currently mid-table. Not bad at all. They've played 4 of the top 8 teams.

3. Compare FCD Premier and Dallas America. Both are sitting on 8 points, but FCD's schedule is 6.83 and Dallas America's schedule is 12.83. Also Dallas America has a -9 goal differential with that relatively soft schedule.

4. Compare LP Owen and Arsenal's schedule. Both sitting on 9 points, but LP Owen's schedule is 11.67 while Arsenal is at 8.83

5. Compare AYSES and Solar both sitting on 7 points while AYSES schedule is a softer 12.67 and Solar's is 9.00.

6. LP Gerrard has the 3rd toughest schedule so far and it doesn't get any easier. They have to play 3 more teams currently in the top 8 this fall.

7. FCD Central has a tough road ahead having only earned 4 points from a relatively soft schedule so far.

That is some interesting number crunching and thanks for putting a little "meat on that bone." Stat junkies appreciate your effort. This makes Arsenals position that much more impressive and Solar Chelsea should hang in there and start to get points soon.

LP Gerrard and TFC Larry have gotten unfortuante draws and need to pull out some points before they get too far behind.

Does anyone know what point total the last 01 team to make D1 for this year was after last year? I am thinking you will need at least 30 points to stay in D1 for next year.

RE: points needed to stay in D1, here's the info I found a few months back.

01's -- 26 points
00's -- 28 points
99's -- 27 points
98's -- 26 points (went to tiebreaker as 11th place also had 26 points)

debit wrote:RE: points needed to stay in D1, here's the info I found a few months back.

01's -- 26 points
00's -- 28 points
99's -- 27 points
98's -- 26 points (went to tiebreaker as 11th place also had 26 points)

Thanks. With 27 points offered in the second half of the season, everyone will still be alive at the and of the fall (Just barely).

This is very neat to look at. Other variables to consider are mental factor of game, consistency at this age, injuries, change in coaches to mention a few. I am very happy to see all the teams working hard and bringing soccer to a new level. We all will benefit from this. The better the competition the harder the teams will all work.
Good luck to all this weekend.

Below are the updated standings and Strength of Schedule through the first 7 games.

No change in the standings for the top 5, but FCD Premier and Solar moved up into the top 7 while Sporting United and Arsenal have slipped a bit.

Easiest possible schedule is: 17.00
Hardest possible schedule is: 4.00
Average schedule is: 10.00

Ranking Pts Strength of Schedule
1. DTS 21 9.86
2. Solar Red 21 10.86
3. DT Thornber 19 13.71
4. FCD Central Premier 14 10.29
5. LP Rush 13 10.86
6. FCD Premier 11 9.71
7. Solar 10 10.57
8. Sporting United 10 8.57
9. LP Owen 9 11.14
10.Arsenal 9 8.71
11.FCD Red 8 10.29
12.TX Suns 8 8.14
13.Dallas America 8 11.14
14.AYSES Gold 7 9.86
15.TFC 7 10.00
16.DT Red 6 13.57
17.FCD South Blue 5 11.71
18.Real Estudiantil 4 12.86
19.FCD Central 4 11.57
20.LP Gerrard 4 6.57

It will be interesting to see how much movement there is in the top 10 rankings before the fall season ends.

Expect the unexpected

firststrike wrote:It will be interesting to see how much movement there is in the top 10 rankings before the fall season ends.

Expect the unexpected

One win can still make a large difference, points wise, for any team. However, I don't expect too much movement at the top before the end of the Fall. DT Thornber, with the easiest schedule, does not play DTS, SR or any of the top teams until the Spring. Likewise, DTS and SR do not play each other until the Spring.

Another intesting note when seeing these teams laid out is that FCD is dominating club soccer in the 02 group overall. Of the 20 teams in DI, (5) of them are FCD teams. That speaks volumes about how much talent FCD has in its pool over the other clubs in the area. The tie for second leading club is LP and DT with three teams and then Solar with two teams.

As an FCD homer, that is a good representation of the club to have that many top level teams.

FCD is freakin huge. I think I saw something like 13 teams at 02 not so long ago. Liverpool is expanding like crazy too.