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Did you ever have to make up your mind?
By: Viking

Someone asked how the Burn were playing.  I wasn’t sure how to answer, so I did what I love to do.  Sat down and thought about soccer, to decide if the Burn are playing well.   They are playing well, but maybe not well enough.

The MLS as a whole is playing well.  I’ve watched a lot of MLS soccer this year, courtesy of the MLS Golden Goal (formerly known here as the Shootout) Package.  It’s inspiring how good MLS has become in five years.  But among the league teams, is Burn playing well?

They’ve probably won enough games.  They would be tops in the anemic Eastern Division, would be tied with Colorado in the West, and today are just a point from second place Chicago in our Central Division.  So in the win column, the Burn have earned their share.

Have they lost too many games?  Just one home field loss is a pretty good feat.  Their road record is bad, and likely to get a lot worse if they don’t correct their poor road showings.  After this Saturday v. Galaxy, next Saturday, they are away to Crew, then away to Chicago on Wednesday, then top it off away to an awakening DC United just two days later.  They could be 5-7 in no time if they don’t improve their road trips.

Last week I talked up the tie, and Burn let one evaporate into the humidity of Tampa Bay.  All even going into the latter third, they shot themselves in the foot and then called the police with the gun.  But overall, no one is getting ties in MLS.  Only 9 of 54 games have ended in ties so far, far below what I expected.  It could be that ties just won’t be a big part of MLS.   If this situation holds, FIFA members may be very intrigued by this development.

Overall, are the Burn staying level on points with everyone else?  Yes, even a bit above the curve, so to speak.  Of all 12 teams, only 4 have taken half the points they could have taken, and the Burn is one of them.  So although the league point leader missed only 4 points,  Burn is still in the top of the heap.

And so, yes, the Burn is playing well, in the field, and on the table.  But in the Scorched Earth game program, there is a column that tells you if each team did better or worse than the week before.  Playing the same is not an option in our game program, because no one stays the same.  Teams get better or get worse every day, and it’s up to the players to show if they got better or worse each week.  Based on what they’ve done so far, they need to do better. 

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