One game over .500 is a misleading number when you look at a system that awards points for draws and also take into account we've only played ten. If we continue to win 50% of our matches, lose 40% and draw 10%, then that is an alright pace for this season, in my eyes. That is a 54 point pace (rounding down), which is right there in the playoff mix. There is no question this team isn't where it needs to be, yet, but our current PPG pace would put us in third place if we had the same number of games played as the teams that are currently first and second, while the teams behind them have more games played than that, giving more opportunity to make up ground (or squander it, I'll concede). And if you look back a bit further, we're unbeaten in six in all competitions (well, I suppose the Vancouver loss is a loss, but it was an aggregate game, so I counted the overall win).
That's not a bad position for us to be in at this point in the season.
If we finish third in the East this season, or even 4th or 5th, that is a massive step forward from last season. The matches leading into the WC break were set up as a real test to see where we will end up. Well, ugly or not, we got a road point from the first and three points out of the second one. If we can get three, or even a single, next week, then we have set ourselves up well for the post-WC run-in. And we'll have Michael Bradley back.
As for having the league's highest payroll, it's only the cap that counts, right?
Now, all this isn't to say I think Nelsen's the right, or wrong, man for the job, but I think our position is pretty decent. The comeback on Saturday showed the kind of fight and character that our teams have seldom had in the past. I think this can be attributed, in part, to Nelsen's effect on the locker room. When we saw how happy the boys were for Henry, and how happy they were with the win, I think that says that they are playing for each other and for their manager.
What do you think? Am I off base? What's your read on that angle?