but not so far -- away: With just 14 points from 14 matches, the LA Galaxy are obviously behind in the 2007 playoff chase. But it might surprise some to know that Frank Yallop's team is actually ahead of last year's pace. The Galaxy had just eight points from a 2-10-2 mark at the same point last year.
With a late charge beginning in July, Yallop's men finished the 2006 season with an 11-15-6 mark and 39 points -- just two points out of the playoffs.
The lonely 600 Club: Bruce Arena is the sole member of the Major League Soccer coaches' 600 Club. That is, only Arena has a winning percentage of .600 or better. But that might be changing.
Houston Dynamo boss Dominic Kinnear is No. 2 on the league's all-time list in terms of winning percentage, now with a .588 mark. (All of this is excluding a couple of quick-stop interim jobbers, who won a game or two before clubs hired a permanent replacement. Howdy, Ralph Perez. How you doin', Jorge Espinoza?)
Frank Yallop had a tidy little .586 winning percentage heading into the 2007 season, but he's going the wrong way. Yallop's number is now down to .563.
Arena's 73-47-6 mark gives his a current winning percentage of .603.
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
