PPL Week 1 Results

Now that week 1 went by, how bout thoughts on teams? Who looked good? Who dominated? Is it too early to say some teams are in the wrong divisions? Who disappointed? Who surprised?

I'll comment on D1 and D2. Not as familiar with teams outside of those divisions.

D1 - I wouldn't say I was surprised by any of the results. Not sure how much each team has changed over the summer. I've heard GSSC Black had some changes. I guess I could say I expected them to be more competitive from a scoring perspective. Andro Red and FCD East seem to run hot and cold. I would have expected Andro to come out on top in their game. Evo is a good team and usually doesn't give up much, so that result against FCD East wasn't really a surprise.

D2 - Lady Aztecs score was a bit of surprise in that I would have expected some scoring from Gremio. Nice win for them to start league play. Not sure what LP Callaghan has. They have been quiet most of the summer and TX Spirit has some new faces, so we'll have to see how they gel. Don't know much about Texas Thunder and XTREME. FM United over FCD North wasn't a surprise.

D1
Dunstan,Evo,Andro - all still think they should be in LH, too bad this will be their downfall or motivation to prove it. Are they really ready? Garrett, Shank will have a long season. Don't know GSSC or WF. FCD will keep fighting

D2
Aztecs will do some damage in D2. Haven't done bad in recent tourneys. Expected a good game - last season D2 #1 vs #2. Gremio to put up tougher fight but that was wake up call. They should bounce back. Spirit not familiar with, but they didn't show well last season finishing near the bottom.They were lucky to not be relegated. Thunder and FMU will run the middle. LP will struggle but won't have as bad or long a season as FCD North or Xtreme. I think Meja is rebuilding, not sure but they been real quiet.

Interesting to look at the GotSoccer rankings for D1 and D2.  Now that PPL uses GotSoccer, the rankings should start to become more accurate. Should be neat to see how it plays out over the course of the year.  Some of these teams have been out of sight since the end of the spring and some have benefited from good tournament play.  Here is where everyone stands currently in each division by their GotSoccer ranking...

In D1:

1. (GS #20) Andromeda Red
2. (GS #28) Sting Dunstan
3. (GS #31) FC Dallas East Red
4. (GS #44) North Texas Futbol NTFC 03G Black (Formerly D'Feeters USA 03G)
5. (GS #49) GSSC Thunder Black
6. (GS #58) LP Shankly
7. (GS #59) Sting North Garrett
8. (GS #72) WF Xpress
9. (GS #94) Colleyville Evolution

In D2:

1. (GS #37) FM United FC
2. (GS #41) Gremio
3. (GS #42) LP Callaghan
4. (GS #51) Texas Spirit
5. (GS #55) Texas Thunder
6. (GS #56) Lady Aztecs
7. (GS #76) Meja Shephard
8. (GS #77) FC Dallas North
9. (GS #91) XTreme

You listed the wrong NTFC TEAM in D-1 . THE NTFC TEAM YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTED IS " NTFC 03 Black " and the are ranked #44 not #80

FORTHELOVEOFTHEGAME wrote:You listed the wrong NTFC TEAM in D-1 . THE NTFC TEAM YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTED IS " NTFC 03 Black " and the are ranked #44 not #80

Oh yeah!  I guess you mean North Texas Futbol NTFC 03G Black (Formerly D'Feeters USA 03G).  I've edited that for ya.

Looking at the GS rankings as posted are interesting but i don't think they are accurate nor realistic of the teams true abilities. Although I think a lot of parents or coaches may look at the ranking number to get a warm fuzzy, a comparison to a team they will face will be a better guesstimate by looking how a team has performed other teams they have played.

BIGENCHILADA wrote:Looking at the GS rankings as posted are interesting but i don't think they are accurate nor realistic of the teams true abilities. Although I think a lot of parents or coaches may look at the ranking number to get a warm fuzzy, a comparison to a team they will face will be a better guesstimate by looking how a team has performed other teams they have played.

You're right. PPL teams were always at a disadvantage from a GS standpoint because league games weren't reflected. Now that they ARE reflected, the rankings should become somewhat more accurate as the year progresses. If you look at the top 20 (most of whom have had league games recorded), they are fairly accurate. Tournaments carry a lot of weight as well and there were some teams who were active and had success and some who took the summer off for the most part.

It seems to me that the higher ranked teams are ata disadvantage during the season due to playing lower ranked teams only. FM United in DII and the top two D1 teams could drop especially if there are upsets.  I think the spread of rankings will get smaller.  I do think there will be some upsets too having seen most of these teams play recently.  They are not really that far apart.  

I'd like to hear from someone more knowledgeable on how GS rankings work.

BIGENCHILADA wrote:Looking at the GS rankings as posted are interesting but i don't think they are accurate nor realistic of the teams true abilities. Although I think a lot of parents or coaches may look at the ranking number to get a warm fuzzy, a comparison to a team they will face will be a better guesstimate by looking how a team has performed other teams they have played.

This is correct. Well said.