Discussion of Results
All teams have played the same number of games. LA Galaxy is the best team in terms of win because it has the highest Z-score value of 1.988. Z-score for LA Galaxy for losses is the lowest at -1.84, which means that the team is has lost least in all the 34 games it has played. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient between wins and losses is -0.7, which means that there is a high correlation between the two variables, but in the opposite direction. This makes LA Galaxy to be the best team with respect to wins and losses. Further, the team’s Z-score on ties is extremely low at -0.971, which means the team does not often tie.
Chicago Fire is the best team in terms of shots on goal with a Z-score of 2.949. The team has a lower Z-score, 0.53, on shots against goal, which means that it has a good defense. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient between shots on goal and shots against is 0.341, which means that these two variables have a low correlation in the same direction. San Jose Earthquakes has a high Z-score on shots against, 1.937, but it has an extremely low score on shots on goal, 0.390. Therefore, the team has a good defense but a poor attack strategy, which makes it not to be a good team.
Seattle Sounders FC is the best in terms of scoring goals with a Z-score of 2.248. It is also a good team in terms of defense and goalkeeping because it has a relatively low Z-score on goals against criterion. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient between goals scored and goals against is -0.6, which means that there is a negative, moderate correlation. Therefore, the team is good in all aspects including defense and attack, which enables it to score many goals while resisting many goals being scored against it.
There is little if any correlation between fouls committed, and fouls suffered, which means that a team with many fouls committed might not be any better that the one having little fouls suffered. San Jones Earthquakes is the best with least fouls committed (Z-score is the lowest at -2.167). Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient between penalty kicks goals and penalty kicks against is 0.939, which means that there is a very high correlation between the two criteria in the same direction. Columbus crew as the best in terms of penalty kicks goals (Z-score=2.169) while D.C United is the best in terms of penalty against (Z-score = 1.914).
Conclusion
Different teams are good at perform best at different criteria. LA Galaxy is likely to be the best team because it has won most and lost least, two criteria that have a high correlation.
