Taken as a whole, playing time for Crew teams tend to follow a similar pattern regardless of how successful a single team was. This image shows playing time distribution across the 14 seasons that the Crew has existed.
- Taken as a whole, playing time for Crew teams tend to follow a similar pattern regardless of how successful a single team was. This image shows playing time distribution across the 14 seasons that the Crew has existed.
- Looking at the most successful season in team history (2008, when the Crew won the Supporters Shield and MLS Cup, winning 17 games and earning 57 points), the distribution curve has a large top area, indicating six players appeared for at least 80% of the season. At the lower end of the scale, the curve plummets below 20% quickly, giving further evidence of a concentration of playing time - only 13 players appeared for more than 20% of the season
- The worst year in Crew history was 2006 - only 8 games won, 33 points earned, finishing in last place in the league. Playing time on this team is much more distributed, with only one player appearing for more than 80% of the season. The sixth-most-used player appeared for only 59% of the season, the lowest of any year. A total of 20 players appeared for at least 20% of the season, which is more than any year except 1996.
- The Crew has won the Supporters Shield (given to the team with the best regular season record) three times in its history. This chart shows the distribution on those three teams. Each year, the playing time is distributed along a similar pattern - a core of players appears for the bulk of the season (~6 players for ~80%), while another 8-9 players makes up the bulk of the rest of the time (~15 players for at least ~20%).
- In 2009, the Crew had a slightly smaller core of players, with only four appearing more than 80% of the time. Still, the team did manage to keep the bottom portion of the curve under control, giving 20% of the season to only 16 players - one of the better figures in team history.
- The 2001 season appears to be an anomaly in this analysis, as it appears to follow the prescription for team success - but the Crew did not win the Shield. The team finished the season (which was shortened due to the terrorist attacks) with a 13-7-6 record - the same number of wins as in 2009, and second only to 2008 since the elimination of the shootout.
- The inaugural season of 1996 saw no large core of players, perhaps because the Crew - like every team - was still evaluating players through most of the season. A mid-season change in coaches surely did not help, as Tom Fitzgerald turned to new signings like Ricardo Iribarren and Brad Friedel, while recalling Todd Yeagley from the bench to play significant minutes.
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