NASL Power Rankings
This 2017 NASL season was always going to be odd. Eight teams are going to become mighty familiar with each other and league tables don’t always tell the full story when trying to consider the best of the best. Miami FC is a safe pick for the leagues best on paper and they have plenty of points to show for their efforts through 8 games. The NASL ranks them #1 but they’ve had a pretty easy schedule.
No one is saying that South Beach FC doesn’t have what it takes to run the table on the league. What this GPI shows is that Miami is just beating on the little guys right now. That hurts them in these rankings which places a lot of emphasis on strength of schedule.
Who you beat is just as important as where you beat them. The GPI also places importance home and away results. An away win against the leagues best will yield the greatest rewards. Miami just doesn’t have the schedule to be #1 at this stage of the season.
This illustration is precisely why there is a need for such a calculator. Everyone says Miami is the best, but who have they beaten? Puerto Rico, FC Edmonton and Indy Eleven come to mind. And while the top three might be in flux, the bottom three really aren’t. No one is predicting big things for any of these bottom dwellers at this time.
New York Cosmos and Miami FC each have one away win against each other but its not a wash in GPI points. Because NYC’s ranking is higher, Miami is given the edge numerically. What does that mean? Well…even though Miami earned a maximum value in one of their matches, it has not been enough productivity to overcome what the Cosmos have done against much better teams.
The five week trend is even more favorable to NYC and you may be able to see why PRFC has made a coaching change so early into the Spring Season.
It’s not over for any of these teams and there is one more factor to consider. If a team like Indy goes on a tear and raises their score, that will positively impact Miami which has recorded two wins against them.
