A Midseason Look at Oduro

QUICK RECAP

The 2012 Chicago Fire’s Dominic Oduro was an offseason target for the Crew to unload Dilly Duka. After being rumored for weeks the trade happened shortly after the official start of the preseason. The Crew ended up needing to throw in the player rights of Robbie Rogers to make the deal happen.

From the moment Oduro joined the team in the preseason he has been a starter. 19 games and 19 starts.

THE HIGH LEVEL NUMBERS

It is fairly well know that Dominic Oduro is leading the team in goals with 8 but here is where he falls in way of other common stats.

Team Leaders in Minutes : Name

1696 : Federico Higuain

1620 : Andy Gruenebaum

1550 : Dominic Oduro

1530 : Josh Williams

Team Leaders in Goals : Name

8 : Dominic Oduro

3 : Josh Williams

2 : Federico Higuain (+4 Penalties)

2 : Bernardo Anor

2 : Jairo Arrieta

Team Leaders in Assists : Name

6 : Federico Higuain

4 : Eddie Gaven

2 : Jairo Arrieta

1 : Dominic Oduro

1 : Ben Speas

1 : Tyson Wahl

METRICS

Dominic is also leading the team in some key offensive metrics.

Goals + Assists per 90 Minutes : Name

0.52 : Dominic Oduro

0.41 : Jairo Arrieta

0.40 : Eddie Gaven

0.40 : Bernardo Anor

0.37 : Federico Higuain (penalties excluded)

0.24 : Ben Speas

0.18 : Josh Williams

Shots Taken Per Game : Name

3.2 : Jairo Arrieta

3.2 : Bernardo Anor

3.1 : Federico Higuain

2.7 : Dominic Oduro

1.7 : Ben Speas

Shots On Goal per Game : Name

1.1 : Federico Higuain

0.9 : Dominic Oduro

0.6 : Jairo Arrieta

0.4 : Josh Williams

IN TERMS OF THE REST OF THE LEAGUE

Opening the scope up to the rest of the league gives us a better picture of how he is doing on the year:

Goals per 90 Minutes (>900, no PK) : Name

0.67 : Marco Di Vaio (MTL)

0.66 : Camilo (VAN)

0.63 : Jack McInerney (PHI)

0.58 : Conor Casey (PHI)

0.58 : Kenny Miller (VAN)

0.48 : Blas Perez (FCD)

0.46 : Dominic Oduro (CLB)

0.43 : Ryan Johnson (PDX)

Goals + Assists per 90 Mins (>900) : Name

0.94 : Robbie Keane (LA)

0.91 : Conor Casey (PHI)

0.88 : Camilo (VAN)

0.82 : Sébastien Le Toux (PHI)

0.78 : Russell Teibert (VAN)

0.75 : Javier Morales (RSL)

0.73 : Landon Donovan (LA)

0.73 : Marco Di Vaio (MTL)

0.71 : Ryan Johnson (PDX)

0.71 : Diego Fagundez (NE)

0.66 : Thierry Henry (NY)

0.65 : Diego Valeri (PDX)

0.63 : Jack McInerney (PHI)

0.58 : Kenny Miller (VAN)

0.56 : Deshorn Brown (COL)

0.54 : Brad Davis (HOU)

0.53 : Will Bruin (HOU)

0.52 : Dominic Oduro (CLB)

0.51 : Kelyn Rowe (NE)

0.51 : Tim Cahill (NY)

0.51 : Graham Zusi (KC)

0.51 : Felipe Martins (MTL)

COMPARED TO REST OF HIS CAREER

Oduro has been in MLS since 2006 when he started with FC Dallas. From there he moved on to NY Red Bulls, Houston Dynamo, Chicago Fire and now with the Crew.

Goals per 90 Minutes : Year : Team(s)

0.46 : 2013 Columbus Crew

0.45 : 2008 FC Dallas

0.41 : 2011 Houston Dynamo / Chicago Fire

0.30 : 2012 Chicago Fire

0.26 : 2010 Houston Dynamo

0.23 : 2007 FC Dallas

0.22 : 2006 FC Dallas

0.11 : 2009 NY Red Bulls / Houston Dynamo

Goals + Assists per 90 Mins : Year : Team(s)

0.64 : 2008 FC Dallas

0.54 : 2009 NY Red Bulls / Houston Dynamo

0.52 : 2013 Columbus Crew

0.48 : 2011 Houston Dynamo / Chicago Fire

0.47 : 2010 Houston Dynamo

0.44 : 2012 Chicago Fire

0.39 : 2007 FC Dallas

0.22 : 2006 FC Dallas

At first glance it would appear that Oduro is having one of his more productive years but taking a look at shots tells us that he is getting a few more chances.

Shots per Game : Year : Team(s)

2.73 : 2013 Columbus Crew

2.67 : 2011 Houston Dynamo / Chicago Fire

2.67 : 2012 Chicago Fire

2.54 : 2008 FC Dallas

2.16 : 2010 Houston Dynamo

2.05 : 2009 NY Red Bulls / Houston Dynamo

1.98 : 2006 FC Dallas

1.86 : 2007 FC Dallas

This sort of takes us to another attacking player metric, number of shots it takes to score a goal.

Shot / Goal : Year : Team(s)

5.60 : 2008 FC Dallas

5.88 : 2013 Columbus Crew

6.50 : 2011 Houston Dynamo / Chicago Fire

8.00 : 2007 FC Dallas

8.20 : 2010 Houston Dynamo

9.00 : 2012 Chicago Fire

9.00 : 2006 FC Dallas

19.00 : 2009 NY Red Bulls / Houston Dynamo

A lot of this can be attributed to Federico Higuain because if you go back to last year we see Jairo Arrieta with similar (slightly better) metrics.

THE PRIMARY MAN

Dominic Oduro is certainly the main offensive man for this 2013 Columbus Crew season. The signing of a player of this skill set dictates that and the formation the team employs demands it. Looking up and down the stats tells us that Oduro is the Crew offense this year.

One last list. If you look at the top three shot takers on each team and calculate the percentage you see that the Crew’s top three take over half of all shots thus far this year.

% SHTS Taken, Top Three : Team

53.3% : Columbus (Oduro, Higuain, Arrieta)

52.3% : Montreal (Di Vaio, Martins, Papoini)

51.2% : Houston (Barnes, Bruin, Clark)

51.0% : New York (Henry, Cahill, Espindola)

WHAT TO EXPECT

There shouldn’t be much drop off in Oduro’s numbers if nothing changes. He has proven that his metrics can be trusted though all the year’s in MLS. He also is an extremely durable player. If things stay the course with the Crew as far as tactics then he should make it into the teens in goals scored (13-16 range).

You should expect change, however.