photo credit: Evgeni Zotov via photopin cc

Every now and then when people talk about home games for Real Salt Lake and Colorado Rapids they talk about the effect of altitude on visiting teams. Michael Bradley mentioned it when he said”[Real Salt Lake] is a good team…Obviously, playing in altitude always presents certain things you’ll have to deal with and, again, we’ll go on the road to a difficult place to play against a really good team and be excited by the challenge.” Some credited altitude for hindering Real Salt Lakes performance in their first home game against the Los Angeles Galaxy. Real Salt Lake trained at a lower altitude for their preseason and first two away games before arriving in Utah a few days before their home debut. Fortunately, playing in Utah and Colorado is nothing like playing in La Paz, Bolivia which is at about 10,000 feet above sea level.

According to “Preparation for football at moderate to high altitude” (1) teams that play at an altitude above 2000 meters or about 6,500 feet do have an advantage. However, this advantage is mitigated by the sea-level teams having an advantage against high-altitude teams at their home stadiums. The effects of altitude can likely be mitigated by about 2 weeks of acclimatization at altitude, and simulated exposure is another somewhat less effective option. Initially at high-altitude one can experience acute mountain sickness which can be seen in about 25% reduced maximum aerobic power with an increased heart rate. Basically, there is less oxygen in your system with a faster heart rate. From what I have read and heard there seems to be two options to try mitigate the affects of altitude. The first is to arrive as close to game time as is reasonable to keep as much oxygen in the blood as possible, or two arrive about two weeks early to fully acclimate. Two weeks seems excessive, especially in the MLS, so I assume most teams subscribe to the first option. The worst thing to do is play two to three days after arriving and train at altitude before the match. Real Salt Lake seemed to do this for their first home opener whey they seemed to “hit a wall.”

I imagine that there is still some effect that altitude has on teams playing in Utah and Colorado, but it seems clear that it shouldn’t be very significant. I guess this is why it is only occasionally mentioned in pregame discussions. One soccer blog cited a study that said that about a third of goals scored at higher altitudes were in the final fifteen minutes, and most of those were by the home team. This could suggest that teams might not be able to be unaffected by the altitude for a full 90 minutes of high-level physical exertion. However, it doesn’t seem that Real Salt Lake Colorado are particularly known for scoring at home in the last fifteen minutes. A lot of goals in the MLS are scored in the last fifteen minutes, and lately it seems like the last fifteen seconds.

Also, I was wondering if some people thought that older players might be affected more by altitude. Another thought I had is that certain tactics and formations might be better for playing at altitude. I wonder if Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids have larger fields for this reason. I think Colorado has the largest field in MLS and they are at the highest altitude, about a mile high (5,201 feet). Colorado also plays with three forwards. This combination could force opposing teams to do a lot more running at altitude and maximize the effect of altitude. Colorado has three targets for long ball up front which will tend to travel farther at high altitude. Real Salt Lake has traditional had a speedster up front, as a lot of teams do, that can take advantage of quick, long passes behind the defense. Real Salt Lake favors a possession style that forces other teams to exert more energy chasing the game. Psychologically, the slight fatigue caused by altitude, the atmosphere created by the fans, and the lack of possession could cause a team to not play up to their normal potential. Rhythm and tempo can significantly affect a teams confidence and ability, altitude could affect those things.

I know that MLS has been trying to limit travel times, but it seems like teams don’t play two away games against Real Salt Lake. I wonder how much of a difference it would make for a the second road game at altitude, if any. Recently, Major League Soccer has demonstrated a lot of parity. The race to make the playoffs seems to come down to the last few games, and just a few points can make a huge difference. It is interesting to note that both Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids made the playoffs last year. I wonder how much altitude helped their cause. I know how difficult finding accurate statistics can be difficult with all of the variables that affect the outcome of a match, but it would be interesting to see comparisons in the MLS for games at altitude if all other factors could be held constant. It could be impossible to accurately figure that out.

Altitude has presented a unique challenge for teams during CONCACAF Champions League. San Jose had to play against Toluca at about 9,000 ft. So, when the USMNT practices and plays matches in Utah and Colorado they are giving some valuable experience to domestic players who only spend a day or two at altitude a year.

Different Field Elevations

• Dick’s Sporting Goods Park: 5,201 ft
• Rio Tinto Stadium (RioT- get it? “here at the riot…”): 4,430 ft
• Sporting Park: 980 ft
• Toyota Park: 615 ft
• Toyota Stadium: 625 ft
• Columbus Crew Stadium: 255 ft

Everywhere else is practically at sea level

1. Gore, C. J., McSharry, P. E., Hewitt, A. J. and Saunders, P. U. (2008), Preparation for football competition at moderate to high altitude. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 18: 85–95. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2008.00836.x

Another interesting site –> High Altitude Effects on Sport Performance

Wikipedia is always helpful –> High-altitude football controversy

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1. Impact’s Felipe deserved a red. Being apologetic doesn’t get you out of a card Felipe.

2. Yep, Impact’s Bernadello should have gotten a red instead of a yellow for his cheap swipe from behind.

3. Borg is wrong. Impact’s Felipe totally dove and should have gotten a yellow.

4. Impact’s Mapp should have gotten a yellow and should have been disciplined. Another dive from Montreal. It looks like Mapp is anticipating the foul. If he had continued his run right and earned the foul he could of gotten a penalty kick.

5. How does Dom Dwyer not earn a penalty kick in this one? I’m not sure why people get saying the referees didn’t make themselves the story on the weekend. It seems like the referees are being talked about a lot, and they made and missed some big calls that affected games. What would a referee have to do to make themselves a ‘real’ story? Maybe if they trip someone to deny a goal scoring opportunity and said ‘oops’ that would have the referee’s actually be the story of the weekend.

6. What is with SKC’s Dwyer’s ninja kick on Seitz? I would think a soccer player would appreciate not getting cleated more than Dwyer apparently does. Kick the ball at the referee’s head, not the goalie. The ref is the one who made the bad call. Seitz almost gave Dwyer a free goal.

7. Borg must be blind because the footage is perfectly clear on SKC’s Peterson’s second possible penalty kick. He got nailed and should have gotten a penalty. He probably should have gotten a penalty when his arm got pulled on earlier, but referees seem to reward those who embellish unfortunately. That would seem to encourage diving.

8. What’s with punching by FCD’s Jair Benitez? How does he not get suspended while Dempsey does?

9. It seems like we are getting to know RBNY’s Armando very quickly, and what we have learned is that he is a dirty player. Great, the MLS definitely needs more of those (insert sarcasm here).

10. RBNY’s Olave fouled Benitez. The penalty was deserved. I could understand how Olave might have been trying to brace himself and hold his ground against the coming contact, but he was a bit over zealous.

11. Chivas’ Pelletieri gets the ball. It seems like it is the other guys fault that he put himself in that situation. If you’re not going to get to the ball first you might get hurt and sucks for you. Pelletieri wasn’t trying to step on the guy. I’m not sure why the disciplinary committee was particularly upset by this.

12. Vancouver’s Fernandez probably dove. It doesn’t look like anyone tripped him up.

13. Chicago’s Amarikwa played it masterfully and drew the penalty. Bad luck for Papparato, but it would have been weird if they didn’t call it.

14. Michael Harrington, you dirty rat. It does look like he purposefully raised his arm while in the box to deflect a cross.

15. Nyarko just takes out Portland’s Diego Chara. Sure, Chara might have had it coming from all the times Chara has done something similar, but Nyarko deserved what he got.

16. In the Philly v NE game that Farrell feel to hard to have just fallen by himself. I think Fernandez probably used his arm to give him an extra nudge in the back. Keep the shoving out of soccer please!

17. It looks like Berry fouled Bengston but the referee is too afraid to make the call.

18. Wondo was clearly offside for SJ’s first goal. That play should have died!

19. I don’t think the disciplinary committee needs to waste its time on wild, half-hearted swings of an arm that didn’t hit anything. Come on Simon!

20. Jackson should have gotten a red, and I can’t believe Jackson didn’t get a punishment dished out by the disciplinary committee.

21. Dempsey should have gotten a red for swiping Rey from behind. The referees need to help Dempsey out so he doesn’t feel like he has dish out vigilant revenge, and the disciplinary committee didn’t help things.

22. I’m not sure how Dempsey’s crotch tap sends bloom to the ground for so long. Sure, it hurts, but being balled up on the ground doesn’t make it feel any better. I doubt that Dempsey was trying to hit blooms arm away, but it did seem like bloom was staying awkwardly close to Dempsey’s back while the ball was dead. I would have won’t him to give me some more space too.

23. Bloom should have gotten the red against Neagle. I officially am not a fan of Bloom, whoever he is.

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Fun side note, it was pointed out that LD is a World Cup goal scoring beast! Read more…

Players Subtracted

Carlo Cudicini and Michael Stephens will not return for the 2014 season. Read more…

Jose Villarreal is loaned to Cruz Azul, then dropped down to Cruz Azul Hidalgo. Read more…

Coach Kept

Bruce Arena signs another multi-year contract with the Galaxy. Read more…

Star Rejuvenated

Robbie Keane recovers from two achilles surgeries to prepare for the beginning of the 2014 season. Read more…

Players Added

Rob Friend is signed and brings new attacking dynamics to the team. Read more…

Stefan Ishizaki is signed to provide an attack minded winger to the roster. Read more…

Galaxy are fortunate to have Brazilian forward Samuel on loan from Fluminense. Read more…

Galaxy sign MLS veteran midfielder Baggio Husidic. Read more…

The Galaxy draft New Mexico defender Kyle Venter to help shore up the back line during World Cup year.  Read more…

LA Galaxy sign homegrown players Bradford Jamieson and Raul Mendiola. Read more…

James Riley successfully worked his way onto the LA Galaxy roster to provide another veteran in defense. Read more…

LA Galaxy Numero Dos

The Galaxy will form their own USL Pro team called LA Galaxy II. Read More...

The galaxy will be the first team to do so. Read more…

LA Galaxy hold open try outs! So you’re saying I have a chance, jk! Read more…

Check out this introductory video…

Preseason Games

Galaxy defeat FC Shirak. Read more…

LA Galaxy play white v blue match against LA Galaxy II. Read more..

Check out this goal from Robbie Keane

Galaxy play a preseason scrimage game in Mexico City against Pumas UNAM. Read More…

Galaxy defeat UCLA 2-0. Read more…

Galaxy beat SJ Earthquakes 2-1. Read more…

You can watch the whole match here!

The post LA Galaxy Off-Season Summary appeared first on That Soccer Guy.

Irwin and Kennedy are relatively cheap, and they are known quantities that I think should only improve this year. I think E. Miller and Palmer-Brown are decent young talents whose value should hopefully go up and their current price will go up. Moor is very consistent, and I think Colorado’s last season acquisitions, Sanchez and Torres, will settle in and keep their opponents extra busy. Sarkodie and Houston have decent match-ups the first few weeks, and the seemed to have a good preseason (for as much as that is worth). If S. Williams is healthy he had a good year last year, he should have more help around him, and he is a long throw specialist. Park had a good year last year and he is a decent price for MLS veteran.

I think Gabavoy is underrated, and even though RSL has some tough away match-ups to start out with I have to pick someone from RSL. Valeri had a good first year last year, and Portland starts out with some decent home matches. I’ve captained him for that reason. Malki is dirt cheap. Evans apparently starts seasons off well, and the Sounders start off at home. Rose had a respectable showing last season, and he did relatively well during the preseason. Le Toux is a known quantity who is going to have a little more help this season. Hopefully, he will be more free to get some fantasy points.

I hope Bieler has worked out his issues with Peter Vermes. I think he has shown that for 8 million he is a decent buy. Torres had a good first year in the MLS, and he has some more support around him. I hope he uses that experience and support to have another decent year. Chivas starts out with two home games. I’m thinking Manneh will be more comfortable and experienced in Vancouver. He has a lot of natural talent, and without the reigning Golden Boot winner in the mix he should have more opportunities. Jairo Arrieta should be poised to have a better year this year.

Personally, I try to shy away from newcomers. New players generally have some adjusting to do. A new place to live, coach, players to play with, system, and lots of other little things can affect how someone performs. You just don’t know, so I try to avoid the gamble. I tried to focus on midfielders. I might adjust my forwards to having one be a dirt cheap forward, and another a more expensive one. Maybe I’ll wait to see if any of their prices makes a nice jump at the beginning of the season and then I’ll sell.

Let me know what you think in the comments below! Any tips or questions?

Edit: Apparently S. Williams got slightly injured recently, Manneh had some kind of injury that he might still be recovering from, and someone had made me doubt whether or not Le Toux will be starting. I replaced S. Williams with Michel. I’m not sure what else I will do.

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