Ranking the Teams for the Last Five Years in the K-League (Part 1)

(from the koreaherald.co.kr) Due to space constraints, I am splitting this into three parts.  The first part will be ranking the all of the 16 teams that have played in the K-League and the K-League Classic for the last five years.   Introduction Recently, I attempted to answer the question if tying 31% of your games, particularly as the third place team, is high.  I looked at 17 leagues (8 in Asia, MLS, and 8 in Europe) to compare with the K-League Classic .  Of course, the way I did it was not very scientific, so there is no way I can say the results are valid, but on a cursory glance in comparison to most leagues the K-League Classic seems to have a higher rate of draws and less goals.  In sum, the K-League draws more games and scores less goals than a lot of other leagues.   Now, let's look at the K-League Classic for the last five years. K-League Classic League Table 2011-2015 Year Played Wins Draws Losses Goals Avg. 2011 480 175 (36.45%) 130 (27.08%) 175 (36.45%) 655 1.36 2012 704 259 (37%) 186 (26%) 259 (37%) 869 1.23 2013 532 190 (35.71%) 152 (28.57%) 190 (35.71%) 677 1.27 2014 456 156 (34%) 144 (32%) 156 (34%) 506 1.1 2015 456 162 (35.5%) 132 (28.9%) 162 (35.5%) 546 1.2 Total 2628 942 (36%) 744 (28%) 942 (36%) 3253 1.24 Since going to a split system, average goals per game has fallen some would say, significantly.  It hit a nadir of 1.1 in 2014 and only rebounded slightly in 2015.  I can see why the league is considering counting goals scored rather than goal differential as a deciding metric.   However, I doubt that it will work due to conservative coaching tactics the homogeneity of the league.   Often, it feels as though teams are set out to play in a manner that avoids risk taking while prioritizing shape and defensive solidity.  Couple this with there only being 12 teams in the league, who for the most part are evenly matched (similar strengths, weaknesses, players) and I cannot see an increase in goal average any time soon. Then again, as last season showed, my predictions usually amount to shit.  Maybe Jeonbuk's signing of Lee Jong-ho, Ricardo Lopes, and Kim Bo-kyung help them average more than the 1.5 goals they did in 2015 (it will probably will).  Maybe Dejan links up well with Adriano and Park Chu-young and Seoul's dormant offense awakes from the slumber of the last two years.   I am curious to see how the teams have done over the last five years.  Part I- K-League Classic Best to Worst Here is a table ranking the sixteen teams in the K-League from the best to worst.  I used the amount of points averaged per game (Avg. Pts.) as the metric in deciding the rankings.

                                         K-League Classic Best to Worst

Team	P	W (Pct.)	D (Pct.)	L (Pct.)	GF (Avg.)	GA (Avg.)	Pts. (Pct.)	Avg. Pts.
Jeonbuk	188	104 (55%)	47 (25%)	37 (20%)	327 (1.74)	191 (1.02)	359 (64%)	1.91
Pohang	188	95 (51%)	49 (26%)	44 (23%)	293 (1.56)	189 (1.01)	333 (59%)	1.77
FC Seoul	188	94 (50%)	51 (27%)	43 (23%)	285 (1.52)	198 (1.05)	333 (59%)	1.77
Suwon Samsung	188	90 (48%)	45 (24%)	53 (28%)	274 (1.46)	207 (1.10)	315 (56%)	1.68
Ulsan Hyundai	188	79 (42%)	53 (28%)	56 (30%)	254 (1.35)	206 (1.10)	290 (51%)	1.54
Jeju United	188	70 (37%)	55 (29%)	63 (34%)	260 (1.38)	239 (1.27)	265 (47%)	1.41
Seongnam FC	188	64 (34%)	55 (29%)	69 (37%)	214 (1.14)	217 (1.15)	247 (44%)	1.31
Incheon United	188	56 (30%)	72 (38%)	60 (32%)	193 (1.03)	204 (1.09)	241 (43%)	1.28
Jeonnam	188	59 (31.38%)	59 (31.38%)	70 (37.23%)	208 (1.11)	238 (1.27)	236 (42%)	1.26
Busan	188	55 (29.25%)	55 (29.25%)	78 (41.48%)	199 (1.06)	239 (1.27)	229 (41%)	1.22
Gyeongnam	150	41 (27%)	42 (28%)	67 (45%)	163 (1.09)	207 (1.38)	165 (37%)	1.1
Daegu FC	112	30 (27%)	36 (32%)	46 (41%)	128 (1.14)	159 (1.42)	126 (38%)	1.13
Gwangju	112	29 (26%)	35 (31%)	48 (43%)	124 (1.11)	154 (1.38)	122 (36%)	1.09
Sangju Sangmu	98	21 (21%)	27 (28%)	50 (51%)	104 (1.06)	175 (1.79)	90 (31%)	0.92
Gangwon FC	112	25 (22%)	25 (22%)	62 (56%)	108 (0.96)	177 (1.58)	100 (30%)	0.89
Daejeon	150	30 (20%)	38 (25%)	82 (55%)	146 (0.97)	266 (1.77)	128 (28%)	0.85

No surprises here as far as who is the best team.  Jeonbuk, who have won the title in three of the last five years, are the best team.  They have best winning percentage, goals for (GF) average, and points per game average (Avg. Pts).  As the biggest spenders in the K-League, Jeonbuk has definitely got its money's worth.

The team that would most likely draw a game is Incheon United, at 38%, and the team that has the highest percentage of losses is Gangwon FC.  They also have the poorest GF average at 0.96, which must make for riveting viewing.  Finally, Sangju Sangmu have had the most generous defense in the last five years, giving up close to two goals a game.

I was a bit surprised that Pohang had a slightly better defense than Jeonbuk.  I was also surprised that Seoul was tied with Pohang for being the second best team in the last five years.  It has not felt that way at all.  I would have guessed that Suwon might be the second or third best team rather than fourth.

What interests me most are the teams at the bottom.  Even though Daejeon has played more games than Daegu, Gwangju, Sangju Sangmu, and Gangwon, I have ranked them lower due to the 0.85 points per game they average.  Also, they have poorest winning percentage of any team as well, which is why I would say they have been the worst team in the K-League in the last five years.

Next, I am curious about who the strongest champion is in the last five years.  I am also curious about how the worst team in each of the last five years stack up against one another.  I will cover that in the next part.