As the MLS campaign has progressed so has the standard of play, seemingly proving that 'mid-season form' does exist

They played well …. poorly despite …. because they are or are not in mid-season form.

We hear a variation of that quite frequently, especially in the context of the European summer barnstorming tours or Concacaf Champions League matches. Likewise, soccer blog comment sections routinely fill up with "How could he exclude/include him? He is/is not in mid-season form!" when discussing a national team's call-ups.

But what is "mid-season form?" Does it exist? Can we quantify it? Intuitively, the concept rings true. Teams and players benefit from playing every day alongside each other and consistently in games against tough opposition. Decisions are made quicker, passes are released faster, and technical skills are tightened up. It is certainly an environment more conducive to being at peak ability than, say, drinking a Bordeaux and eating oysters on a yacht by Cap d'Antibes (non-MLS players at least).

If this season in MLS is any indication then "mid-season form" certainly does exist. In fact, it seems MLS fans are being treated to an ever-improving level of play as the campaign has progressed.

Before looking at the charts below, it is important to explain the methodology behind what is deemed a "turnover" and a "possession." The starting point is the Opta MLS chalkboards and the "tackled, possession Lost" (TPL) metric. TPL is assessed for any errant pass, interception, failed dribble, etc.

The second component in determining turnovers is the "clearance" metric. All clearances are TPL, but not all clearances are changes in possession. For example, if a defender clears the ball out of bounds, then the team that originally lost the ball never really lost possession. Therefore, the number of clearances, less clearances where the defence maintains possession, is subtracted out of the TPL total. This subtotal is turnovers committed. Attempts on goal are added to turnovers to arrive at a total number of possessions.

First, let us look at the gross data. This is every MLS team's turnover total for every game of the year.

MLS 1 Photograph: theshinguardian.com

There is a lot going on here. It certainly looks like there is a drop in the number of turnovers around Game 18, but there is a lot of noise in this data set. Let us see if we can make a little more sense of what we are looking at.

All charts below are MLS-wide averages and numbers are on a per team basis.

MLS 2 Photograph: theshinguardian.com

OK. This confirms what we saw above. Turnovers are down a lot. But that makes sense. It got hot as the spring turned to summer and teams may play a more deliberate style as a result. Well, what about attempts on goal? If possessions are down, they must be down as well.

MLS 3 Photograph: theshinguardian.com

Nope. Attempts on goal have been flat and relatively consistent throughout the entire year. Goals have been pretty flat as well. In fact, goals have actually been slightly higher during the second half of the year than the first. In all, we are seeing about 15-20 less turnovers per team per game (30-40 less total per game) than we were at the beginning of the year! This makes for a much more enjoyable product for neutrals.

MLS 4 Photograph: theshinguardian.com

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MLS 5 Photograph: theshinguardian.com

It seems the question is answered.

MLS 6 Photograph: theshinguardian.com

"Mid-season form" exists. And it is worth at least one less turnover every two to three minutes during an average MLS game. It will be interesting to see whether this trend continues as we get to the end of the season or if it plateaus at some point. It would also be worth investigating if this is just an MLS phenomenon, or if this is consistent with other leagues as well.

• This is an article from our Guardian Sport Network. To find out more about it click here.

• This blog first appeared on the Shin Guardian.