Breaking down the six-panel dashboard that reveals the hidden differences between Premier League and MLS
In our previous analysis, we discovered that MLS offers more stable career opportunities than the Premier League despite being considered a “lower-tier” league. But how exactly did we reach this conclusion? Let’s walk through each visualization in our trend analysis dashboard and highlight what makes these leagues so fundamentally different.
The Six-Panel Story: What Each Chart Reveals
1. Distribution of Minutes Trends (Top Left)
The Foundation: Where Every Player’s Story Begins
This histogram shows how many players are gaining or losing minutes each year across the entire league. Note that these bars describe a CHANGE in playing time over the years of the study.
Premier League: Sharp peak of change in playing time around -130 minutes/year with a mean of -130.8
- Most players are losing playing time consistently
- The distribution is skewed left, showing more declining players than improving ones
MLS: Perfectly centered around zero with a mean change in playing time of just -4.0
- Nearly balanced between players gaining and losing minutes
- Much more stable environment overall
Key Insight: The Premier League actively pushes most players toward fewer minutes, while MLS maintains equilibrium. We discussed some possible reasons for (and consequences of) this in our previous post.
2. Trend Strength vs Direction (Top Middle)
The Reliability Test: Which Trends Can We Trust?
This scatter plot maps trend direction (x-axis) against statistical reliability (y-axis), with color showing average playing time. We use the metric R-squared to describe how our linear regression line “fits” the actual data. A R-squared of 1 means the regression line perfectly describes the data.
Premier League: Scattered, chaotic pattern with few high R-squared values
- Most trends are statistically unreliable (low R-squared)
- Even dramatic changes might just be random variation
MLS: More structured patterns with slightly higher R-squared clustering
- Trends are somewhat more predictable and reliable
- When changes happen, they’re more likely to be “real”
Key Insight: MLS player trajectories are more predictable, while Premier League careers are subject to more randomness. Check our previous post for fuller analysis of why this might be happening and what it might mean.
3. Playing Time vs Trend Direction (Top Right)
The Democracy Test: Do Stars Get Special Treatment?
This scatter plot reveals whether high-minute players (established stars) have different trend patterns than bench players.
Both Leagues: Remarkably similar scatter patterns between MLS and EPL.
- No clear correlation between current playing time and future trends
- Even established starters can see declining or increasing minutes
- We do see much less variability in the “slope” of the change of playing time over 3 years for the least-used and most-used (stars) players.
Key Insight: Both leagues show “democratic” opportunity distribution—your current status doesn’t guarantee your future trajectory, but the more minutes you play, after a point, the less likely you’ll see a large change in your playing time.
4. Distribution of Trend Directions (Bottom Left)
The Balance Sheet: Winners vs Losers
Simple pie charts showing the percentage of players with increasing vs decreasing minutes.
Premier League: 59.5% Decreasing vs 40.5% Increasing
- Clear bias toward player decline
- “Survival of the fittest” mentality
MLS: 50.5% Decreasing vs 49.5% Increasing
- Almost perfect balance
- More “rising tide lifts all boats” approach
Key Insight: This single chart captures the fundamental philosophical difference between the leagues.
5. Statistical Significance (Bottom Middle)
The Reality Check: How Much Is Just Noise?
Bar charts showing how many trends are statistically significant versus random variation.
Premier League: ~95% non-significant trends
- Most changes are just rotation chaos and random variation
- Very few predictable career patterns
MLS: ~90% non-significant trends
- Still mostly unpredictable, but slightly more reliable patterns
- Some genuine career trajectories emerge from the noise
Key Insight: Both leagues have unpredictable elements, but Premier League chaos makes career planning nearly impossible.
6. Slope Distribution by Significance (Bottom Right)
The Magnitude Question: Are Real Trends Bigger Than Random Ones?
Box plots comparing the size of statistically significant trends versus random variation.
Premier League: Similar box sizes between significant and non-significant
- Even “real” trends aren’t much larger than random fluctuations
- Extreme outliers in both categories
MLS: Slightly wider “significant” box
- When trends are real, they tend to be more substantial
- Less extreme random variation
Key Insight: MLS rewards patience—real trends are more distinguishable from noise.
The Visual Story: What It All Means
Premier League = High-Stakes Casino
The charts paint a picture of a league where:
- Most players are on declining trajectories. New, skilled players are always arriving.
- Randomness dominates over predictable patterns
- Career planning is nearly impossible
- High rotation and pressure from younger players coming from all over the world create constant uncertainty
MLS = Balanced Ecosystem
The visualizations reveal a league where:
- Players have genuine development opportunities. Pressure from skilled, new arrivals is much lower.
- Trends are somewhat more reliable and predictable
- Career trajectories can be planned and managed
- Stability allows for longer-term thinking
Reading Between the Lines
The Economics Show Up in Every Chart
You can see the Premier League’s financial pressure in every visualization:
- The negative trend distribution (constant upgrades)
- The chaotic scatter patterns (rotation due to multiple competitions)
- The low significance rates (panic-driven decisions)
MLS’s Constraints Create Opportunity
The salary cap and roster rules manifest as:
- Balanced opportunity distribution
- More reliable trend patterns
- Genuine player development curves
Practical Applications
For Players: Use these charts to understand which league environment suits your career stage and goals.
For Analysts: The significance rates tell you which trends to trust for predictions.
For Fans: These patterns explain why your favorite player’s role might be more stable in MLS than you’d expect.
The Bottom Line
Six simple charts reveal a profound truth: league structure fundamentally shapes individual careers. The Premier League’s unlimited resources create chaos, while MLS’s constraints foster stability.
Sometimes the most important insights come not from complex algorithms, but from carefully visualizing the simple question: “Are players generally getting more or fewer opportunities over time?”
The answer, as these charts clearly show, depends entirely on which side of the Atlantic you’re playing.
Next up: Individual player spotlights showing which specific players are beating the odds in each league’s unique environment.
Blog Posts in the Playing Time Analytics Series:
- Initial Takeaways from the Playing Time study
- Explanation of the Trends Analytics Panel (this entry)
- Overview of English Premier League Risers and Fallers
- Overview of MLS Risers and Fallers