The value of statistics can be argued all day long, but that doesn't mean they don't have value.
In the case of the Chicago Fire, there are some statistics that definitely make coach Denis Hamlett shake his head.
The Fire are 0-2-2 in their last four home games. Discounting a 3-0 loss to FC Dallas on May 31, the games were close: 1-1 with Seattle and New England, and a 1-0 loss to Houston on Friday.
That's three goals against leading to one loss and two draws.
But here are the statistics that matter: In those three games, the opponents have had a total of 14 shots and only five shots on goal. That means the opponents have scored on three of five shots on goal, which is a 60 percent rate.
Conversely, the Fire have had 34 shots and 14 shots on goal in those three games and come away with only two goals scored.
"You look at the (stats) sheet and see one shot on goal, and we lose," Hamlett said after the Houston game. "It's disappointing. It's a matter of guys on the field trying to make a play."
In the last two games, the Dallas contest and the game against Houston, the Fire have given up goals early. The Dallas score came in the 15th minute and Houston's goal came in the fourth minute on a corner kick.
Putting themselves behind the 8-ball in that form makes it hard for a team to come back as the opponent, especially a visiting team, packs it in defensively.
The Fire have no immediate answer as to why they start slow at home.
"Maybe it is some form of concentration right at the beginning," defender C.J. Brown said. "That's the only thing I can point at. After that goal (Friday), the way we played is how we played the first 10-12 games."
Brown is referring to the Fire's 11-game unbeaten streak to start the season, a period that included five consecutive draws and ended with three wins in a row before the Dallas game at home.
The Dallas game is racked up as an aberration by the Fire because it came as the third game in an eight-day span that also included trips from Chicago to New York, New York to Los Angeles and Los Angeles back to Chicago.
The statistics above indicate the Fire are outplaying their opponents at home, limiting their scoring opportunities (in the Seattle and Houston games, the limit was to one shot on goal each) and having a vast number of scoring opportunities themselves.
But they clearly aren't taking advantage of their own scoring chances, although there is some bad luck involved in that as well. Patrick Nyarko's header at the post Friday was headed out by a Houston defender in a bang-bang play that can only be registered to wrong place, wrong time.
The Fire are now 1-2-3 (six points) at home, tying Dallas for the worst home record in the league. It burns Hamlett because he wants Toyota Park to be a bad place for teams to visit, but he burns mostly because his team is outplaying opponents at home without proper reward.
"When we are at home, we do one bad play and the other team penalizes us for that," Hamlett said. "It is a major concern."
Kent McDill is a contributor to MLSnet.com
