Inside PTFC | Does plus-minus data tell us anything about the Timbers' season?

I spend a lot of time thinking about plus-minus data; far too much considering it’s unclear how relevant it is. Whether it’s places that statistic it’s commonly used, like hockey and basketball, or sports where it’s scarcely referenced, like soccer, I find myself jumping back and forth between two ideas. First, how your team does when you’re playing matters. It matters a lot. But second, given how many factors go into producing results in team sports, it will always be misleading to say something like, “that team scores less often with that player on the field, so they must not be playing well.